Eye On College Basketball

Before the guys look ahead, Norlander and Parrish check in on Kansas State and the Big 12 at the top of this episode. Plus, Iowa State and TCU (7:10) have had notable weeks. That league is seemingly set to get more unpredictable by the week. The big topic on this episode, of course, is Virginia at Duke (12:00). The guys also touch on what became a debate topic this week: the idea that Zion Williamson should quit playing at Duke to preserve his draft stock (25:20). From there, the fellas get to UK-Auburn (32:40) and Michigan-Wisconsin (36:20). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Monday night brought the unexpected: not just a Duke loss to Syracuse, but Tre Jones' troubling shoulder injury that is expected to keep him out for a while. Parrish and Norlander open this episode by discussing the game and the injury, then get to Indiana (20:45) losing at home to Nebraska. With a tough schedule upcoming, could the Hoosiers go from comfortable NCAA Tournament team to the NIT? The guys also touch on Pitt (29:15), which is doing well in its first year under Jeff Capel.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

North Carolina continued its bipolar ways this weekend. Just five days after winning at NC State, the Tar Heels lost 83-62 at home to Louisville. GP and MN open with that, then get to Cam Reddish (15:27), who buried a 3-pointer in the final second to lift Duke past Florida State on Saturday. Ohio State (28:51) has gone from 12-1 to 12-4, and the Big Ten has 10 teams thinking NCAA tourney. In the SEC, Ole Miss (29:38) is 13-2 overall, 3-0 in the SEC. Gonzaga (38:16) beat a better-than-you-realize San Francisco team on the road late Saturday to improve to 16-2. Will Gonzaga not lose again until March? And finally, previewing Virginia Tech-Virginia (50:32), which takes place Tuesday.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Markus Howard became the first Division I player in the past 20 years to have multiple 50-point games when he got 53 in Wednesday's win at Creighton. So Parrish and Norlander open this episode with that (and camels). From there Murray State's Ja Morant destroyed a UT Martin Skyhawk on Thursday (12:31); a loaded weekend preview (16:09), including No. 3 Tennessee at Florida, No. 4 Virginia at Clemson, No. 5 Gonzaga at San Francisco, No. 6 Michigan State at Penn State, No. 7 Kansas at Baylor, No. 8 Texas Tech at Texas, No. 10 Nevada at Fresno State, No. 16 Ohio State at Iowa and No. 22 Indiana at Maryland). The big game No. 1 Duke at No. 13 Florida State (25:53). And also, CBS' big game on Saturday (31:40): Ole Miss at No. 14 Mississippi State. This episode is sponsored by www.ZipRecruiter.com. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Zion Williamson finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Tuesday's 87-65 win at Wake Forest. So he's now the first freshman in Duke history to hit each of those numbers in the same game. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open on that. And then it's to Tennessee (7:17), UNC's win over NC State (13:23) in addition to the possibility the Tar Heels finish atop the ACC. As for Nova (21:07), is it going to win the Big East in the same season it lost to Furman and Penn? The guys wrap (29:01) talking Wednesday night's schedule" No. 11 Auburn at Ole Miss, No. 17 Houston at Temple and No. 21 Marquette at Creighton. Which ranked team will get picked off on the road? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matt Norlander's Chicago Bears lost a playoff game to the Philadelphia Eagles in the worst possible way, so he and Gary Parrish open this episode on that, with Norlander just trying to talk through the aftershock. But there's plenty of hoops to get to. First up is Nevada (11:34) losing its undefeated season. Then the guys touch on whether Virginia, Michigan or Houston will be the final unbeaten team (17:05). Bad news came down twice for Kansas (21:32) over the weekend, an Kentucky (28:43) didn't emerge with a win either. Meantime, Virginia Tech (35:03) is highlighted for the first time this season on the podcast. The guys close with a preview of Tuesday's big game (39:34): UNC at NC State. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A big weekend for Big Ten hoops awaits. On this episode, GP and Norlander open with a note on Michigan, then get into the bad Bol Bol news (6:00). From there, an extensive rundown on their picks to win each of the seven major conferences: the Pac-12 (12:00), the Big 12 (15:30), the ACC (17:00), the SEC (18:07), the Big Ten (22:29), the Big East (26:31) and the American (28:30). The guys wrap with a preview of the four biggest games (32:40) of the weekend: Michigan State-Ohio State, Florida State-Virginia, Kansas-Iowa State and Indiana-Michigan.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Early Monday morning, UCLA fired Steve Alford midway through his sixth season. That called for an emergency podcast from Parrish and Norlander. The guys start on the news, then discuss the problems with the expectations of what the UCLA job is (and isn't). From there, there go deep into the candidate pool (20:40) and lay out a lot of names. Then, it's time to preview some good games this week. In order: Marquettte-St. John's (38:02), Nebraska-Maryland (40:40), Texas Tech-West Virginia (43:35), Oklahoma-Kansas (45:20) and Minnesota-Wisconsin (47:35). Happy New Year, everyone, and thanks for subscribing. If you haven't already, please rate the podcast well and leave a nice review! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

UCLA fell 73-58 (!) at home (!!) to Liberty (!!!!) on Saturday. Bruins coach Steve Alford does not seem long for that job now. Parrish and Norlander open on that and go back in time to the reactions from multiple media members in 2013, when Alford was hired by UCLA. Then they get into who could replace Alford in 2019 (20:10) before moving on to the dumpster fire that is the Pac-12 (35:05), which looks to be a two-bid league ... if that. Elsewhere, Kentucky rounded closer to its best form by beating Louisville (44:15) and St. John's (51:30) got jobbed in a loss against Seton Hall.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you take into account everything of consequence that happened in 2018, it's not that hard to make the argument that the sport won't see another year like this any time soon. Vacated national titles, federal convictions, a 98-year-old nun becoming the biggest thing in sports, a 16 beating a 1, Zion Williamson, scandals, a change in how the sport is operated. Big year. So GP and Norlander get to that, but first open with Kentucky at Louisville, the game of the weekend in college basketball. From there, they run down six more games of note (15:45), including Nevada-Utah, Davidson-UNC, Wisconsin-Western Kentucky and Belmont-Purdue. Then it's on to St. John's (21:25) and it's big game in the Big East opener at Seton Hall. But for the bulk of the discussion on this pod, it's a look back at 2018 (30:20).  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices