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No long-term commitments or contracts. That's Stamps.com Code Program. Alrighty, rock and roll in our number two of our radio program. It is the Zach Gelb Show Coast to Coast on CBS Sports Radio. One of the preeminent voices covering college basketball these days is Coach Seth Greenberg of ESPN, and he's kind enough as always to join us right here this time of the year on this show. Coach, always great to see you. Thanks so much for doing this and how you been? Any better?

I couldn't stand myself. This is a great time of the year. You think about a championship week, obviously the bracket reveal. The start of the NCAA tournament, you got the Masters, you got the Derby. I mean, it doesn't get any better than this, and you are such a big shot. Now, I'm just honored that I got invited to be on the Zach Gelb Show.

Well, I really do appreciate that. Let me start you off with Virginia, because you know this time of the year, there's always a team early that people are like, why did they get into the NCAA tournament? Usually that team finds a way to win a game or two, but Virginia last night only put up 14 points at half, and it was just really, really ugly to watch, right? I could sit here and make a case for Indiana State, you're either Pitt, the three big East schools. Why do you ultimately think the committee put Virginia into that spot last night?

I think it was the Florida win early in the season. You look at their resume, they didn't beat the Dukes in the North Carolina's. I mean, so I mean, the body worked over third place team in the ACC. I was the third place team twice in the ACC, didn't get in.

So, I mean, it's not like that can happen. Their non-conference schedule was pretty good. That was embarrassing, it was embarrassing for the ACC. When you play in the NCAA tournament, you not only play for your brand, your university, but you also play for your conference, and that was a really bad reflection on the ACC. I was really surprised they got in, and the reason I was surprised they got in is, look, they had four games in the month of February, they didn't get 50. So, them only getting 14 the first half is not a huge shock. Now, honestly, did I think they were going to be one of those teams that unplugged, plugged back in, rebooted, and actually won a couple of games because of the style of play?

Yes, but they were absolutely awful, and I think besides being awful, I didn't think they played with a sense of urgency or energy at any point in that game, and that's disappointing. And it's not the system, Zach, all right, because the system with good players wins. It's the players. They have not recruited well enough. They lost pros and replaced them with role players. Reece Speakman has not been surrounded by the same players he was surrounded by when he was a freshman and a sophomore, and they've got to go out and they got to get some dudes. They got to improve their NIL.

They might have to go through transfer portal if they can get kids in Virginia, but that was embarrassing. It was hard to watch. But let me just ask you this, and you're more plugged in than I am, and I'm just seeing it from afar. Because of what this new era is with the transfer portal and with NIL and how tough it is to develop players now, does the system then need to change just because of the landscape and the structure of the sport right now?

You probably need to adjust it. You know, agility is the key to any good business, whether it's a coach, whether it's a CEO, whether it's anyone who does anything. I mean, in your business as well.

I mean, you've got to have agility. You've got to stay ahead of the curve. That's where John Calipari's been so great. He's always stayed ahead of the curve. You know, Tony is kind of entrenched in what he does, but he said something in his postgame press conference.

He said he's going to have to look at it. Now, they're never going to be a one and done destination. They're never going to be living in a portal. But you can fill voids in a portal. Like they brought the minor kid in, Jordan Minor.

He just wasn't good enough. You're going to go to the portal. You've got to go to the portal for someone who can have an impact. And you've got to balance your roster because you're losing players. Khadim Shedrick, all right, he's at Texas.

He could help them win games this year. And you've got to make it more attractive. And the university has got to help as well with the collectives. The cost of doing business.

Your investment has to equal your expectation of college basketball. It's sad in a way, and I'm all for players getting paid. That's not a problem. It's sad that there's so much static around these players, whether it's a workout guy, a grassroots coach, a high school coach, a parent. There's so many voices. And then, you know, they've got to worry about their social media. They've got to worry about the collective.

They've got to worry about their NIL. Where does winning fit in? Where does just getting lost in the game?

And then where does education fit in as well? So there's a lot of stuff going on. It's got to be cleaned up. We're going to have a great NCAA tournament. We've had a great year. Conference tournaments, you saw all those ones go down all season long. We've seen ranked teams get beat by unranked teams. That's going to be a microcosm of the NCAA tournament.

Seth Greenberg here with us. Not just in their side of the bracket, their region, but in the whole field. Who has the best shot, team or two? Give me two teams to take down UConn. Like, who do you put the most confidence in? If UConn doesn't win at all, then who's the next two teams?

Well, I'd start in that bracket. I'd say it's Iowa State's style of play, you know, style of mixed fights. If you think about Iowa State, they can maybe disrupt the flow and rhythm of that Connecticut offense. They do a good job once the ball gets below the foul line of keeping it on the sideline, forcing it down. They're relentless. They almost play violently. I mean, like, you watch an Iowa State game and they're, you know, you're in the middle of, you know, you say aggressive, they're much more than aggressive. They, defensively, they are violent.

