Mad About Hoops

The season is over and UConn was dominant. There's a ton of fun conversations to have about what this mean's for UConn's status as a blue blood. I'm confused at how that is even in question. But we also start out by giving our genuine thanks to all of you fine listers for supporting this pet project of ours. We cover the game as professionals and are true fans at heart. It's cool to be both of those things at the same time. Things to watch after we discuss this UConn team, at the 16:36 mark we talk about Dan Hurley as a coach...his coaching chops and his personality. And at 21:44 we get into the final discussion of the season and what we're watching for in the coming months. Once again, thank you so much following this season. Work hard this offseason folks, it'll pay off!

The Road to the Final Four ends here. So who do we got? Is it the dominant teams like UConn and Purdue destined to meet on Monday night? Or can Alabama or NC State knock one of these juggernauts off their perch? We talk a lot of UConn vs Bama in segment 1 and at the 11:15 mark we get more into Purdue vs NC State and Evil Bald Colin will relentlessly go after Zach Edey again. At 23:40 we turn the discussion to the coaching carousel and the wild week of roster construction (and deconstruction) for Ohio State Hoops. Then at 33:20 we dive back into the Final Four and run through our much awaited picks! It's a great weekend to be a college hoops fan. So make sure your feet are set, and enjoy it!

Can you believe this? In the first half of Sweet 16 games alone we saw Clemson knock off Arizona, and Alabama take down 1 seed North Carolina. Crazy. First segment we almost have a National Championship ceremony for UConn. Are we wrong? We'll still make them play it out. But my goodness they dusted SDSU. At the 10:48 mark we get into the Tar Heels' game. And Cormac Ryan kind of told us not to be critical of RJ Davis. But we might do it anyway. At the 21:58 mark we talk about how we didn't see this coming at all from Clemson, and wonder how Brad Brownell lasted at Clemson as long as he did. And at 31:48 we get the final breakdown of the Ohio State season as Jake Diebler heads into a crucial first offseason. Enjoy the pod everyone. Stay in front of your man!!!

Let the CBS college basketball theme play in your head all day long. This is a 100 percent genuine Tournament podcast. We are kids in a candy shop. After glancing at Northwestern surviving Florida Atlantic we go to the game of the night on Thursday with Oakland downing Kentucky and what it means. Those Golden Grizzlies can play. Then around the 19 minute mark we turn the attention to Kansas vs Samford. We listen to some crazy audio of Nick Timberlake saying that he was fouled (HE WASN'T) and I make my case for a coach's challenge in College Hoops. At the 25 minute mark we address some of the famous coaches' comments on expanding the NCAA Tournament or taking away auto bids for mid-majors. And at the 33 minute mark we hit on a wild weekend of hoops at The Schottenstein Center and also CB tells us about his travels to the First Four in Dayton and gives us the review. Enjoy this pod folks and now more than ever, make your free throws!

This region has Purdue in it folks. And when you're a Purdue fan, you know you have to brace for failure and disappointment. I know that because of my Purdue parents and 44 years of not going to the Final Four. They're a one seed for a second straight year and they have some making up to do from last year. Do we believe in them this time? Find out, and find out who we have cutting the nets down in Phoenix. That's it for the breakdowns folks, now it's time to watch hoops until we drool! Enjoy it!

If you were wondering, our nicknames for these regions mean absolutely nothing. Less than nothing. Although, the Top 5 seeds in this region all bowed out early in their conference tournament. So maybe we're on to something. This one is interesting because of lovable underdogs like Vermont and JMU. Do we get crazy here? Check it out as we break down the South.

That's kinda the ironic nickname for the region. You might notice that Evil Bald Colin and I couldn't even be in the studio together to do our next region breakdown. That's how it goes during March Madness. So here's how we see UConn's region going. What kind of trouble is facing the defending national champs? Do either of us have them being bounced before the Final Four? You should find out!

Jake Diebler news crashes our first Bracket Breakdown, but whatever! It's March Madness and crazy stuff is going on in college basketball. The full on West Region dissection starts at the 9:15 mark, and boy oh boy do I have a Sweet 16 sleeper waiting for you. Plus, we have a new employee here at the station and part of his training is to force him to jump on a college hoops podcast. Say hello to UNC fan Jacob Rhymer! Enjoy the podcast and listen carefully so your brackets can look nice. And remember, make your free throws.

Thanks to Terrence Shannon Jr. turning on the afterburners and some of the worst and most unpredictable Big Ten refereeing you will see in a big time game, the Buckeyes late surge to The Big Dance came up short. They needed that win over Illinois to do it, and a 77-74 loss will be a tough pill to swallow. You get some of my reaction from my OSU Sports Network postgame show in the immediate aftermath in this snippet. And then in the 2nd segment we spend some more time on Chris Holtmann taking the job at DePaul and how unique a situation it is for him.

Hello hoops fans! We continue to live in this beautiful month of March where basketball is front and center everywhere you look. This is our time to walk tall. But not if you're a Kansas fan. I am a not so proud alum and I'm currently in my feelings with this team with how the last few weeks have gone. We also open up by breaking down how much we enjoy this week of conference tournaments and why. In segment 2 (14:29) we break down a HUGE head coaching position that just became vacant....Louisville. We talk about how fascinating a coaching search that one will be, and will it mess with Ohio State's search? More pods coming folks. Enjoy this time and remember, make your free throws!

