March 17, 2025 • 28 mins
Colin compares free agent quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson as they look to make their final decisions on which team to play for in 2025. He tells you why he was right about the Warriors and wrong about Cooper Kupp. Plus, he talks to Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo about preparing for the Big Dance and adjusting to the modern landscape of college basketball
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
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Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Here we go in a rambunctious Monday live in Los Angeles.
It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
One hour from now. Where Colin was right, Where Colin
was wrong. Tom Izzo, my friend and the legendary Michigan
State spartanhead basketball coaches, joining us this hour. Why I'm
(00:51):
rooting for Izzo and Rick but Tino in this tournament. Jmack.
I'll get to that in about five minute. The Warriors
remain on fire Free. Agency's mostly done. Hope you had
a great weekend. We checked out Friday. I got Auburn
with in the Natty. We'll give our picks in the
(01:12):
second hour. I'm gonna go with Auburn is there a
team off the top you like?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Oh, well, I love everything about the tournament. I'll say
Texas Tech a team I like. But Auburn's had some
trouble in round two.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
I'll just tell you that.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Right now, Loui Ego's got a home game Colline.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So I gotta start with this. Though, for years and
years it was sort of understood that Russell Wilson and
Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 6 (01:34):
Eh, you know.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
They weren't really into each other, and they were opposites.
And then as I look at all the stories that
emerged over the weekend, vikings are going to pass. Looks
like they're going to pass on Aaron Rodgers. The Aaron
Rodgers waiting game in New York. Russell Wilson is ready
to sign and doesn't have a team. And it's funny
(01:57):
Aaron and Russell. One is all worshiping of God and
one pushed back on his family's religion. One is hopelessly
optimistic to the point of cringey, and the other, let's
be honest, he's like a sad trombone in cleats half
the time. And yet here's Russell and Aaron in the
same boat, a little needy and most of the league
(02:18):
not interested yet yet to add another layer to that,
And I'm sorry for the radio audience. Since twenty twenty two,
they are identical quarterbacks. Wins, losses, completion percentage, touchdown passeray,
same guy. No playoff wins since twenty twenty two. And
if you sign either, you're guaranteed something. With Russell a
(02:41):
new slogan, let's ride. And with Aaron you will be
notified very quickly if he's in the room, you're the
second smartest person. And what you find with both is
this is not the NBA. It is not a player
controlled league. Even if a player is a talented quarterback,
is a where drama and noise and occasional semi conflict
(03:04):
is bad news, and you will tolerate it when a
star is in his prime. Fortunately, unlike the NBA, you
just don't get it much. In the NFL. Most quarterbacks
good guys, all about winning, great teammates, quality people, no nonsense.
But now I've always defended Russell Wilson because he was
(03:24):
not a grasses, greener guy. He wanted to stay in Seattle.
They got rid of Russell, and I used to be
a huge fan, but Sean Payton bailed on him. Pete
Carroll bailed on him, and Mike Pate, Mike Tomlin just
bailed on him at some point. There is something here
that coaches find it pretty easy to bail on Russell Wilson.
But it was never a grass is greener thing. Meanwhile,
(03:45):
Aaron was a Green Bay isn't doing me right thing,
and the grass was incredibly green in Lambeau, but he
wanted something else. But it is remarkable to me how
these guys. Aaron was so sort of I was told
rolled his eyes at Russ, and here was Russ. Hey,
I'm not like the guy in Green Bay. No drama here,
(04:07):
all about team. Let it ride, go Hawks. They've kind
of become the same guy in a sport where the shield,
the GM, the coach runs the show. If you're scene
is a little high maintenance, whether it's passive, aggressive or cringiness,
most of the league is going to pass on you.
(04:29):
So Tom is, oh, later this hour, I will tell
you I've got Obviously I'm a huge Iso fan Mark
few college basketball is more about the coach. And in
a year we don't have Yukon this year, we don't
have a thirty seven and three team, we don't have
a we don't have a you know, Duke has some
NBA guys. Last year, Yukon is one of the I mean, honestly,
(04:52):
it's one of the best college basketball teams we've had
in over ten years. I mean, they were blowing people out,
including an excellent and an excellent Zach Heedy and an
excellent Purdude team in the Natty. Like like last year,
it was an easy one. I pick Yukon. I mean,
you could watch him once, but they look like an
NBA team, big, physical. A team I'm rooting for this
(05:13):
year is Saint John's a dead program. I'm rooting for
Rick Patino, and I think they have a chance to
win it. He is the story and we see this
a lot in America of a really talented guy that
kind of screwed his life up. There is an argument
he is, along with John Wooden, coach Kay and a
few others, the greatest college basketball coach. Ever, what is
(05:34):
this his seventh final four potentially six programs. He's gotten
into March madness and he's taken over some dumpster fires.
Now he's gotten a little help from the richest Saint
John's alum, the Cat who created vitamin water has sprinkled
a little green vitamins into Saint John's nil. So they
(05:56):
went and bought some good players. But what Rick Patino is,
He's kind of got a Bill Parcells feel, an Urban
Meyer feel, a Jim Harbaugh feel. He's got a formula,
coaches hard, great eye for talent, teams play suffocating defense.
He's situationally brilliant. And here is his team again going
(06:18):
into the tournament. He is a turnaround wizard, and a
lot of programs they didn't want anything to do with
Rick Mattino if you go look at his coaching turnarounds,
which I'm putting on the screen here. I never thought
when he was coaching the Celtics or Kentucky he'd end
up at Iona and a dead Saint John's program. But
(06:41):
you know, he's a brilliant basketball coach, and occasionally his
moral compass has flipped around a little bit, hasn't gone
as north as you'd prefer so. But what's interesting with Patino,
and this is what's fascinating kind of about life as
his stray because of his kind of mess ups, is
(07:03):
his flexibility, his mobility, his ability to be thrown into
turbulence and course correct the program overnight. And for years
and years a college basketball coach would go to a
program like Dean Smith and you just didn't leave. You
stayed there forever. But now with a transfer portal in
(07:24):
the NIL, and so many college basketball coaches saying, enough
of this nonsense, I'm out of here Patino. The sport
is leaning into Patino. His specialty, the salesman with a
brilliant basketball mind. Right, a lot of guys in coaching,
they don't want to be a salesman. They love basketball.
(07:46):
We've seen a Boston college football coach last year said
I don't want to be a salesman. I want to
be a football coach, went to the Packers. Most coaches
are like that. A lot of great coaches, Jay Wright
had plenty of years left. They want to do all
this NIL and transfer port it's just exhausting and he
become like a pro GM. But actually, if you look
(08:06):
at Patino's career, it plays right into his strength. You
can throw him into any room and he can sell Rick.
He can sell basketball, he can sell his ideology and
his knowledge. And the sport now is built for Rick Patino.
And I'm gonna root for Saint John's because a lot
of really smart people occasionally in life screw up. That's
(08:28):
that's the world we live in. We can be an
avalanche and bury him, or we can say, well, what
are you gonna do? Put them in jail. So I
am all for Saint John's. I think it's great for
the sport. I love to see New York City care
about college basketball because I grew up in the Pacific
Northwest and my favorite conference wasn't the Pac twelve, it
was the Big East. You had Rowley and John Thompson
(08:50):
and Louis Carnaseca, and they've been trying to get Saint
John's going for years and the facilities still aren't great,
but they got a big booster, they got some money,
and they have arguably the best coach in college basketball,
and he's heading to the tournament once again. Here's Rick.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
You are a New Yorker. You delivered on your promise
to New York. What's your message in New York City
as you headed the Big Dance.
Speaker 7 (09:10):
Well, we've built this program now into a solid foundation.
Now we're going to take off. This garden's packed every night.
I always say the NCAA have been knocked out in
the first round of it. The seven final fours, and
nobody knows what's going to happen. Play it one game
at a time.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Yeah, Now, last year we all kind of knew what
was going to happen. Yukon was going to end up
in the Final four and be favored in national championship.
But I think this year is a year for an Izzo.
Keep your eye on the coaches, because I Auburn is
the best team I saw, but Florida now is hotter.
The SEC is completely stacked. I have two teams in
(09:47):
the SEC going to the final four. Wouldn't be shocked
if there was three. I would not be shocked if
there were three SEC teams. I said this two months
ago with Jmac on the air. I watched them SEC
basketball in January. I'm like, it doesn't even look like
any that conference, Like it is sixth best team is great.
So I'm I'm my bracket's got a lot of excellent
(10:07):
veteran coaches moving up and moving out over players where
I think there's just a lot of sameness. But I
can't wait to see Patino tom izzoh later this hour.
And oh, by the way, the Warriors won again this
weekend with Jimmy Butler the hottest team in the NBA.
You love j Mack, you love the tournament. You bet
the tournament. You're the only guy that's that follows Creighton
(10:28):
Basketball's depth chart. So I'm gonna go. I do think
coaching is going to be really important. I also think
all these SEC teams, these Florida's, these Tennessees, these Auburns,
They've all played each other all year, and I think
there it reminds me a little bit of growing up
when the ACC or the Big East was stacked. I
(10:48):
think the SEC those teams have been playning like tournament
level intensity for the last month.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah, and you know I've mentioned this many times to you.
I'm a multi bracket guy.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I'm like, it's still out twenty brackets. Some of them
will have three SEC teams in the final four. You're
a one bracket guy. I'm trying to get you off
that tough team.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I got two SEC teams in the final four interest two.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
Oh, and do you have Duke in there?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Uh No, I do not have Duke favorable draw of
any of the time. Okay, I have I have one
dark horse in the tournament. I'm not gonna give it away.
Now give it away next hour.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
The staff got me onto who your dark horses. I'm
not going to say anything.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It ain't that dark.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Don't love it. Don't love it, Colin, I'll be honest
with you. But it should be a fun week.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Then be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
Weekdays in neonon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
App Coaches in college basketball and a friend and how
lucky are we? I asked the guys, I said, just
get me, Just get me is O and Mark few
and I'm good and Tom is Oh thirty seasons at
Michigan State, eight Final four appearances. Okay, I've watched you
play four times. You defend the three, you don't shoot
it particularly well. Well, okay, I'm just being fair. Your
(12:03):
team's always defend, they rebound, They're tough, like Patino. You
coach your players hard and they respond to it. What
about this team? What's the secret sauce about this team?
That why you like them?
Speaker 8 (12:17):
They're connected, you know, and everybody talks about being connected, Colin,
but this team is really connected. It's been connected, and
you know, we've kind of put our egos aside and
everybody's playing for.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Each other, and that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
We're playing nine to ten guys, we're we do rebound
pretty well, we actually score it pretty well, we shoot
free throws well, and yes, you are correct, you did
your scouting report.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Did not shoot them three very well.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
But the last two three weeks we've been moving up
drastically from the three, and if we can get that down,
I think we could really do some damage.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You know, It's funny. A lot of coaches, my buddy
Jay Wright, like, I think there's a lot of coaches
that look at nil and as for portal and go
get me out of here. And I don't know if
Jay did that, but I think, you know, Jay's such
a great guy. But you have kind of said, like, hey,
this is the world. I can complain or I can adapt.
Why have you with all this fluctuation? Why are you
(13:17):
still Michigan State? Why are you still good? Why have
you adapted so easily?
Speaker 8 (13:22):
Well, since you were honest with me about my three
point shooting, I'm gonna be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I don't like it. I don't like it.
Speaker 8 (13:28):
I don't like it for a lot of reasons, especially
in the transfer portal. I think more kids are going
to get hurt. But that's another story on another day.
Speaker 6 (13:35):
But like Jay right, like Nick Saban, you know, those
guys are friends of mine.
Speaker 8 (13:40):
They decided to go another way. I'm too dumb and
stubborn to do it.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
I guess I just figured that I got to get
back to the basics.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Last year, I was on all kinds of committees. I
worried about it.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
This year, I kind of stuck the coach in my team,
and I've been lucky.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
I got some good players.
Speaker 8 (13:58):
I got a couple of guys that really elevated their game.
I got one of my former stars, Jason Richardson son,
who has.
Speaker 6 (14:06):
Really elevated his game. And uh, you got a player's
son from the past. That either means you're getting older
you survived.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Oh, and I don't know what's you know, it's interesting
years ago. It's funny about the tournament. Everybody loves Florida,
and I said, be very careful hot teams. It doesn't
translate all the time. You got to be caring. For
years and years, everybody always said you gotta have great
guard play. Well, you know what does matter in your
years of doing this, is there one or two things
(14:36):
that absolutely translate from regular season to March.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Well, you know, I'm a big football guy.
Speaker 8 (14:43):
I love football, and I think in football, you know,
at the end of the day, yes, still all the
fancy stuff comes and goes. You still got to build
a block and tackle and not turn the ball over.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Well, and you ask me.
Speaker 8 (14:54):
And basketball, you still got to be able to defend
and run and you can't turn the ball over. So well,
there are some things that are similar no matter what
sport you're in. Ours is a little different because that
damn ball's got to go in the basket sooner or later.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
You could run all the best offense. If the final
shot doesn't go in, it hurts.
Speaker 8 (15:13):
But I think what translates defense carries just like it
does in all other sports, whether it's hockey, baseball, basketball,
or football. We've been pretty solid. That's why I think
we've had a pretty good run. But you know, getting
to the free throw line, I think matters and making
shots because in the tournament you get down to the
(15:35):
nitty gritty and people are following you, so you got
to be able to make free throws, which we can
do on the three point line.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
We're improving.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Listen, I'm not a scout. I just watched your games
and I'm like, Okay, that's not what they do.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
It's interesting. I was talking to Mark View Friday and
when I've talked to Mark privately, and I'm like, Hey,
do you ever steal stuff from coaches? And He's like,
oh God, yes, I take stuff from everybody. When you've
been around as long as you've been, do you ever
find yourself during the court You're sitting at home and
all of a sudden, you watch a game and you're like, oh,
I must steal that. I like that inbounds play? Do
(16:10):
you do that?
Speaker 8 (16:12):
I'm so dumb. And Mark Few and I are good friends.
We're both on these committees that we just went through
all this stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
But I'm so dumb.
Speaker 6 (16:20):
I not only steal it, but I name it after
the team I steal it from. So if I got
a Zags player, if I got a seventy six Ers player,
a Lakers play, it's because I stole it from them.
So my plays are named after a lot of people
or a lot of teams, which means I'm stealing a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, So listen, I watched the SEC this year and
I said this, I picked Auburn to win it, and
I said, I think it helps when your conference is
good because you get battle tested, you're in close games.
Is there I ask everybody this. In fact, I asked
few about this, and he said, Houston, is there a
team you've either played or scouted that you've looked at
(17:04):
and you think to yourself today, Yeah, I'd rather not
see them until maybe the final four. Who's a team
that guys like me won't pay attention to, but you've
seen them and you're like, yeah, that team's trouble.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Well, it's interesting, Mark said, Houston.
Speaker 8 (17:19):
Believe it or not, I replaced Kelvin Samson here as
a GA.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
He used to work for jud Heathcote many years ago.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
And I think my teams are tough and pretty good defensively.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think his teams are insane.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
They're like the eighty five or six Bears, whatever it was.
You know, they're phenomenal defensive team.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
They got toughness. What he's done is he's added the.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
Three point shot and now they're a better shooting team.
So I'd have to agree with Mark, they're one of
but I saw Auburn in person and Hawaii we didn't
play them, but I saw him.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
They were impressive. Florida has been impressive as of late.
Speaker 8 (18:01):
I still think the Alabamas, but I I played against
them last year. I think Tennessee still brings those intangibles. Yeah,
they have toughness, they're well coached. Rick is a great coach,
and they're really really good defensively.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Tom, it was a politician's answer. I gave you a
bunch of them.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
By the way, I see right behind you you have lunch,
so you look fantastic for your age. What do you
have back there? Vegetables? A kale salad? What are you
having for lunch?
Speaker 6 (18:32):
It's a salad man. You got good eyes. Your scutting
reports are pretty good.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You got that.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
We catch you threes and I eat salad for lunch.
This is a hell of a deal man.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Tom is the great. Tom is Oh, good luck coach,
Thanks for coming on the herd.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Thanks going saybuddy all right?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Tom is oh a great coach. I actually have j Mack.
I have Tennessee in my final four.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Interesting, I also have a ridiculous dark horse.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
Oh ahead, tell them.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
You're not gonna get into I. I want to save
it for the audience tomorrow, no later, in the next hour.
I gotta give you the audience some gems. I have
Auburn winning it. I do have Tennessee in the final four.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Okay, I can't hate it. No, no love for Cooper
Flag and Duke.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
How good did Duke look without Cooper Flag in the
a SEC tournament.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
I know the AEC wasn't great.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Anybody can go total chop. You have to have at
least a four seed in there?
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Is that? What the minimum is? A four seed?
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I mean that's historically not a lot of five
seeds get in.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Like last year, NC State, two years ago. Fau like
somebody always sneaks it.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I have a sneaky team.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
They play as sneaky as you see San Diego.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
God, everybody is on that Wait.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
I talked about him last weekend.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Michigan.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Yeah, I already bet it money line and with the points.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Michigan's big.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
They are big, but they have any depth.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
And there's a history of Big ten tournament teams trying
super hard in the Big ten tournament where you scout
well and care four games and four days and then
you've got to turn around and play quickly.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
You know what let down?
Speaker 1 (20:05):
You know, it's ridiculous. College basketball is the only sport
where your conference tournament means nothing. Well, I mean like Michigan.
Well Michigan got a fifth seed, didn't they They won
the tournament, didn't get anything.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Out of it.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
That's a fair point.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, Michigan is very big, as you see San Diego
that just became a Division one couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Now, they're a great story that the athletic had an
awesome story on them. This is gonna sound so nerdy.
I stole some of his coaching principles and applied it
to my kids.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Youth basketball leagues.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
They do this no middle defense where everybody keeps a
foot in the paint.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
We're not giving a playoff.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
You're not getting in the late even though they have
no size, and it works great.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Uh listen, man.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
That sounds like the Wildcat offense.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
That's what it sounds.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
No middle defense. I guarantee you it'll work for a week.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
That's all you need, well, three weeks to win the title.
You see, they're not they're not winning the title obviously.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
So I've watch Michigan State. Michigan State's the kind of
team that's gonna win multiple gay. They play too hard,
they play defense, they rebound, they just don't shoot three.
So that's not what they do.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
They gotta get Jason Richardson's kids more shots. There is
those a little too balanced. No, we gotta we got
to sub him out and get all these Richardson's a stud.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
That kid is awesome. We've got to get more shots,
keep him on the floor.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
This is such a fun time of the year.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
This is the greatest.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, there's only one time of the year. I don't
talk to my wife about finances. It's this weekend.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
I'm gonna go ahead and guess Aaron Rodgers makes a
decision like Thursday or Friday, because it's got to be
about Aaron all the time, you know. And he's gonna
try to steal the thunder from them.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
That felt like a little boy.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Has your boy doing? Is he in a dark mis retreat?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
I haven't heard anything, boy, A lot of shots fired,
I am. You know what is he might bump into
him at Arawon here in Malibu. You gotta be very careful.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I'm not going to Malibu all the earthquakes are hitting
over there.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I had a shaker yesterday.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
Yeah, I didn't feel it, Oh I did. I did,
locked in on brackets, so.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I thought it was the gin and soda. It was
just that it was just a default line.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Be sure to catch editions of The Herd weekdays and
Noone eastern nin am Pacific.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 10 (22:09):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 10 (22:18):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
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Speaker 9 (22:22):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
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time to discuss.