Now, how the game is going to be officiated is going to be interesting. They have the ability to get up and underneath Tristan Newton. They've got the ability to maybe keep it on one side, then eyeball over. So they got the ability to disrupt a UConn offense that plays just differently than everyone else. I mean, they really do.

It's ball and people movement. I always say Danny Hurley, defensively, they play like they're from Jersey City. Offensively, they play like they're from Phoeba.

I mean, it's just, you know, just kind of the way they play. So I would say, I would state, and then I would say on the other side of the bracket, you know, Auburn's similar, but not as relentless. On the other side of bracket, just on pure talent, it could be Kentucky.

You don't know if those young guards had the discipline to defend them, but pure talent, that backward is ridiculous. Do you think it all comes together for Kentucky in the tournament? I have them going to the championship game because I like Cal. So, and I've seen Sheppard play, he's phenomenal, but do you think they could put it all together and go on this run in their region and get to the Final Four? I think they can.

It's as if they will. They got to guard the ball. They've got to have one way to guard the ball screen. They got to keep the ball out of the lane. They got to rebound the ball defensively. I have them playing Connecticut in the championship game.

I just look at the background. Antonio reached monster season. Actually, every time he shoots it, you think it's going in.

And it's been good in clutch time, which obviously last year, you know, struggling in that game that they lost the NCAA tournament. Reed Sheppard just makes the game easy for everyone else. You know, you talk about Dillingham, you know, he's like an M1 mixtape.

He can get shot anytime you want to. Justin Edwards. Yeah, I think that's a big key. Like Justin Edwards is starting to emerge a little bit, which gives him a big wing defender.

And he's merged on the defensive end, which has made the game easier for him offensively. They got 21 feet of post player. And the keys to this team are a Dufiero, Trey Mitchell, and Antonio Reeves. Because those older guys have got to be the heartbeat of this team.

And then let the younger guys just go out and hoop. Just go out and play. Be aggressive.

But there's got to be an energy. And the one thing Cal's done with this team, and I'm sure you've seen some of the videos that I've talked to him a whole bunch. He's taken putting all the pressure on himself. He just wants those guys to go out and play. Good enough to win at Auburn. Good enough to win at Alabama. They're good enough to make it deeper in the NCAA tournament.

That was my mindset. And they did a good job of defending Alabama's guards. They did a good job of defending Auburn's guards.

So they've done it. But then, you know, they have games like they had against A&M. They have games like they had against Gonzaga, where they literally got beat on the same set five times in a row. And it wasn't even a hard set to defend.

But I think they've grown up a little bit since then. Talking to Seth Greenberg. So injury wise, it looks like Cole to the play for Marquette. We know McCullar Junior is now out for Kansas. I guess Dickinson is going to come back confidence wise with some of the unknown with Marquette and Kansas going into this morning.

I'm confident with Colic. Speaking of that, he heard that he said he saw him at the biggest tournament and that he was going to play. Now he's going to play hasn't played in a while.

Well, what's his conditioning to be like, what's his field going to be like? I mean, like he is a connector. He makes the game easy for everyone.

I mean, he's ridiculous. He's tough enough to get late and score, but he's crafty enough to get everyone a shot and possession takes a lot of pressure for Oso Iguodaro takes a lot of pressure over Jones. And Jones has been Ken Jones has been terrific with what he's had over 20 points a game.

I think over five assists a game. So in a way, you're getting a more versatile Kim Jones alongside his color. Now, the Kansas thing, I think it's a mess.

I think it's a mess. I think that they're losing the best defender, the best perimeter scorer, their best shot maker. And the other thing that changes, Zach, you probably know this a little bit.

Everyone moves up on the scattering point. You see, the game was a lot easier when McCollough's on one side for Johnny Furfry. The game was a lot easier when Duan Harris could rely on McCollough.

Without him, the pressure on those two guys is so great. And then spacing, how do you want to get 100 tickets to the ball? If he gets frustrated, what does he do? He goes and goes away from basket instead of just getting down a block where he could dominate the game. They're playing against the Sanford team that shoots about 45% of the shots from three-point line.

They turn you over about 21% of possessions. They play at one of the fastest speeds. They score in transition.

Altitude could be a factor. They play 10 guys. Chore-chore is legit. So, I mean, it's going to be interesting. The biggest question mark I have is the Midwest, because Tennessee, I love Dalton Connect. Purdue, right? We know what happened to them last year.

Kansas, you just laid it out perfectly. I picked Creighton, because I just don't think a lot of people will pick them. But I can't tell you I have a ton of confidence with them, but I like McCollough. They have some guys that returned from last year's team. Gonzaga, some people saying they could get upset in the first round. Other people have them go into the Elite Eight. Like, who's the team in that Midwest region that you latch on and will say, okay, that's the team I'll put in the Final Four?

