Well, welcome back. Hello there. And we now know the Final Four headed for the Big Easy in New Orleans. It will be Villanova and Kansas. And for the first time ever in an NCAA tournament at the Final Four, Duke and North Carolina. Those hated rivals will meet in the other semi-final. I am TJ Rives. We’re here to recap this weekend. We’re here to look ahead a little bit to what’s going to happen in New Orleans. There are actually a couple of games to be interested in for tonight. We thank you so much for finding us once again, live, here on the BetUS College Basketball Show. We see the handicappers that are right here hanging out. Jeff Nadu, the Big Man on campus is back aboard. How are you feeling Big Man, off the weekend, all this good? I’m not feeling too good, to be honest. I haven’t really read these games real well. It was a rough Elite Eight. I think we could all agree with that. The game just weren’t very good. And this is kind of the drawback, guys, occasionally, when you get upsets, you’re going to have teams that eventually just get boat raced. And I don’t know what Jim Larrañaga said to his people at halftime, but that was a pretty incredible second. I don’t know if I’ve seen anything like that in a long time. I don’t know how you get out scored 44-15 or whatever it was, 48-15. That was pretty incredible. St. Peters, from the beginning was really just destroyed. You got those gaze when you get locks. It’s always a shame when that happen. Yep, but for North Carolina and Kansas, give them credit because they put it on there for that. Major Matt, you’re back aboard for another week. Happy Monday. How are you feeling? What’s up? I’m doing well. And I see Jeff is wearing his black because his beloved Razorback has finally run up against a good team and didn’t play very well, so it’s, you know. Duke is, I mean, as I said for months, thanks a lot, I think, on this show Duke to the Final Four was almost the Shor’s bet. Now, I could scream conspiracy, but it turns out they were actually a pretty good basketball team as well. I noticed in the dig, he’s saying finally played a good team yet still has the Gonzaga painted over his shoulder, Big Man. We did cover that back on Friday, but Arkansas took care of them. I mean, I don’t know. Any person that’s a Gonzaga fan that doesn’t live in Spokane, you have to wonder where their validity is, as a fan is coming from. When did you start liking them, Matt, three years ago? A lot longer than that, a lot longer than that. At least seven. At least seven. It may be 10. It may be 10. Good to have all of you hanging out. You will have opportunity for Q&A. There are a couple of games that we’re going to go over here in the all important basketball classic matchups that are tonight. There’s a little handicapping, that’s going to go on maybe for there. The NIT tomorrow night back in New York. Remember, they did not have any, a National Invitational Tournament two years ago, because of the COVID-19 shut down. And then a year ago, it was all played in Texas on a neutral site at the University of North Texas. So now, it’s back and their back, I believe, at the Garden, if I’m correct. I haven’t been keeping up with this. It is at the Garden, correct? Yeah. For the semi finals and the finals. So, some normalcy returns to the NIT. And we’ll get into that a little bit. And I also want to talk to these guys, too, about the lines that are already out here. Not a surprise that Duke is favored and not a surprise that Kansas is favored, but maybe by how much might surprise you a little bit. So, we’ll get into that as the show goes on. Get questions and answers going if you’re watching us live here. The guys may be answering as well in the live chat. You may be seeing that. Again, we’ve done very well with the audience leading in here, so we love the participation if you’re seeing us live. Even if you’re seeing us later in the day, we again say, we’re live the rest of this week, 11:00 AM, Eastern Time, leading into Final Four Saturday in the National Semi-Finals. With that being said, let’s take a look at the records, as we always do customarily at the top of the show and you see the Big Man still above 500. Mid Major Matt hovering right around there as well. And the guys did get some good stuff last week on the Sweet 16 and even in the Elite Eight. So, there we go on the records and that will lead us into what we will talk about first here briefly and that is the Basketball Classic. There’s always a game or two it seems like, on the card here at the very end. The Basketball Classic has semi-final action coming tonight and two Sun Belt teams are playing in South Alabama and Coastal Carolina for that matchup in Mobile tonight. Mid Major Matt, this is right in your wheelhouse with the mid-majors. All right. What’s the interest here even if there’s not an official play here? Well, clearly there’s a lot of interest in the road team in this one. They opened a 3-1/2-point dog and a bunch. (silence) In fact, it’s being made up as we go along here. I would have liked the road team here, but there’s no value. It’s all gone now. So, this was an easy game to pass now the value is gone. Interesting. Again, they’re conference rivals. And Jeff, I know you don’t have an official play here. One thing that we keep cautioning everybody who really cares that much at this point. How much does Coastal Carolina plan a care as the road team. And from what Matt had to say, they may care a lot here because they lost the regular season matchup. This is potentially the final game for any of their seniors. There are guys that are leaving. That’s an unknown. How much does Coastal care on the road tonight? Well, I think by this point, the teams care. I mean, they’ve won a couple of games. Now, they kind of feel like, “Well, let’s go out and win the game. We’re playing. Here’s where we are. I look at this, and Matt makes a great point about Chandler, obviously. But when you look at the rest of this roster for South Alabama, Richie Riley has all transfers. These are all kids that were at high-end universities, Memphis, Auburn, LSU, TCU. All these kids that play are higher level talents in they’re here. And that’s one of the reasons they were really a good team in the Sunbelt this year. I’ve