And. Here. We. Go. - Hot Takes, Bold Predictions, and Important College Basketball Lists with Jon Rothstein
Last night was the start of what will be a glorious college basketball season. To get the AWL’s pumped up and caught up to date on everything that happened over the offseason in addition to a season preview, fan-favorite Jon Rothstein joined today’s show. Plain and simple, this man is a college hoops savant. Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter threw out a handful of team names (including YOUR Vermont Catamounts), and Rothstein sprinkled out players on the team right off the bat. Let’s start things off with a few hot takes made by Mr. Cat and Mr. Commenter regarding college hoops:
This is now going to be a decade since Duke has won an ACC title outright. Is Coach K coaching for his job? — Mr. Cat
Jon Rothstein: They did win a national championship. As a Wisconsin fan, would you trade any of your B1G championships for a national championship?
Mr. Cat: All of them. It’s all about winning the conference, everyone always says that. First goal.
I mean, technically, the guys have a point here. Duke is out here just skipping steps and leapfrogging to the national championship goal while taking a shortcut, avoiding taking advantage of the conference first. This one is up for debate.
Tom Izzo is overrated. He just hasn’t won the big one in a while. — Mr. Commenter
Jon Rothstein: Saying Tom Izzo is overrated is like saying The Godfather Epic is overrated.
Mr. Commenter: I mean, Godfather 3 is kind of trash. And that’s where he’s at in his trilogy right now.
Jon Rothstein: But The Godfather Epic is not including The Godfather 3. It’s a chronological breakdown of The Godfathers 1 and 2 chronologically because we obviously have a prequel, kind of, at the start of Godfather 2.
If we are looking at a small sample size, and I mean really small, Mr. Commenter’s hot take was supported by Michigan State’s loss to Kentucky last night. As the number one team in the country, you’re expected to win games. The Spartans didn’t, and suddenly, Mr. Commenter looks a heck of a lot smarter right now.
Mr. Cat: Give me five teams that can win a national title.
Jon Rothstein: Michigan State and Kansas, look like to me, they’re highly formidable. I think Florida has a chance to take a major step in the SEC this year. We talked about the interior scoring with Kerry Blackshear Jr. I’m going to say Maryland because I like the roster versatility.
Five Dark Horses That Can Make the Final Four
1. Baylor
2. Seton Hall
3. Washington
4. Florida State
5. LSU
Five Teams That Should Be Vastly Improved
1. Georgia
2. UTEP
3. New Mexico
4. Notre Dame
5. Oklahoma State
Five Teams Who Cold Overachieve
1. UCLA
2. Texas A&M
3. Kansas State
4. Nebraska
5. St. John’s
Five Teams On The Rise
1. Georgetown
2. Colorado
3. Penn State
4. Dayton
5. South Florida
Ten Mid-Majors to Watch
1. Western Kentucky
2. Vermont
3. Harvard
4. Liberty
5. New Mexico State
6. St. Mary’s
7. South Alabama
8. Colgate
9. Utah State
10. Missouri State
Ten Glue Guys to Watch
1. Kihei Clark (Virginia)
2. Dwayne Sutton (Louisville)
3. Zavier Simpson (Michigan)
4. Andre Wesson (Ohio State)
5. Darryl Morsell (Maryland)
6. Quincy McKnight (Seton Hall)
7. Marcus Garrett (Kansas)
8. Marcus Santos-Silva (VCU)
9. Nojel Eastern (Purdue)
10. Rex Pflueger (Notre Dame)
Ten (nine?) Key Players Returning From Injury
1. Tyger Campbell (UCLA)
2. Shareef O’Neal (UCLA)
3. Udoka Azubuike (Kansas)
4. JaQuan Lyle (New Mexico)
5. Tristan Clark (Baylor)
6. Andrew Jones (Texas)
7. Justin Minaya (South Carolina)
8. Seth Towns (Harvard)
9. Rex Pflueger (Notre Dame)
It should be a heck of a five month stretch leading up to the greatest event sports has to offer: March Madness. Here are a bunch of Jon Rothstein’s daily tweets to get you pumped for the season.