I'm all in. As long as Braden Smith is healthy and playing 100%, and he wasn't healthy in that seven final game against Wisconsin, the way Chucky Hepburn went right around him, that guy's a tough, hard-nosed physical defender. I mean, he gave no resistance.

I mean, he gave no resistance. If he's healthy, I'm all into Perdue, not Perdote. A lot of people call him Perdote. I named that bracket, the Just Do It bracket. Perdue and Tennessee, like, let's go, man. Let's get to the Elite Eight. Let's compete to get to the Final Four. But why are you all in on Perdue?

Because everyone's going to say, I don't know. People are going to tell me when Virginia lost to UMBC the next year, they got the job done. Why could they get the job done? They're a better team. Those freshmen or sophomores, Lance Jones helps them, Mason Gillis gives them some versatility in their front court, Zach Evey is impossible, and a short turnaround to prepare for.

You know, look, I understand the St. Pete, and I understand losing to Harvard on the Hackensack, and I understand that. This team also, if you look at who they played in the round conference, they played all these great teams, all these different styles, and they kicked the crap out of them. So, they got to handle the pressure of the opening round and maybe the opening two games. I have enough confidence in them that as long as they're healthy, now, Braden Smith's not healthy. If he plays like he did against Wisconsin, they might not get to the Sweet 16.

But if he's healthy, Braden Smith's an All-American. Like, you know, we look, oh, they're backward, they're backward, they're backward. You know, or, well, when they lose, they turn it over 16 times a game. Well, most teams, when they lose, they turn it over, but they don't lose very often. You know, I mean, like, if you look at it, like, Tennessee loses when they don't shoot the three, and their opponent shoots the three. You know, Arizona loses when they don't guard the three, and they take bad shots. There's always a time, you know, when you lose that part of it what makes you your team, but they're a 40% three-point shooting team, Purdue. They only turn it over 16% of their possessions.

They can play inside, outside. They're a terrific passing team. Their analytics are great.

I'm not a big analytics guy. I think them and Tennessee will advance. My sleeper in that field is, in that bracket, is Oregon. Dan Altman has never lost a first round game. That would put him against Creighton, probably. And Folly Dante, in the last run in the Pac-12 tournament, the final Pac-12 tournament, 2011, two blocks a game. When he's good, then Shellstad's better. When he's good, Kuzma's better. Dana Altman's style of play, second day.

Obviously, it would be the old conspiracy theory, playing against his team. I like Creighton, but if it was four and four, I'd be all in on Creighton. But five through eight, I have no confidence in any of those guys. And it puts a lot of pressure on Ashworth. You know, like, because Ashworth's starting to play well. He's played really well.

But, look, I have great. I have great, great confidence in Alexander and Shireman and Kalkbrenner. The other thing is they always play that drop coverage. They get against a really good guard.

I'm not sure. That's when they struggle a little bit. I just think that when you go to the bench, you're not getting anything out of Miller.

They're not getting anything out of any of the guys. Green played really well in the game that they ran. Connecticut. But there's a but to it.

I mean, that was Connecticut. Short turnaround. Big game. You know, there's a lot to that game. Talking to Seth Greenberg.

A few more minutes with the former basketball coach now doing a great job for a bunch of years for ESPN. I think I'm like everybody else in the West. I want to see UNC in Arizona with just the natural Caleb Love connection. Is that what you have in the elite eight or do you go somewhere else upsetting us of seeing that one to match up?

No, that's my till we meet again bracket, by the way, are you gonna sing? I mean, no. Look, everyone wants to see RJ and Caleb.

That's great. But I think that game might come down to Harrison Ingram and Keisha Johnson. Keisha Johnson monster year and think about what's ending to say what they've done without Keisha Johnson loose nose guys, but Keisha Johnson bring some toughness that that Arizona team that they need. They've got to be more consistent in a perimeter play, take good shots, defend a little more purposely and they're lost. They haven't defended as well. But I do have that match up and that'd be fascinating. I mean, let's face it. It'll be an absolutely fascinating and seeing those guys to go at it, see how they interact before the game, the handshakes, everything about it is is good drama. So Carolina's good. Cormac Ryan's got to make some shots. I mean, I think it's the biggest problem for them. I mean, like they beat Duke and he's he's on Franklin Street party and then he struggles.

They beat Duke again. He's on the top of the bus. Then he struggles. I mean, nothing personal. But Cormac, get in the gym and work on your jumper. All right.

You can celebrate after the season, you know, priorities are the most important thing. He's a really good player. He brings in toughness, but he's like he's the threat of making shots. But if he makes one or two, he'll be runs the floor, gets out and transition.