always said there’s a real simple thing. When you face Cliff Ellis, if you can shoot the basketball, you’re going to have a real good opportunity to win. He’s going to throw a zone at you, if you can shoot the basketball, you’re going to have an opportunity to win. And this is a pretty decent South Alabama team from a three-point standpoint. They’re also at home here, which again, I mean, that goes a long way they’ve won both games at home so far. They beat two kind of soft defenses in USC Upstate and Southeast Louisiana. But, ultimately, I feel like I’m getting the home team, I’m getting a team that could shoot the ball decently. And I’m getting a team that at the end of the day is full and chock full of higher major talent. So, I definitely kind of lean on South Alabama here at home. It’s a pick’em (silence) now at BetUS, which I’m getting the best of it if I like the Jags here. They, also as Matt said, beat them once. Remember though, Chandler didn’t play in that game. So I lean South Alabama, but I wish I had him. Yeah, some volatility on the line movement like you were talking about Matt, because it is now listed as a pick’em game when it was two and a half or three for the home team in this instance. All right, so that is no official play from either one of the guys. That’s game number 1. Anything else? Yeah, one thing I wanted to say, and this is kind of an odd, kind of once you get to the end of the season one thing that I know I kind of, sometimes you could struggle with, I know one thing I don’t like about the conference is when it sucks. The thing I love about college basketball most is on a show like this, during the regular season, we can find 200 games or 150 games on a Saturday. We can really isolate value. The problem as we get closer and closer to the end of the season is the value becomes gone on this stuff. I mean, you have every, like you look at the Elite Eight games, everybody is betting those, so it’s tougher to find a side. It’s tougher to find value. It’s tougher to find and it’s sad because the season is ending. So yeah, as Matt said, if you’re going to bet these game, the NIT games and stuff, you got to bet them early. You got to get in on him early, because you’re going to just quickly lose what you where you want to be with stuff. Matt, a thought on that. Are you good? Move on? No, he’s right. I mean, that’s why at least my angle has always been in college basketball is the big major games because everybody is going to go on a Saturday and bet the Duke North Carolina games and bet the big ones. And then the smaller ones are the places where I think the value is. But as he said, we got two games tonight. And obviously, it’s not a great show. Him and I both pass on everything, which we are for today. But there’s nothing wrong with passing, especially since you got the Final Four coming up. You got the NIT tomorrow. I know I have a play in the NIT tomorrow. But yeah, there’s two games tonight. The value is kind of gone if you wait and you want to bet the day of, because everybody else is like, “Oh, yeah, I love the road team. Let me just take the 3-1/2.” And I feel like South Alabama today then you’re lucking out because it worked out for you. And I look, Matt, I mean I feel like an at home, at a pick’em, I think it’s a good price on South Alabama. But, again, as he said if you like CeCe, you have nothing though. It is interesting and I’m just bringing this up because I was paying attention to Sunday. We didn’t have a Sunday show. The Big Man and I were on Saturday. I was curious with the St. Peter’s line fluctuate with North Carolina as Saturday became Sunday, as we only had two games left in the Elite Eight. Would they become more of an underdog? Would they become less of an underdog? But I believe, correct me, if I’m wrong guys. They remain around an 8-1/2 or 9-point underdog. There was not a lot of line movement. There was not a line. A lot that came in on North Carolina though, to raise the line and not a lot on St. Peter’s after the shocker over Purdue Friday night to move the line down. That game stayed pretty well around 8-1/2 or 9. The price was the price right? Correct? Yeah, I mean, pretty much. I mean, we didn’t seem… I mean, I think at one point., I saw five-pop up in the first half, but I think it got to 9-1/2. But yeah, it was pretty much around there. I mean, you know? Yeah. And clearly, North Carolina jumped all over them and a live bet was out the window. Go ahead, Matt. And I’ll say this, if you like Coastal today, take them live. Hope that the Jaguars get a lead and then you get a bigger number or a better number on Coastal. Of course, if there’s a reason why they got to leave where it’s foul trouble or anything. But there’s no reason to take Coastal now to pick’em, so you missed your spot there. So now, you look for it live if you’re actually lucky enough to watch this game. I don’t even know, I assume it’s on ESPN Plus. And by the way, I never really looked at live lines at all. But just for grins when the Kansas second half run began, it was hilarious, because the live line I suddenly saw was -9-1/2 and they were still only up by 2 at that point. It turns out it could have been -19-1/2. And you would have been good. Who saw that coming? Like you said, Big Man, they outscored them, I believe 29 to 6, out of the locker room. And Miami took a lot of bad shots… I think- … like three or four bad shots. It was just an avalanche. When you bet those games like that, you kind of look at it and you say, “Well, maybe I should just bet the first half.” Because if they’re going to give them an effort, it’s going to be in the first half. But I remember at halftime, I caught a friend of mine and he mentioned to me he needed Kansas to win or something for brackets or something, I don’t know. And I said, “Well, as long as they don’t get outscored by 12 in the second half, you’re going to be good and this is perfect.” I said, “I feel like you should be at Moore.” And I said, “Yeah, I agreed, but hey, they’re up six. They didn’t have Moore like the last five minutes. It was perfect. It was a great situation to be in if you’re in Miami. And then that second half comes, it’s rare to see something like that. But I don’t know what button they hit. It