Brendan Haywood, CBS Sports CBB Analyst

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He's kind enough to join us right now on the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Brendan, appreciate the time as always. How you been? I'm pretty good, man. Thanks for having me.

Well, thanks so much for coming on. So let me start you off with your UNC Tar Heels, number one seed. Where's the confidence level with your squad headed into postseason play in the big dance? Confidence is sky high right now. I love the way this Tar Heel team competes.

I think RJ Davis is the best guard in the country, if not the best player in the country. I know we had a disappointing loss to NC State in the ACC tournament, but I do think that will serve to get the guy's attention. Instead of hearing about how great they are for the net for the last couple of days, they'll have that hunger inside of them.

And I'm sure they're going to come out there with playing with their hair on fire. So I look at future matchups and what the committee tries to do from a storyline standpoint. And if we could get an elite eight matchup with the spot to the final four on the line between UNC and Arizona with the Caleb Love connection, that would really be something. I think that's what everyone is hoping for if you're kind of neutral here when you take a look at that part of the bracket.

Yeah, I think everybody would love to see that match up, but I don't think it will be the storyline that people think it is. Caleb Love and Carolina, it wasn't a divorce that ended badly. Normally with a kid transfer out, he doesn't like the coaching staff, but Caleb still has a connection to the coaching staff. They actually call each other from time to time and Caleb and some of the players on that team, they're still friends.

So then there would definitely be a big time competition. Obviously, he would love to have that matchup, but it wouldn't be the angst and the anger that you normally get when you have a kid transferring out of a program. Normally, it's a messy divorce. This was kind of, it's kind of the new norm now in college basketball with NIL and the transfer portal, the divorces don't always have to be messy. And maybe this is just one of those situations like you're talking about Brendan Haywood here with us. But on the other side, you look at Arizona, you know, we could talk about this UNC Arizona matchup and Tommy Lloyd has done a nice job at Arizona, but in the March Madness two years ago had the number one seed, they lost in the sweet 16 last year as a two lost to Princeton.

So what is kind of the view from afar on Arizona? Can they meet up to these expectations now headed into March? I think one of the things that people do that is a misconception, the tournament, they judge you off of your past. All of you lost early last two years, you're gonna lose this year. Well, this year is different. This year, they have Caleb Love on the team, averaging 18 points a game, a guy that's been in big time games before he he's hit big time shots.

You saw the shots he hit two years ago in the final four against Duke. This guy understands what it is in those type of moments. I like this Arizona ball club. I like the big fella inside. I think Arizona is primed for a big time run. And I picked my bracket. I do have Carolina going up against Arizona in the Elite Eight. How far do you have UNC going by the way? Come on man championship.

If not, I'll be ex communicado. All the way to the end. So it's it's unique with UNC because we don't always get to see guys that play for three, four years. I know some guys right now could be fifth year because of the whole COVID year. When you look back at this group, especially Armando Baycott and everything he's been through, just as this is starting to come to a close, what has really stood out to you with his career from one big man to another? Yeah, I mean, Baycott's been there a minute.

He's about to get a doctor's degree. So it's one. It's one of those words where he's a seasoned veteran. But that's how you win that.

These one and done guys. That's not who's winning. These veteran teams that have that a little bit older guy who had been there and been through some things.

Those are the teams that win. I think if Carolina is going to make a run, as much as we talk about RJ Davis, Baker has to be strong every single night and give us that inside presence. And I think he's capable of that. And he can almost we've seen him do it before he had a Sean Mayesh type of run when they went to the final for a couple of a couple of seasons ago. And I think he can tap back into that again.

Talking to Brendan Haywood right now. Another game that you have is Gonzaga and McNeice, a lot of people are gonna jump on the Will Wade train and they're disrespecting Mark view and Gonzaga just because this isn't the best team that they've ever had in this NCAA tournament. Do you think Gonzaga is get a little bit disrespected this time of the year?

Yeah, I think Gonzaga is definitely getting disrespected. And normally, Mark, you as a team that's been flying higher on the radar, and you got a couple of a couple more NBA guys on the team, and they don't have that issue. But that doesn't mean that they won't be ready. They won't be prepared.

Mark, you one of the best to ever do it. I like exactly to win this game just because I think the coaching staff is going to have them ready to play. And I take a look at this Midwest region. So you have Tennessee, there's always questions with Rick Barnes this time of the year, even though Dalton connect is phenomenal in the SEC Player of the Year, Purdue with Matt painter, they usually have early exit. It's in this NCAA tournament. Creighton has their limitations. And then there's Kansas, there's some health issues, we'll see if two of their players are going to be made available.

But are people may be sleeping on Kansas a little bit? Or is it fair to wonder just when you don't know who's going to be able to play for them? Well, right now, they're both their leading scores are possibly out, they're saying they might get Hunter Dickerson back. But they're still going to be missing possibly 18 points per game from their lead score. So there's reason to have questions about Kansas just because how good can a team be if they're that compromised? Normally, if your leading score is not there, you're going to struggle a little bit.

So I think that Kansas the questions are definitely valid. And especially if Hunter Dickerson is not there, because Bill South's offensive has always been high level, even when he was at Illinois, it was all about the high low offense. And if the high low aspect isn't there, and Hunter Dickerson is compromised, not 100% or not playing at all, that could really help Kansas and Sanford to go in there and sneak up on him. The story of this tournament is going to be who's going to be able to take down Yukon, if anybody at all, I think they're actually better this year than they were last year as a four seed a year ago. Now the number one overall seed. How do you think Yukon is going to deal with that pressure going into this tournament only three losses on the year? And Yukon is one of the better teams in the nation, the number one in offense, number 11. And defense that combination right there tells you who they are, excuse me, and what they're all about. They run excellent half court sets. When they talk about some of those weak side pin down slip screens, all the things that they run. Coach Hurley has those guys getting easy offense because of how fluid the offensive execution is.