What is that? What happens now when he runs the floor? Now when he runs the floor, you've got to match up with him. So now when Armando runs the floor, it's advanced pass, post pass, layup.

You do that one or two times. Now Armando's energized. Now all of a sudden you're stretching the court on the first side. Now you're stretching the court on his first side. That means the weak side guys are going to get the help.

So now it's a quick skip. You're forcing closeouts and guys are driving it and making plays. So I think Ryan's a big part of that. But yeah, I have Carolina Carolina winning that. And, you know, the black and blue bracket up top is just crazy. You know, you know, when you're talking about, you know, Auburn, Iowa State, you know, San Diego State, FAU, I mean, it's just, it's, it's an insane bracket.

Drake, who's really good. UConn's the number one overall seed. It doesn't feel like the committee thought they were the number one overall seed though with the draw.

I guess they gave him a region and then loaded up their region. Look, they're going to take over Brooklyn. And I think you go from Brooklyn to Boston, right? I mean, those are two home games. They remind me about the Huskies. They travel, you know, they remind me of, I'm not saying necessarily style of play, but Villanova, that second time that they won the championship under Jay, they had a tough draw, right?

Everyone was loving buddy healed in that matchup. And they just smacked everybody they play like that. I think UConn could obviously do that this year.

They don't play a lot of close games. Here's the deal. And you know, I'm pretty close to Danny. This is actually a good bracket for him because the guy needs a cause. He needs something to get his attention and to get his team's attention. And now he's got a cause, you know, they've given us no respect, but he sees big picture, but the way he is, he focuses on what's in front of him.

I can speak to him Sunday night and say, the only thing I'm worried about is Stetson. I mean, that's the way he gets laser focused or as he calls locked in and they'll worry about what's next next. And they're really, really good at it. And I've said it in other film sessions. His film sessions are so real. He's as good. I used to say his dad's practices were the best practices I've ever seen. And let me tell you something.

There's no difference every single day. The accountability in those practice, the intensity of those practices from the coaches to the players, to anyone who walks in the gym. It is second to none. It's really, it's really fun to watch.

That's when it was like a dynamics, just so much fun to watch. He's the face of the sport right now. Danny Hurley, hundred percent, hundred percent. But how about player wise in this tournament pound for pound? Who do you think is the best player in this tournament? Cause the women's game, right?

You got Kaitlin Clark, you got Angel Reese, you got Paige buckets. Like there's a lot of faces that are the actual players in the men's game. I'm trying to figure out who is the face of this tournament from a player standpoint.

Well, it's gotta be Zach. He's a two-time player of the year, I mean, along with that goes with pressure, but big guys don't sell. You know, people can't get excited about big guys. So, I mean, is it going to be Rob Dillingham going off and doing crazy things? And like, you know, one night, is it going to be, you know, you can go down that list is Jamal Shedd coming up with a steal late in the game? You know, is it going to be a matchup that becomes the story? Is it the Cinderella New Mexico who maybe, you know, gets by Clemson then gets by Baylor and all of a sudden we do have a Pitino in the elite, you know, the sweet 16 and the lead eight.

I mean, there's a lot of things that can happen. I'll tell you the other thing just on a big picture. Yesterday, I watched, I was in the studio for the NIT games. How hard those teams played last night was terrific. And like for the people that decided not to go, I have no problem with guys opting out of the NIT. If your team's not going to be committed, if you know, half your guys can be with their workout guide, trying to get ready for the draft. The other half's already in the portal because they didn't get to the NCAA tournament.

So they want to transfer. We saw what happened in the bowl games. It was brutal. They were exhibitions. They weren't games. Last night, we saw games.

We saw guys that were there. We saw Jake Ziebler get his first win as a head coach at Ohio State. I mean, like when he was, and I'll tell you one thing, if he lost that game, he could have opted out of that thing and not had the pressure of doing that. It was, let's face it, if he lost that game, it was all, did we do the right thing?

Did we hire him? They lost to Cornell. But instead, he coached a brilliant game, managed the game well, got his team back going. They win the game. That, like to me, that was the first game pressure that he had.

And he handled it well. And we saw a great rivalry in Providence and Boston College, which they should play twice every year. We need to get rivalries back in our game. So, you know, we saw Virginia Tech and Richmond. We saw USF and Central Florida, where there was almost a fight on the court. So the teams that did opt in, you know, that was good, hard play in basketball. Look, I have no problem with people opting out.

Like people say, oh my God, you got access to, like Tom, and I love Tom Creed, you got access to players 24-7 these days. You know, everyone wants to coach their team, but it's not your decision. It's your players' decision because you don't have a team or your team or teammates representative who wants to coach two walk-ons and three guys that were getting to the bench to get, you know, your rear end kicked. So like in theory, it sounds great, but I think once these teams committed, let me tell you something, they committed and they played really, really hard. You know, North Texas defending their championship from a year ago. You saw really good games and it was fun to watch. It was fun to watch and those teams are there for the right reasons. So I still think the NIT should be a mid-major national championship. That's what I think it should be.