was almost like the Fast and Furious when they would race cars and they hit that NAS button then they’d just be way faster than the other cars. And that’s how it was. It was hard to watch. You go from, and then I thought to myself, “Didn’t you have 31 or 35 points at the half?” They only scored 50. And I’m thinking like, “Wait, they only scored 50 points in the second half.” I’m assuming Kansas, well, obviously, they played ball, but yeah, Miami was lost. It seemed like when Jordan Miller went out, the defender on the wing that just the dam broke, if you will. It was hard to watch. Too many bad shots and too much Kansas executing and a big-time coach that put his players in the right positions. I mean, so many times we clobber coaches for not adjusting, for not motivating, for not doing whatever. Whatever Bill Self said at halftime, the adjustments he made in their half court offense, wow, what a turnaround on that. All right, one more game in the Basketball Classic as well tonight. Again, there’s not an official play on this, but here’s the line. Fresno State at home at the Save Mart Center, Lane Seven with Southern Utah. You see the total at 136-1/2. So, you guys are kind of going over some philosophical stuff here. Matt, just, again, illuminate. Southern Utah was one of the teams that had an issue with who is their opponent last week, right? That was a mess. And they ended up winning the game. And no, they’re on the road of the semi-final game. Do I have that right? Yeah. Portland was supposed to play Merrimack. Merrimack withdrew or basically, the Basketball Classic pushed him out because the bracket didn’t work out. So, Portland went to Southern Utah. That game [inaudible 00:13:39] over and unfortunately, didn’t hit. Of course, Chris Austin getting hurt for Portland kind of put that thing in a grinding to a halt after they scored 80 points in the first half. But I mean, look, this Southern Utah team, it’s interesting because they’re getting into a little bit of a rhythm, playing some of these games. They’re going to have the 48-hour turnaround, but they are going to travel. If you look at Fresno State, the interesting thing here is Fresno State is one of the slowest teams in the country, 61.5 possessions per game. But if you look at the first two games of this tournament, 71 against Eastern Washington, 69 against Youngstown State. You look at the rest of their season, they cracked the 70-mark once when they had 72 possessions against LIU, who just runs ridiculously fast. But other than that, they have not gone this fast in back-to-back games this season. So makes you wonder, Southern Utah another team that plays faster than them, will they get into a little bit more of a, I won’t say, track me because we’re not going to get there. But we’ve also seen Fresno State a bad offense score 83 on Eastern Washington, 80 on Youngstown State. Could this new “style” bleed over once again, and they start playing back and forth once again? I had to lean to the over here, but my worry was if Fresno State takes control of this game, will they grind it to a halt? Will Southern Utah struggle to score? Will there be any sort of tiredness 48 hours later, after playing the fast game against Portland? I like Southern Utah in this tournament But I wonder if they’re going to struggle now against Fresno State. Good enough there. Some info and advice. Jeff, you got anything on that or you want to move on off the Basketball Classic? Yeah, I mean, this is, it’s a major step up for the most part. Fresno significantly better than anyone that, really maybe outside of Kent Seattle if they’re significantly better than Kent State. But Matt talked about that. That was kind of a rough spot for Ken. Yeah, anytime you have these clashes styles games, I’m not really interested Southern Utah wants to play super fast, Fresno slow. I think they’re kind of running into a brick wall here. Fresno is very good defensively under Hudson. I know that maybe, it hasn’t been necessarily out there recently, but if they want to play as he alluded to low 60s, I’m kind of surprised that Fresno even took this tournament to begin with. They’re kind of lowering themselves, I feel like, a little bit here, but I guess they wanted to win something. I don’t know. Yeah, I lean Fresno, just kind of a big step up here. I think they really take this game down a notch tempo wise and I don’t think a team like Southern Utah will have trouble scoring against Fresno. Orlando Robinson is probably a problem as well. But you want to make sure you check up what Fresno is doing. It seems like they’ve had some players out. You look the other night against Youngstown. I mean, a lot of their points came off the bench. I think they had like 30 points off the bench which is not sustainable long-term, so I don’t know. Lean Fresno here. I think this is a major step up for Southern Utah. I think TJ froze there for a second. But yeah, as far as this one, I’m not going to wager. But Matt, are you playing this game? I don’t think so. But I mean, it is the last game of the day. And if some strikes my fancy, I don’t think so. The one thing I’ll say is VCU, the year they won the CBI or the CIT, I always get confused. The next year was the year they made their first four, the Final Four run. So, I could see why some teams might play in a tournament like this to get more experience. Another thing is, if you look at Fresno State, they’re all pretty much juniors. So, it’s not like this is a freshman team that’s going to use this experience and buoy into next year. So, there can be reasons to play in this stuff. It’s just this team’s a veteran team. So yeah, you’re right, it’s kind of weird that they are in there. Yeah, I found it to be odd for sure. Do we have TJ or no? I am back aboard with you. I apologize. I don’t know. Gremlins on a Monday. We are here. I did catch everything that you were saying at the end there about Fresno State and then hosting Southern Utah. I didn’t hear anything after that. Hopefully, one of you at least took a two-handed swing at me for something while I was gone in my absence. If you didn’t, I’m going to be very disappointed in both you… We did not. … if that is the case. But we are back aboard. Here on the BetUS College Basketball Show on