Mike DeCourcy Joins to Talk the Latest in College Hoops

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00:00Of course, he is the famed writer from the Sporting News, but he's an even bigger basketball

00:06fan.

00:07He loves college hoops.

00:08You can catch him on Fox Sports, doing College Rack and the Big Ten Network where he's on

00:12the take for my Indiana Hoosiers.

00:14And we luckily have him every Tuesday on Pharrell Coast to Coast, which is awesome because he's

00:21just an incredible guy, Pittsburgh guy.

00:23I love him and I enjoy having him on the show all these weeks, all these years.

00:28I can't count the years.

00:29I've lost track, Mike.

00:30Then again, I am getting old, but I did have 21, 8 and 5 last night, Mike, and I'm going

00:35to say it to everyone.

00:36Shut up, Mafia.

00:37I'll say it five more times.

00:38I had 21, 8 and 5 in 40 minutes of burn last night in the 30 point win.

00:42I'm 60 years old and I had 21 points, 10 and 13 from the far.

00:46Screw you, Mafia.

00:47Get the tequila out and my pills.

00:48All right, Mike.

00:50Sorry.

00:51These things happen on this show.

00:52There's the interruptions, the red phone ringing, people yelling at me, getting in trouble.

00:56I want to start with this.

00:59In the college basketball scene, I watched that Iowa State game last night, right?

01:04I just thought it was phenomenal.

01:05I got back late from my game and I watched it and it was just insane.

01:10The end of that game, the love shot from half court, even though he was throwing up bricks

01:14all night, he'd been throwing up bricks since North Carolina.

01:17I don't think they're a Final Four team at all, but I do think that Iowa State is.

01:22I thought they performed well in a hostile environment at the McHale in Tucson.

01:26How great was that game?

01:28Oh, it was fantastic.

01:30It was just a phenomenal game.

01:32Coming down the stretch, the great plays being made by Iowa State's guards on a day when

01:38Curtis Jones was having a really off shooting night.

01:41They got a lot more from the other backcourt players and were able to get a lead.

01:46They missed one free throw.

01:48One free throw and it completely changes the complexion.

01:52With just two and a half or so seconds left, you make both free throws, the game is literally

01:57over.

01:58Instead, you leave the door open just a little bit and Caleb Love, half court, come on.

02:04If you shot that shot, Scott, you would have said it was 90 feet.

02:09Let's be honest about it.

02:10That was a 50 foot shot plus.

02:12It was probably closer to 60 and he nailed it.

02:16I'll give him a lot of credit for that.

02:20It was a game changer.

02:23I totally agree with your assessment of his play generally.

02:28He was outstanding in the overtime.

02:30He made big shots.

02:32That heave seemed to give him some confidence.

02:35The only surprise was that the shots he made in overtime didn't come from 45.

02:40They came from the usual 22.

02:43I lost a game, a title game, a championship game on a half court heave by a fat guy and

02:51he threw it from his hip over his shoulder like this and it went in.

02:56I watched this team celebrate and jump on each other and make a pile down under the

03:01basket.

03:02Mafia and I were standing there holding our onions.

03:04It was the worst way to lose ever.

03:06It wasn't a shot for overtime.

03:08It was a shot to win and he made it.

03:11I lost that way once.

03:12Honestly, I have nightmares about it.

03:14Two really good games tonight, Mike.

03:16Kentucky at Tennessee and believe it or not, I think it's Oregon State and Gonzaga in Spokane.

03:22Yeah.

03:23I think that's a big game for the Zags because they lost down in Corvallis.

03:27They need to get that one back.

03:29They need to get that game because they have to keep pace with St. Mary's.

03:34This isn't the same West Coast Conference that Gonzaga dominated all those years and

03:40neither is it the same Gonzaga.

03:43They really need to dominate to keep pace with St. Mary's at the very least, if not

03:49supersede them when they eventually meet.

03:52They really need that and so I think that's a huge game and Kentucky goes into Tennessee

03:57in the worst possible condition.

03:59Andrew Carr, I believe he's a game time decision.

04:02He's their stretch for a really good player and then Lamont Butler, I believe has been

04:06declared out of the game.

04:08I don't know how they play without him.

04:10I think Otega Owee probably takes over most of the point guard duties, but Lamont has

04:14been the one guy on that team that has been basically a 30-plus minute player.

04:20They're built on depth and they originally had a second point guard behind Lamont, Kirk

04:25Creasa, but he's been absent for a while with injury.