Speaker 10 (22:31):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right, So.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Check us out.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
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Speaker 10 (22:41):
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Speaker 9 (22:45):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
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Speaker 1 (22:58):
That's Covino and Rich. Welcome in at to hour two
and a Monday first one flew by. Thanks to Tom
Izzo for stopping by live in Los Angeles. It's the
herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. Later this hour,
the best free agent signing that's not getting discussed. I
(23:18):
think you'll love it and I'm really rooting for this guy,
Colin right, Colin wrong in a couple of minutes. And
the NCAA tournament listen last year was easy. You've con
ended up thirty seven and three four NBA guys, physicality, size,
guard play. They were great, great coach this year. A
lot of the best teams, Michigan State, Saint John's Houston,
they're really defensive teams. The scoring does not come easy.
(23:42):
So now now duke duke scoring comes a little more easily,
but I just I can't go it's not gonna be perfect.
I do think coaching will matter. That benefits you know, Izzo,
Mark Few, It's gonna benefit Rick Fatino. I think coaching
will end up being big in this tournament because I
don't think we have a dominant team. And I've watched
(24:04):
as much college basketball in the last two or three
weekends as as I'm gonna watch, and so defense is
the overwhelming story. Very few teams score easily or a lot.
Tom Ilm made a great point. They score, they just
don't shoot threes to score. But they'll end up in
the high seventies and eighties. They just they do it
a little unconventionally. Their defense leads their offense. All right,
here we go Colin right, Colin wrong. Every Monday. Where
(24:27):
Colin was right, I've take another right on the Warriors
now fourteen and two. Since Jimmy Butler arrived, they have
the best net rating in the league. And when they
made this move, I said, it's more than just scoring.
It's the fact that he's tough. He fits their ethos,
he fits their mindset. And what's great about Jimmy Butler
is completely unselfish player on this team. He's not taking
(24:49):
a lot of shots, he's not taking a lot of threes,
and he does not care playoff Jimmy. He has been
absolutely great. And this was a move I had said
a month before. Get him in the building. It will work.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I thought the historically perpetually frugal Bengals would not sign
Jamar Chase and t Higgins, and they did. And reportedly
Trey Hendrickson is now talking his reps to the team. Listen,
will they be top heavy? Yeah, but the NFL owners
all get a check for four hundred and fifty million dollars.
This league is swimming in money. There's four great players
(25:25):
on this team. Pay them. Everybody's swimming in cash. You
see what they're paying coordinators. I mean, these owners have
money to burn. I was wrong on this.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
One where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
What a shocker. Aaron Rodgers is dramatic Minnesota now not
sure if we're gonna go. Giants have offered him, but
reportedly we're gonna draft a quarterback to or bring another
one in. He was gonna have to battle for the job.
So I've said this before. Uh you know, Aaron's his
own guy. You're gonna get some noise in drama, and
(26:01):
it has turned out. If I would have told you
that either there is one quarterback who can't make up
his mind, you would have.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Guessed Aaron where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
I thought Gino Smith to the Raiders, I don't have
a problem with it. But reportedly he's going to get
forty to forty five million, that's a big contract. He's
never won a playoff game. Last year, twenty one TDS
fifteen picks Sam Darnold criticized him. All you want signed
a team friendly deal and he's seven years younger and
more athletics. So I don't have a problem with Gino
(26:30):
Smith making them, you know, going to Seattle. I kind
of like it for Pete Carroll, but I didn't think
he had another forty five million dollar a year contracting
Where Colin was right. I said a year ago the
Niners should reboot. They waited a year, and now they're
they're doing They're getting doged. Essentially, they're moving off all
sorts of contracts, and I said they should have done
(26:52):
it last year. Ward is now gone, green loss, smart,
good player's gone. Who fund it? Excellent safety struggles with
health that's gone. I thought last year they got too old,
too expensive, and increasingly too brittle. So this is what
I said last year they should have done. They waited
a year to do it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Little surprise, John Snyder signed Cooper Cup to that deal.
His yards have declined four straight seasons. McVeagh moved off
him because he couldn't get open. He's also missed eighteen
games in the last three years. Now, Schneider has drafted
and acquired receivers at a really good rate, so he
knows his stuff. But again, there's a forty five million
dollars three years. Again, the league has so much money
(27:33):
now they're looking for like a number two or three receiver.
But I'd be honest with you, I didn't think. I
didn't think he'd get that number.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame, I said it because
the SEC is all about commitment. And this weekend LSU
doubled its nil money to eighteen million. A year after
losing a recruit to Michigan and again Notre Dame. You
have rigorous debates about academics at LSU. It Costa winnin
Nanty and that's not a knock on Notre Dame. I
(28:03):
love them for who they are. But this is why
he left, because you don't have to argue you lose
a top recruit to a northern school. Suddenly they double
the nil at LSU, where Colin was wrong, well, the
Falcons kept their veteran quarterback on their roster, a little
bit of a surprise after the way he play at
the end of the year. I like Kirk Cousins. I
(28:24):
didn't have a problem with a move. I thought his
first half of the season was excellent and I thought
that's what you would get for the two year contract.
Kind of regressed whatever it was, lost his fastball. I
would think it's Michael Pennock's time in Atlanta, but this
move makes me question that and Colin Wright Colin wrong
(28:44):
on a Monday
Thanks for listening to the Best of the Herd podcast.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday on Fox
Sports Radio in noon to three Eastern nine am to
noon Pacific. Find your local station for The Herd at
Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us live every
day on the iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio
or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
This is the Best of the Herd with Colin Cowver
on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Here we go in a rambunctious Monday live in Los Angeles.
It's the Herd wherever you may be and however you
may be listening. Thanks for making us part of your day.
One hour from now. Where Colin was right, Where Colin
was wrong. Tom Izzo, my friend and the legendary Michigan
State spartanhead basketball coaches, joining us this hour. Why I'm
(00:51):
rooting for Izzo and Rick but Tino in this tournament. Jmack.
I'll get to that in about five minute. The Warriors
remain on fire Free. Agency's mostly done. Hope you had
a great weekend. We checked out Friday. I got Auburn
with in the Natty. We'll give our picks in the
(01:12):
second hour. I'm gonna go with Auburn is there a
team off the top you like?