Monday. Again, we’ll get to questions and answers here in a couple of moments. I’m interested in something. Villanova obviously has the serious injury with Justin Moore, the second leading scorer. He went down with an Achilles injury right at the end of the Houston win. Very much tempered their celebration. Curious on the Futures plays? Because I talked to a couple people and I, for a flyer, had a fun one with Villanova on a Futures Play getting plus 1400. What are your thoughts here just out of curiosity that if Villanova is to somehow win the game with Kansas, what might their odds be guys for a national championship game on the Futures Play at that point? How much do you believe it would drop? Half? Would it drop more than half on the odds on something like that? Kind of a tenuous thing with an injured prominent player. Yeah, I mean, they’re still pretty good without him. You’re right, though, he is important. They’re not that deep. As far as what will the odds be? I mean, they’re 450 at BetUS currently to win it. Basically, right in front of Carolina, surprised by that a little bit. I don’t know in a tossup game against Duke or Carolina. I mean, I don’t know, may probably surely over cut in half for sure. All right, Matt. Any thought on that on how much it would probably go down. If you got to admit like, and you said plus 450 right now, it’s probably going to be like plus 200, plus 300, at the max, right? One game to go. Well, I don’t think they’ll offer it. I think they’ll just be taking the money line in that game. So, and I’ll say this, I’ll say it right now. I’m taking Villanova. I’m not doing it now. I’m hoping and I’m waiting for hopefully a five and then maybe I’ll explore what the alternate lines are. Give Jay Wright a week to figure something out. He’ll do it. They’re not going to get rattled. They’re not going to be like, “Oh, my God. We don’t have Justin Moore.” They’ll rally around them. I’ll take Villanova plus the points. I’m just going to wait and see if this thing gets to 5 and then maybe I’ll go to like 5-1/2 or 6 on the outlines if I feel, if the juice is tolerant. But that, I trust Villanova more in this situation than I trust Kansas. We’ll get to the audience questions. And you may have a couple of questions about the Villanova-Kansas game and I hope I don’t answer one of those right here. But while we’re on the subject, and I want this from both of you, what’s your opinion on if, if, if, if Moore was healthy, would this have been closer to like a pick’em or Kansas minus one at the most? Is he worth 3 or 3-1/2 points, and that’s why Kansas, Big Man, what do you think? Is that significant of an opening favorite? Yeah, I mean without Moore, I think it’s probably 4. With him, I still think Kansas is probably is maybe a small favorite. But asking me is tough because I would put it at pick’em if he’s fully healthy, if everybody is healthy. This is concerning because this is a second year in a row Villanova’s had to cut in half their, not their season. I mean, last year was a lot more pronounced. But it kind of sucks. I mean, they didn’t have Gillespie last year, don’t have Moore this year. And what makes it really brutal is I mean, it was late in the game. The game was kind of out of hand anyway. You kind of hate to see those things happening. It kind of tempered any excitement that you had. You won, but you’re not going to have a certain person because I think we all knew that was going to be a tough one. But yeah, I think it would probably be 1-1/2 if he were healthy for Kansas. But I think Matt’s totally right. I mean, here’s the problem, okay? And I got a lot of crappleness illness, and I’m going to just say it. Whether I like Villanova or not, I respect their program. But I’ll be honest, I don’t really respect what they did on Saturday, honestly. If Houston just would make a few shots, I don’t think Villanova did anything particularly well. I mean, Houston at 18 offensive rebounds. Houston just didn’t shoot the ball well. I can’t really, and even [crosstalk 00:21:37]. Well, they defended them. They defended him and they deserve credit for that. If you watched the game over, Houston had many open shots, they just missed them. I want to use- They closed down on some of them. I mean, they had the lead from the beginning of the game and until the final, what couple of minutes, it was never closer than 4, so we can’t just say that it was all Houston. Yeah, but- And I went back and forth with you on Saturday because I thought it was Villanova and I thought the wrong team was favored. I thought the veteran coach with his veteran players would get there. I can’t knock the guy that has continually won and say, “His team is not responsible for getting in the Final Four.” I’m not. I just said I agree that they’re a great partner. They gave up 50 points, though. I mean, that’s what I’m trying to say. They were one for 20 from three and shot 30% from two and still only lost by six. All I’m saying is if they just make two, I mean, that’s a totally different game. So, I look at Villanova, yes, they won. It’s impressive. Jay writes terrific. He’s great looking. We love him. He’s the best. But at the end of the day, Houston still had very good opportunities to be right there. I can’t give you Villanova much cry, just not in this case. It sounds like bitterness on a Monday. With what? They’re in the Final Four, brother. But TJ, you’re not- Because you can’t give them much credit. You got to give them credit. They lost one of their- Did you want the game? I mean, it was clearly- Yeah, I did. I did watch the game. Did you watch 9-nothing at the beginning of the game? Did you watch in command the entire way? Did you watch them up by 13 midway through the second half? 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… Calvin Sampson doesn’t get the best coach in America stuff when Jay Wright is on the floor against him beating him and Jay Wright has got two National titles and Calvin Sampson has none. I mean, the guy reloads with different players. I didn’t go to Villanova. I don’t live in the Philly area, but the guy reloads with different players and he won the biggest game again to this point to get in the Final Four. Matt, feel free to jump in. Here, you can referee.
