Zac Taylor Has HOTTEST Seat (Hour 3)

It's early. I'm not an impatient person, but we are looking for our first moment of the NCAA tournament so far. Creighton beat Louisville 89 to 75. Nice win, but it was 89. Purdue survived high point 75 to 63. Wisconsin blew out Montana 85 to 66. Houston, they just destroyed SIU Edwardsville 78 to 40. And right now we have one, two, three, four games going on. Gonzaga is dominating Georgia right out of the gate. 27 to 5. So that could set up a fun second round matchup when you take a look at the Bulldogs of Gonzaga because a big part of that was, okay, Houston, I said the road was so easy but maybe their toughest opponent could be Gonzaga even though I picked Georgia.

Not a great pick there. Tennessee also throwing that conversation too, but you look at the four number one seeds in the tourney. Like Auburn-Creighton is going to be, I think, a phenomenal round to 32 game. That actually feels like a sweet 16 game. If you say Auburn-Creighton, you know, two months ago you meet up at the NCAA tournament, I'd say a sweet 16 probably.

So you're going to get that in the round to 32. Other potential 1-8-9 matchups. Florida, assuming they get through, will get the winner of UConn and Oklahoma. Duke gets the winner of Mississippi State and Baylor. But you look at it, what is brewing here, I think you circle Auburn and Creighton and you also circle Houston and Georgia and quite frankly if UConn beats Oklahoma then you will get some intrigue even though Florida right now is playing like they're the best team in the country because of what Hurley has done the last two years heading into before this with the back-to-back national champs. So everyone talked about before this tournament, including yours truly, we get four one seeds in the final four. These number one seeds, you know, Duke's not gonna have to sweat. Houston's not gonna have to sweat.

Even early on, and there's still a lot more to happen, there are some potential matchups brewing in the round to 32 where you will have my attention and you will definitely have my interest. Now Auburn, they are four minutes and 20 seconds away from getting that date with Creighton as they're up 74 to 53. So barring a epic collapse, Auburn's going to be off to the round to 32. McNeese is still shredding Clemson. They have been even in the second half at 16 apiece, but that game is 47 to 29 in favor of McNeese over Clemson.

So that's the first big moment. If McNeese holds on here in the final nine minutes and 23 seconds, that's the first big moment of this NCAA tournament. A 12 beating of five, but not only a 12 beating of five, it's this Will Wade story. Will Wade is at McNeese, but we know he took the NC State job. So how far is he going to be able to go in this NCAA tournament? And some people had Clemson as a trendy pick. I had them go into the sweet 16 before losing to Houston, but Clemson, McNeese, Purdue, High Point, that was the opening round matchup. Purdue already beat a High Point. So whoever wins Clemson, McNeese will be going up against Purdue in the round to 32. So McNeese is starting to become the star of the NCAA tournament up 48 to 29 now with 916 remaining in the first half. And BYU, they pulled away a little bit.

And we were talking about this Fanta the other day, how I liked this BYU team. BYU came far from over, but they have pulled away a little bit up against VCU. It's 39, 28 going into halftime.

And Gonzaga is now up 30 to 10 up against Georgia. The night games, which you start to look at the night games at 6.50 PM Eastern time. I'm actually really curious about this. So I'm going to this place in the city that used to be called Bar Coastal.

Rothstein loves it. And now it's called Plug Uglies. I don't know what went down, but Bar Coastal shut down. I was devastated.

They opened it back up. I don't know why. I'm talking, by the way, with my ID in hands right now to scan into the studio. I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing today. I put those Buffalo Wild Wings goggles on. Now I think I'm actually drunk.

But anyway, I'm going right after the show ends in 55 minutes uptown, like all the way, I think it's like on 80 something or 70 something, something like that. So I'm going uptown and Plug Uglies is basically what Bar Coastal used to be with the same exact menu. And they have delicious wings. You know, they have these Kerry's Ways wings. They are just a phenomenal sauce, like a yellowy, orangey sauce. They're spicy. They're good.

They come with tremendous waffle fries. But I don't know how popular that place is, even though it was booming when it was Bar Coastal, but now it's Plug Uglies. And I don't know what the appetite is for the NCAA tournament in New York City. Now St. John's is in the picture, but they don't play till 10 o'clock tonight. So I'm going like six of my buddies do, but they don't take reservations for the NCAA tournament. So it's walk-in only. So they're expecting probably a big crowd.

