The Bender Continues
Everyday bros talking about how life goes!
The Bender Continues
The March Madness Continues
Step into the whirlwind of emotions and underdog tales that is March Madness, where dreams are made on the hardcourt and hearts are broken in the stands. We're pulling back the curtain on the tournament's most jaw-dropping moments, like NC State's heart-stopping tussle with the Oakland Grizzlies, and the rise of unsung hero Zach Golke from rideshare driver to center stage. As we celebrate the long-standing dedication of Oakland's coach and their seismic upset over Kentucky, you'll feel like you're right there in the stands, witnessing history in the making.
Feel the electric charge as we cheer on Stetson University's historic run from their first ASUN championship to their NCAA tournament debut, a testament to the transformative power of sports. We're dishing on Coach Donnie Jones's impact and President Roque's unwavering support that steered the Hatters through a season of firsts, and the media's colorful spin on past mascots that's got us grinning ear to ear. As we relive their gallant performance against a titan of basketball, the anticipation for what lies ahead for Stetson is as palpable as the roar of a crowd in overtime.
Finally, we're breaking down our March Madness bracket strategies, from Kenny's serendipitous auto-draft victory to the sentimental favorites that have us reminiscing and regretting in equal measure. We debate the contentious 'one and done' rule in the current NIL era, weighing the gains and losses of collegiate experience against the siren call of the pros. Whether you're here for the strategic insights or the impassioned discussions, we've got the playbook on how the game is changing for student-athletes and fans alike.
Madness boys. How we doing First weekend of March Madness is in the books. We are down to 16 teams. As of Tuesday, we had 68 to 16. This is why people love this shit. How are we feeling with the first weekend officially done? Did you even watch it? Let's just start there. Did we even watch March Madness this weekend? The whole country was Did you three? Well, I did, of course, go Hatters, but did you three?
James LaGamma:Well, you know my answer, Ryan. I watched it with you, James.
Ryan Selimos:I'm not sure if you were watching or snacking dude.
James LaGamma:No, I wasn't really watching.
Ryan Selimos:Okay.
James LaGamma:I wasn't really watching. What game did we even watch? It was like some Bears versus some Wolves. Wolf.
Ryan Selimos:Pack of NC State, my national champion pick, which is questionable to say the least, versus the darlings of the tournament, the Oakland Grizzlies and Zach Golke and Trey Townsend. So that was the game you watched. It went down to the wire, james, because it's fine. Mr Uber, as you were telling me about Uber and Lyft at his previous instance. Did you hear?
James LaGamma:about this, Kenny? This is actually pretty funny.
Kenny Massa:No.
James LaGamma:Ryan, you know the story. I don't.
Ryan Selimos:I know some of the story, but basically is that Johnny? Am I saying his name correctly? Is it Golke?
Jonny Strahl:I believe that's correct Could be, wrong there.
Ryan Selimos:Zach Goldke. We apologize, sarah, if we mispronounced, but basically comes out of the first weekend as went from no one knew him to the whole world knows him. They upset Kentucky, which is a blue-collar program. In the first round he put up 10 threes, 30 points. This man only shoots threes.
Ryan Selimos:I think he shot less, maybe like 8 or 10 two-pointers the entire season. So he just hits it and rips it, so he put up 30 points. They upset Kentucky and then obviously you have two days to figure out and research who this guy is, what he's all about all that, and that's what came out.
Ryan Selimos:I think he was a grad transfer and he played Division II before and he did Uber and Lyft in his spare time while also playing college basketball. Now you know, he's on the biggest stage of his life and in the first game put out a show. Second game still played well, but it wasn't 10 three-pointers, 30 points. But yeah, pretty cool story.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I mean that's hard to keep up, Right? That's pretty cool, though. I like those stories. Good for him.
Ryan Selimos:That's what March Madness brings. Man, that's not my favorite team just because of that guy. This brings the true underdog. Like you know, we talk about it a lot with college football, but March Madness truly allows the big schools versus the little schools right, and the true David versus the lights, and a lot of times David comes out on top, and Oakland was an example of that. And then you get all these cool stories about people you probably never would have heard of.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I mean it's definitely a stage for those people that usually wouldn't get the stage to show up, so he showed up.
Ryan Selimos:He says he showed up like he knows what happened.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I'm going to say right now, if there's probably one sport, actually no, this is the sport that I know the least amount out of everything. I probably know more about like fucking cricket curling or like uh ice illusion than some random water polo like all right, james, you saw what what mr goki looks like.
Ryan Selimos:Jonathan, I know you did as well. Basically the way I envisioned him after this weekend sounds like a great guy instead of Goki. He's Goku, alright, he just went super sane on Friday on the first round of games. He's got the spiked hair man. He had his super powers round one, round two, he fizzed out a little bit. But there you go, kenny. Just compare him to Goku from Dragon Ball Z and you'll be good to go cheering for him.
Jonny Strahl:Is it more impressive that he made 10 threes? Is it more impressive that he made 10 threes or he shot 20 in a game? That's a lot.
Kenny Massa:Is he a tall dude?
Ryan Selimos:I'd say he's.
Kenny Massa:I feel like a lot of. The only reason I ask is I feel like a lot of people that shoot like Three pointers, like that, they're usually not the big guys, they're usually just Out there fucking balling and they're usually Under the radar. I knew a lot of people that were just like Shooting from the three point line but they weren't like the six foot seven Dude on the team.
Ryan Selimos:I mean six foot seven isn't it's, but it's not like he's 6'3, Johnny. So he's on the smaller end for Kenny, for size-wise I don't know, johnny, I think it's most.
Ryan Selimos:I think it's impressive that he shot 20. I think it's the culmination for me the fact that he doesn't shoot twos. You know he's going to shoot three and he's still able to make 10, put up 20, when you know all he's going to do is hang out on the perimeter. And he still was better at it. And again, even in the second game he still was a respectable outside threat. I think he had four or five. So some of the shots were ridiculous man. He's like leaning halfway double coverage. It was awesome.
Jonny Strahl:Yeah, he's gotten a lot of publicity. Good for him. No, pat McAfee had him on. That was pretty good.