Matt Josephs:
No. I’m just going to sit here and watch. Because everybody jumped on me when I said Gonzaga, Arkansas didn’t deserve the win against Gonzaga because Gonzaga just missed shots they usually make. So, I’m just going to let Jeff. I thought Villanova played fine and I thought Houston didn’t hit a single, like Edwards was terrible. I mean, they should have taken Edwards out. They probably could have if they had some better options.
Matt Josephs:
Houston didn’t play their best game, but you have to give Villanova credit for that. I mean, they defensively hurried them and were all over the place. When everybody saw Houston’s defense, it was Villanova’s defense that was really good on that night.
Jeff Nadu:
I cannot and will not give them credit. All the shots were wide open. If Houston just made 2-3…
TJ Rives:
Not all of them were wide.
Jeff Nadu:
… the game is tied.
TJ Rives:
At least some of them were, but not all of them were wide.
Jeff Nadu:
They played bad, man. I mean, they only won by 6. They shot that bad, only won by 6, bro. That’s what I’m trying to say here. If they only won by 30, I would have said, “Fair enough.” But TJ you could have shot one for, better than one for 20. It was hard.
TJ Rives:
They only made one more than we did. I would agree with that.
Jeff Nadu:
Right, I mean-
TJ Rives:
But if he watched the game…
Jeff Nadu:
They shouldn’t even-
TJ Rives:
… a lot of it was contested. A lot of it was guarded. A lot of it was rushed out of frustration. Villanova was the better team. Villanova has won that way for years in the Big East. They squeezed teams, they played defense, they spread you out low-scoring game. He’s happy to win that way. You don’t have to go up and down the floor to win in their conference and with the way they play. So, they got it done. They got it done. That’s for sure.
TJ Rives:
All right, audience questions. Let’s get to a couple of those. And again, thank you for finding us here in the 11:00 AM, Eastern time hour. Nathan is watching. Let me look here. Actually that one skipped. Nathan says, “I like Villanova. But do you think the more injury dampers the Wildcats?” He’s asking, Matt, that in particular. I mean, Matt, give us your opinion on that. You don’t have to make a play here on a Monday. But how much does Moore not being there make you hesitant to take a Villanova play?
Matt Josephs:
Well, I’ll just say, I mean, I’m telling you now. And obviously, I’ll be on Friday and we’ll be able to lock it in then. I’m telling you now, taking Villanova. I just don’t I’m hoping to get a better number. I’m just, as I said, and this is painful, because I hate Villanova. But Jay Wright with a week to prepare is going to coach and I went to this before and they went terribly for me, so I’ll do it, again. He’s going to coach circles around Bill Self.
Matt Josephs:
I don’t like Bill Self as a Head Coach. I think, he’s got a lot of good players, but he should have done a lot more and he should have had a lot more success in his coaching career than he has. Jay Wright does a lot with less. And guess what? The pace of this game is not going to be where… Villanova was going to play six players, probably because with Longino is hurt. I think Antoine might be healthy, if they want to dig that deep. But they’ll play six players. They’ll play their way they are and they’re just not going to go away. At 4-1/2, I’m not playing it yet. I’m hoping for 5. I’m hoping for 5-1/2. It’s not going to get to 5-1/2. So, I may have to outline that thing.
Matt Josephs:
And for those who are not familiar, the alternative lines are the ones that you can get, but you have to pay a little bit more juice. I just trust Jay Wright in this situation. I trust Collin Gillespie. I trust them to figure out a way to make their offense go without Justin Moore. And they’ll rally around the kid and that’s just what Villanova does. I’m not saying they’re going to win. They’re not going to win, most likely. But I think they’ll cover a nice number here.