I'm hoping since we'll all get there at 6.30 and the night window doesn't start till 6.50 p.m. Eastern time, that will be okay. But I don't have a damn clue what to expect. And I'm really craving these wings. I had a healthy lunch today and I want to pig out. I want to eat wings because that's what men do during the NCAA tournament is hang out with their buddies, eat wings, and lose a bunch of money.

I mean, try to win a bunch of money. And I'm going to be very disappointed if I get there and they're like, oh, it's like a two-hour wait. So I may be out of luck here. Yeah, it's like four, that's like four blocks from where I used to live, by the way, too. It's funny, as soon as I moved in, Barco's stolen away, so maybe I'm the problem. Maybe I'm the one to blame for that. Yeah, something had to happen behind the scenes because it's literally the same menu, just under a different name.

So maybe they had a partner or something and they just pushed the partner out and then plug uglies to somewhere else in the city, then maybe they find a way to make that work. I think you'll be fine. I think you'll be okay. You might have to wait a tiny bit. You're all so optimistic. Now, this is what happens.

If I have to wait like an hour and a half, I'm going to be texting you now. Like, oh, you jinxed me, you mushed me here. But anyway, the night window games tonight, you have Wofford, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kansas. That's a big draw tonight. Now, I don't have much expectations for Arkansas or Kansas, but you got Calipari going up against Bill Self.

Tremendous coaching matchup. We'll see if Yale could pull up the upset two years in a row. You have Yale, Texas A&M. Drake, Missouri, I think is going to be a fun game. Utah State, UCLA, St. John's, Omaha. You got Michigan, UC San Diego State.

See, the spread's funky here. Michigan is a two and a half point favorite. This screams to me upset alert, but I didn't pick it because there are certain upsets that happen that everyone tells you the upset's going to happen. And I don't like when everyone starts to get trendy on an upset. But this line only being two and a half for Michigan, who's not this great team, but they did win the Big Ten Conference Tournament Championship in which was one of the ugliest games I've ever seen, Michigan and Wisconsin.

That was not pretty on the eyes. But you have UC San Diego up against Michigan. That spread just seems criminally low. So I'm intrigued by that to see if the hype is going to be met with UC San Diego. And you got Texas Tech, UNC Wilmington. That game is tipping up here on the East Coast, tipping off here on the East Coast at 10.10 p.m. Eastern Time. So the biggest moment so far this NCAA tournament is McNeese right now, who are, man, just shredding Clemson. This is now 51 to 29. So the early leader in the clubhouse for the biggest upset through the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament and the game's not even over yet is McNeese.

Alrighty, let's do this right now. Some coaches that have accomplished things in the NFL that you're wondering, can they win a Super Bowl with their current group and how long the leash is for these coaches? You have Kyle Shanahan, who's been to two Super Bowls, hasn't got the job done in either one of them. Sean McDermott, who has now been to two AFC Championship games. Yeah, two AFC Championship games. Mike Tomlin won a Super Bowl.

But with this current group, they haven't won a playoff game since the 2016 season, and obviously a lot has changed. John Harbaugh, also another guy, won a Super Bowl, but in the Lamar Jackson era, the farthest they've ever gone was to the AFC Championship, and they lost at home. Zach Taylor got to a Super Bowl, didn't get the job done up against the Rams. And then you have Todd Bowles, who replaced Bruce Arians, had that one year with Brady, Brady's final year. Then Brady retires, and I thought the Bucks were going to fall off. But to their credit, they got the right replacement in there in Baker Mayfield, who's been a very good quarterback and an underappreciated quarterback. And Mike Evans continues to be one of the best wide receivers in the league. They've been able to keep Chris Godwin now, even though he's dealt with a bunch of injuries. And they lost some players on defense, but that team continuously makes the postseason, and they win that division, which is not a good division. So I look at those coaches, are any in danger of getting fired?