Ryan Selimos:I didn't know that. Did he on Friday or day after the first round?
Jonny Strahl:I think so. I think I saw something with him.
Kenny Massa:No surprise.
Ryan Selimos:What's crazy about that program in Oakland is they were saying the coach has been there 40 years. That, right off the bat, is crazy. So you think about the history. He's been there 40 years. They just had their biggest win in his career. So talk about that. One of their other star players, I think his name was Trey Townsend. He was one of their bigs. His dad played there, so kind of living up to the family name. Then you have the story of Golke. Then you have the upset of Kentucky A blue collar. So I think while they didn't make it out Of the second round, they're probably coming out of March madness with the biggest jump in marketing and publicity. Good for them.
Jonny Strahl:Very good for them. Also good for our good old Stetson hatters. Love the attire, ryan Salimos.
Ryan Selimos:Hey, we got. We got to tip the cat or tip the hat. That's the saying this week from our president. We're tipping the hat to the Hatters man. It was awesome to see you guys. I mean, how did you all feel, even as basketball savants, just seeing your alma mater? You know the lead up. What was your feelings about that?
Kenny Massa:Yeah.
Ryan Selimos:I mean.
Jonny Strahl:That was pretty cool.
Kenny Massa:Big sporting events like this. Yeah, it helps pump up the name of the university that we all spend so much time at. I mean, no matter what sport it is, whether it's baseball, basketball, football I think it all goes hand in hand. So, yeah, just more notoriety for Stetson. It's awesome More people know the name.
James LaGamma:You want to know what probably is the biggest problem that comes out of all this notoriety? They probably all think it's the Tampa fucking law school. Oh, stetson yeah, I know somebody who went there over in tampa. No, no, no, sorry, this is deland, florida central, that's. That's, that's graduate. This is undergrad you know I I get that every time.
Ryan Selimos:I get that every time with that, that we get that every time. But I think coming post march madness, that might have changed because we got a full week of we'll see he had tnt, he had shack wearing the hat, he had these big uh stations talking about the little city of deland, florida. So maybe lead up to march madness I agree, james, I know we've all had that conversation but hopefully, post march madness, maybe people will give a little recognition to the city of Deland, like hey, I heard about them.
James LaGamma:It was cool to hear Sack talk about it, though I didn't know what did he say. They trained over there, or something.
Ryan Selimos:Once, for they were asking about all the. They were asking about all the small schools and then Stetson came up and he was able to. He was guessing basically where they're located and he knew that they were in Florida. Because of what you just said, you have to tell us simply what state the school is located in.
Kenny Massa:Okay, let's go.
James LaGamma:Is that easy for you? No, no, actually that was him being like I'm never going to.
Ryan Selimos:Oh, I thought he was like that All right, he'll do it. The first school that has clinched Stetson.
Kenny Massa:Oh, that's in Florida.
Ryan Selimos:Stetson is in Florida.
James LaGamma:Wow, I don't know. Can you take your IFB out of your ear?
Kenny Massa:No, we used to do training camp there.
Ryan Selimos:Okay, okay, one for one.
Kenny Massa:He's not far, isn't he over in Orlando?
Jonny Strahl:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
James LaGamma:Yeah, yeah, but it was pretty cool to see Stetson on the map. Seeing that logo pop up on an ESPN screen is pretty cool, you know. Yeah, seeing Ryan in complete Stetson University gear right now.
Ryan Selimos:The mug, the hat you look like you're ready for pregame. Dude, I would not fly up to Brooklyn, I would get gone. That would be. No, I'm here to support you. That was pretty cool.
Jonny Strahl:Cool bunch of buddies going to the game. A few people we knew went to the game. I was flying to Atlanta on Friday. See a kid class of 2022, just decked out in Stetson Hatter gear, taking a 6 am fight to Brooklyn to then take a 9 pm flight back to Orlando. I was like this kid got to love to see that. Hell yeah, I don't know. I think it's cool.
Jonny Strahl:Who knows, these little tournament appearances sometimes kind of build a foundation for a program for a school, gets the alumni buzzing. It was cool to see some of the alumni base and a lot of people we knew at the events for like the NIL collective and whatnot in New York City. I mean first appearance in March. Madness is one thing. First ASUN championship is another First 20-plus win season since what? The early mid-1970s.
Jonny Strahl:Bill Donnie Jones, a statue Head coach. He's recruiting well Right guy for the job. Clearly and I don't know Our president, president Roque, seems to be really big into sports. Obviously, you know it's cool to see a president that is backing, bringing the energy. Obviously, we've got a special place in our heart for President Wendy Libby for bringing Stetson football back, because we wouldn't be here for friends if it wasn't for that, but I don't know. I've just seen a lot of cool things and the buzz it's awesome to see. So that's how I approach it. And also Tracy Wolfson making the announcement in the beginning, around the Mad Hatters and the crazy leprechaun chasing the kids and how they need to pivot and change the mascot.
Speaker 5:Howdy, ian. I wanted to introduce you guys to the Stetson Hatters named after, yes, the Stetson hat. Now, back in 1889, they changed the name from DeLand Academy to Stetson in honor of one of their donors, john B Stetson, who invented, yes, this iconic hat. What is a hatter? It is someone who makes hats and who is their mascot. Well, it used to be a 12 gallon hat with big googly eyes, and then it was this mad hatter leprechaun that reportedly was running around scaring children. So they had to move on from that. And now it is john b stetson himself, and he and the Stetson Hatters are making their first NCAA tournament appearance today.
Jonny Strahl:That was pretty funny Putting Stetson on the map talking about a leprechaun chasing kids. Gotta love that.
Ryan Selimos:I can't believe they did the throwback pictures, the black and whites of our previous mascot. That was looking scary Questionable on national TV. They could have left that out of the promotion, we would have been okay with it. Just her wearing the hat at the record before tip-off would have been enough. Yeah, I mean, it's awesome man, it's cool man Again. Perfect example.
Kenny Massa:We haven't talked.
Ryan Selimos:Stetson. In general, we haven't been back to the campus. We can own that in a couple of years, like this event even though we're not the biggest basketball fans and even Stetson basketball fans it it got us a reason to to tune in, to start talking about it, maybe even bring our interest back to our university and I'm sure it did that for for a lot of freaking people back to our university and I'm sure it did that for a lot of freaking people. So excited for next year. You know a lot of us are talking about it, but Florida Gulf Coast maybe they have a little run like that where they can make the tournament a couple years in a row and maybe get into a higher seed maybe their first win. But they've got experience on the bench too.
Ryan Selimos:Johnny, correct me if I'm wrong. Brett Colmier, the former Gulf Coast guard who led, was a big part of their run in the early 2010s. You know he's one of the. He was, at least this year, one of the part of the coaching staff. So you know he's been in those big moments and maybe he can, along with Donnie Jones, can help get him back next year and continue to have success.
Jonny Strahl:So I'm excited to see it. Yeah, we shall see Go Hatters. A tough one though, placing the Defender National Champs, and of course you know they were still favorited to win this year, which is never fun. I mean, it was tough start to the game. You got to get the cobwebs out, we were pretty cold and, unfortunately, against that powerhouse, you just got to come off a little bit better. But, proud of them, put on a show, great opportunity to build off of that and we'll be back for sure. Did they end up covering? Absolutely not. They did not cover.
Ryan Selimos:They made a run in the second half, Opened up the second half. They came out hot. They made it. They were in contention for the cover. They did not Like. Johnny said it's tough. You would have loved to see them maybe get Purdue or get like an Arizona.
James LaGamma:Oh yeah, I think I remember some of the sports casters, sports announcers, whatever they're talking about leading up to the game saying that Stetson was their pick for making that Cinderella run and then, once they found out they were playing UConn, they're like nah, never mind.
Ryan Selimos:They're going to lose by a thousand or whatever it was. We'll get into UConn, I'm sure, because they got their coaches. He's got to figure it out. They don't play down in their competition ever or often, so yeah, yeah. Which is why they were like yeah, stetson ain't going to win this Big shout-out to our support guard.
Jonny Strahl:I think they're half to there. Go ahead. No, you're good. I'll just give a big shout-out to our support guard. He deserves a statue too.
Ryan Selimos:He played great man, and to go out as your last game Swenson I apologize again, I'm probably butchering his name, the VW is messing me up he played awesome. That's the way to go out in your last game of your college career on the biggest stage, putting up a performance like that, keeping his team afloat, in a sense. Quote unquote. Hats off to him, they got some size man.
Jonny Strahl:They got some size, which's a hatter. They got some size, which at the Division 1 level you gotta have size Right Like. And they got some some ball handlers I mean they played well. And then Donnie Jones, you know he's, he's coached at some great schools, he's been part of national championship teams, go Gators. So it's just cool. It's cool. And I think if there's a program that can continue to take off, it might be the basketball team. Obviously our baseball team with a couple of Cy Young winners Jacob DeGrom, corey Kluber, stetson football. We're continuing to grow, baby. We've got a couple of people in the NFL, which is great Donald Parham, donald Payne, we love them. But yeah, it's just cool to see a men's basketball team that gets the most recognition outside of football at that stage. It's just cool to see a men's basketball team that gets the most recognition outside of football At that stage. It was really cool.
Speaker 5:So good old 26 and a half.
James LaGamma:It really boils down to the ability to have some university pride, you know, and sports can bring a big spotlight to your university. I mean, look at all these top freaking universities that we talk about all the time. Yeah, stetson's never in the conversation, so it's nice to have them in the conversation for once because that's the university that we went to, that's where we graduated. I mean, johnny says go gators right, he didn't go to florida, but you know, you get that pride because he's got that fan affiliation. So it's cool. Hopefully it keeps going so that way we can continue to talk about Stetson, because that would be nice for us. We can enjoy the university that much more.
Ryan Selimos:I'm just happy. Yeah, I just love that small school.
Jonny Strahl:Especially in baseball and football and basketball. But more basketball and baseball, Like smaller programs at the Division I level, can actually have a national presence. Like you see all these small not small schools, but mid-sized schools making a run in March Madness and then baseball. You know there's a couple of schools out there that do fairly well every year. So good old March Madness, my bracket's not looking good.
Ryan Selimos:We'll get there, your bracket's. Okay, you're in the right spot.
Jonny Strahl:I got the team still in there winning it, so we're good there. Round of 64 was not pleasant.
Ryan Selimos:I'm just happy that the national spotlight we got to ask the question that we asked for four-plus years what's a hatter? And we got the full history of John B Stetson on Hatter Nation. We got people wearing hats all across the country but the hats are there. What's a hatter? The question was asked and I don't know if we got a full answer yet. What's a hatter? The question was asked and I don't know if we got a full answer yet, but you know, it was hysterical and awesome at the same time just to see that conversation going on in the lead up good times all right, john, you want to segue into your bracket?
Ryan Selimos:huh TBC.
Jonny Strahl:Bracketology.
James LaGamma:Go for it, bring these brackets up.
Ryan Selimos:Huh, I can bring them up, I'll try to share a screen over here and see how that goes. All right, tbc's brackets. Kenny, how was your bracket submission process? I know that you really spent a lot of time on your bracket and this rewarded you down there in fourth place at 32%. So let's start from the bottom. We'll work our way up. How was your bracket submission experience?
Kenny Massa:yeah, it went like this it went I'm on a plane, right, I'm on a plane, andyan texts, hey, get this in by 12. And then like 10. While I'm on the plane I didn't see that until the next day. Well, I saw it, but I on the fine print of ryan's text it said get this in by 12. There was another sentence above that which is like basically Kenny and James, can you do this? Because we need to get these done? And yeah, I didn't see the second part of that. And then auto draft. That's basically it. That's the story. So if you want to see a computer, if you want to see a computer against Jonathan Straw, johnny wins. Look at the good news.
Ryan Selimos:Look at the good news. In your auto draft Right, you're in the top. You're third in right 32%. It could be worse than that. You know You're champion. Alabama is still alive, so we can say that you got a chance. And your final four?
Kenny Massa:picks are all alive.
Ryan Selimos:You still got Bama, you got Illinois, you got Houston, you got Tennessee. So you know, maybe not the greatest start, kenneth, but still time for a potential comeback. We'll see.
Kenny Massa:Great thing we have algorithmic selection. I approve of it. Thanks for the computer. All right, even a dumb computer knows more than me.
Ryan Selimos:The good news is Kenny's within 100 points of everyone, and the points only increase as we move through the rounds. Next up, third place myself, and we got the biggest upset in history coming for the natty, the nc state wolf pack, the 11 seed. They ran through the acc tournament. They've won to get in. They're the only double digit seed left and they got marquette coming up in the Sweet 16, and we feel good about it. So NC State's alive. My final four-pick, auburn, though they are out from the smart guys of Yale. They took them out along with Charles Barkley. We went down in the first round and in the second round, for some reason, I was liking the 11 seeds Oregon and they went down as well. So I got two out of my four picks remaining in NC State and UNC. So, kenny, I think you're in better shape than me, even though I got the better start. So have some confidence in yourself, buddy, you'll be all right.
Kenny Massa:Great, I'll keep my eyes glued to the screen.
Ryan Selimos:James LaCama, huge basketball savant. How are you feeling in second place, only 10 points behind the John Straw 67th percentile?
James LaGamma:buddy, although I didn't do auto draft, I think I would say, if you remember from maybe our school days and you get a Scantron, I believe I Christmas tree the shit out of this. Okay, I think. What did I have? Auburn versus Purdue in the championship? Well, that seems to be done.
Ryan Selimos:Yeah, you have. Yeah, auburn, alabama. So Auburn's out purdue, wisconsin. So you're looking like me with two out of four final four teams ballsy pick, I would say, in purdue, given. You know you've seen them be upset from, you've seen them get upset by the little guy over the years. I think. One moment that comes to mind you were there when the saint p Peter's Peacocks took down Purdue a couple years ago, and yet you were feeling confident enough to go back with them. So let's tell us about your pick Purdue.
James LaGamma:All right, let's be completely honest here. I remember the Peacock win. I was great. We celebrated our asses off when we laid down a huge bet on one of our bachelor parties that we were at. I had no idea they played Purdue.
Ryan Selimos:There was no strategy there that Purdue was going to bounce.
James LaGamma:No, the strategy was when I grew up with one of my family friends or I guess what do you call it? People you grow up with. Anyways, their dad went to Purdue, so I've always heard about the Boilermakers and they're not terrible at basketball. So I was just again going through Christmas tree, like I know that big P Bring them through, not the worst strategy in the world, but you're making a pick off people.
Ryan Selimos:You know People will make it off mascot, team colors, team names and I think historically that strategy might even be better than the experts. So second place man.
James LaGamma:Well, I mean, it was either Purdue or the Indiana Hoosiers. Which are they even in this?
Ryan Selimos:I don't believe Indiana made the cut this year.
James LaGamma:Yeah, those are the two basketball college teams that I grew up with.
Ryan Selimos:Picked one of them I guess, before we go to our lead dog, let's check in on the Peacocks how they did, because they did make the tournament again. But if you look down here, there was no Cinderella run to be had. They lost by about 34 in the first round, so they made an appearance. Yikes, maybe next year for the Cocks.
James LaGamma:Oh hey, they were on our TV, weren't they?
Ryan Selimos:Which one, James? I got like 12 games down here.
James LaGamma:The Tennessee St Peter's, or was it the Tennessee Texas that we watched?
Ryan Selimos:That was.
Ryan Selimos:Tennessee, texas, where we needed the under and we did receive the under hit on that one. So don't worry, buddy, all right. Last but under, and we did receive the under the under hit on that one. So don't worry, buddy, all right. Last but not least, a lot of go hatters. Our leader after the first weekend, jonathan strawl in the 74th percentile. Beautiful effort, jonathan. Take us through your strategy to lead to have uconn as your champion. You've got all four of your Final Four teams still available, so you and Kenny looking strong in UConn, unc, purdue and Houston.
Jonny Strahl:Yeah, you know, sometimes you just got to put the better seed to move on. It's that simple. As much as I wanted the Stetson Hatters to win, you know I definitely wanted them to hit the 26 and a half. They did not, but we had to push UConn through. Listen, the more brackets you're in, the more you can kind of test the waters and just kind of put some teams in that maybe won't in the other bracket but you can do it in the other one. So you know, listen, the more reps you take, the better chances you get, and that's my mentality there.
Ryan Selimos:I love that.
Jonny Strahl:Nothing too crazy. You know, like I was rooting for Drake. You know the good old pioneer football league, that's right.
James LaGamma:That didn't happen. Oh, not the rapper.
Jonny Strahl:A lot of people.
Ryan Selimos:James, there's a lot of videos out there that people pick Drake because he's a rapper that is out on the socials.
James LaGamma:Good, good, good, good good.
Jonny Strahl:I tell you I wanted to go with Oregon beating South Carolina. I was stuck on that one. I was disappointed. I went with South Carolina go SEC, but should have go with Oregon beating South Carolina. I was stuck on that one, I was disappointed. I went with South Carolina, go SEC, but should have went with Oregon. You know I had my heart pick the Gators to make a run. I believe that bracket, although Marquette is pretty good, I think the easiest way to get to the eight was there. They got upset in my mind by Colorado Questionable calls, won't complain about that too much longer. Love seeing Yale San Diego State. That was a good one. But yeah, the more reps you take, the better chance right. So we'll see UConn number one seed defending national champs. It pained me to pick them, obviously starting off with the Stetson Hatters one versus 16 seed. But here we are.
Ryan Selimos:I think even more painful with Stetson, but I believe the last team to go back-to-back was your Florida Gators 06-07. Correct, that's it.
Ryan Selimos:And UConn with your selection. You're basically saying, hey, come match us Because they'd be back-to-back champs. We'll see, but I think it's. I totally agree with your comment about well, not I agree. The bracket agrees with your comment about the South being the easiest to get to that path Because you had Colorado, a 10th seed, you had NC State Oakland double digit seed. You had James Madison A lot of upsets in the first round, that Colorado-Clorida game Clayton was your guy's name, was that the dude who went bonkers 30 points. They wasted it, but that was a hell of a game. Yeah, okay man.
