Eye On College Basketball

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander address, for the first and likely only time this season, some of the absurd early talking points already bubbling up around Duke. They open with the reaction to the reaction of Duke's debut, then get into some unexpected trivia about starting lineups on past Final Four teams. From there, they touch on the Justice Department giving the go-ahead to the NCAA to start investigating some schools brought up during the first federal trial, which ended in October. The podcast wraps with a preview of the games to watch this weekend. Washington at Auburn, two top 25 teams, highlights the slate.  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

No. 4 Duke's 118-84 win over No. 2 Kentucky was record-setting in many ways. The Blue Devils' freshmen showed up, showed out and exceeded the hype. And now Duke should probably be No. 1 in every legitimate poll out there. For Kentucky, yikes. How concerned should John Calipari be? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander provide immediate reaction from Indianapolis after they watched Duke go supernatural and Kansas looked flawed but still dangerously good in its win over Michigan 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

College basketball has finally wised up and made the adjustment to its schedule that benefits the sport best. For the first time in the modern era, college hoops will start its season on a Tuesday night. The Champions Classic is the big event -- but there are four other really good games happening elsewhere. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander offer up their thoughts and predictions on Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Washington and more. Welcome to the 2018-19 season.  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

You need this episode, college hoops fans. It's the final piece of wide-ranging preseason college basketball content to hold you over the final weekend without college basketball until April. Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish get into some of the big and small predictions that they expect to see as early as next week and as far off as the national title game. The season is ALMOST HERE! 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

Is the R.J. Barrett love overstated heading into the season? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this episode by discussing the CBS Sports All-America teams and focus on Barrett's widespread recognition as a preseason national player of the year. They get into their picks, look at the POYs in years past and also try to identify the one player not on the A-A list who has the best shot at being a First Team guy come March. They also pick apart the teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament but don't seem built for a return this season. Arizona, Wichita State, Texas A&M, Creighton and Oklahoma included. 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

Now it's time for hoops hoops hoops. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander get into what we can expect for 2018-19, and they start by discussing Final Four darling Loyola-Chicago. Ramblers overrated? Not here. Norlander has them at 63 in his 1-353 ranking of every team in the sport. The guys also ask: Which preseason top 15 team is most likely to miss the NCAAs? Which team outside the top 20 is best suited to make a Final Four run? And which highly regarded player could wind up being a disappointment? And a whole lot more. 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 shock wave was sent through college basketball on Wednesday when Jim Gatto, Merl Code and Christian Dawkins were all found guilty on seven total counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Matt Norlander has been covering the trial from Manhattan, and he and Gary Parrish react to the verdicts and also lay out why this case was tipped in the government's favor from the get-go. Do those three men really deserve to be going to prison? Parrish and Norlander make arguments why this feels surreal and unnecessary. They also touch on what the NCAA now stands to do, and how coaches like Bill Self and programs like Kansas remain a high point of interest. 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

There is a boatload of new information to get to -- and we've got some on-court preview content as well. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this week's episode by extensively discussing and picking apart just what happened in federal court during week three of the college hoops corruption trial. it was troubling for Kansas and LSU especially -- but Duke is suddenly a part of this story, too. Zion Williamson's recruitment has been brought into question. So what comes next for him, Duke and the NCAA? And is Bill Self and his assistant's job in trouble? The guys also explain why the new NBA rule that allows G League players to earn as much as $125,000 coming right out of high school will have almost no impact on college basketball. They wrap with a discussion of the best players in college hoops; CBS Sports published its list of the top 100 (and one) guys in college basketball earlier this week. 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

Two critical government witnesses took the stand this week in the case of US vs. Gatto et al., which is the massive trial that has college basketball collectively curious, if not nervous. Matt Norlander was in New York City all week to watch and report what happened. On this podcast, he and Gary Parrish discuss the biggest statements and evidence brought to light this week. In short: it wasn't good for Kansas, Arizona, NC State, Creighton, DePaul and Louisville. Plus, Norlander provides a lot of quotes and scenes -- including wiretapped phone calls -- from the trial. 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

It's been a few weeks -- but the guys are back! Matt Norlander had a second child, so the podcast went on a brief hiatus, but he and Gary Parrish are in typical rhythm as they catch you up on the start of the highly anticipated federal trial in connection to college basketball corruption. Oregon was named, as were others like Arizona and NC State. The start of this trial brings up interesting plot lines to dissect; the guys do just that. They also touch on Mike White's success on the recruiting trail: Florida landed five-star prospect Scottie Lewis, who picked the Gators over Kentucky and St. John's. White is proving to be an ideal successor to Billy Donovan. 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