And I look at it, if I had to pick one, and let's go around the room here, I'm just, you could give me the same answer if you want. I'm just curious who you think the leader is in the clubhouse of getting fired. You know, and I know that Harbaugh and Tom are a little bit different because they've at least won a Super Bowl. But in these last six, seven year timeframe, you know, not all these coaches have been coaching that long. Who is the coach that has had a little bit of a run that you think is in, is the closest to getting fired? Kyle Shanahan, Sean McDermott, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Zach Taylor, and Todd Bowles.

I don't think we're missing anyone here. Like Mike McDaniel hasn't had a long enough run where he ever looked at them as a threat. I do think he's on the hot seat entering this season.

Stefanski, they were three and 14 last year. I know he's won the coach of the year two times, so we're going to keep him out of that. Shane Steichen hasn't had enough success in Indianapolis. Outside of that, the Cowboys had a coaching change. Dan Quinn only a year in with the commanders.

I'm not going to put Lafleur in that boat yet. O'Connell, we got to see what he looks like with McCarthy. Dan Campbell's a God in Detroit. Yeah, so I think we hit the right coaches that are in that realm. So between Shanahan, McDermott, Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Zach Taylor, and Todd Bowles, Stu, who's the coach that you think is his seat is the warmest and closest to getting fired? I think it's Kyle Shanahan. If they don't make the playoffs this year, I think he's out.

Wow. Can you imagine if Shanahan became available? Because he would get a job tomorrow. If he got fired today, he would get a job tomorrow.

That's a fascinating answer. I will reserve my answer after I hear what Samter has to say. Who's your coach here, Samter, that you think is the closest to getting fired? I think all of them, their seats are kind of getting a little toasty, but I think the guy who actually has a chance of getting fired, like the Steelers aren't going to fire Tomlin. Harbaugh has done enough in the regular season, and he has a Super Bowl. McDermott, again, same thing. He's got that team rolling, even though they're not getting postseason success.

Zach Taylor, outside of that Super Bowl run, where he was great, he had the leading passer, the leading receiver, and the leading sackers last year. And they finished with what, five wins? Or sorry, nine wins. But they made the playoffs. This is a team that with the talent they have, I understand there's been injuries, but they've underachieved significantly over the past couple years. Here's the question, though, with the Bengals. They allowed Marvin Lewis to be the coach there for all those years. And Marvin Lewis, to be fair, the way we talk about him is a little disrespectful because he was a good coach. But he didn't win one postseason game there, and they kept him around forever.

Zach Taylor, he got to a Super Bowl. So I wonder how much leeway that does give him. Now, Zach Taylor's contract, I'm looking up right now, it says here that he's under contract through 2026. So the notion, if that hasn't been adjusted since December 1st of 2024, which I think we're in the clear on that, if that hasn't been adjusted in the last few months, that's even for the Bengals with the cheap tag. That's not that crazy if they eat a year of salary, like if it doesn't go well this year. So I'm looking at this, I think the two coaches who are closest to getting fired, even if Shanahan misses the playoffs this year, I don't think they're gonna get rid of them. Because if you get rid of Shanahan, I think you have to get rid of Lynch, and that's a really good one-two punch.

McDermott, it has been made abundantly clear. The Bills are not even close to thinking about him, moving on with him as their head coach. Tomlin, the Steelers have basically had three coaches.

Noel, Coward, Tomlin. This guy's won a playoff game since 2016, and there is not a peep inside the organization about getting rid of him. The only one I've ever heard say, fire John Harbaugh, is Hickey. All right, I don't think Harbaugh's anywhere close. I think the two guys that are closest to getting fired are Zach Taylor and Todd Bowles. And quite frankly, I think that Todd Bowles is not appreciated by the fan base in Tampa Bay.

I don't think he's this marvelous coach, but what he's done the last two years without Tom Brady, and also got two coaches hired on his staff. Canales, head coach, was on Bulls staff. Liam Cohen, head coach, was on Bulls staff. You know, Liam Cohen was like beloved in Tampa Bay. When they brought him back, there was some thought, oh, if Todd Bowles doesn't make the playoffs, or if they go out quickly in the postseason, maybe they have Liam Cohen as the head coach. I don't think Todd Bowles' personality, because he's a very boring guy. And I love him, right? He's a Temple guy, and he was very kind to me.