Speaker 4 (01:15):
Oh, well, I love everything about the tournament. I'll say
Texas Tech a team I like. But Auburn's had some
trouble in round two.
Speaker 5 (01:22):
I'll just tell you that.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Right now, Loui Ego's got a home game Colline.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
So I gotta start with this. Though, for years and
years it was sort of understood that Russell Wilson and
Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 6 (01:34):
Eh, you know.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
They weren't really into each other, and they were opposites.
And then as I look at all the stories that
emerged over the weekend, vikings are going to pass. Looks
like they're going to pass on Aaron Rodgers. The Aaron
Rodgers waiting game in New York. Russell Wilson is ready
to sign and doesn't have a team. And it's funny
(01:57):
Aaron and Russell. One is all worshiping of God and
one pushed back on his family's religion. One is hopelessly
optimistic to the point of cringey, and the other, let's
be honest, he's like a sad trombone in cleats half
the time. And yet here's Russell and Aaron in the
same boat, a little needy and most of the league
(02:18):
not interested yet yet to add another layer to that,
And I'm sorry for the radio audience. Since twenty twenty two,
they are identical quarterbacks. Wins, losses, completion percentage, touchdown passeray,
same guy. No playoff wins since twenty twenty two. And
if you sign either, you're guaranteed something. With Russell a
(02:41):
new slogan, let's ride. And with Aaron you will be
notified very quickly if he's in the room, you're the
second smartest person. And what you find with both is
this is not the NBA. It is not a player
controlled league. Even if a player is a talented quarterback,
is a where drama and noise and occasional semi conflict
(03:04):
is bad news, and you will tolerate it when a
star is in his prime. Fortunately, unlike the NBA, you
just don't get it much. In the NFL. Most quarterbacks
good guys, all about winning, great teammates, quality people, no nonsense.
But now I've always defended Russell Wilson because he was
(03:24):
not a grasses, greener guy. He wanted to stay in Seattle.
They got rid of Russell, and I used to be
a huge fan, but Sean Payton bailed on him. Pete
Carroll bailed on him, and Mike Pate, Mike Tomlin just
bailed on him at some point. There is something here
that coaches find it pretty easy to bail on Russell Wilson.
But it was never a grass is greener thing. Meanwhile,
(03:45):
Aaron was a Green Bay isn't doing me right thing,
and the grass was incredibly green in Lambeau, but he
wanted something else. But it is remarkable to me how
these guys. Aaron was so sort of I was told
rolled his eyes at Russ, and here was Russ. Hey,
I'm not like the guy in Green Bay. No drama here,
(04:07):
all about team. Let it ride, go Hawks. They've kind
of become the same guy in a sport where the shield,
the GM, the coach runs the show. If you're scene
is a little high maintenance, whether it's passive, aggressive or cringiness,
most of the league is going to pass on you.
(04:29):
So Tom is, oh, later this hour, I will tell
you I've got Obviously I'm a huge Iso fan Mark
few college basketball is more about the coach. And in
a year we don't have Yukon this year, we don't
have a thirty seven and three team, we don't have
a we don't have a you know, Duke has some
NBA guys. Last year, Yukon is one of the I mean, honestly,
(04:52):
it's one of the best college basketball teams we've had
in over ten years. I mean, they were blowing people out,
including an excellent and an excellent Zach Heedy and an
excellent Purdude team in the Natty. Like like last year,
it was an easy one. I pick Yukon. I mean,
you could watch him once, but they look like an
NBA team, big, physical. A team I'm rooting for this
(05:13):
year is Saint John's a dead program. I'm rooting for
Rick Patino, and I think they have a chance to
win it. He is the story and we see this
a lot in America of a really talented guy that
kind of screwed his life up. There is an argument
he is, along with John Wooden, coach Kay and a
few others, the greatest college basketball coach. Ever, what is
(05:34):
this his seventh final four potentially six programs. He's gotten
into March madness and he's taken over some dumpster fires.
Now he's gotten a little help from the richest Saint
John's alum, the Cat who created vitamin water has sprinkled
a little green vitamins into Saint John's nil. So they
(05:56):
went and bought some good players. But what Rick Patino is,
He's kind of got a Bill Parcells feel, an Urban
Meyer feel, a Jim Harbaugh feel. He's got a formula,
coaches hard, great eye for talent, teams play suffocating defense.
He's situationally brilliant. And here is his team again going
(06:18):
into the tournament. He is a turnaround wizard, and a
lot of programs they didn't want anything to do with
Rick Mattino if you go look at his coaching turnarounds,
which I'm putting on the screen here. I never thought
when he was coaching the Celtics or Kentucky he'd end
up at Iona and a dead Saint John's program. But
(06:41):
you know, he's a brilliant basketball coach, and occasionally his
moral compass has flipped around a little bit, hasn't gone
as north as you'd prefer so. But what's interesting with Patino,
and this is what's fascinating kind of about life as
his stray because of his kind of mess ups, is
(07:03):
his flexibility, his mobility, his ability to be thrown into
turbulence and course correct the program overnight. And for years
and years a college basketball coach would go to a
program like Dean Smith and you just didn't leave. You
stayed there forever. But now with a transfer portal in
(07:24):
the NIL, and so many college basketball coaches saying, enough
of this nonsense, I'm out of here Patino. The sport
is leaning into Patino. His specialty, the salesman with a
brilliant basketball mind. Right, a lot of guys in coaching,
they don't want to be a salesman. They love basketball.
(07:46):
We've seen a Boston college football coach last year said
I don't want to be a salesman. I want to
be a football coach, went to the Packers. Most coaches
are like that. A lot of great coaches, Jay Wright
had plenty of years left. They want to do all
this NIL and transfer port it's just exhausting and he
become like a pro GM. But actually, if you look
(08:06):
at Patino's career, it plays right into his strength. You
can throw him into any room and he can sell Rick.
He can sell basketball, he can sell his ideology and
his knowledge. And the sport now is built for Rick Patino.
And I'm gonna root for Saint John's because a lot
of really smart people occasionally in life screw up. That's
(08:28):
that's the world we live in. We can be an
avalanche and bury him, or we can say, well, what
are you gonna do? Put them in jail. So I
am all for Saint John's. I think it's great for
the sport. I love to see New York City care
about college basketball because I grew up in the Pacific
Northwest and my favorite conference wasn't the Pac twelve, it
was the Big East. You had Rowley and John Thompson
(08:50):
and Louis Carnaseca, and they've been trying to get Saint
John's going for years and the facilities still aren't great,
but they got a big booster, they got some money,
and they have arguably the best coach in college basketball,
and he's heading to the tournament once again. Here's Rick.