Ryan Selimos:Yeah, you know what you brought the smart guys of Yale it just set up though a national championship rematch in the Sweet 16 with UConn and San Diego State next week. So that'll be one to tune in for. I forgot San Diego State made the tournament, made the championship last year. I think I asked that in the boys chat this week. Couldn't remember. Yeah they did.
Kenny Massa:Okay, Johnny you brought up a point how many?
Ryan Selimos:brackets. Did you submit man?
Jonny Strahl:Practice makes perfect.
Ryan Selimos:I have a feeling I know the answer for Kenny and James, so I'll start with you.
Jonny Strahl:I did a total of four. Total of four. I've got four of four. Total of four. I've got four myself. Total of four, yeah.
Ryan Selimos:Had a feeling that was coming for James. James, you are our hope for more than one. Kenny, we're well aware Of Wonka One autopilot.
Jonny Strahl:I did chat GPT on one.
Kenny Massa:I don't even know if I would count this. You did chat GPT on one. I did chat GPT on one of them. I don't even know if I would count this to be honest, you did chat GPT on one of them.
Jonny Strahl:I did what.
Ryan Selimos:How was that process? You just typed them in one by one, or did you just paint a bracket? What was the question?
Jonny Strahl:asked Took a bracket. My buddy showed me how to do it, put it in there. Good to go. Pretty much, essentially, how's it doing? It had UConn, and then who was the other one? Purdue was the second to win it, favored.
Ryan Selimos:Jeez James, could you type any louder?
Kenny Massa:I feel like it wouldn't be able to choose an upset because it just goes by statistical data. I don't know.
Ryan Selimos:Okay, Listen, that's a new way of bracketology chat, chibi-tee.
Jonny Strahl:It's a new way of everything. Huh yeah, Kenny, you should draft your fantasy team next year off of how chat chibi-tee does it. Maybe it'll still keep you loyal to.
James LaGamma:It's still auto-draft.
Jonny Strahl:It'll still keep you loyal to your quarterback for the good old Buffalo Bills. You'll still get him. Oh my God, he's not going anywhere.
Ryan Selimos:Just in case you all were worried, there are no perfect brackets left through the first weekend. I know we all thought we had a chance at it. We obviously got whooped from a percentage standpoint, except maybe John with his 75%. But no perfect brackets remain once again in March Madness. It'll be interesting if we ever see the day that a perfect bracket makes it through March Madness.
Kenny Massa:Dang, I was really hoping for it. We can feel it in your enthusiasm. Welcome to Hot Takes, where we talk about debatable topics. Today's debatable topic is should college basketball get rid of the one and done rule? To kick us off, ryan, because you're the biggest basketball fan.
Jonny Strahl:I'll say yes, john.
Kenny Massa:I'm going to say no, I'm going to agree with John and I'll say no, oh, I'm with Ryan.
Ryan Selimos:Get rid of it. Me and James baby. Not sure how I feel about this.
James LaGamma:Because we're a team team and we're going to be here for more than one year.
Jonny Strahl:Great start.
James LaGamma:All right, we already won. See you later, boys.
Jonny Strahl:All right, Kenny, why do you think?
Kenny Massa:Get rid of the one and done rule. I think that why do you think they should get rid of?
Ryan Selimos:one and done.
Kenny Massa:I think that if they have the talent, they have the talent. I don't think that a rule like this really justifies anything.
James LaGamma:Well, the justification was that they can go make some money, and now they have NIL. True, but they're making their money. If they got the NIL deals there, they're good. Just play out the rest of the fucking three years.
Kenny Massa:I do think that the NIL deals do throw this for a loop. I did not think about that.
James LaGamma:Yeah.
Kenny Massa:But I do think that that throws a wrench in things dramatically for the reasoning behind it, because, at the end of the day, I think that this rule is in place because you're putting money in hands of kids, like you know, they're 18, 19, right, they're young so, and I think that there just is a level of maturity that's aligned to it. So I think that that's why the rule is there. But nil throws a big wrench in things, to be honest with you, because it basically neglects the entire purpose of this. So, yeah, does the rule even need to stay in that sense, right?
James LaGamma:Did we just get someone to flip?
Ryan Selimos:Well, this partner hasn't even gotten it. I mean, listen, this rule was put into place in the early 2000s, right? You're thinking Kobe Bryant, huge name in basketball, went directly from high school to the NBA. So did LeBron, and then I think it was probably late, probably mid to late 2000s I said early 2000s, so I'm contradicting myself Late 2000s, after LeBron came out, where they made this switch, because you were just seeing these 17, 18-year-old kids come in and they were out of the league early. Right, they weren't fully developed, but then the rule didn't make sense to just, oh, one year in college will be enough. They're not getting the full benefits of college, right, they're not getting a four year degree.
Ryan Selimos:Now, a lot of them. The great story, shaq is a perfect example. They go back to college and finish out after their career, so that's awesome to see. But in the moment you're there for one year, you know, are you really going to all of your classes? Probably not, because, again, you know, the plan coming in is you're one and done. From a physicality standpoint, these are 18 year old kids. A lot of these one and done teams Kentucky is the perfect example burn out the tournament. They just don't have the size. They don't have the maturity. So is it really benefiting the student at the end of the day with the one-and-done rule? I don't think so. The individuals that's benefiting are the ones who are staying there for all four years, so why make them stay just one year?
Kenny Massa:I think that they need to have the education. I think that one of the biggest I understand it's one year of education, but I think that one of the biggest statistics that goes in line with this is professional athletes literally blowing all of their money and having nothing left, and I think that they need to have a level of education. I think that four years is needed. I think that they need to have a level of education that backs that.
James LaGamma:At least get your AA. That's two years, that would, yeah, associate's degree, whatever it's called.
Kenny Massa:They need to have some level of education to be able to back what happens post-athletic ability. Right Once their athletic career ends, they're going back to college. Why not just do that when you're 18? You know, get your degree.
Jonny Strahl:On a scholarship.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, on a scholarship, even if it's a two-year degree. But I think they need to have some level of a degree just to be able to help them maintain a career or lifestyle post-athletic career and I think that's probably the most important thing and the biggest reasoning why I think that they shouldn't get rid of the one and done rule, but the one and done rule. I should be like the two and done rule.