And I've talked to him a bunch through the years. I like Todd Bowles, but he doesn't have this great personality. And I think it's easy to move off of a guy like Todd Bowles. But what he's done the last two years, whether you want to give him the credit or not, if they missed the playoffs this year, I think it'd be ridiculous if they got rid of Todd Bowles.

But I do think it's a possibility just because I don't think people look at him as this big name. And I think people think they could do a lot better than Todd Bowles. But I'm with Samter on Zach Taylor. Now, I know what I brought up with Marvin Lewis, but Zach Taylor, if they start off poor this year, I'm sorry, this is on the coach. Say what you want.

I know we all love Burrow. Jamar Chase is a stud. We'll see if Trey Hendrickson is there. If you kept T. Higgins, if you start off poorly this year, that's inexcusable. It's okay if it happens one year. It's okay if it happens two years.

It can happen three years. And you have a team the last two years that has missed the postseason. And to what Samter said, they had the leading passer, the leading touchdown passer as well, yards and passing touchdowns, a receiver win the triple crown and had the leading sack getter in the league. And you couldn't make the playoffs. And why didn't you make the playoffs?

You know, two years ago, chalked up the injury. Last year, why did you not make the playoffs? Everyone could say, oh, the defense, defense was horrible, but you lost to the Patriots in week one. The Patriots sucked last year and you lost to them in week one. Those slow starts, you could sometimes survive them, but when you don't survive them and you get close at the end of the year and you're sitting there saying, oh, we would have just tried the first week or two of the season.

That's when it becomes a problem. So I think that there is a chance and that would be in it, even though the Bengals organization has a terrible, terrible perception. You're telling me if a coach becomes available and you could go coach Joe Burrow, Jamar, Chase and T.Hagans, you're not running at that opportunity. There's guys in their jobs right now that will leave their current jobs and go be the next head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals. Like, for example, it would never happen because the Steelers wouldn't allow it. But if you ask Mike Tomlin, would you rather be the coach of the Steelers or the Bengals right now?

Think about the world that we live in right now. If I'm Mike Tomlin, you'd easily rather be the coach of the Bengals. You have a quarterback. You don't have a quarterback in Pittsburgh. You know, you go through some of these other teams like Kyle Shanahan. Would you rather coach Brock Purdy or would you rather coach Joe Burrow? I'm just going through some of those teams.

So I'm with Samter. I would say that Zach Taylor's seat is the warmest entering the season out of those coaches. Kyle Shannon, Sean McDermott, Mike Tomlin, John Harbaugh, Zach Taylor and Todd Bowles. Zach Yelp here with you on the Infinity Sports Network. We will once again tell you what's brewing in the NCAA tournament between the three games that are going on right now.

We did have a final since our last update. That's Auburn. So that's Auburn-Crayton.

I think that's gonna be a phenomenal round of 32 matchup. Auburn beat Alabama State by 20 points, 83 to 63. Other finals from today, Houston 78, SIU-Edwardsville 40, Wisconsin the Badgers.

They eat up Montana 85 to 66. Purdue rolls through high point 75 to 63 and Crayton. Unbelievable shooting performance 89 to 75 over Louisville and the three games in action right now.

The story of the day and this one it's getting a little tighter. So you still got a game 604 remaining but it's McNeese 51, Clemson 38. So Clemson starting to go a little bit of a run. We'll see if they can come back and get this victory in the final six minutes but right now they are down to McNeese 51 to 38 with 604 remaining in the contest. Still at halftime between BYU and VCU in a 611 matchup. BYU, the Cougars 39 to 28 over Virginia Commonwealth University and Georgia. I didn't know if they were going to get on the board. Well they're on the board but they're still trailing big to Gonzaga as Gonzaga's up with 508 remaining in the first half.

37 to 21. Zach Yelp show infinity sports network. Alrighty it is the Zach Yelp show infinity sports network. We have a update on Stefan Diggs according to Jordan Schultz which you know what I have to be fair here. I think Schultz is rising as an insider.

You know I would say up until like if you ask me before the combine who are your top NFL insiders that you see something and you don't doubt it. I would say Schefter in order. Schefter, Glazer, Pelissero, Rappaport. Right that that's the core four. Schefter, Glazer, Pelissero, Rappaport.

Where without a doubt you don't question it. We have gone from the core four to the fab five I think of insiders because Jordan Schultz had the T Higgins story with Jamar Chase. They told him and now Stefan Diggs according to Jordan Schultz has left the Patriots building without a deal but both sides will remain in contact. Schultz he's rising. I still don't think he's on the level of Schefter and Rappaport and Glazer and and Glazer and Pelissero but he keeps on getting these Schultz scoops. He does so I'm back into the Jordan Schultz insider stuff. I thought the fight was fun.

I did like it. It was entertaining and Jordan right he has been at this for a while now but Jordan Schultz he got the sources now. He's got the scoops so Stefan Diggs has left the Patriots without a deal and both sides will stay in contact. Alrighty Stu this is NFL top 10 mock draft version 4.0 and today I will take the odds and you will take the evens. So we start off with the Tennessee Titans. We have projected before a trade here Giants and Tennessee. I am going to say Tennessee keeps the pick and they take Cam Ward quarterback out of Miami. Now just before we did this segment I saw Adam Schefter was on the ESPN and Adam Schefter was saying that the Cleveland Browns would really like to get Cam Ward. When you talk to people around the league the sense is that Cleveland would like Cam Ward. Can Cleveland do enough to get up to that number one overall pick? We'll have to wait and see but for now I have Tennessee taking Cam Ward. Alright at number two Cleveland Browns I know we kind of go back and forth on whether they'll take a quarterback or not.

I am now in the camp of that they will not take a quarterback. I am veering away from Schefter's original report and I think they will go Abdul Carter. I think they will pair Carter with Garrett. It'll be Garrett and Carter on the edges. They'll try to build up that defensive line. So you think they could still draft Carter even though they just paid Miles Garrett and they would bypass on Travis Hunter?

I do it'd be between it'd be between those two players but yes I think they could do that. Yeah so I'm really hoping that Cam Ward goes one and then the Browns take Shanore Sanders too because then I think the Giants would take Travis Hunter three and I want a way for Abdul Carter to fall four to the Patriots because I think Abdul Carter is the best player in the draft. Also if he goes to my team I could go troll Warren Sapp and get the Patriot Abdul Carter jersey which I would not be doing if he was on any other team in the NFL.

So I can't I could dislike Stu's pick but I have to accept it for what the results are. So one Cam Ward to Tennessee Cleveland number two Abdul Carter then the Giants are sitting there at three. I don't think they're getting Aaron Rogers so this sets up perfectly for the Giants and Joe Shane.

They could go get Shanore Sanders quarterback Colorado and then the Patriots are in there at four Stu. Yeah so this I still think this kind of ends up well for you like if you don't get Abdul Carter I think Travis Hunter is the guy that could really help the Patriots. Now is he a cornerback receiver or both that is the question but I think as a receiver that's kind of what you want for Drake May and I think if Travis Hunter is there I think the Patriots would snatch him right up. Yeah and that's the thing I think a lot of people say Travis Hunter corner first then wide receiver if he goes to New England you have Christian Gonzalez you have Carlton Davis you know maybe they go more wide receiver over defensive back for Travis Hunter.

All righty. I sit here with the Jacksonville Jaguars and I look at the Jaguars and I said they could use an offensive lineman but I'm going to say they go defense they beef up the interior that defensive line. I'm going to say they take Mason Graham the defensive tackle out of Michigan. So Jacksonville taking Mason Graham with the fifth overall pick and Stu here come your Raiders. Now this is a terrible scenario for you.

Here's why. Yes this is probably I would say this is the least ideal scenario. No quarterback no Abdul Carter no Travis Hunter. Yeah. Now I don't think you're going to ever think that Abdul Carter Travis Hunter are going to be available at six so it's really no quarterback being there. Yeah.

What do you got. So yeah I am between a few players here. Tay Tyroa McMillan the receiver out of Arizona he's someone that has been mocked to the Raiders a bit. They could go offensive line but there has been a kind of a push lately especially in a lot of mock drafts and in the Twitter verse of the Raiders the raiders Reddit world to the Reddit world as well that they could go running back and they could go Ashton Gente here.

So I think it is very high for running back. I'm not sure I endorse them picking a running back this high with all their needs but I think Ashton Gente with this scenario would end up on the Raiders. Okay so then that puts the Jets in at seven.

