Fennis Cox is here. What are you doing over there?
I don't know. You were here. I was. I was sitting where you are.
For two days. Yeah. Why did you look better here than I do? I'm younger.
And better looking. Well, you asked. Oh, man. Thanks for keeping this chair warm.
My pleasure is mine. Well, there's a show on before. The chair was still warm. But cool. I'm glad. Did you have a good time? Did you enjoy it? Oh, it was a blast. Louis and I had a lot of fun.
Louis Fernandez. Yes. All right.
Very nice. Well, maybe we'll borrow him for chunks of the show. We'll do that.
Go for it. So we've got a lot to do. Well, there is a ton of stuff to get to today.
But real quick. Fourteen year old, you know, eighth grade boys and girls, by the way. But I was only responsible for two other eighth grade boys at our field trip. We went on a voyage to Washington, D.C. We saw museums, we saw monuments, memorials, all of that. We we we were on a bus that we weren't allowed down some streets. We were in circles, but we survived three days in Washington, D.C. So that's all I have to report. Nobody got hurt.
We ate terrible food court food for three days. And there you go. Yes. I do not care what you say or anybody else says or what you can show me. Oh, I don't care. OK. Nobody picked all four teams in the final four.
Don't care what data you try to produce. Nobody had UConn, San Diego State, FAU and Miami in the final four. Nobody.
Seth Greenberg of ESPN on this particular band of schools. It's five for one year. I don't think it's going to be something that will happen each and every year. I mean, think about last year. We had Duke, North Carolina, Villanova and Kansas. We had the blues, the bloods that we have one blue blood left in this tournament. And that's UConn, four national championships since nineteen ninety nine. They are a blue blood. Here's the interesting thing, Greenie.
There are no McDonald's, all Americans. I'll give you another interesting thing. There are zero true freshmen. We spent all our time talking about the freshmen, the one and done. And you know what? This final four is about teams.
It's about transfer portal, filling roster spots and developing teams. So, look, it's unique. I think for one year you'll see the blue bloods back. But Connecticut's a blue blood. Let's not fool ourselves. Yeah, I agree. I mean, it's been they have been among the best performing schools in college basketball now for a quarter of a century.
Yes, they are a blue blood. No question about that. Just back to my initial thought. I wonder how many people even had three teams in the final four. Oh, none. Stop fooling yourself. If you told me you had three teams in the final four, I'm going to want to see it notarized. Yeah. Show me a notarized copy of your bracket with a date and then I might believe you. But I am reserving the right to say, nah, I don't think so.
So it brings this conversation up. Does this mean that the ACC was better than we thought or not than we thought, than they thought? Meaning the tastemakers, meaning the metrics, meaning every college basketball reporter that told us how trash the league was this year.
And the answer is yes and no. I mean, I'm going to be as honest as I possibly can all the time. There's no question this was not a great year for ACC basketball, just like last year was not a great year for ACC basketball. It wasn't a terrible year for ACC basketball, but the ACC is always going to be judged by the standard it set. You're always judged by who you are. So when the ACC is not great, was not the best conference or one of the top two or even three conferences, we don't know what to do with our hands.
We just, we just don't, we don't know how to react to it. And what Jim Boeheim had to say last year about, well, you prove that in March. Yes and no. I mean, yes and no. For instance, do I think the Big 12, which was, we were told the greatest conference we have ever seen known to mankind this year. Do I think that they were completely overrated because they got no teams in the final four? It's hard to make the final four.
It's hard. They had two teams in the Elite Eight. By the way, that was one of my wagers that I won. Under 11 and a half total wins for the Big 12. We did that and we did under seven and a half wins for the Big 10. Michigan State, when they lost in the Sweet 16, came in at six. I don't know what the Big 12 came in.
I think it was nine. Still, that was plenty under. So does that mean that the Big 12 was bad? No. No.
But maybe it wasn't quite what it was cracked up to be. And this is where we get to when we let the metrics, just the data, drive us. And we can go to any sport. Can I borrow the sport of hockey for a second, Dennis?
