Eye On College Basketball

Michigan is 7-0 with blowout wins over the past two national champions. And the Wolverines are, once again, excellent defensively thanks to John Beilein's hiring of Luke Yaklich. Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish open this episode by discussing what appears to be the Big Ten's best team.After that, the conversation went like this:7:03: Roy Williams said North Carolina stinks. Is he right?11:52: The Bob Knight 30 For 30 -- "The Last Days of Knight" -- made its television debut on Thursday. The guys spent a few minutes discussing the controversial coaching icon. There's also a bacon story from Parrish.24:50: Weekend preview, including Gonzaga-Creighton, Nevada-USC, Arizona-UConn and Oregon-Houston.

Chris Mack got his first signature win as Louisville's coach Tuesday night when the Cardinals upset Michigan State in overtime. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open on that, then get to a lot going on with Duke and its win over Indiana (13:04), including Coach K's jacket-throwing technique and why Duke team managers run like Usain Bolt at the end of each half. Elsewhere, Nevada had no issues with Loyola-Chicago (26:09). Unfortunately, Vanderbilt's NCAA tourney chances could be doomed with Darius Garland likely out fot the year (33:33). The pod wraps with a lively discussion about the NCAA's NET rankings making their debut this week (41:05). GP and Norlander closed on whether college basketball fans should really be concerned about the algorithm and what the NCAA should've done differently to avoid yet another public relations nightmare.

Villanova got its first quality win of the season by beating Florida State 66-60 on Sunday in the title game of the AdvoCare Invitational. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander start this episode by discussing a lingering curiosity with Villanova, then get to Oklahoma State (10:02), which is off to a nice, under-the-radar start. From there, predictions and thoughts on the ACC-Big Ten Challenge (17:29), Duke thoughts (22:42) and a discussion on the best mid-major game of the week, Nevada vs. Loyola Chicago (30:14). and I opened this episode of the Eye On College Basketball by discussing the reigning national champs and Quinerly's disappointing start.

Parrish and Norlander were all over the country this week, covering top-five matchups in person and reporting on them for CBS Sports. This special Saturday episode leads with Kansas beating Tennessee late Friday night at Barclays Center. From there, the guys get to Virginia's 6-0 start (10:03) and what happened in Vegas with Michigan State, Texas, UNC and UCLA (13:06). On the other side of things, Florida's off to a ragged 3-3 start (16:16). Arizona State (20:28) is doing well for itself again after last year's good start. Bad news: Vanderbilt's Darius Garland has a torn meniscus (23:00). A look ahead to Sunday's big game between Villanova and Florida State (29:40).

The undefeated talk is over. Duke didn't make it past Thanksgiving without a loss. No. 3 Gonzaga beat No. 1 Duke 89-87 in the championship game of the Maui Invitational. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander lead this Thanksgiving podcast with that -- and give their thanks to the listeners, of course. From there, the guys got into what worked for Gonzaga and evaluated Duke's freshmen both on Wednesday and overall in Maui. Also, James Wiseman (23:30), the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2019, is going to Memphis. How big is that for Penny Hardaway? How bad is that for John Calipari? And did you know that Friday will bring another top-five matchup? No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 5 Tennessee (38:07) is on tap. Predictions included.

At the top, Norlander and Parrish open on Hawaii. Then it's on to Villanova (12:42), which lost again on Saturday — to Furman. Also 2-2: Syracuse (20:49). The Orange lost to UConn and Oregon at Madison Square Garden. Which team is more disappointing at this stage? Speaking of disappointing losses, Indiana let one get away at Arkansas on Sunday (26:07). How about the 3-ball this season (31:18): teams continue to bomb away more than ever before. The episode closes with a wide-ranging preview and set of predictions on the Maui Invitational (36:05).

Friday's episode leads on arguably the most shocking result of the season so far: Michigan's 73-46 win at Villanova on Wednesday night. From there, Parrish and Norlander touch how good Tennessee's looked to star the year (16:30), get into Zion Williamson's hilariously ridiculous statistical pace so far (17:45), and move on to Ohio State (24:40), which has the best two road wins of any team in college hoops at this point. The guys also highlight the Big Ten (31:15), which has the best record of any conference 10 days into the season. Of course, there's also the matter of UConn upsetting Syracuse (38:06), which included a viral moment from Dan Hurley and an inexplicable jersey mishap regarding Buddy Boeheim. The guys wrap by discussing a 3-point oddity that happened on back-to-back nights earlier this week.