So I really like Yukon. I'd have them in the championship games. They weren't on the side of the bracket going against Carolina, but I understand the allure. This team's only lost three games all year.

Those games have been on the road. They're a great team. They have a championship DMA and experience, well coached. I like Yukon to make it big time, right? I definitely have them in my final four. Well do this. Let's just say, take Yukon out of the mix and I'm going to take UNC out of the mix.

Cause I know what the answer would be. If I asked you, if you don't have Yukon win at all, you're going to say, UNC, who is that team? If it's not Yukon, if it's not UNC, who's the team that you really latch on to and say, okay, this is the team that Brendan Haywood likes the most. Well, it's going to be a team that the people are probably going to be a little bit sour on right now because of their last performance.

That would be the Houston foods. I know they got smacked by 20 by Iowa state, but this is one of the best defensive teams that we have in the country. Kelvin Sampson coaches aggressive defense. Those guys, that defense is always going to translate. They slow that game down. They're one of the slower teams when it comes to pace, they're going to slow it down, grind it out, play that high level defense. They're going to be aggressive too. You're going to have to keep them off the backboard, things of that nature.

50-50 balls or 80-20 balls. That's how Kelvin Sampson coaches his guys. Go get those loose balls. And then I like Cryer and Shed. This time of year, you need a back quarter.

You need guards that can go get it on their own when things break down. And I think that I like that Houston has two of those guys. Last thing I'll ask you is some people are saying they're more excited for the women's tournament than the men's tournament. I'm more excited for the men's tournament, but I don't say that with any disrespect, right? We all know how great Kaitlin Clark is. South Carolina is undefeated. We have the story of Angel Reese as well as LSU is trying to win another championship. You got Paige Buckets. How about the developments and the advancements of the women's game?

Because we're talking about it now a lot more than we have in previous years. I think this is probably the first time since I've been watching college basketball that the elite upper echelon stars on the women's side, not the men's, not the men's side. You talk about Kaitlin Clark. You talk about Angel Reese.

You talk about Juju Watkins. Like the elite names on the women's side. Like in the men's game, we have some really good teams. I talk about Houston, but you're not going to mention a guy like L.J.

Cryer in the same category as a Kaitlin Clark. Or we talk about Angel Reese and what LSU is doing and that like the names on the women's side are bigger than the names on the men's side. And that's just where it is right now.

That signifies two things. First of all, men's college basketball this year is a little bit down from an overall talent standpoint. We're going to get an infusion of talent next year. And then also it talks about how where the women's game has made strides and the women's game is really picking up. And some of the most watched games this year have been on the women's side.

So I'm happy for the attention, the exposure that they're getting because it's well overdue. And you bring up a great point, because usually in college athletics, the names really resonate with coaches and the women's games game. We're talking more about the players in the men's game.

There's not many players that you bring up. And I would say probably the face of men's college basketball right now is Danny Hurley, because, you know, he'll be a maniac on the sideline. He could be polarizing 50 percent of the people love him, 50 percent of the people hate him. And most importantly, he coaches at a big brand and a school that I consider a blue blood in Yukon. Yeah, and that's that's part of gardening attention as well. When you have when you have those haters, those people that tune in just to see you fail, that's going to lift your brand up. And so Hurley definitely has that.

Some people don't like me personally. I like the fact that he's passionate. He coaches with a little bit of fire. Long as he keeps it under wraps to a certain degree, I don't have a problem with it at all. I think his guys don't have a problem with it.

But don't get it twisted. They are one of the most prepared teams in college basketball when you talk about offensive execution and defensive efficiency. You in or out on Kentucky this year? I want to be in because they're so fun. But something in my heart is a defensive big man, a team that's that bad defensively seems like they might have some long days in the tournament, but they can score with anybody. You know what, man?

I'm all here for the fun. Let's go with let's let's go with Kentucky to make a big time run as well. Just simply because we talk about Dillingham, Shepard, they have two guys that are definitely going to be taken in the top 10, might be taken in the top five, and they can score on anybody without immense three point ability. But their defense does scare me. I mean, they might let me go out there and get get 15 to 20 on right now.

And I don't even have a lefty. What a line. Well, you could catch him all throughout the tourney first two rounds Salt Lake City. He'll be there. Brendan Haywood is here courtesy of better line. Check out better line for the most up to date game lines, futures and props in the upcoming NCAA men's tournament. Brendan, enjoy the week coming up next week. Thanks so much for doing this. You be well.

Thank you. Old Man Winter here. If I had it my way, it would stay winter all year long. Short days, wind chill, black ice and a good polar vortex.

Heaven. Wait, is it getting warm in here? Your cold snap is over, old man. Winter spring has arrived.

Spring. Spring is here, which means it's the perfect time to get away in the Hyundai you've always wanted. Visit the Hyundai getaway sales event where you can get great deals with your where you can get great deals on all of our award winning Hyundai models like the tech filled Tucson and Kona, as well as the spacious Palisade. Enjoy wherever you go with the peace of mind that comes with America's best warranty and three years or 36,000 miles of complimentary maintenance.

But hurry in. These deals won't last. Add more joy to your journey at the Hyundai getaway sales event. Now get 0% APR or up to 1500 bonus cash on the Hyundai Tucson. Now during the Hyundai getaway sales event offers end soon call 562-314-4603 for details. Celebrate and save at Ashley's anniversary sale with hot buys your choice of colors starting at just $399.

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