The March Madness continues as we get closer and closer to Selection Sunday. We are jam packed in this episode. We first welcome on the senior writer for The Heat Check, Brian Rauf. Brian is based out of Raleigh so he knows Tobacco Road hoops better than anyone. And since we talked in depth on the Tar Heels last week, we get a read on who these Blue Devils are in advance of the big game part Deux. Then we have our friendly bracketologist on the show again, the Big Underdog! You can tell this guy is in it for the Cinderellas. We certainly ask him about those guys, but he's certainly paying attention to the big dogs as well. One of the biggest rivalries in sports, conference tournaments everywhere, resumes heading towards the finish line and Selection Sunday in our near future. What's not to like? Enjoy the episode folks and as always, make your free throws!

Folks, it's the March edition, even though we're dropping it on Leap Day. We start by rocking out to the beautiful month that we're embarking on. Then Evil Bald Colin takes us through his thoughts about Purdue star Zach Edey. Is he overshadowing some very deserving NPOY candidates that are just as worthy of the talk? Then in the 2nd segment our guy Dave Nathan from the Tar Heel Sports Network joins us to talk about RJ Davis' big game and North Carolina's March Madness potential. Dave does the pre, halftime and post-game work for UNC Basketball. In the 3rd segment it's the latest on the OSU Basketball coaching search and what we're hearing about Sean Miller. And finally we take a look at a huge weekend with 5 games featuring ranked vs ranked. Welcome to March everyone, and as always, make your free throws!

Whether the school will publicly talk about it or not, the Buckeyes are in the early stages of the search for its next basketball coach. We jump into it at the 16:15 mark. Names like Dusty May at Florida Atlantic, Sean Miller at Xavier and a couple Buckeye names in the NBA have surfaced. In the opening segment we take a look at the big games from the past week and talk about UConn's week. At the 10 minute mark we look at a team that might have wildly thrown away a shot at a Big Ten Title! And because he's Evil, Colin really loves him some Rick Pitino. Enjoy the podcast hoops fans! And as always, make your free throws.

This one is dominated by the news that Ohio State fired HC Chris Holtmann. We hear from Gene Smith on the decision to move on from Holtmann. We form our lists for Ross Bjork to consider for the position. We finish off the week looking ahead to the weekend full of games!

Happy 100 to Mad About Hoops! We didn't even realize it was coming and sadly Evil Bald Colin is out in Vegas covering the Super Bowl and paying homage to Tark the Shark. The Buckeyes keep sliding and there was a super frustrating game ending from this week that we jump right into. Then I recruited some help on this pod in the form of Ohio University Head Coach Jeff Boals. The convo gets started at the 11 minute mark. Jeff was a long time Thad Matta assistant so he knows OSU hoops and he knows how to build up a mid-major. He's had 5 straight winning seasons at OU. AT 22:45 we ask him about what's happening with Ohio State hoops so don't skip that. Then at 33:20 we take a look at one of the most intriguing players in college hoops before setting the table for a fabulous weekend.

We open the pod and wind up talking about some of the other schools that keep us engaged when our current team's season is falling off a cliff. That takes us to Big Sky country because we're sick like that. At 15:40 we dive into the Buckeye breakdown and talk about an element to this season that is more trying than just the losses on the court. And at the 24 minute mark we talk about some CBB drip. The baggie shorts, the uniforms that always caught our attention. What's the best? We actually hold some of Ohio State's uniforms in very high regard. And finally we talk about some of the matchups we can get to as road trippin' Midwesterners not afraid of a short drive. Enjoy the pod and remember to make your free throws!

This one is juicy folks. If you are looking for answers as an Ohio State Basketball fan, we try to give them all to you in this podcast. Right after our opening segment that has some Dayton flare (we aren't trolling they're really good) we get with Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch and find out if this team can save it's season and go to the NCAA Tournament. The big discussion starts at the 18 minute mark. And in closing, maybe the best game to get to this weekend for Midwesterners who love crushing road trips is indeed the NW vs OSU game at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Enjoy this Buckeye therapy folks. Remember to hit your free throws!

Look at who just retired from our game in recent years. Giants of the sport like Coach K, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim are no more. So who are the guys in that next wave of great coaches in college basketball? Colin's got the list for you (27:14) in this episode so be prepared to know the future. We come right out of the gates talking about the current top coaches and we also hit on what those dominant UConn Huskies (9:45) are up to. They're following up their national championship by reaching the no. 1 ranking in the AP Poll for the first time in 15 years. The Buckeye breakdown hits you at 16:12 as Ohio State truly goes into a must win game vs Penn State. Then at 37:43 we take you around the MAH road trip meter and tell you about some games this weekend you might want to check out. Enjoy this episode and remember, hit your free throws!

It's another week into January and conference play caught up with 4 of the Top 5 teams in the AP Poll. Purdue, Houston and Kansas all go down. You can throw Tennessee into the mix as well. We hit on the mayhem and what it means, and also check out the Wooden Award Top 25 player list. Then we get knee deep into the issues we've seen from Ohio State in their back-to-back losses (16:55). What are the real concerns and what are the overreactions? Then we take a look at some metrics that might not be the most favorable for what feels like a much improved team for the Buckeyes (26:52) and we hit on a huge win for the last Buckeye head coach at Butler. Then at the end it's our MAH Road Trip Meter. Those games that midwesterners would love to drive to. As always, make your free throws! Enjoy the hoops.

We have made it to Week 9 of the CBB season as conference play is here the rest of the way. The guys re-set the table and give some views on the top teams in the sport right off the top of the pod. They jump right into the Buckeye Breakdown (16:30) in Segment 2. Then in Segment 3 (25:46) it's all about the beauty and mystique of tiny gyms and a smooth transition into our favorite bucket getters of all time. We thank Caitlin Clark of Iowa for turning the discussion to binge scoring. Then in our final segment (40:00) we hit the Mid Major Flavor as two conferences are on Colin's mind, and our MAH Road Trip meter shows you the way to some great CBB matchups accessible by way of central Ohio. Remember, hit your free throws!