Georgetown went in and got a road win at Illinois on Tuesday night, doing so behind the entertaining play of freshmen duo James Akinjo and Mac McClung (:50). It's been a long time since the pod talked about the Hoyas. Parrish and Norlander also get into the Big Ten's quality start (16:30) before transitioning to Thursday night's key game between Syracuse and UConn (21:48). Also at MSG on Thursday night: Oregon and freshman center Bol Bol (27:00). The pod wraps with some thoughts about Duke's nonconference schedule and its contrast with UNC being willing to play opponents on the road in November and December (34:32).

After a weekend with a few notable upsets, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open with West Virginia being the only ranked team to drop a game to an unranked team. Then it's onto Auburn (8:20), which looked great Friday night in an 88-66 win over Washington. Oh, and Duke freshman Zion Williamson (13:01) got 27 points, 16 rebounds, six blocks and four assists in Sunday's 94-72 win over Army. Just an absolute monster. Who should be ranked No. 1 right now -- Duke or Kansas? (20:00), and what about North Carolina (23:12)? 2-0 with two road wins -- one at Wofford, the other at Elon. Norlander said that amounts to the best resume in the nation right now. The pod wraps with a lookahead to the best games of Tuesday and Wednesday (31:48).

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander address, for the first and likely only time this season, some of the absurd early talking points already bubbling up around Duke. They open with the reaction to the reaction of Duke's debut, then get into some unexpected trivia about starting lineups on past Final Four teams. From there, they touch on the Justice Department giving the go-ahead to the NCAA to start investigating some schools brought up during the first federal trial, which ended in October. The podcast wraps with a preview of the games to watch this weekend. Washington at Auburn, two top 25 teams, highlights the slate.

No. 4 Duke's 118-84 win over No. 2 Kentucky was record-setting in many ways. The Blue Devils' freshmen showed up, showed out and exceeded the hype. And now Duke should probably be No. 1 in every legitimate poll out there. For Kentucky, yikes. How concerned should John Calipari be? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander provide immediate reaction from Indianapolis after they watched Duke go supernatural and Kansas looked flawed but still dangerously good in its win over Michigan State.

College basketball has finally wised up and made the adjustment to its schedule that benefits the sport best. For the first time in the modern era, college hoops will start its season on a Tuesday night. The Champions Classic is the big event -- but there are four other really good games happening elsewhere. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander offer up their thoughts and predictions on Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, North Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Washington and more. Welcome to the 2018-19 season.

You need this episode, college hoops fans. It's the final piece of wide-ranging preseason college basketball content to hold you over the final weekend without college basketball until April. Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish get into some of the big and small predictions that they expect to see as early as next week and as far off as the national title game. The season is ALMOST HERE!

Is the R.J. Barrett love overstated heading into the season? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this episode by discussing the CBS Sports All-America teams and focus on Barrett's widespread recognition as a preseason national player of the year. They get into their picks, look at the POYs in years past and also try to identify the one player not on the A-A list who has the best shot at being a First Team guy come March. They also pick apart the teams that made last year's NCAA Tournament but don't seem built for a return this season. Arizona, Wichita State, Texas A&M, Creighton and Oklahoma included.

Now it's time for hoops hoops hoops. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander get into what we can expect for 2018-19, and they start by discussing Final Four darling Loyola-Chicago. Ramblers overrated? Not here. Norlander has them at 63 in his 1-353 ranking of every team in the sport. The guys also ask: Which preseason top 15 team is most likely to miss the NCAAs? Which team outside the top 20 is best suited to make a Final Four run? And which highly regarded player could wind up being a disappointment? And a whole lot more.

A shock wave was sent through college basketball on Wednesday when Jim Gatto, Merl Code and Christian Dawkins were all found guilty on seven total counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Matt Norlander has been covering the trial from Manhattan, and he and Gary Parrish react to the verdicts and also lay out why this case was tipped in the government's favor from the get-go. Do those three men really deserve to be going to prison? Parrish and Norlander make arguments why this feels surreal and unnecessary. They also touch on what the NCAA now stands to do, and how coaches like Bill Self and programs like Kansas remain a high point of interest.

There is a boatload of new information to get to -- and we've got some on-court preview content as well. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this week's episode by extensively discussing and picking apart just what happened in federal court during week three of the college hoops corruption trial. it was troubling for Kansas and LSU especially -- but Duke is suddenly a part of this story, too. Zion Williamson's recruitment has been brought into question. So what comes next for him, Duke and the NCAA? And is Bill Self and his assistant's job in trouble? The guys also explain why the new NBA rule that allows G League players to earn as much as $125,000 coming right out of high school will have almost no impact on college basketball. They wrap with a discussion of the best players in college hoops; CBS Sports published its list of the top 100 (and one) guys in college basketball earlier this week.