The teams that don't get to the tournament make the NIT and blow it up and make it big. You're saying only mid-majors get in or just? Yep. Okay.

Yep. I think when we break off of these four conferences, I think you take the bottom 16 teams or 18, you know, 18 leagues and, you know, obviously there are certain teams that will not be in that group that I don't consider mid-majors. I don't consider Gonzaga a mid-major. I don't consider St. Mary's a mid-major. St. Mary's a mid-major. I don't consider much of the A-10 a mid-major.

The bottom of the Atlantic 10 a mid-major. So I just think we're going to have four pods. You talk about the first four, there are going to be four first fours.

All right. And it's going to be all the mid-majors. It's going to be basically all those mid-major teams and they're going to play their way into the first round. And that's the way. Because look, Zach, you're going to have conferences with 20 and 25 teams soon.

All right. 20, 25 teams. And people can say, oh, well, you know what? That team was, you know, 12 and 12 in their conference.

Yeah. Because there are no rocking chair games in that conference. You got to play well every single night.

You're only going to play six other games and probably one MTE and a couple of major TV games. So I think you got to find something that all of the others, whether it's the Northeast Conference, whether it's the MAAC, whether it's the M-A-A-C, whether it's, you know, they're that where they can actually compete for a national championship and no different than what is the FBS in this college football. Right.

It's no difference in that. You don't think those people and that would, FBS is that the lower division, right? And FCS. Yeah. FCS.

Yeah. You don't think those people celebrate that championship. They know they're not Alabama.

They know they're not those other programs, but you know what? They can get a chance to play on and celebrate a championship. It's great, you know, and build it up where it's something special. Now we have the NIT. We got the CDI. They got to buy me. You look at the field in that thing.

It's like, you know, half of the tournament has got a losing record. Yeah. Seth, always appreciate it. Thanks so much. Now March Madness can get underway once you join us on this show.

So we appreciate the time. You're the man. Proud of you, brother.

Proud of you. You got it. There he is, the great Seth Greenberg joining us on the Zach Gelb show. A lot to unpack from that conversation.

We'll come on back and do so. Alrighty, this is that Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. This was a little bit surprising earlier today. Tiger Woods is going to give it a go for the Masters as that was announced.

I was not really anticipating that. That was not really on my radar, but even with the physical state or lack of it of Tiger Woods, just having him there for the Masters if he could get through the entire tournament. And if he makes the cut, even if he doesn't. And I know it's the Masters and you know, I'm going to be watching anyway.

And I'm going to be having my Masters pool that I'll jump into as well. But just having him there bare minimum for what you hope is the first two days of the tournament, and then we'll see if he makes the cut. That's tremendous for the sport. And even with Tiger Woods not being like the old Tiger and him giving us that moment years ago at the Masters when I thought he was never going to win another major again.

There is always a presence. There is always a roar that is felt with Tiger and he always does give a ratings boost and a ratings increase. And there have been other players that have been able to stand out in golf. I really think the popularity of golf did grow during the pandemic and there were individual stars that did get me excited to tune in.

But now with Liv and then you have this very ambiguous financial merger and things like that, and there's still a future is unknown. The individuality with golf when you have some guys playing at Liv and then some guys playing at the PGA Tour, then that did take a hit. And it was very short lived, like crazy popularity during the pandemic where everyone was in on golf. But having for the most part everyone under the roof at Augusta or everyone in the building at Augusta and Tiger now going to give it a go. I think it's a positive thing and it makes you think, you know, you go through the major sports like Tiger always gives golf a boost and the name of Tiger is still preeminent even if it's not reflected with the play on the course through 18 holes a day. And we'll see if he can get through an entire tournament. But you go through Major League Baseball, the face of the sport right now. The biggest draw to the sport is Shohei Ohtani, but he never gets into the postseason barring a disaster.

He'll get into the postseason this year because he's off the Angels and now he's with the Dodgers. And how about this? Can I ask you for an honest answer, Samter?

And I'll ask Batcher as well. Did you guys know the baseball season started today? Like up until I either just said it or until you had maybe seen a highlight of it. Did you know that the Dodgers are playing the Padres at like 3 a.m. Eastern Time or whatever it was this morning and the baseball season for the Dodgers and Padres did start today? Did you know that?

Yes. When did you know that? Over the weekend I had read some things about, you know, Ohtani obviously being in Korea and then there was some banner that was put up to, you know, in Korea to preview and to promote the game of a player that was no longer on the Padres and so there was a lot of backlash against MLB for that. So I knew that it was happening and then obviously I, you know, just kind of followed it along. But yes, they did do a great job of promoting it. I only knew about, honestly, I knew more about it because of the mistake on the banner of a guy who was no longer there. But outside of the game actually being played, you know, ESPN kind of discussed it a little bit, but it's Shohei Ohtani. And I know it's like, you know, it was an early morning kind of game.