Yes, you may. I have been told for years how great the Carolina Hurricanes have been because possession metrics. Grade A chances, all of that. Give them a Corsi rating. Yeah. For years, they have been, well, when is it going to happen? Well, it's going to happen when the players get better. That's when it's going to happen.
Right? And once Carolina started improving their talent, then we start to see what they do in the regular season. The playoffs are a different animal. The playoffs are a little bit more random, right? It comes down to just a couple of things, really, in the playoffs that Carolina hasn't been as good at. Power play, goaltending, things like that. We'll see what happens this year.
We're going to talk about that in a little bit. But in basketball, all of these metrics have been telling us how bad the ACC is. So what that did, because, and I've been on this for more than a month, the reason why the ACC's power rating looks bad is because there are five historically bad teams in this league. Not that these schools haven't been, you know, bad before. Louisville has not been this bad.
Right? But the power ratings for five of the ACC schools essentially spent the entire year, like at 180th or worse, in the bottom half of the entire sport. My gosh, in most years, even when it wasn't vintage ACC, in most years, there'd be one team outside the top hundred.
Everybody else, even the bad teams, the teams that didn't make the tournament, would be in the 60 to 100 range. Not this year. Not this year.
We couldn't find, there were zero opportunities, except in the case of, like, one, maybe? For a home court, quad one win. You couldn't win, if you were playing at home, it was not a quad one game.
Why? Because you had to be playing somebody in the top 30. The ACC, I think, at the end of the regular season, had one team in the top 30. They might have had two, but that's it. It's hard to, in the Big 12, every game, it seemed, was a quad one game. Well, look at how they did against quad one.
Yeah, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. We've been saying this all year. Do I think, did I ever think, at any point this year, that Miami wasn't a top 25 team?
Hell no! It was clear, if you watch them play, that is a good team. A really good team. I'm not surprised they're in the Final Four.
It's the one team I picked! We can't talk about the others, Dennis. We can't talk about the others. The others didn't make it out of the first weekend. Kansas didn't make it out of the first weekend. Arizona didn't make it out of the first day. Duke didn't make it out of the first weekend. Miami's in the Final Four.
But I'm just going to talk. I nailed Miami. You did.
So, all of these things, all of these discussions, you have to take everything into account. Context is needed. The Big 12 was the greatest conference we've ever seen. They had seven teams in the field. Two in the Elite Eight did not advance.
Big Ten, the greatest conference in the history of mankind, ever, in any sport. They had eight teams invited. One team made the second week.
That's it. Michigan State was done playing before the weekend. The SEC got eight teams into the field.
None played this weekend. The ACC, seventh best conference, worse than the Mountain West. And that was used against the ACC by such illuminaries as Joe Lenardi. And even the people who should know better, nationally, used it against the ACC. Well, Ken Palm says the Mountain West is better. No, the numbers that Ken Palm uses, if you asked Ken Pomeroy, do you think the Mountain West is better than the ACC, he would have probably said, look, the numbers are skewed because of the teams at the bottom. But the answer is, of course not.
Of course it isn't, by the way. San Diego State plays in the Mountain West. Good for them.
Good for them. Getting to the Final Four. Isaiah Wong, ACC Player of the Year, plays at Miami, thinks there's a reason why Miami might still be playing. I'll just say I'll thank the ACC for preparing us for these types of games. Just coming in, every game we played in the ACC, it's always a close game. It's always a shot to win. And I feel like coming into March, we've been in those types of situations, and we played good, and we wasn't afraid or scared in any situation. And we just stuck together and played together throughout the game.
And I would just say, thank you. Appreciate it for the ACC for the competition. We're going to talk to Joe Zagacchi, the voice of the Miami Hurricanes, in just a little bit. Isaiah Wong was just a really good player again this weekend. He wasn't the star. He wasn't the highlight of either game.
But he was a really good player all weekend long. Let me get a couple of other quick things in before we bring in Joe Zagacchi in just a couple of minutes. Caitlin Clark for Iowa is a freak show. Have you seen any of the women's basketball tournament, Dennis? Can't say I have. If you have an opportunity, pull up the highlight package of Caitlin Clark yesterday.