Two critical government witnesses took the stand this week in the case of US vs. Gatto et al., which is the massive trial that has college basketball collectively curious, if not nervous. Matt Norlander was in New York City all week to watch and report what happened. On this podcast, he and Gary Parrish discuss the biggest statements and evidence brought to light this week. In short: it wasn't good for Kansas, Arizona, NC State, Creighton, DePaul and Louisville. Plus, Norlander provides a lot of quotes and scenes -- including wiretapped phone calls -- from the trial.

It's been a few weeks -- but the guys are back! Matt Norlander had a second child, so the podcast went on a brief hiatus, but he and Gary Parrish are in typical rhythm as they catch you up on the start of the highly anticipated federal trial in connection to college basketball corruption. Oregon was named, as were others like Arizona and NC State. The start of this trial brings up interesting plot lines to dissect; the guys do just that. They also touch on Mike White's success on the recruiting trail: Florida landed five-star prospect Scottie Lewis, who picked the Gators over Kentucky and St. John's. White is proving to be an ideal successor to Billy Donovan.

On this episode, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander dive into some details with Rick Pitino's new book and debate over what it really accomplishes. They also touch on the dilemma surrounding Loyola-Chicago. Final Four darlings from last season, the Ramblers had a hard time scheduling in the non-conference for 2018-19. Most big-time programs wouldn't play them. Is this a reality we should just accept, or can the selection committee and new evaluation criteria change the way coaches think when it comes to scheduling good mid-major teams?

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander have a fun-loaded, nearly hour-long podcast heading into Labor Day Weekend that touches on a number of topics. In recent weeks, the duo has published their annual Candid Coaches series over at CBSSports.com. It touched on the FBI investigation, Rick Pitino's next job (in coaching?), the new NCAA rules, the best coaching hire of 2018, and who coaches pick in the Jordan-vs.-LeBron debate. The guys go behind the scenes on these questions -- and make their picks for them as well.

On Wednesday, the NCAA officially announced the end of the RPI era. The Division I men's basketball selection committee will now use a new metric, known as NET, to rank and sort teams for inclusion to the Big Dance. So what is NET, why is it better, and where did the NCAA still come up short? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander give you a detailed but easy-to-understand overview of what awaits for March of 2019. They also get into some of the surprising revelations in the first few installments of their annual Candid Coaches series.

It's a pretty slow time in college basketball right now. No coaches are on administrative leave. No notable players have been arrested. There's not much going on. But Kentucky just wrapped a four-game trip to the Bahamas. And Duke is in the middle of a three-game trip in Canada. So Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish had no problem getting 20-plus minutes out of those two things. Some fun developments occurring with both teams, and for different reasons.

The NCAA on Wednesday announced sweeping changes to college basketball's bylaws and recruiting calendar -- and new legislation that gives more entitlements to student-athletes. But how much will it matter? Will it solve any problems within sport? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander answered those questions in this episode. The announcements created some nice headlines that'll possibly fool the uninformed. But here's the truth: All of this is an undeniable reaction to what the ongoing FBI investigation has exposed. But none of these announced changes actually address the issues that the FBI investigation exposed.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spent the week in North Augusta, S.C. and took in their annual viewing of the Peach Jam. There is speculation and real concern from virtually every coach they spoke to that the NCAA is going to overhaul July recruiting to the point where coaches are no longer allowed to attend tournament events that are held by apparel companies. What's the NCAA up to, and will they change their plan close to the 11th hour? Parrish wrote a column that sparked a lot of discussion at Peach Jam, and Norlander reported out a story with sources close to the vote who went on the record about where things stand. Overall, the future of recruiting hasn't been this foggy in as long as many can remember. There's a lot to unpack, and a lot to cover with all that happened at Peach Jam and beyond.

Welcome back to the pod. On this episode, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander try to get to the bottom of who should be No. 1 heading into the season. Kansas has a good case, but Kentucky's could be better. And why not Gonzaga, though? The Bulldogs just added a coveted transfer for next season. The guys get into all of that, plus have a discussion on college stars who are stumbling to start Summer League.

Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish open with discussing Wendell Carter Jr.'s mother's comments about how she was "pissed" when Marvin Bagley III reclassified, enrolled at Duke and caused her son to play a secondary role. After that, the guys discuss ... 18:45: Thanks to the late additions of Reid Travis and Ashton Hagans, Parrish has Kentucky ranked No. 1 in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one). 24:20: And now there seems to be mounting pressure on John Calipari to deliver another championship to Kentucky. What's reasonable, and unreasonable, for fans to expect of coaches. 37:28: This UConn-Kevin Ollie situation isn't a good look for anybody. School officials are doing real damage to their reputation and the reputation of an alum who won them a championship in 2014. But will it save them millions of dollars? Yes, perhaps.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander have a 56-minute podcast entirely dedicated to the 2018 NBA Draft, including an opening debate about what is happening with Michael Porter Jr. Is a hip issue now affecting his stock? Norlander says he wouldn't draft him. Parrish is torn. They get into Deandre Ayton's case (is it so convincing?) as the top prospect, and try to predict two top-10 projected picks who will flame out. They also label the players slotted later in the draft who have the best chance to wind up as top 20 pros in this year's crop. That includes a couple of players who went from being lowly ranked in high school to becoming first round draft picks.

John Beilein will probably retire at Michigan. The 65-year-old announced on Twitter earlier this week that he would be continuing to coach the Wolverines. So, no Detroit Pistons future there. At Auburn, Bruce Pearl was rewarded with a contract extension. During the season, many believed he wouldn't be able to keep his job. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander discuss both of those coaching situations on today's episode, and they wrap up by bringing attention to a somewhat surprising move: Detroit Mercy hiring Mike Davis, who once took Indiana to the national championship game.

It's a special Saturday offseason podcast, as Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander have in-depth discussions about the two most interesting developments in college hoops in recent days: John Beilein interviewing for the Detroit Pistons job, and the teams who benefited or were substantially hurt by players who left or stayed in the NBA Draft pool.

A slow week in college basketball has Matt Norlander trying to explain to Gary Parrish what multiple universe theory is, and why this very podcast might be part of a simulation of what we perceive to be reality. (You can thank NBA draft prospect Lonnie Walker for this, as the podcast explains.) The duo starts at the top of the episode by looking at potential preseason All-America choices for 2018-19. From there, the guys put Tennessee?s No. 3 ranking in the CBS Sports Top 25 (and one) into perspective. Weird to see Tennessee so high, but the Vols are a valid pick in the 3 spot. Norlander also provides his two NBA Draft sleeper picks, one of which is Lonnie Walker, which then opens up the conversation on, well, you?ll just have to listen to find out.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander get into an issue that bothers both fo them: the idea that a 72-team NCAA Tournament is superior to a 68-team NCAA Tournament. But that's the proposal put forth by the ACC coaches. Will it catch steam? The guys give reasons for why it could die a quick death -- or gain steam. They also get into some results from this week's NBA combine, focusing their discussions on Donte DiVincenzo, Marvin Bagley III, Michael Porter Jr. and Jaren Jackson Jr.

The headlines haven't stopped for college hoops. On this episode, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander discuss: ? Condoleeza Rice's curious clarification on college players getting paid ? Kentucky getting better by earning a five-star commitment ? Arizona managing to keep its boat afloat and land a big pledge ? La Salle's new coach opting to hire a former Louisville assistant who was fired because of the FBI investigation

Romeo Langford's Indiana commitment has that state as optimistic about the Hoosiers as it's been in more than a half-decade. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander look at what Archie Miller's assembled -- and try to envision what IU will be like next season. Plus: Donovan Mitchell has been better as a rookie than anyone expected. In fact, he has no peer in recent years. No one has been this great after being a good-not-great college player. So what did we miss?

Wednesday morning brought a long-awaited reveal: a lengthy report compiled by the NCAA-appointed Commission on College Basketball. Condoleezza Rice was the chair, and she spoke in Indianapolis to assembled media and NCAA-related tastemakers in Indianapolis. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spend nearly an hour examining what was -- and wasn't -- addressed on Wednesday. For frequent pod listeners, some of their takeaways may surprise you.

Don't worry, the guys aren't taking the offseason off. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander are back for a 70-minute episode to discuss: ? Some NBA Draft declarations, and why many are destined to miss out on getting picked ? Villanova's interesting waiting game on Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman ? The top 10 most notable coaching hires from the past month ? Who sets up as the best hire and which is most likely to fail? ? The fascinating recruiting battle between Penny Hardaway and John Calipari

The FBI's case regarding bribery and wire fraud in college basketball gained significant movement on Tuesday with a superseding indictment that was published against current defendants. In that indictment, Kansas and North Carolina State were named/looped into the story. For Kansas, no coaches are being targeted; the FBI is alleging that people outside the school steered two players to play for the Jayhawks. With NC State, at least one former coach is being held partially accountable for the illegal recruitment of former Wolfpack player Dennis Smith Jr. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander lay out the latest information and go in detail on what comes next for Bill Self and Kansas, in addition to why NC State's issues aren't the same as KU's.