04:28So now Lamont's down.

04:30I don't like Kentucky's situation for this game at all going into Knoxville where the

04:36Vols play some of the most intense defense of any college basketball team.

04:41Physical, they stick with you, they make it hard to do what you want to do, they make

04:45it no fun to play and I don't like Kentucky in this situation.

04:51I know Gabe said there was a lot of points and it is a lot of points to give a team that

04:54can score like this, but it's not the usual Kentucky contingent.

04:59I'd either stay away from it or I would say I would go with the Vols.

05:04The Vols were on full display with that defense at the Neville on Saturday.

05:08That was a great game, a two-point game that Auburn got lucky they got it done.

05:12I still think Auburn is a tough team to deal with in the NCAAs and I'm sticking with Duke

05:18and Cooper Flagg that they'll make the title game until I see otherwise.

05:22I wanted to ask you two other things.

05:24One about Golden at Florida and then I want to ask about the Chiefs dynasty and get your

05:31opinion of it before we head to New Orleans.

05:34SportsCrit will be there all next week starting on Monday the 3rd from New Orleans and Bourbon

05:38Street at the Eagles Chiefs Super Bowl festivities for 59.

05:43But start with this guy at Gainesville, basically, like, according to the school, they're done

05:49with the investigation.

05:50Mike, is he in the clear with this Title IX and all these allegations?

05:56I don't, I, apparently, he's done with the Title IX investigation by the school.

06:02They said there was insufficient evidence to have a finding against him.

06:07The original media articles indicated multiple complainants or witnesses, so I'm not sure

06:14how they arrived at that conclusion, but those are very private affairs and so it's hard

06:19to know what was involved until it ends.

06:24And usually if it ends in a finding like this, you're not going to find out much.

06:28The only thing that would go beyond that would be is if some of the people who had a complaint

06:35in the first place were to take it to a court of law.

06:37I don't know whether that would happen or not.

06:40I would suspect it's unlikely, but it seems to be that this is a closed issue.

06:47I mean, and they're a hell of a basketball team.

06:49They're another elite eight type team, in my opinion.

06:53Now let's get your thoughts on this Chiefs dynasty that's still running fully operational

07:00as they go to their fifth Super Bowl in six years and they'll play the Eagles again like

07:05a couple of years ago.

07:08It's amazing what they've accomplished, Scott.

07:10And I wrote an article about 10 days ago before the playoffs started about how the Chiefs

07:17were in some way chasing what the Steelers accomplished in the 70s.

07:22Four Super Bowls in six years.

07:23No one's done that other than the Steelers of 74, 75, 78, 79, and now the Chiefs have

07:29a chance to match that.

07:30But they also have a chance to do what no team has done, which is win three Super Bowls.

07:35We've had the Green Bay Packers in 65, 66, and 67 won the NFL championship, which in

07:4265 there was no Super Bowl, in 66 and 67 they were able to win the first two.

07:48So it's a little different than what the Chiefs are doing now.

07:52But what's amazing about what the Chiefs are accomplishing, Scott, is that there's free

07:58agency now.

08:00There is the salary cap.

08:02You can't keep a team together.

08:04Can you imagine what the Steelers of the 70s would have had to pay their whole team?

08:08I mean, in today's dollars, they'd have been like a billion dollar annual salary to try

08:14to keep those guys together.

08:16They wouldn't have been able to do it.

08:18So the Chiefs haven't been able to do it, but they've been able to continue to win.

08:22And a lot of that is Patrick Mahomes, but I don't think it's all that.

08:26I mean, Patrick Mahomes was excellent on Sunday, but he wasn't the elite, unstoppable Patrick

08:33Mahomes.

08:34What happened was every time the Chiefs needed to make a big stop, Spagnuolo and that defense

08:39and especially the defensive line came through.

08:43And that's what's really amazing about this group, is that even as all the personnel changes,

08:47I think there are six guys who could win their fourth Super Bowl ring as a Chief.

08:54Six guys.

08:55And that only began in 2019.

08:57So they've turned over almost their entire roster since then.

09:01Are you going to New Orleans, Mike, or are you going to tell me you're too soft?

09:04I'm too soft.

09:05Yeah, definitely.

09:06If you want to pay for my trip and maybe let me bunk with you, we can talk about it.

09:11Bobby, get out the checkbook and let's see if we have any money left in the till.

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