Ryan Selimos:Well then you would get rid of the one and done rule and change it, because you're not getting a degree in one year? You're not getting your A's unless you're coming in with credits.
Kenny Massa:So we agree with you, Kenny.
Ryan Selimos:Yeah, it's yes, they should get rid of the one and done rule and change it.
Kenny Massa:I'm saying no. I'm saying they should modify. I'm saying they should modify, they should make it a two Jonathan wants to talk.
Ryan Selimos:Hello, john, welcome to the hot takes. Where we talk about the baseball.
James LaGamma:Kenny's got me doing a bunch of calculations all over my head right now. I don't know what just happened, but Johnny, please step in, help your team.
Jonny Strahl:We're talking about the one and done rule, as if we are guaranteeing this player that goes into college on a full ride scholarship to get their degree is assuming that this person's done once they get there the first year. That is not the case for many of these players. When they are at their best, when they are highly recruited a top five, top 10 athlete out of high school, they are going to college and they are discovering whether or not they have what it takes to become an NBA player and to get paid and to be the best at what they do. So the college experience one thing is allowing them to get exposure from some of the best at what they do. Now if we want to argue, hey, you should be able to go to the NBA right after high school, that's one thing. If you want to argue one and done rule in college, that's one thing. I think it's all circumstantial because there's not a lot of players that are going to college right now that are truthfully understanding whether or not they have what it takes to go to the NBA. And if they do, who's to say, a college needs to limit them, especially now that the NCAA allows pretty much. You're on a one-year contractual agreement there's no such thing as a three, four-year contractual NIL actually is a benefit to this one and done rule.
Jonny Strahl:It now allows student athletes the opportunity to not maybe jump ship after one year to take a risk, to go chase a bag of money and to get compensated appropriately to maybe say, another year or two at the Dukes, at the North Carolinas, where their NIL collectives are a lot better for basketball. On the flip side, I'm going to say this let's just take the player out of it, these big name kids that come to these schools. It's a big economic opportunity for the college. So if this college can get one good year out of this kid to maybe make a run in March Madness, to maybe make it to the Elite Eight, the Final Four NCAA Championship, that's bringing in revenue. That's putting money in the coaches' pockets, the alumni, all the players, everybody's pockets at the end of the day, which is another area of opportunity.
Jonny Strahl:I just don't like the fact that, hey, we're going to limit someone for maybe following their dreams based off quote-unquote. We know they're not going there, potentially for an education Like, so be it, it is what it is. What is it? Two years in college football?
Speaker 5:No three.
Jonny Strahl:Right, is it two years in college football, three years Three.
Jonny Strahl:Three no three, right, is it two years in college football? Three years, three, three. Like johnny manziel, like whatever you got player, like all these players that could have maybe went after a year or two, they could have went to the nfl and, hey, were they maybe built strong enough, fit enough to maybe perform in the nfl? I don't know, we don't know, but that's their decision, that's up to their agents, that's up to their, their team that they're working with to get them ready. So I'm okay with the one and done rule.
Jonny Strahl:Do I love it? No, do I think it's cool when you got junior seniors making a run, that team effort, especially in basketball. If you have a great five, a great roster that are in sync, you can make a run. So yeah, that's my two cents. I'm not saying it's right, but there are a lot of variables to look at. I just don't think it's right to say, hey, you are contracted to a four-year degree, when we know that's not the case, that's not the day of athletics anymore and it really hasn't been for many, many years. No, it hasn't.
Kenny Massa:How many people actually get recruited after the one year?
Ryan Selimos:What do you mean?
Kenny Massa:Okay, how many people are getting pulled?
Jonny Strahl:into the nba after their one year of college basketball.
James LaGamma:I would say not many I'm trying to look at that but a majority of them are the.
Kenny Massa:The reason why I ask that is because you can probably name on two hands the people who have gotten pulled from high school and at least in our generation, because the rule came around I would say within our generation, came around, I would say within our generation that you can probably pull on two hands the top athletes that came from high school that didn't go to college. Meaning, and the reason I bring that up is just because, like, the statistics are dramatically low, like these are just such a select few that would literally go to one year of college and then bounce out of it. Because I think that they get, like on Johnny's point, I think they get to college, they do their one year and they realize they're working in parallel with that division. They're not anything super unique, they are placed in a new environment to compete at a different level and they realize they can compete at that level but they have to perform at a college level.
Kenny Massa:Now and I think that that's eye-opening to a lot of athletes, like if you're in a small town school, right, and you're just crushing it and then you go to a top 10 university and you start competing with some major athletes, it's going to be a different level of athleticism and that's probably going to keep you in that arena for a longer period of time because of the fact that you entered a whole new realm of level of competition and then now, when you're in a small town, you were just crushing it.
Kenny Massa:Now you're this collegiate level where you're performing at the same level of athletes and it's eye-opening, whereas if you just skip that whole process and you go to nba, you're going to get crushed. Like what's the likelihood if someone goes to from high school to nba and gets crushed? Or that doesn't happen because it just doesn't they, the, the select three in the fucking country you know are just that good that they do perform, you know. And I think the only thing we can look at is like maybe what lebron james other than lebrron James, who came from high school and did get crushed in the NBA- Wame Brown Stephen.
Ryan Selimos:A there has to be His favorite person who I think this might be around the timeline that they instilled the rule. I mean, it's just. I agree with you that in the sense, it's not a huge. There's not a huge bucket of individuals that are making this.
Kenny Massa:Let me just say this, let me cut you off. It's like. It's like you saying I'm really good at driving my car and then you just going into nascar, but you have no other like you. You're just like. You're just taking your car out on a track once in a while at fucking homestead and then you all of a sudden just start trying to race at nascar. Like there has to be a level of of escalation there.
Ryan Selimos:Harrison kenny and I know you're not the the biggest basketball guy, so I'll keep it in nascar for you that one year of driving experience is really going to catapult me to become a nascar racer versus having is going to see if you can compete the rule's stupid. The one year doesn't just remove the year. Let them stay four years. Let them stay two. Why mandate one year?