But on the West Coast, it started at 3 a.m. local time there. Mention something about it. Do something. But yeah, I mean, there's been some talk about it. Baseball has a terrible marketing plan and a lot of that goes back to their incompetent pose of a commissioner and Rob Manfred, who I am not a fan of. But like it's 162 games, so I'm not going to be up in arms. But even someone that's in the sports world, I would have legitimately not have known that the baseball season started today. If it wasn't last week, we had to move up our fantasy baseball draft because people were losing their minds. When you have keepers with the Dodgers or the Padres that if you waited an extra week to do the fantasy baseball draft, then obviously the players and the numbers like today, like the 3.25 points that I got from Zander Bogarts would not have counted because they would not have been on my roster. Then I know Zander Bogarts is not one of my keepers. I got him in the draft.

That's the only reason why I knew that the baseball season for the Dodgers and Padres did start is because of the fact that I had to move up my fantasy baseball draft and do it on Sunday. So Otani is the biggest draw in baseball. Tigers still the biggest draw in golf whenever he's a part of a tournament for hockey. I think it's Connor McDavid. He's the best player in the sport for football. I think most people would say Patrick Mahomes, but Samson, let me run something by you. This past year, isn't it Travis Kelce? I know Mahomes won another Super Bowl. I know Mahomes won another Super Bowl MVP and football doesn't need any more eyeballs.

But how many more eyeballs did they get this year? Because Travis Kelce, who's one of the greatest tight ends of all time, was dating Taylor Swift and that brought a new audience in. Like Mahomes, we all know, is the face of the sport, but was the biggest draw this year. Travis Kelce with the Kansas City Chiefs. I think Kelce was the biggest draw for the non-football fan and maybe a little bit for the average football fan. But it feels like a flash in the pan.

It feels like it was kind of like catching lightning in the bottle for this year. I don't know if he's going to be the biggest draw. He is a big name. He's entertaining. He has his podcast.

He says interesting things. But I have a hard time, like, as much as you want to like or dislike the Jets or Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers is a big... He didn't play last year. Yeah, but I'm just saying, like, that's the name that people was like, oh, I want to see Aaron Rodgers. Oh, yeah. I was very excited to see how he was going to go with the Jets, but then he got hurt.

So that went right out the window. Right. So I guess it has to be Mahomes. I think it's probably Mahomes. I think Caleb Williams is going to be a big draw this year. Dak is always a huge draw.

Whether you think he's great or not, he's a huge draw. He's polarizing. Like him individually is not polarizing, but Dak is a player becomes polarizing because you have the delusional Cowboy fan that thinks they're actually going to do something great. And then everyone else is just being realistic, saying Dak's a good quarterback. But come postseason time, him and his team never shows up.

Right. But just the reality of ratings, Cowboys blow every other game out of the water, mostly because they're that 425 star. But the Cowboys games always get highest ratings every week. And Dak is a part of that.

The Cowboy brand is the other part of that. So I think Dak is a big draw. But the one thing about football that you'll say is that because it's such a team oriented sport, it's hard to say, like, I'm watching this game for a guy.

Right. You're watching the game for the game more so than most any other sport. Basketball, you're watching for a guy. Well, it's also the best regular season product. I don't need incentive to tune into a football game.

I will need incentive. And there's so many baseball and there's so fewer football games, but 162 games. Like, I love baseball to watch every game. It's a lot. Now you tell me, Oh, Tony's coming to New York.

What is he in the in like the first weekend of June? I have people saying, Oh, let's go to a Yankee and a Dodger game to see Oh, Tony for football. I don't need a singular person to draw me in, but there are players that you love to watch that are extremely entertaining basketball. I still think Steph Curry is the biggest draw in the sport. Now, LeBron historically, right, is the better player.

And we know like LeBron is, I don't want to turn into a debate is the second greatest player of all time. But for Steph, it's, he does such a unique thing on the court where his shooting is just ridiculous. And I'm not saying we could all relate to Steph, but if you go into a gym and you say, who's easier to replicate, like a youth league gym, is it LeBron or is it Steph Curry? It's Steph because you can just stand 10 feet from behind the three point arc and just try to attend.

He actually sinks him, but try to attend three pointer after three pointer. He's also just a smaller human being compared to LeBron James. So right now, those are the guys that I think are the biggest draws in sports. And then in women's basketball, it's clearly Kaitlin Clark. So women's basketball, it's Kaitlin Clark. Golf, it's Tiger Woods. Hockey, it's Connor McDavid. Baseball, it's Shoei Ohtani. Basketball, it's Steph Curry. In the NFL for me, it's Patrick Mahomes. Who's the biggest draw in sports right now? 855-2124 CBS, 855-212-4227.