Speaker 5 (09:04):
You are a New Yorker. You delivered on your promise
to New York. What's your message in New York City
as you headed the Big Dance.
Speaker 7 (09:10):
Well, we've built this program now into a solid foundation.
Now we're going to take off. This garden's packed every night.
I always say the NCAA have been knocked out in
the first round of it. The seven final fours, and
nobody knows what's going to happen. Play it one game
at a time.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Yeah, Now, last year we all kind of knew what
was going to happen. Yukon was going to end up
in the Final four and be favored in national championship.
But I think this year is a year for an Izzo.
Keep your eye on the coaches, because I Auburn is
the best team I saw, but Florida now is hotter.
The SEC is completely stacked. I have two teams in
(09:47):
the SEC going to the final four. Wouldn't be shocked
if there was three. I would not be shocked if
there were three SEC teams. I said this two months
ago with Jmac on the air. I watched them SEC
basketball in January. I'm like, it doesn't even look like
any that conference, Like it is sixth best team is great.
So I'm I'm my bracket's got a lot of excellent
(10:07):
veteran coaches moving up and moving out over players where
I think there's just a lot of sameness. But I
can't wait to see Patino tom izzoh later this hour.
And oh, by the way, the Warriors won again this
weekend with Jimmy Butler the hottest team in the NBA.
You love j Mack, you love the tournament. You bet
the tournament. You're the only guy that's that follows Creighton
(10:28):
Basketball's depth chart. So I'm gonna go. I do think
coaching is going to be really important. I also think
all these SEC teams, these Florida's, these Tennessees, these Auburns,
They've all played each other all year, and I think
there it reminds me a little bit of growing up
when the ACC or the Big East was stacked. I
(10:48):
think the SEC those teams have been playning like tournament
level intensity for the last month.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah, and you know I've mentioned this many times to you.
I'm a multi bracket guy.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I'm like, it's still out twenty brackets. Some of them
will have three SEC teams in the final four. You're
a one bracket guy. I'm trying to get you off
that tough team.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
I got two SEC teams in the final four interest two.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:09):
Oh, and do you have Duke in there?
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Uh No, I do not have Duke favorable draw of
any of the time. Okay, I have I have one
dark horse in the tournament. I'm not gonna give it away.
Now give it away next hour.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
The staff got me onto who your dark horses. I'm
not going to say anything.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
It ain't that dark.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
Don't love it. Don't love it, Colin, I'll be honest
with you. But it should be a fun week.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Then be sure to catch live editions of The Herd
Weekdays in neonon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports
Radio FS one and the iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
App Coaches in college basketball and a friend and how
lucky are we? I asked the guys, I said, just
get me, Just get me is O and Mark few
and I'm good and Tom is Oh thirty seasons at
Michigan State, eight Final four appearances. Okay, I've watched you
play four times. You defend the three, you don't shoot
it particularly well. Well, okay, I'm just being fair. Your
(12:03):
team's always defend, they rebound, They're tough, like Patino. You
coach your players hard and they respond to it. What
about this team? What's the secret sauce about this team?
That why you like them?
Speaker 8 (12:17):
They're connected, you know, and everybody talks about being connected, Colin,
but this team is really connected. It's been connected, and
you know, we've kind of put our egos aside and
everybody's playing for.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
Each other, and that doesn't always happen.
Speaker 8 (12:32):
We're playing nine to ten guys, we're we do rebound
pretty well, we actually score it pretty well, we shoot
free throws well, and yes, you are correct, you did
your scouting report.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Did not shoot them three very well.
Speaker 8 (12:45):
But the last two three weeks we've been moving up
drastically from the three, and if we can get that down,
I think we could really do some damage.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You know, It's funny. A lot of coaches, my buddy
Jay Wright, like, I think there's a lot of coaches
that look at nil and as for portal and go
get me out of here. And I don't know if
Jay did that, but I think, you know, Jay's such
a great guy. But you have kind of said, like, hey,
this is the world. I can complain or I can adapt.
Why have you with all this fluctuation? Why are you
(13:17):
still Michigan State? Why are you still good? Why have
you adapted so easily?
Speaker 8 (13:22):
Well, since you were honest with me about my three
point shooting, I'm gonna be honest with you.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
I don't like it. I don't like it.
Speaker 8 (13:28):
I don't like it for a lot of reasons, especially
in the transfer portal. I think more kids are going
to get hurt. But that's another story on another day.
Speaker 6 (13:35):
But like Jay right, like Nick Saban, you know, those
guys are friends of mine.
Speaker 8 (13:40):
They decided to go another way. I'm too dumb and
stubborn to do it.
Speaker 6 (13:44):
I guess I just figured that I got to get
back to the basics.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Last year, I was on all kinds of committees. I
worried about it.
Speaker 8 (13:52):
This year, I kind of stuck the coach in my team,
and I've been lucky.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
I got some good players.
Speaker 8 (13:58):
I got a couple of guys that really elevated their game.
I got one of my former stars, Jason Richardson son,
who has.
Speaker 6 (14:06):
Really elevated his game. And uh, you got a player's
son from the past. That either means you're getting older
you survived.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Oh, and I don't know what's you know, it's interesting
years ago. It's funny about the tournament. Everybody loves Florida,
and I said, be very careful hot teams. It doesn't
translate all the time. You got to be caring. For
years and years, everybody always said you gotta have great
guard play. Well, you know what does matter in your
years of doing this, is there one or two things
(14:36):
that absolutely translate from regular season to March.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Well, you know, I'm a big football guy.
Speaker 8 (14:43):
I love football, and I think in football, you know,
at the end of the day, yes, still all the
fancy stuff comes and goes. You still got to build
a block and tackle and not turn the ball over.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
Well, and you ask me.
Speaker 8 (14:54):
And basketball, you still got to be able to defend
and run and you can't turn the ball over. So well,
there are some things that are similar no matter what
sport you're in. Ours is a little different because that
damn ball's got to go in the basket sooner or later.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
You could run all the best offense. If the final
shot doesn't go in, it hurts.
Speaker 8 (15:13):
But I think what translates defense carries just like it
does in all other sports, whether it's hockey, baseball, basketball,
or football. We've been pretty solid. That's why I think
we've had a pretty good run. But you know, getting
to the free throw line, I think matters and making
shots because in the tournament you get down to the
(15:35):
nitty gritty and people are following you, so you got
to be able to make free throws, which we can
do on the three point line.