Ryan Selimos:it doesn't benefit them don't pretend that we'll get to your hand, johnny. Don't pretend that you're thinking in the best interest of the students by keeping them in college for one year so they get an education. They're not because you can't unless they come in your credits. They're not. They're trying to give the illusion that we're thinking of the student athletes, which the whole problem with the NCAA in general is. That's not the case. Go ahead, john.
Kenny Massa:I think it's because you can't take that step back. You can't go from high school to then go to NBA and then be like, oh, I'm not fit, this is too much of a level of competition, I can't compete, let me go back to college. You can't take that step back.
Ryan Selimos:You never went to college in the first place.
Kenny Massa:You can go to college, but you think that someone's going to pull you back into competing at the college level after you go to NBA. Has it happened?
Jonny Strahl:Isn't there a clause though in NCAA, where if you go professional, you lose your amateurism?
Kenny Massa:Am I wrong, I would think. I don't know, I have no idea. It sounds logical, but I don't know, I would think how do you get pulled back down?
Ryan Selimos:You have to go overseas and play professionally and get paid. Is that just because it's international? Because people will go overseas instead of do their one year of college, get paid and then they'll come play in the NBA after that quote-unquote year, or they'll go to the G League.
Kenny Massa:That's because you're bouncing to another program, because basically an overseas program is the same as a collegiate program, but it's still professional. It's seen as the same level. Yeah, not really. I got a question. That's a whole other debate I can debate on that. I know people that have played at a professional level overseas. It is not a fucking professional NBA level.
Ryan Selimos:You say that to listen, man. Your overseas basketball is catching up.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, catching up does not mean it's the same as the NBA, the best players in the world in the NBA today are becoming are more and more international.
Ryan Selimos:That percentage is raising. So the gap between USA basketball and international is closing. We'll see the Olympics, but I want to get Johnny at the last point before we close out. Bye, Ken.
Jonny Strahl:That's a debatable topic, international basketball. Right there question Ryan, you made a note or a comment about like going to the college for one year question you're a big basketball guy, you follow.
Jonny Strahl:NBA a lot more than I follow the NBA. I definitely follow college basketball much more than NBA. Could you argue, though, that these players, when they go to a Duke under Coach K I won't even say Kentucky, it's a sensitive subject. However, could you argue that the coaching and development in college is actually better than maybe the NBA For that To set them up to then get to the NBA?
Ryan Selimos:Within that one year.
Jonny Strahl:Yeah, just curious.
Ryan Selimos:I don't know. I think the right they get to college, you're a top recruit. You're going to have the staff like fully locked in on your development for however long it is, to try to get you to the next level. Where, if you in the NBA, if you're a top 10, if you're a first round pick, you're going to get that same type of attention because they've invested money, right? I don't, I don't know.
Ryan Selimos:I think either way, whether you go directly out of high school or one and done you look at the NBA and the top picks, it's taking longer for them to make an impact and develop because they're 18, 19, 20 years old. They haven't grown into their body versus you see more mature individuals at that 23, 24 age. They're having a quicker impact on their team because their development's along the way, whatever path that is, it's just the age and maturity. So I think it could go either way, which is why I don't think the rule of one and done has a lot of impact. It doesn't act in the best interest of the student athlete. So get rid of it and let the student athlete make that best decision for them and their family, versus forcing them to do one year.
Kenny Massa:I think it's the best route of escalation you can't just jump around and I think that it's the right stairway.
Ryan Selimos:You can now with NIL, you can jump all around there, you go.
Kenny Massa:Well, no, nil still keeps you in place. It just allows you to get funded at more levels. That's basically it, but it's the right escalation we got no tiebreaker, so can I throw in some quick statistics, though I was stay in school
James LaGamma:go. Interesting enough, uh, the ncaa estimates 4.2 percent of um eligible division one players were drafted um or get drafted, essentially. So, uh, out of 1.2 percent that actually make it pro, that go into the NCAA, which is like 18,000 people that play basketball. I mean that's crazy. But then when you look at it from and this statistics is from Amazon between 2000 to 13, 2017, I don't know why statistics are always not like completely up to date, but whatever, um, the average uh GPA that these guys basically like move on, like when they depart from college, is like 2.68. Um, only 24% depart from college with a above 3% or three GPA 3.0.
James LaGamma:So you can definitely clearly see that they're not taking the education portion as seriously. I mean, 2.7 is like probably C's, maybe closer to D's, so it's not like terrible, but the C's get degrees. We all know that. But I don't know it's interesting, it's just you're talking about a really, really small percentage. When you start like quantifying everything, so the jump from even high school to college, then high school to MBA, or just college to MBA, like there's just, it's just the numbers keep dwindling and dwindling and dwindling I guess the one and done, I mean kind of comes back to the point of if you can't make it, if you don't make it, at least you have something to fall back on. If you stayed back for four years, or you got developed more as well, I don't know.
Kenny Massa:Guess we'll find out. It will likely stay.
Ryan Selimos:Ty call in. Let us know what you think.
Jonny Strahl:Ty's just waking up right now.
James LaGamma:Yeah, for real.
Kenny Massa:Probably. Only time will tell. All right, we'll close it at that. We're not sure on this debatable topic, but time will tell.
James LaGamma:What are the odds of us? That is pretty crazy.
Kenny Massa:That is a crazy debate.
James LaGamma:Yeah.
Jonny Strahl:It's a preposterous number. It's more than a billion. It's like the next. Really what?
Kenny Massa:is it.
Jonny Strahl:Yeah, I don't even know. I do know that in 2019, the closest anyone has gotten was a doctor. He got the first 49 games correct. And then, of course, as Ryan mentioned, good old Purdue. They actually came up clutch, though they actually beat Tennessee in the Sweet 16, which ended his perfect bracket, gotcha.
James LaGamma:Bye, damn.
Ryan Selimos:Let's talk about Purdue a little bit, because right them coming in along. I say this because your typical flops is what I'm calling them the top seeds that you go into a tournament. If someone's going down, it's going to be them. I would say Purdue, it's Arizona, I'd throw Duke in there. Those are typically the big schools that get upset a lot.