The Jets I think they have enough on their defense. Could they go for an offensive lineman. That's a possibility here but I think the Jets are going to go for a little playmaker here. You know last year I thought maybe the Jets would draft Brock Bowers.

They didn't. This year I don't think they're going to pass up on the tight end again. I'm saying the Jets take Tyler Warren tight end at a Penn State. So so far Cam Wart to Tennessee had the odd picks.

Stu is the evens. Abdul Carter to Cleveland. Giants take Chidor. New England takes Travis Hunter. Jacksonville with Mason Graham. Ashton Gente to the Raiders and then Tyler Warren to the JTS. Jets, Jets, Jets. Now the Carolina Panthers are sitting there with the eighth overall pick and we go back to Stuart Kovacs.

Yeah so there's a lot of ways they could go here. I think they could go playmaker. They could go McMillan from Arizona to kind of give Bryce Young a little weapon but I think they will go defense and I think they will go with one of the Georgia you know edge rushers, defensive lineman. I will go Jalen Walker here for the Panthers to kind of bolster that defense. Okay I like that pick. Who dat?

Who dat? Who dat say they're gonna beat them Saints? The Saints are now on the clock. Now I was thinking offensive lineman but they've invested in the draft on that offensive line. Neither of us have picked an offensive lineman yet which is very surprising.

I'm gonna go back to the well here though on the defensive side of the ball. So Jalen Walker is off the board right? Yes. Abdul Carter is off the board and then also Travis Hunter if you want to identify him as a defensive player too off the board with Mason Graham.

Yes. Man this is tough. I'm telling you this mock draft played out very fascinating. I'll go the the linebacker out of Alabama, Jahad Campbell. I wanted to take a defensive back there but I'm not going to do so that early with the Saints. So I'm taking Jahad Campbell out of Alabama and at number nine. Okay so for the Bears here I know they've beefed up their offensive line with free agent signings and trade so far but you know I think if Will Campbell is there a 10.

You have to take Will Campbell so I think for me the Bears I think that might be the one of the easier picks here Will Campbell at 10 to Chicago. Well here's the thing if I'm the Bears like you've done enough on the offensive line where if there's a player there that you feel like you have to have I'm good with taking it. Like for example if Ashton Jenty is here take him over a lineman.

If Tyler Warren is here take him over the lineman. But to your point Stu they've revamped their offensive line right. They brought in Dallman. They brought in Jonah Jackson and they've also brought in Joe Tooney.

And right Joe Tooney is very accomplished Dallman very accomplished. Dallman with Ben Johnson has worked in the past. But how many years have we heard a team say they've revamped their offensive line and the line still stinks. We've seen it with the Jets. We've seen it with the Giants. We've seen it with the Bengals. So any like offensive linemen are like starting pitchers in baseball.

You can't have enough of them. So that's why I still thought oh maybe the Saints would go there but then I ended up flipping the script on the defensive side of the ball. And you know I did see I think it was Daniel Jaramillo, Jahad Campbell mocked to the Saints and that's where it's kind of stood out to me. So that was on my mind there when I was looking for a defensive player.

So that's the top 10 version 4.0. Cam Wort to Tennessee. Abdul Carter to Cleveland.

Giants to North Sanders. Travis Hunter going to New England. Jacksonville taking Mason Graham.

Las Vegas going with Ash and Gente. The New York Jets Tyler Warren. Carolina going with Jaylen Walker. Saints Jahad Campbell.

And then Chicago with Will Campbell. So version 4.0 of the mock draft. Got one more segment to play. Come on back. Channel NCAA tournament. Update time first though.

Here is the Ackman, Rich Ackerman. All right it is that Gelb show on the infinity sports network. The NCAA tournament right now. See I know what I'm gonna have to say.

I'm gonna come in tomorrow and this always happens and it's gonna be totally not true. And this is me being impatient right now and I'm usually not impatient. Ho-hum though so far this NCAA tournament. Like I expect to tune in right away. Instant buzzer beater.

Ooh onions. Right something crazy to happen and so far through the afternoon window the only bonkers thing to happen is McNeice and Clemson right now. And this game is not over yet but it is 67-62 in favor of McNeice and 67-62 with 19 seconds left. Now Stu do we know what channel TruTV is here in terms on in our in our Fakakta TV setup because I would like to turn that game on.