TJ Rives:
All right. Good enough on that. Patrick is watching us live. He says, “I have three Futures, Duke plus 1400, Kansas plus 900, Villanova plus 1700. Should I hedge the rest of the way and just go with Kansas on the money line, especially with the more injury. Big Man, any thoughts? Any advice for him on that if he really likes Kansas on what he should do?
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah, I’m kind of confused on that one. I mean, did you play every team before season? That’s pretty impressive. I mean, good for you. Yeah, I mean, you’re good at one. I mean, I think he says he has three of the four teams left?
TJ Rives:
Correct. Well, but he probably played them on the Elite Eight and was getting those prices, maybe Sweet 16, stuff like that.
Jeff Nadu:
I mean, I feel like just percentages would tell you that you have a 75% chance to win. And so, I would just stick with what you have.
TJ Rives:
Sit tight.
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah. If you get beat by Kansas, oh, well, you still have two teams left. So, yeah. I would just stay put. I will say if I can, if you’re willing and allowing me, I will take Kansas right now. I don’t want this line to go up any further. I’ll lay the 4-1/2 here. We’ll talk about it later on why? But let’s mark that down.
TJ Rives:
Are we raising the mug there to Kansas…
Jeff Nadu:
I don’t have-
TJ Rives:
… in the 4-1/2 to make it official?
Jeff Nadu:
I don’t have a mug, unfortunately.
TJ Rives:
Don’t have the mug today. But 4-1/2, you like that price. And that price, again, may go down as the week goes on. It may not, I mean-
Jeff Nadu:
Well, actually, [inaudible 00:28:10] before. It’s been about 4-1/2, so that’s good news for me, I guess.
TJ Rives:
I believe the name is Zeayen, Z-E-A-Y-E-N.
Matt Josephs:
Wait. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What I’m saying, hold on a second. Hold on. I want to answer the Futures question.
TJ Rives:
Oh, I’m sorry, go ahead, yes.
Matt Josephs:
Hedging is for gardeners. I don’t hedge. I like, I mean, you’re Duke Future and Duke is going to win the championship. So, you’re going to be fine, you’re going to have the champion, so I wouldn’t really worry about it. So, I would not hedge because Duke is winning the championship and that was one of his three teams.
Jeff Nadu:
The thing that, it’s interesting to say. I will say I do hedge occasionally, but here’s the thing. And Matt is right on one level. I will never tell another person how to spend their money. This hedging is all about, do you need the money? Okay, if your book has no money in it and you need the money and $1000 is a big pile for you, well, then you should think about that on your own.
Jeff Nadu:
I never liked the internet hedging question just because, for me, it might be different than what it is for you. Maybe a few $100 is a lot of money for what you’re doing in your book. So, I would advise doing it. Hedging as far as like on a 10-20 to one future. No, I would never hedge on that. Now, last year, I had a Loyola Chicago 300 to one future, I might be more inclined.
Jeff Nadu:
One of the biggest college basketball bettings I’ve ever won way back in my career when I first started, I had UConn 90 to 1 to win the NCAA tournament. What was it 2014? Back then I was a lot different. Better than I am now. I mean, if I lost a few $100, that was a lot to me. So, it really depends where you are in your career and how much you need the money.
Matt Josephs:
Yeah, let me clarify, TJ. When I said, “I don’t hedge,” it’s because I never bet enough that I’m worried about losing. That’s just, I stay within my means. So, if I lose two units on a bet, I’m okay with it because I still have other units in the bank and everything and I could still eat that night. But if this person is betting enough that they’re worried about coming out of this with nothing which I don’t think in this scenario with Kansas, Villanova and Duke will happen, then you consider hedging,.
Matt Josephs:
So I apologize for being the way I am. But as he just said, it’s all about individual situations. If it’s something that you need the money, yeah, definitely hedge. I never bet enough that I’m like, “Oh, God, I need to get out of this.” So, that’s why I don’t hedge anything.
TJ Rives:
Still time for another question or two. We’ve got a couple more to get to. And again, to make sense, you guys may be seeing this in the chat, but the audience that’s watching us. He’s got Duke at plus 1400 and then he’s got both Kansas and Villanova who are playing each other. So, he’s guaranteed on one of his futures plays that that team is in the national title. You got to let that ride. What do I know?
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah, I don’t think-
TJ Rives:
You let that ride and go with the one that’s in the title game and see what happens.
Jeff Nadu:
How’d you win in VMI, my cards for stuff like that?
TJ Rives:
Zeayen, if I say it correctly, Z-E-A-Y-E-N. Zeayen wants to know, “I’m looking at St. Bonaventure tomorrow night. Do you think the line will go up and I’ll get the best price on the money line? Do you have an opinion on that?” I think I saw St. Bonaventure is a two-point underdog Is that correct in that game?