Ryan Selimos:They're there the most so they have the most opportunity to get upset, but they are holding strong in this tournament. It's the fifth time since 1979 that all one and two seeds have made the Sweet 16. So, like I said, purdue, the last three or four years has been a train wreck in the tournament. They are blowing people out. So it's just a different. There's not as much, I guess, madness as you would expect. There was a lot of madness in the first round. You had, I'd say, what is that? One, two, three, four, five, six, eight double-digit seeds making it out of the first round, but only one and we talked about that that NC State remains as we move to the sweet 16.
Ryan Selimos:So I'm teeing that up as to what do you guys define as madness? Like, is it just any double digit seed wind, is it any upset, or is there a certain level where it goes from? I don't want to say an expectation, but it goes from a nice upset to something you never experienced? Like, do you have kind of a range? Cause I was talking to my buddy about it and his suggestion was 13 seed or later is where he starts to get. He defines it as madness. So I was just curious y'all's opinion on that.
James LaGamma:Recording a podcast at 6. On a Monday, that's what I define as madness.
Ryan Selimos:Good, great, same dude.
James LaGamma:Easter time. Help me out here because there's a lack of understanding on my part. They get seeded right, but you have one through what is it? 16 on each side, so you got four of those. That is correct. Doesn't mean they're actually ranked that in, like, I guess, in the nation, because they do different rankings throughout the year.
James LaGamma:They only rank one through 25 in the in the nation that's published in the nation there and do they split the one through 25 out based off of is it region. I don't need to pay attention to the brackets. That's why, like how did the how does a bracket get formed?
Ryan Selimos:There's a selection committee, basically Like I don't know how granular I'm going to say it gets to granular where they put. They don't go down like one through 25.
James LaGamma:It's, you're automatically if you're, if you're the number 24 team in the nation, you're automatically a 16 or yes the point is no, I'd say outside of maybe the top 8 first and second seeds so then, like the double digits, they're probably sitting somewhere around they could be ranked anywhere between like 60 or lower, or maybe even maybe a little bit higher than that, right Cause, how many teams actually get into the first round.
Ryan Selimos:So it wouldn't be 68.
James LaGamma:So what? 30 or lower, probably, or higher, I guess, depending on how you look at it. But uh, then I guess any double digit win it would be madness, right? Okay, I mean, we go crazy when a double-digit in college football beats a single-digit ranking during the year.
Kenny Massa:I mean that's true.
James LaGamma:I guess that's what I'm making my claim off of. So I don't know. I just don't know how good a single digit versus a double digit would have been. That's why I had to get that clarification before I made my determination here. So I would say 10 or higher, and seeding would probably be madness in my opinion, and then definite madness if it makes it more than two rounds so James starts right at the double digits Kenny we'll just say that your answer is with James and you're good.
Kenny Massa:Yeah, I agree.
Ryan Selimos:John you got any opinions on this?
Jonny Strahl:one. I think it's safe to say what your buddy said. But also, you know the rankings where people are putting the bracket, you know it's it's arguable that sometimes they're not the most accurate. Sure, I think we saw that the SEC had a lot of favoritism in their rankings this year and where they're replacing the bracket to say that people who are taking down you know the big SEC school or shouldn't have been favored. We don't know that. But because of a simple ranking and just the you know strength of schedule, I mean basketball is great, basketball is awesome because five against five, you know things can get a little bit different on the court. You know somebody can get hot and that can change the game and we see that time after time in March Madness. That's what's really cool about the tournament. But I don't know. I think an upset is obviously a little guy taking down a big dog. I don't know, I think an upset is obviously a little guy taking down a big dog.
Jonny Strahl:So double-digit team double-seeded team versus a lower-seeded team. I think that suffices as a I don't know a big win and maybe a Cinderella story.
James LaGamma:Okay.
Ryan Selimos:I'm glad you brought up the SEC as we kind of maybe close this chapter, because I believe Greg Sankey made some statement along the lines of the tournament getting rid of the automatic qualifiers, like a Stetson Hatter winning your conference for those smaller schools and automatically getting into the tournament, and the SEC got their teeth kicked in this tournament. So just very interesting, maybe some karma that's coming back, but SEC has not performed well, like you said, maybe just some over-ranking, higher seeding than they deserved. But I'm not sure if anyone wants to see those automatic qualifiers go away, because that's what makes March Madness is giving those smaller schools an opportunity that they typically wouldn't have.
James LaGamma:I feel, like you might have just answered my question before I proposed it, or at least in a way I'm assuming. Every conference gets representation in March Madness, every D1 conference at least in a way. I'm assuming every conference gets a representation in the March madness. Every D one conference at least Correct, and it's through the auto picks, Essentially, If you're the champion you, you, you get a automatic bid.
Ryan Selimos:Is what you're referring to? Perfect example, where it's not like college football, where you have division one and one double a two different tournaments, it's all yeah, oh, okay, and one double a two different tournaments, it's all.
James LaGamma:Yeah, oh okay, all division one. So those, it's all division one. Uh, I did not know that you know, that's cool? Um, I do think it's. It's interesting that basketball has, uh, an actual tournament, though with all these teams. That's, I don't. There's not anything else in ncaa, right, like, like that I don't know baseball's format.
Ryan Selimos:They don't follow it as much so college a pitch that to you, john, because I think you mentioned college baseball, but football obviously is not. They're expanding to a similar style. A lot less teams, um, but if if there is one, it's baseball.
Kenny Massa:I mean soccer, some of those other sports, I just don't know look, I don't think there's any surprise that I'm not invested into this process, but I think that march madness does bring people into tune with college basketball, more so than a lot of other sports, you know. I think it's something that's really unique to the sport of basketball and it's pretty awesome to do and to be a part of, because I think that yeah, I mean especially at the college level you see a lot of big notoriety around professional sports, but from the college level, I think it's something that's really unique and, who knows, maybe you'll see us for one day sitting courtside at a March Madness game. For the.
Kenny Massa:Hatters, I might be sitting there eating it. Yeah, maybe it'll be a Hatters game, so that'll be cool, but until then, the Bender continues.
Jonny Strahl:The Bender continues, the Bender continues, the madness continues.