54. 54 thank you so I just have to go one channel up because I was on BYU VCU. So it's 67-62 in favor of McNeice with 19.9 seconds remaining. But like when I think of the NCAA tournament and I always love being on the air for the NCAA tournament. You know when I was on the 6 to 10 p.m. shift when you get those night games like you're talking directly with the coaches after the game and you get the reaction like you're going nuts and doing all that stuff.

But in this shift I remember doing it last year from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern time there were some really good games where you're like oh here comes the game winner bye and you lose your mind you have some fun. But if McNeice doesn't miss this free throw hey yeah this game you know I'm not gonna say it yeah it's over 68-62 with 18 seconds left barring a just catastrophe a catastrophic collapse here by McNeice then there is is no way they're gonna lose this game and now hold on I just pushed it I can't do play by play so I'll wait a second Clemson just hit what is called a three-pointer so now it's 68-65 McNeice up against Clemson. So there's really only two ways McNeice could choke this with 10.6 seconds left they turn the ball over or they go to the free throw stripe and they don't hit their free throws. Now both teams are in the double bonus so when McNeice gets the line they're going to get two free throws either way. So McNeice has actually taken all their players not underneath the basket where the free throws are for at least the first free throw McNeice hits it it's 69-65 once again I can't do play by play so I'm not doing play by play all right oh hi hi hi hi um anywho this is now back up to a four-point game so you got a four-point game McNeice misses a free throw so four-point game here with under 10 seconds to go if Clemson doesn't hit a three here this baby is over they miss get a rebound don't matter it's over now that may have counted at the horn it doesn't yep it did 69-67 the first stunner of the NCAA tournament McNeice defeats Clemson 69-67 so a good job there by McNeice getting the job done McNeice the first big upset of the NCAA tournament so hear your so hear your final so far from today McNeice 69 Clemson 67 you've had also Houston just smother SIU Edwardsville back to what a 116 should be 78-40 Auburn smothered Alabama State 83-63 that sets up a second round matchup with a round of 32 which is becoming one of my favorites in Creighton and Louisville 89-75 Creighton beat Louisville so that's an Auburn and Creighton coming up on Saturday Wisconsin they just rolled Montana 85-66 Purdue it was a little bit back and forth there that game was good game and then Purdue just flexed their muscles at the end they won the game 75-63 and you have two other games going on right now I like what I'm seeing out of BYU they're a big you know right now it's not crazy but 60-47 up against VCU and at the half Gonzaga just destroying Georgia 48-27 so they are now reviewing if this shot at the end did occur um I don't know exactly what the spread was but McNeice won so underdog plus the points I don't I don't know what the exact uh what the exact spread here was but that could be a point of interest for some people and let's see did we no I think it did count so yeah 69-67 so McNeice is through and they're going to be playing in Providence on Saturday up against Purdue so McNeice Purdue is that match up there a lot of people have the McNeice and High Point both advance only McNeice advance we do not see High Point advance as they did lose to Purdue earlier and there's Will Wade Will Wade it's kind of funny to me because he's leaving and he's losing his mind right now but that's the sport oh this is actually pretty cool Will Wade is jumping up and down like a fat kid in a candy store he is now running over and it's got to be friends and family boosters donors he's probably like hey got somebody for NC State what are you doing here but Will Wade is now in the stands going nuts with the McNeice fan base that's a cool moment and you know what you know what this moment shows with Will Wade we all know it's a business right this is a business the players now legally get paid the coach gets paid Will Wade is a phenomenal coach you may not love Will Wade the person but Will Wade is a phenomenal coach and we all know what happened and that's their first NCAA tournament win in program history for McNeice so that's cool we all know Will Wade investigation LSU he's out of a job he then has to go coach at McNeice no disrespect to McNeice Will Wade is a much better coach than the school where he's currently at the NC State stuff goes down and I think there was a big tone yesterday from people that were like oh this kind of sucks for the kids but Luke Hancock I give him credit right who transferred back in the day when it was like not the the easiest to transfer George Mason Louisville won the outstanding player of the NCAA tournament they won it all Louisville I think back in 2013 and Luke joined us the other day and he was like you know what it doesn't