I'll make this very quick. We also heard Connor McGregor saying that he might be coming back. I can't stand him.

This summer. You're a big UFC fan. I used to be. Is Connor McGregor still the biggest draw in UFC? Not the best fighter, the biggest draw in the UFC when he returns this summer. It pains me to say it, but you are right on that.

Like you said, I was right earlier in the week. Now I will admit when you are right. When he returns, I hope he gets his ass kicked. And I don't even know if he will ever return. And I don't even know if he'll fight Chandler. And I said this to Dana White's face two years ago at the Super Bowl that I think Michael Chandler will kick his ass. But I can't stand Connor McGregor with how much crap he's done out of the octagon. You know, beating up an old guy because you wouldn't try your overrated whiskey and things like that and everything else that comes with Connor McGregor. He is past the prime. Let's just say way past the prime over the hill in Connor McGregor. But if he announces that he's going to fight at Madison Square Garden, let's say November. Yeah, I probably would go in and want to see it, but I'd be rooting for him to get his ass kicked. That's the difference.

To be a draw, I think the guys that are the great draws are guys that 50% of the people love them and then 50% of the people hate them. News brief next. Update time first.

Here is the act man, Rich Ackerman. Call from mom. Answer it.

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Minimum monthly payment down payment tax and delivery may be required. See store for details. Time for your daily news brief. We get you caught up on the rumors, reports and reconnaissance from the day in sports.

All right. In this free time, Zach Yeltz shows TBS sports radio. Let's start things off with Virginia's coach. Tony Bennett, his team embarrassing last night, only 14 points at halftime. And obviously they lost to Colorado State.

They didn't belong in the NCAA tournament. Now the question becomes, will Tony Bennett reevaluate their system? Absolutely. I always have to examine, you know, our ability to advance. We've raised the bar really high here. We've qualified for this tournament, which is not an easy thing. We've done well, but it's stung to get to this point and not advance. And so, of course, we've got to keep adding quality players. We've got to look at things certainly from a system standpoint.

Absolutely. I just wish we could have played better. When you have won a championship before at that school, playing a little bit of the participation trophy line doesn't fly with me. When he goes, yeah, we made the tournament, right? That's great.

Like almost kind of set it up. But I know we did still have a positive season. You didn't belong in the NCAA tournament. You shouldn't have been an NCAA tournament team. I'm not going to trash his system because the system did win a championship.

But with how much they rely on slowing the game down, defense and team chemistry, it's tough to build those things now in a landscape that just keeps on changing and changing and changing because of the transfer portal and NIL. Let's go to Connor McGregor. Samter brought this up earlier. He was on ESPN and he was asked when he will be returning to the UFC.

Yeah, we got we got confirmation a few days ago that it's all systems go. And the Mac, the notorious will be returning in the UFC Octagon this summer. This summer. That's Chandler. Michael Chandler. Yes, Michael Chandler.

185. It's Chandler. I got to shut up, Michael. You imbecile.

The lady doesn't shut up. I like Mike. I'm going to bust him up. I'm going to bust Mike up yet. Oh, yeah, now it was a little tough to understand him for a second.

Why did he get so frustrated there? Like you was he was there like a handler in the background? I know he's talking about Mike Chandler. And then I said, oh, maybe he's upset that Mike Chandler has been talking.

Michael Chandler is going to kick his ass. He's actually in shape. Connor McGregor isn't in shape. Yeah, but I don't think that even matters. I think Conor McGregor became popular because he's the best bleep talker in the history of sport.

Maybe. I mean, you got Larry Bird. You got Kevin Garnett. You got Conor McGregor. Conor McGregor was entertaining and a bleep talker.

Muhammad Ali right up there in that same class of just being able to talk bleep and back it up until he couldn't. Now he can't back it up anymore. So that's why it's all empty threats.

It's like empty stats. Sure, but I'm going to watch him fight. It's going to be the first UFC fight that I'm going to see in three years because I want to see him go.

That's a bad job out of you. Come on. The problem is I lost faith in the UFC.

That's fine. I love the UFC. I used to not watch as much years ago. Now, whenever there's a big card, I will tune in. Like, I'm not going to tell you. I could tell you this guy wins.

Where does he advance and who does he go on to face? But I'm really into it. I love watching UFC and I've gone two times. The problem with Conor McGregor, he just infuriates me.

I get it. He's still a draw. Like I just told you last segment. I will watch when he fights, but there's no way. I think there's a 0% chance that Conor McGregor is fighting this summer. This fight's supposed to be happening for two years. I talked to Dana White two years ago at a Super Bowl about this fight.