Full disclosure, I didn't watch the game either. Hurricane Taki, right? But I have seen Caitlin Clark play, and I said this before the tournament started. She is box office. If you have an opportunity to watch Caitlin Clark play, do it.
You will see something that will blow your mind. She is essentially, I mean, she's Steph Curry. If you find Steph Curry fun, I think you'll appreciate Caitlin Clark. She is an amazing shooter.
No conscience at all. She will shoot from anywhere. She's a great passer. She had 41 points in a triple-double as Iowa beat Louisville last night to get to the Final Four.
She is amazing. 8 of 14 from 3. Dude, and she takes no normal threes. None.
They're all like 30-footers. She is insanity. Absolute insanity. All right, so if you have a chance to watch the Women's Final Four this weekend, do it. By the way, the get-in price on the secondary market for the Women's Final Four is like 60% more expensive than the men's get-in price. The get-in price for men, they're playing in a dome. Obviously a lot more tickets, so that number is going to be skewed. But the fact that the women's get-in price is 200 bucks? Yeah, that says something.
Again, she's complete box office. All right, a couple of football notes, and then I have like three other things here. Lamar Jackson has requested a trade, apparently.
Huh. So he says that the Ravens don't want to meet his value, his asking price. They don't respect or recognize his value. And again, I'll be very consistent on this, they do, they just don't want to guarantee the money. They're more than happy to give him a 250 million dollar contract as long as not all 250 million dollars are guaranteed. It's just that simple.
I wish it was being portrayed this way, because that is the only issue. That's it. They do not want to guarantee the money. Will somebody else?
Maybe, but I doubt it. Aaron Rodgers still hasn't been traded. The Jets and the Packers can't come to grips on the value for the trade, so nothing is going to happen until they get to that point. I've seen mock trade scenarios. I'm like, that's where we are now? Mock trade compensation.
I've seen a lot of different things. Is he worth a first round pick? I don't know. If I'm the Jets, I ain't giving up what I don't have to give up. We already know that Aaron Rodgers wants to be a Jet, sort of. I mean, I don't know how many other options he's got among teams that can actually win. So Aaron Rodgers wants to be a Jet. The Jets want Aaron Rodgers.
All we've got to do is figure out a trade with the Green Bay Packers. Of course, maybe that should have been done first. I don't know.
Maybe I'm crazy. So we'll keep tabs on that. Hurricanes had a three-point weekend, and I think it gives us something to think about. Carolina was not the better team in either game. They were really not even close to being as good as Toronto on Saturday.
Won the game. Thank you, Kochekov. Thanks to Pyotr Kochekov, no question about that. And they weren't the better team yesterday against the Boston Bruins, but they were great in the third period and could have easily won the game in regulation. Freddie Anderson made a bunch of absolutely dynamite saves. And he also allowed three soft goals. So, in my math, and this is what goalies will say, you're only as good as the goals you allow. You can't allow really any of those goals. You can get away with one of them.
You can't get away with all three. I know it's going to sound weird because he made so many great saves, and in retrospect, the way he played in the third period helped Carolina get a point because he made dynamite saves. They won't go anywhere with Anderson in goal.
That's my opinion. They will not advance in the playoffs. They can get out of round one if they win the division with Freddie, but they ain't beaten the Rangers or the Devils in round two. That's just not going to happen. The other teams are either too good offensively or have better goaltending, and I don't think Carolina will overcome that.
So, I think they need Kachetkoff to go deep in the playoffs, but they need the Saturday night version of Piotr Kachetkoff. And one quick thing before we get back to talking about basketball. This is sad news, but at the same time, we're going to take an optimistic view of it. Eric Montross, legend of North Carolina, part of the Tar Heels Sports Network for years, was diagnosed with cancer. They're being very private about it, and we are going to talk to the folks at UNC at the better back part of this hour. I have met a lot of people in my travels covering ACC basketball. I have never met anybody remotely as nice as Eric Montross.