Speaker 3 (15:42):
We're improving.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Listen, I'm not a scout. I just watched your games
and I'm like, Okay, that's not what they do.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
You know.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
It's interesting. I was talking to Mark View Friday and
when I've talked to Mark privately, and I'm like, Hey,
do you ever steal stuff from coaches? And He's like,
oh God, yes, I take stuff from everybody. When you've
been around as long as you've been, do you ever
find yourself during the court You're sitting at home and
all of a sudden, you watch a game and you're like, oh,
I must steal that. I like that inbounds play? Do
(16:10):
you do that?
Speaker 8 (16:12):
I'm so dumb. And Mark Few and I are good friends.
We're both on these committees that we just went through
all this stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
But I'm so dumb.
Speaker 6 (16:20):
I not only steal it, but I name it after
the team I steal it from. So if I got
a Zags player, if I got a seventy six Ers player,
a Lakers play, it's because I stole it from them.
So my plays are named after a lot of people
or a lot of teams, which means I'm stealing a lot.
Speaker 1 (16:40):
Yeah, So listen, I watched the SEC this year and
I said this, I picked Auburn to win it, and
I said, I think it helps when your conference is
good because you get battle tested, you're in close games.
Is there I ask everybody this. In fact, I asked
few about this, and he said, Houston, is there a
team you've either played or scouted that you've looked at
(17:04):
and you think to yourself today, Yeah, I'd rather not
see them until maybe the final four. Who's a team
that guys like me won't pay attention to, but you've
seen them and you're like, yeah, that team's trouble.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
Well, it's interesting, Mark said, Houston.
Speaker 8 (17:19):
Believe it or not, I replaced Kelvin Samson here as
a GA.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
He used to work for jud Heathcote many years ago.
Speaker 6 (17:27):
And I think my teams are tough and pretty good defensively.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
I think his teams are insane.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
They're like the eighty five or six Bears, whatever it was.
You know, they're phenomenal defensive team.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
They got toughness. What he's done is he's added the.
Speaker 8 (17:43):
Three point shot and now they're a better shooting team.
So I'd have to agree with Mark, they're one of
but I saw Auburn in person and Hawaii we didn't
play them, but I saw him.
Speaker 3 (17:56):
They were impressive. Florida has been impressive as of late.
Speaker 8 (18:01):
I still think the Alabamas, but I I played against
them last year. I think Tennessee still brings those intangibles. Yeah,
they have toughness, they're well coached. Rick is a great coach,
and they're really really good defensively.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Tom, it was a politician's answer. I gave you a
bunch of them.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
By the way, I see right behind you you have lunch,
so you look fantastic for your age. What do you
have back there? Vegetables? A kale salad? What are you
having for lunch?
Speaker 6 (18:32):
It's a salad man. You got good eyes. Your scutting
reports are pretty good.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
You got that.
Speaker 6 (18:36):
We catch you threes and I eat salad for lunch.
This is a hell of a deal man.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Tom is the great. Tom is Oh, good luck coach,
Thanks for coming on the herd.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Thanks going saybuddy all right?
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Tom is oh a great coach. I actually have j Mack.
I have Tennessee in my final four.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Interesting, I also have a ridiculous dark horse.
Speaker 5 (18:59):
Oh ahead, tell them.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
You're not gonna get into I. I want to save
it for the audience tomorrow, no later, in the next hour.
I gotta give you the audience some gems. I have
Auburn winning it. I do have Tennessee in the final four.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Okay, I can't hate it. No, no love for Cooper
Flag and Duke.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
How good did Duke look without Cooper Flag in the
a SEC tournament.
Speaker 5 (19:21):
I know the AEC wasn't great.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Anybody can go total chop. You have to have at
least a four seed in there?
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Is that? What the minimum is? A four seed?
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I mean that's historically not a lot of five
seeds get in.
Speaker 5 (19:31):
Like last year, NC State, two years ago. Fau like
somebody always sneaks it.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
I have a sneaky team.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
They play as sneaky as you see San Diego.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
God, everybody is on that Wait.
Speaker 5 (19:44):
I talked about him last weekend.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
Michigan.
Speaker 5 (19:47):
Yeah, I already bet it money line and with the points.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Michigan's big.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
They are big, but they have any depth.
Speaker 4 (19:53):
And there's a history of Big ten tournament teams trying
super hard in the Big ten tournament where you scout
well and care four games and four days and then
you've got to turn around and play quickly.
Speaker 5 (20:04):
You know what let down?
Speaker 1 (20:05):
You know, it's ridiculous. College basketball is the only sport
where your conference tournament means nothing. Well, I mean like Michigan.
Well Michigan got a fifth seed, didn't they They won
the tournament, didn't get anything.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Out of it.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
That's a fair point.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, Michigan is very big, as you see San Diego
that just became a Division one couple of years ago.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Now, they're a great story that the athletic had an
awesome story on them. This is gonna sound so nerdy.
I stole some of his coaching principles and applied it
to my kids.
Speaker 5 (20:36):
Youth basketball leagues.
Speaker 4 (20:37):
They do this no middle defense where everybody keeps a
foot in the paint.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
We're not giving a playoff.
Speaker 4 (20:41):
You're not getting in the late even though they have
no size, and it works great.
Speaker 5 (20:44):
Uh listen, man.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
That sounds like the Wildcat offense.
Speaker 5 (20:48):
That's what it sounds.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
No middle defense. I guarantee you it'll work for a week.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
That's all you need, well, three weeks to win the title.
You see, they're not they're not winning the title obviously.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
So I've watch Michigan State. Michigan State's the kind of
team that's gonna win multiple gay. They play too hard,
they play defense, they rebound, they just don't shoot three.
So that's not what they do.
Speaker 4 (21:06):
They gotta get Jason Richardson's kids more shots. There is
those a little too balanced. No, we gotta we got
to sub him out and get all these Richardson's a stud.
Speaker 5 (21:14):
That kid is awesome. We've got to get more shots,
keep him on the floor.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
This is such a fun time of the year.
Speaker 5 (21:20):
This is the greatest.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
Yeah, there's only one time of the year. I don't
talk to my wife about finances. It's this weekend.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
I'm gonna go ahead and guess Aaron Rodgers makes a
decision like Thursday or Friday, because it's got to be
about Aaron all the time, you know. And he's gonna
try to steal the thunder from them.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
That felt like a little boy.
Speaker 5 (21:37):
Has your boy doing? Is he in a dark mis retreat?