really bother me because not all those kids are going to go to McNeice not all those coaches are going to go to McNeice not all those staff members you know the kid that walks in with the boombox I'm sure he'll be going there I don't know if he's a student whatever but that introduction is awesome and that kid has aura that kid right there that's on the screen right now Stu I don't know what he manager or whatever he's been all over social media so you have Will Wade getting a better job yeah there it is I just showed the boombox that's awesome so he got a better job and I can't crush him for leaving is it like a little rotten that he that he's still coaching that it all came out before the NCAA tournament sure but he was honest about it yesterday like they asked him about it and he goes yeah I talked to them so we know that he's going to be the next coach of NC State Will Wade quite frankly deserves a better job I think he deserves a better job than NC State but now he's going to be the coach at NC State and it's cool where even if there was some talk yesterday I'm gonna have this conversation like god isn't it unfortunate for the kids and then when Luke Hancock came on the show he kind of opened my mind to it that just kind of the nature of the sport now for players for for coaches for everybody so let's treat them all the same but if you had any negative feelings yesterday about Will Wade and how this did go down with NC State guy just won McNeese the first ever NCAA tournament game so can you really crush the guy can you really crush the guy who deserves a bigger job getting the bigger job taking the bigger job in a forever changing landscape in college basketball with the portal and just how sports are right now so the coach took a bigger job didn't impact his coaching today clearly because they got out to a great start got a little bit tight late and still were able to take care of business up against Clemson but through what is one two three four five six seven eight games so far where two are in final where BYU is now at 52 to 62 to 50 up against VCU and Gonzaga they're still at halftime crushing Georgia 48 to 27 through the first eight games of this NCAA tournament McNeese is the story Will Wade is the story and could there be something that usurps the Will Wade storyline tonight in the nightcap if Wofford beats Tennessee yeah duh Arkansas Kansas no if Yale beats A&M yes Drake beating Missouri I don't think is better than what McNeese just did to Clemson Utah State UCLA no because it's 10-7 if Omaha beats St. John's that's the story tomorrow but does anyone actually think St. John's is going to lose to Omaha Watch that will be on old takes exposed you know later tonight when St. John's loses um I don't think they will UCL is going to um I don't think they will UC San Diego could be uh bigger than McNeese beating beating Clemson if they beat Michigan but honestly I would actually say McNeese beating Clemson is probably bigger because I've seen more people predict UC San Diego taking care of business up against Michigan and obviously if you see a 14th seed in UNC Wilmington beat Texas Tech that's a huge story but through the first eight games of the tournament the the biggest moment so far is Will Wade of McNeese getting that program their first ever NCAA tournament victory as they did take care of business today winning by two points up against Clemson so we will see we shall see what ends up happening with the rest of the tournament today hey by the way I gotta get back to something real quickly about Shep when he joined us earlier because Hickey interviewed for the overnight job we berated him with questions yesterday we did the same with Shep Hickey wore a tux Shep basically wore like a a pullover like a sweater do you have any problem with the uh the attire of David Shepherds though not at all people here have gone jobs and they have not dressed up so okay don't Santa did you think maybe Shep uh dropped the ball here 100 really yeah you don't have to wear a tux that was a little bit over the top by Hickey but it's memorable you thought he just looked disheveled but you got to do more than like a quarter zip workout shirt I think that's kind of the brand of Shep I really I think it's fine I have no problem when it comes to radio any other job shirt but when it comes to radio I don't think it matters for one second what you wear to the interview now Hickey made it shtick but if Hickey seriously wore a tuxedo to the interview then that would be a problem but he made it shtick so that was good but Shep walking in like he was ready to go uh coach a JV basketball team I had no problem with that either all righty fun show today big thanks to uh Samter and Stu Ack I guess we'll throw Greg Frank in there as well with those Buffalo Wild Wing goggles and uh we'll be back tomorrow on a Friday 3 p.m eastern noon pacific noon pacific time we'll talk to you tomorrow everybody this is the Zach Gelb show you can always follow us twitter and instagram at Zach Gelb Z-A-C-H G-E-L-B Chat Mignon everybody we out bye-bye peace