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah, the best price has come and gone on that one, my man. The line is going to, I don’t know for a lot much more than that, but it already has gone up surely.
TJ Rives:
All right.
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah, I think if you like Bonnie’s, I mean. And look, this line came out I think Saturday, Sunday maybe?
TJ Rives:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah, this one’s move for sure.
TJ Rives:
Matt, any thought on that?
Matt Josephs:
I will-
TJ Rives:
On the line going up.
Matt Josephs:
I’m going to say it now because I’m not the show tomorrow. Lock man, the official play, the body’s money line. I already played it the time it came out, now, look once again. The money line thing is more of a when a team is a bad free-throw shooting team, but I also, it’s a short enough number. I’m less of a risk taker, so I took the money line. I just like the Bonnies.
Matt Josephs:
I mean, this part, this NIT is a perfect tournament for a team like this. They’re all seniors. They’re all playing their last games. They’re now in Madison Square Garden. Lofton who missed two free-throws in the A10 tournament to get them knocked out makes the two free-throws in Virginia. Mark Schmidt staying away from UMass has decided to stay only in New York. I think that’s a motivating factor.
Matt Josephs:
And look, I don’t believe in Xavier. Xavier probably should have lost to Vanderbilt. Xavier could have lost the Cleveland State. The only game they won overwhelmingly was against the Florida team that didn’t have a head coach, so I don’t believe in the Musketeers. They don’t shoot the three well. I think they’re going to struggle to score here. I like the Bonnies. I think the Bonnie’s win the NIT. Obviously, our Vanderbilt Commodores unfortunately are gone. But I think St. Bonaventure, which is at play here, put me down official play on the money line for tomorrow.
Jeff Nadu:
And remember, Xavier won all their games. They’re now neutral site, basically on the road at MSG. It’s important to remember though, Matt, he made an interesting point. I played money line also. I mean last two games for Bonaventura had been decided by two and one point. So, having a money line ticket as opposed to a 2, 2-1/2, a lot better. I betted at 120. It’s up a little bit higher now. Again, I always tell people this, “I can’t hold your hand. You got to kind of sometimes use what you know to make the play when you can make it.
Jeff Nadu:
These shows are tough because we’re only on at one time, but I think even at 2 right now, there’s still some value there. I agree with him. I think they seem like a team kind of, they didn’t get to the tournament, but they’re still really good. They’re experienced. This seems like just the tournament the win for them.
TJ Rives:
Again, we’ll talk more about the NIT tomorrow. I did want to give a shout out to our Buddy Burbano, Ian Cameron, who was there in San Antonio for the Villanova win this weekend. And he was on North Carolina not once but twice. He had Carolina and the points earlier in the week when we were on the show for the game with UCLA. He was on Carolina, not officially on this show, but I saw him putting it on social media, laying the points with St. Peters and got both of those right.
TJ Rives:
It’s just interesting. He’ll be on later in the week to talk about Carolina. They certainly came through obviously and covered against Baylor, in an overtime game. Came through as an underdog and beat UCLA and then you lay the points with them and you had an easy Sunday and easy second half with them. We should say this. Hubert Davis has shut a lot of people up in the last two or three weeks with the win at Cameron three weeks ago in Coach K’s final game at Cameron. And now, those wins over Baylor and UCLA and now to get to the Final Four. You saw the tears.
TJ Rives:
Did you guys perceive it as kind of tears of relief as much as tears of joy? He said, “I’m so happy for these guys.” I sensed a little tears of relief. “I’ve gotten to the Final Four when a lot of people thought I was a bad hire and shouldn’t be the coach.” Thoughts here, guys?
Jeff Nadu:
Yeah, I remember kind of saying, I thought I’m not a big fan of the promoting within sometimes. But hey, I mean, who knows the team, but than him. I think sometimes the problem is you kind of get the same stuff from the same regime before, so it’s. But now listen, this has been a great job by him. I thought a certain point in January, their defense was so bad. I mean, so bad, but they’ve really got it going.
Jeff Nadu:
And I remember when they beat Duke back a couple of weeks ago, about a month ago. Yeah, that was impressive what they did in the final 10 minutes, 35 points of the final 10 minutes. This is going to be a very difficult matchup for Duke. I feel like the pressure is off a little bit on making this matchup happen. We have a matchup. Let’s now let the players decide how this goes. I did find it funny in one case that muscleman in Arkansas called out. They were officiating, which we can all laugh about. Duke definitely does get some calls occasionally, but it’s hard to find a player playing better right now than Caleb Love.
Jeff Nadu:
I kind of think this game shakes out a little bit like what Matt thinks the Villanova game will shake out with. I’m willing to take UNC at kind of the price that they’re at. I think at worst, what do we know about this game, guys? I mean, it’s generally closed and I know the games this year, maybe haven’t necessarily reflected that. But both games were decided by 13 and 20. I think this game rubber match wise, both teams playing at the highest level. I’m willing to really get involved with UNC. So, I’ll take UNC. I’ll take Ken.