It's still two years later. This guy doesn't have his act together. He's out of shape. He's probably on some steroids if we're going to just say a little bit for a while. And, you know, he's eating and drinking too much.

He's partying. He cares more about being the celebrity than the fighter. He does not prioritize being a fighter anymore. And when you win all those fights and you make all this money and you take the beating or you've issued the beating that you've given out, it still comes at a cost. You don't need to fight anymore. But to try to half-ass it now to see you get pummeled again, I will tune in for that.

But I don't think it's happening this summer because we keep on getting told it's happening, it's happening, it's happening, and then it never does happen. Here is Mike Williams on why he elected to sign with Samtor Still, J-A-T-S, jets, jets, jets, because you have not got the tattoo yet. So I will not call you a Kansas City Chiefs fan. Well, for me personally, I just felt like it was a great fit for me playing alongside Garrett, kind of remind me of Keenan a little bit, similar style play, great route runners. And I feel like we can complement each other in that area. The running game is pretty good. Defense is elite. So I just feel like we got a pretty good opportunity ahead of us. Just looking forward to it. Ryan Botcher, my understanding is you are a jet fan.

I think you are an intelligent human being. There's a lot of, I know you're not new anymore, but newer people that have come in that I don't really trust, that I don't have a lot of confidence in. I think you kind of get the reputation of being like that number one prospect that comes in and then you've delivered.

So this question is going to really determine where our relationship goes from here. And the answer, you are a jet fan with the moves they made this off season, getting Terron Smith, now getting Mike Williams. Where's your confidence with this team heading into the season? I have no confidence until I actually see it. Thank you.

You are a sane human being. You are a smart fan, unlike Samter yesterday, who's still a jet fan. And he's like, Kansas City Chiefs, even though they're my Chiefs, watch out. The Jets, their roster, it's loaded. It's spectacular.

It's unbelievable. First of all, that was tongue in cheek because my Chiefs are going to blow. Who are you, Tiki Barber, Mr. Tongue in Cheek? No, the Jets. Watch out, Chiefs. He was actually tongue in cheek. You weren't yesterday.

That's ridiculous. The Chiefs are going to blow the Jets out of the water. You've had an identity crisis where you are saying you love the Chiefs, but down deep, you're still a Jets fan.

No, so here's the thing. The Chiefs have nothing to worry about with the Jets, at least not yet, until we see what the Jets can be. My point was on paper now. I went back and started looking at some of the PFF grades. The 49ers are elite. This is where you lose the PFF grades.

Yeah. So the 49ers, from every metric, every metric, the 49ers are the best. So the Jets don't contend there. But I was looking at all the other teams with great rosters, and the Jets can contend with their roster on paper with any other team other than the 49ers. Here's the problem with the Jets roster. Teron Smith is an injury waiting to happen at this stage of his career. I said it healthy and on paper. Mike Williams is an injury waiting to happen. So the Jets are two players getting hurt, and it's not like they never get hurt.

Rogers coming off an Achilles. I get all that on paper. But I understand. I heard what you said. I have ears that are working.

I will respond to what you said. The Jets are an injury away from a left tackle and a wide receiver, being the same team as they were a year ago. Outside of you get Rogers back, so you'll be a few games improvement. This is not a Super Bowl team.

This is not a team that's going to win multiple playoff games. Finally, here's Saquon Barkley. Funny story about his daughter and the Eagles, courtesy of the Eagles' Twitter. But my daughter, funny story with her. She knows there's a lot of history in my career with the Eagles.

I remember one time when I was with Giants and we lost to Philly in the playoffs, we went to Diner to get some Brevicks. And there was a bird, and she was like, Daddy, oh no, oh no. And I'm like, what is it? She points to the bird, and she was like, it's the Eagles, it's the Eagles. And me and Anna, you know, we just started laughing, and I just put my head down and just kind of started shaking. So when I told her that we're going to be going to Philly, she kind of was just like, does that mean we're going to win now? And I just started smiling again, and I was like, hopefully we can win some more games. Wow, great audio quality by the Eagles, by the way.

But you know, your children know everything, and they kind of kept him honest. He said, OK, now we could be a winner going on from the Giants. I can hear Mraz already down the hall. Oh, just waiting for him to fumble, waiting for him to drop the football once again.

You're going to win nothing in Philadelphia. Celebrate and save at Ashley's anniversary sale with hot buys your choice of colors starting at just three ninety nine. Ashley's sleep mattresses starting at two fifty plus receive a free adjustable base with select mattress purchases and shop top mattress brands like Stearns and Foster, Tempurpedic Purple and Beautyrest Black with 60 months special financing only at Ashley. Subject to credit approval. No minimum purchase required.

Minimum monthly payment down payment tax and delivery may be required. See store for details. 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 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 thirty six thousand miles of complementary maintenance.

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