As kind, as generous with his time a person as I have ever met. And I could not wish anybody more positive thoughts than I wish for Eric Montross. But we'll talk to the University of North Carolina about that in about 25 minutes. So, I want to meet the person who's got all four of these teams in the final four. I have no idea if Joe Zagaki, the voice of the Miami Hurricanes, for the last, I guess, 18 years you've been the voice. You've been broadcasting hurricane sports for longer than that. Called five national championships in football, two college World Series national championships. And you have a chance to call a baseball, or rather a basketball, world championship.
But here's my question, Joe. If I had told you in 2004, when you guys entered the ACC, that you would get to a final four in men's basketball before you would get to one in football, would you have said, I was crazy? Yeah, I would have said, you're out of your mind.
I would have said, you're completely out of your mind. But here we are going to the final four before football is made to the playoff. And, you know, Miami has made it to the ACC championship game and the semifinals and all that in basketball. And they got a thriving basketball program.
So, yeah, I would say, I would have said, you're out of your mind. I don't think anybody ever really saw that coming. Can we just call the U of basketball school now and be done with it? The women have a chance to get to a final four too. Yeah, they got to the Elite Eight and got beat by LSU. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, they gave it a great run.
I've been asleep. They gave it a great run. I don't think they're ready to give up on calling Miami a football school because they've invested a lot of money, Adam, into football here.
And they expect similar results in the near future. What is the impact of Mr. Ruiz? Well, you know, I find it funny that everybody talks about him and the bigger impact to me. To me, the story isn't him, right? If you're talking about basketball, the story is Jim Larranaga.
Yeah. The story is Jim Larranaga and what he's done with this program and, you know, they were in the Elite Eight a year ago for all the NIL stuff and he did have them in the Sweet 16. He did win the ACC with a great team before NIL with Shane Larkin and Reggie Johnson and Duran Scott.
And I still think that was one of the greatest achievements in Miami history because they won in Greensboro against North Carolina State and North Carolina. So I think the bigger impact is Jim Larranaga. What John Ruiz is doing right now isn't any different. I don't know why people can't come to grips with this. It's not any different than what's been going on for how long?
Yeah, 20 years, 30 years more, except he's more vocal. And that's the way people are in Miami. In Miami, it's not good enough to have to be rich.
You have to tell everybody you're rich. In the case of college athletics, I would say old money is quiet money and that's the way it's been. But certainly it's been going on for a long time.
Oh, there's no question. Joe Zagatki is the voice of the Miami Hurricanes. I brought that up really facetiously because I'm glad you responded the way you did because we've known about Jim Larranaga for a while. We knew about him at George Mason. He learned to coach under Terry Holland and learned to coach. But, you know, he kind of cut his teeth in the big time under Terry Holland. Took George Mason to a miraculous run to a Final Four in which they beat Connecticut in order to get to a Final Four.
And that will be the obstacle for Miami to get to the national championship game. But I want to drill down a little bit more on Jim Larranaga. To me, he's the culture that he has created there. Can you explain why with the rosters at Miami, especially turning over as much as they have how he has been able to be so consistently good? Well, he recruits, you know, it's funny. He's one of these guys that adapts and so at Miami, you're not going to get the same five-star players that Carolina or Duke gets. At Miami, he's had tall teams, short teams, fast teams, healthy teams, injured teams. He figures it out with whatever he has and doesn't dwell on what he doesn't have. And then his team culture is one where people will ask this because of the NIL. And I think the players look at it and they don't understand it because what he preaches is, you should be happy for someone else's success.
And that's what he has. So guys are happy to just create a fun atmosphere for these players. They are always relaxed. They played Houston the other night. They played with a great joy.
They were unhappy. And so just create a great environment here. If you want to play for him, you can't really buy because you can get from him on and off the floor. And I'd also say that if he was at another program with a blue blood progress, he'd probably have national championships. The ACC could certainly use it, right? Yes.
There's no question the ACC could use Miami to be a Miami in football. I don't have enough time to go on that one right now. Hey Joe, have a good time in Houston this week.
Alright, thank you very much. Alright, we recorded that before the show. I'd love to be able to hear all of that. Especially Ken, his brother Ken, who works at NC State. He's a professor at NC State. So Ken Zagatki, appreciate you allowing your brother to come on this program. So shouts to Ken.
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