TJ Rives:
Interesting. All right, you’ll elaborate on those as we go along. Matt, any thoughts on Hubert Davis, silencing critics?
Matt Josephs:
Well, I’ll just say this. I mean, it’s hard. Usually, when you have two games during the regular season and you get the third one in the tournament, you can kind of pull from those and be like, “Oh, I noticed. You can’t pull anything from those two games.” I mean, North Carolina straight up didn’t show up at home, Duke blasted them and then they went to Cameron and the Duke players couldn’t handle all the Duke people being there. They couldn’t handle everything that was surrounding the game.
Matt Josephs:
So, it’s ironic that I actually think you can’t take much of anything other than, I think that this line is on target here. I think this is about what I would have made it. I think the total is interesting, too, because obviously you’re thinking high scoring game, but it’s a Final Four. There’s more at stake here. Could this one go under that total? I think this is the game that’s going to see more player props. I mean, I think I’m going to play more player props here because you could take individual performances from those games, but taking team performances from two blowouts with two extenuating circumstances, I think that’s going to be kind of hard.
Matt Josephs:
So, I’ll probably have a player prop depending upon on Friday if they’re out yet. I hit the Brady Manek one. That was an easy one that BetUS had 2-1/2, the over was even money against St Peter’s. He had 4, that was an easy one. So, we’ll see. I think there’ll be some value elsewhere besides the spread the total for that game.
Jeff Nadu:
I think you got to completely throw it out like he said that the games we saw. They’re just two different teams. North Carolina is totally different. Duke is totally different, but they’re all still kind of similar. And they’re going to play at the highest level possible now in this room. We’ll get a great game here, I’d have to feel. I think both these games will live up to the bill. It sucks a little bit that Moore’s out. I wish he was healthy, but yeah, UNC-Dukes high-level Titan matchup.
TJ Rives:
Again, on the whole muscleman thing and the whole conspiracy thing that we’re having fun with, Duke shot 55% for the game. There were 15,000 on each team in the game. When it was all said and done, Duke get the shots. Duke made the plays at the end. They’ve done that now for each of the final last three games against Michigan State. They could have been out, guys and you know this and the audience should know this. They could have been out against Michigan State. Michigan State had the lead. If they had played tight like they did at the end of the North Carolina game or played it tight like they did in the second half of the ACC championship game with Virginia Tech, they would have been home.
TJ Rives:
The final chapter would have been written. Coach K loses in the second round of Michigan State. They bowed their back. They made their shots. They got out West in San Francisco. They got the win over Texas Tech. I’ve heard so many other people saying, “Oh, what a break. They didn’t have to play Gonzaga.” Well, it’s a tournament and what a break for some of these other teams that didn’t have to play in Kansas’s place. You didn’t have to play Auburn, you didn’t have to play Wisconsin. On the bottom half of the draw. You got to play Miami to get to the final four. You play who’s in front of you.
Matt Josephs:
This is the same coach who complained about playing in Buffalo against Vermont. So, let’s just if I know he likes to yap, and I know he’s a really good coach, and he says a lot of things and his players love him. But he complained about playing Vermont and Buffalo, like “Let’s just settle down with the complaints here, coach.”
TJ Rives:
Yes, I don’t disagree on that. When you see the big bracket there, the March mayhem contest is almost done with BetUS as we’re down to the Final Four with Duke-Carolina and Villanova-Kansas. Get ready for that.
TJ Rives:
Guys, I think that’s pretty well a full show here for this edition of the program. Final thoughts here. We have no official plays for the night of the Basketball Classic. Matt, again, repeat you’re on St. Bonaventure and you said money line, correct? In your absence tomorrow, you’ll be on the Bonnies tomorrow night in that game with Xavier?
Matt Josephs:
Bonnies money line and then most likely, and obviously this won’t happen because it won’t be till Wednesday or Thursday and I’m not going to predict what the line will be. Most likely, I’ll be on the Bonnies again in the NIT title game if they get there. But yes, a Bonnies money line tomorrow.
TJ Rives:
All right, so he’s looking forward to that one. Any final thoughts, Jeff, anything else? We good?
Jeff Nadu:
No, I think we’re good. I mean, 40 minutes and we have two Basketball Classic games tonight. That’s pretty impressive. So yeah, that will be that. We’ll be back tomorrow for some NIT.
TJ Rives:
Love it. We love all of you finding us. Again, hit the Like button, subscribe, hit the bell as we build towards the semi-final Saturday at the Final Four. There are games to talk about tomorrow. You want to be here live with us at 11:00 AM Eastern time, 11:00 AM the rest of the week, Eastern Time. If you’re seeing us later in the day when you’re watching, that’s great, too. Live participation with the Q&A, et cetera, 11:00 AM, Eastern Time.
TJ Rives:
Boys, thank you. For Mid Major Matt, for Jeff Nadu, I’m TJ Rives, don’t forget to check out our sportsbook website, thank you for watching the BetUS College Basketball Show.