Today's episode is sponsored by www.ziprecruiter.com. Is the 2017-18 Villanova team one of the best ever? As in: on the short list of greatest teams of all time? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander make that case. They recap the Wildcats' title-game win over Michigan, and get into what made Vilanova historically great. They also discuss Donte DiVincenzo's historic performance and the unnecessary side story about his six-year-old tweets that had nothing to do with what happened on Monday. From there, Norlander and Parrish looked back at the past five months and hit on the biggest storylines in college basketball -- on and off the floor. They wrap with a look to next season. Parrish dishes on his top 25 (and one).

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander chat from San Antonio not just on the national title game Monday night, but also touch on the results from Saturday's national semifinals that led to Villanova playing Michigan for the 2018 title. They offer up their picks and provide some statistical analysis to back up their predictions. Forgive their voices ... the guys got together Sunday night, and perhaps late in Monday morning. All for the sake of a quality title game preview podcast.

The national semifinals are Saturday night here at the Alamodome. So Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish got together Saturday morning to preview both games. They start with UConn's lost to Notre Dame from Friday, then ... 6:38: Loyola-Chicago vs. Michigan. Parrish took the Wolverines. Norlander took the Ramblers. 18:42: Villanova-Kansas matchup. And once again, they picked different winners. Norlander has Nova. Parrish took Kansas.

Today's episode is sponsored by www.ziprecruiter.com. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander are on the ground in Texas. They open with some San Antonio and Final Four, then get into Chris Mack taking the Louisville job, Jeff Capel taking Pitt, and looking at the Xavier opening. They also touch on Kansas and wrap with some more Final Four talk.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander are both back at home, and before they head out to San Antonio, they touch on the regional final results that have given us a Final Four of Loyola-Chicago, Michigan, Villanova and Kansas. There's also a discussion of whether or not Duke's season could fairly be labeled as an underachieving one. Plus: Will Barack Obama get down to San Antonio to watch the Ramblers?

A 9 vs. an 11. A 3 vs. a 9. A 1 vs. a 3. A 1 vs. a 2. That's the Elite Eight, and Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander are here to give their thoughts. They react to what the Sweet 16 gave us and what the Elite Eight is presenting. Come on in and listen before Saturday's regional finals get going.

The NCAA Tournament starts back up on Thursday. Parrish and Norlander go long on their thoughts with all eight regional semis. They cap off the podcast with a discussion on Penny Hardaway going to Memphis. This episode is presented by www.ziprecruiter.com

Well, your bracket is in flames and the NCAA Tournament just put on an unpredictable carnival of upsets. So was it the best ever? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander lay out the results from every region and take a deep look at all corners of the bracket. If you found yourself obsessed with the tournament this past weekend, this is the perfect way to cap off the experience.

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spend much of this podcast discussing American sports history, as UMBC did the unthinkable on Friday night. They have so much to say, and discuss, about both teams and how this makes the 2018 NCAA Tournament already one of the most historic, unforgettable ones ever.

Before the NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday night, the guys give you not just their Final Four and national title picks, but go through each region and share their thoughts and picks on the games that stand out to them most. From the first round into the second weekend, then explaining why they've picked who they've picked to win it all. Plus, they only agree on one Final Four team: Virginia.

You can never get enough bracket analysis, predictions and picks this time of year. On this special edition of the Eye on College Basketball Podcast presented by Old Navy, Jamie Erdahl and Reid Forgrave give you their takes on the NCAA Tournament bracket with potential upsets, Final Four predictions and championship picks.

The most wonderful time of the sports year is finally back. Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish go for an hour-plus on the field of 68, plus a few teams that got left out. Region-by-region breakdowns of the trends, games and storylines that stick out. It's one of the biggest, best pods of the season.

It's the final podcast before the brackets come out! Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander get into the biggest storylines from Thursday and Friday, plus break down why Pitt needed to fire Kevin Stallings. They wrap up with a must-listen debate over the chase for 1 seeds. As of Friday morning, Virginia is the only lock for a 1. Five teams are chasing three spots. Who will get to the top line?