Speaker 1 (21:38):
I haven't heard anything, boy, A lot of shots fired,
I am. You know what is he might bump into
him at Arawon here in Malibu. You gotta be very careful.
Speaker 5 (21:47):
I'm not going to Malibu all the earthquakes are hitting
over there.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I had a shaker yesterday.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
Yeah, I didn't feel it, Oh I did. I did,
locked in on brackets, so.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
I thought it was the gin and soda. It was
just that it was just a default line.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Be sure to catch editions of The Herd weekdays and
Noone eastern nin am Pacific.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 10 (22:09):
You could catch us weekdays from five to seven pm
Eastern two to four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and
of course the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 10 (22:18):
We talk about everything life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world.
Speaker 9 (22:22):
We have a lot of fun talking about the stories
behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture,
stories that well other shows don't seem to have the
time to discuss.
Speaker 10 (22:31):
And the fact that we've been friends for the last
twenty years and still work together. I mean that says something, right, So.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
Check us out.
Speaker 9 (22:36):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up, as they say.
Speaker 10 (22:41):
I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio,
maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth.
Speaker 9 (22:45):
Be sure to check out Covino and Rich live on
Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app from five to
seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific, And if you
miss any of the live show, just search Covino and
Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and of course on
social media.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
That's Covino and Rich. Welcome in at to hour two
and a Monday first one flew by. Thanks to Tom
Izzo for stopping by live in Los Angeles. It's the
herd wherever you may be and however you may be listening.
Thanks for making us part of your day. Later this hour,
the best free agent signing that's not getting discussed. I
(23:18):
think you'll love it and I'm really rooting for this guy,
Colin right, Colin wrong in a couple of minutes. And
the NCAA tournament listen last year was easy. You've con
ended up thirty seven and three four NBA guys, physicality, size,
guard play. They were great, great coach this year. A
lot of the best teams, Michigan State, Saint John's Houston,
they're really defensive teams. The scoring does not come easy.
(23:42):
So now now duke duke scoring comes a little more easily,
but I just I can't go it's not gonna be perfect.
I do think coaching will matter. That benefits you know, Izzo,
Mark Few, It's gonna benefit Rick Fatino. I think coaching
will end up being big in this tournament because I
don't think we have a dominant team. And I've watched
(24:04):
as much college basketball in the last two or three
weekends as as I'm gonna watch, and so defense is
the overwhelming story. Very few teams score easily or a lot.
Tom Ilm made a great point. They score, they just
don't shoot threes to score. But they'll end up in
the high seventies and eighties. They just they do it
a little unconventionally. Their defense leads their offense. All right,
here we go Colin right, Colin wrong. Every Monday. Where
(24:27):
Colin was right, I've take another right on the Warriors
now fourteen and two. Since Jimmy Butler arrived, they have
the best net rating in the league. And when they
made this move, I said, it's more than just scoring.
It's the fact that he's tough. He fits their ethos,
he fits their mindset. And what's great about Jimmy Butler
is completely unselfish player on this team. He's not taking
(24:49):
a lot of shots, he's not taking a lot of threes,
and he does not care playoff Jimmy. He has been
absolutely great. And this was a move I had said
a month before. Get him in the building. It will work.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
I thought the historically perpetually frugal Bengals would not sign
Jamar Chase and t Higgins, and they did. And reportedly
Trey Hendrickson is now talking his reps to the team. Listen,
will they be top heavy? Yeah, but the NFL owners
all get a check for four hundred and fifty million dollars.
This league is swimming in money. There's four great players
(25:25):
on this team. Pay them. Everybody's swimming in cash. You
see what they're paying coordinators. I mean, these owners have
money to burn. I was wrong on this.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
One where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
What a shocker. Aaron Rodgers is dramatic Minnesota now not
sure if we're gonna go. Giants have offered him, but
reportedly we're gonna draft a quarterback to or bring another
one in. He was gonna have to battle for the job.
So I've said this before. Uh you know, Aaron's his
own guy. You're gonna get some noise in drama, and
(26:01):
it has turned out. If I would have told you
that either there is one quarterback who can't make up
his mind, you would have.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Guessed Aaron where Colin was raw.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
I thought Gino Smith to the Raiders, I don't have
a problem with it. But reportedly he's going to get
forty to forty five million, that's a big contract. He's
never won a playoff game. Last year, twenty one TDS
fifteen picks Sam Darnold criticized him. All you want signed
a team friendly deal and he's seven years younger and
more athletics. So I don't have a problem with Gino
(26:30):
Smith making them, you know, going to Seattle. I kind
of like it for Pete Carroll, but I didn't think
he had another forty five million dollar a year contracting
Where Colin was right. I said a year ago the
Niners should reboot. They waited a year, and now they're
they're doing They're getting doged. Essentially, they're moving off all
sorts of contracts, and I said they should have done
(26:52):
it last year. Ward is now gone, green loss, smart,
good player's gone. Who fund it? Excellent safety struggles with
health that's gone. I thought last year they got too old,
too expensive, and increasingly too brittle. So this is what
I said last year they should have done. They waited
a year to do it.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Where Colin was wrong.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Little surprise, John Snyder signed Cooper Cup to that deal.
His yards have declined four straight seasons. McVeagh moved off
him because he couldn't get open. He's also missed eighteen
games in the last three years. Now, Schneider has drafted
and acquired receivers at a really good rate, so he
knows his stuff. But again, there's a forty five million
dollars three years. Again, the league has so much money
(27:33):
now they're looking for like a number two or three receiver.
But I'd be honest with you, I didn't think. I
didn't think he'd get that number.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Where Colin was right.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
When Brian Kelly left Notre Dame, I said it because
the SEC is all about commitment. And this weekend LSU
doubled its nil money to eighteen million. A year after
losing a recruit to Michigan and again Notre Dame. You
have rigorous debates about academics at LSU. It Costa winnin
Nanty and that's not a knock on Notre Dame. I
(28:03):
love them for who they are. But this is why
he left, because you don't have to argue you lose
a top recruit to a northern school. Suddenly they double
the nil at LSU, where Colin was wrong, well, the
Falcons kept their veteran quarterback on their roster, a little
bit of a surprise after the way he play at
the end of the year. I like Kirk Cousins. I
(28:24):
didn't have a problem with a move. I thought his
first half of the season was excellent and I thought
that's what you would get for the two year contract.
Kind of regressed whatever it was, lost his fastball. I
would think it's Michael Pennock's time in Atlanta, but this
move makes me question that and Colin Wright Colin wrong
(28:44):
on a Monday
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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