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00:00 So, J.Y., let's look around the conferences in college basketball. We go in alphabetical order,
00:05 highlighted on this list by Purdue, who was minus 330 entering last night's game in Lincoln
00:11 against the Huskers to win the Big Ten. Still greater than a $2 odds-on favorite at minus
00:16 210. In the Big Bad Big 12, Kansas booked as the favorites right now at plus 170. Penny
00:23 Hardaway's Memphis Tigers, an odds-on favorite in the American. North Carolina in the ACC,
00:29 and in the Atlantic Ten, it's the Dayton Flyers, booked as the favorites right now. J.Y.,
00:33 when you look at that list, what stands out to you first and foremost?
00:37 Well, number one, I think that it's right at the shelf. Let's go to the American, where I honestly
00:43 think that Memphis is the best team in that league. There was talk about the FAU coming in from
00:49 Conference USA and what they could do, but Penny Hardaway's got the most experienced team in the
00:53 country. When you get Javon Quintalili to transfer in, but also get Naquan Tomlin to transfer in
00:58 during the season, which I haven't heard of that one before, leaving a school and going to another
01:03 school and being eligible immediately, I think that is an interesting thing. Now, when you go
01:08 to the ACC, the reason why North Carolina is ahead of Duke is simply because of the fact that North
01:14 Carolina's undefeated, and they did get a big win over the weekend over Clemson, who has started to
01:19 come back down to earth after not playing an overly difficult schedule. But Ben, I think the
01:25 main thing we're going to take from this is these markets are going to move and move dramatically.
01:30 So if you think there's a team that's going to make a run, then you have to start looking at
01:35 them. Houston, obviously, with the loss, move back. I think they could still be in play, but
01:40 you look at the Big 12, Ben. I mean, Schrader could win it. Kansas could win it. If Oklahoma
01:46 wins, I think they play Kansas this weekend. They could win it. Houston could win it. I mean,
01:51 this is going to be madness, and Ben is absolutely right. You think madness starts in March.
01:55 No, no, no, no, no. College basketball madness started when the season started.
01:59 Yeah, it's good stuff to watch it play out here because it's crazy that, as Ben talks about,
02:04 like we're like 60 days away from getting into March madness, and it feels like, okay,
02:08 we're just in the conference play. We got so long to go, but it doesn't really feel like that long.
02:13 These games are going to take place two or three conference games a week, and away you go on how
02:16 to level it. And also the Big 12, I call it the SEC football here of college basketball. It's
02:21 sensational top to bottom, and Houston now being a part of it is very exciting. Tough loss last
02:25 night, obviously, in Hilton, but certainly they're going to be a factor when the season comes around.
02:30 If we take a look at some other conferences here, and sort of focusing in on conferences that maybe
02:34 don't get a lot of love, but the teams that always pop up here, the West Coast Conference
02:38 here, Coach, when you take a look at the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 2-0 in conference play, it's what they
02:42 do each and every year. But the reason I'm going to bring up this conference is, what do we expect
02:46 out of the Gonzaga Bulldogs this year? Is it a walkthrough in WCC conference play? Is it going
02:50 to be getting to the tournament, making a run? Because Gonzaga doesn't sneak up on anybody,
02:54 but I feel like this is one of those teams where typically we take a look at Gonzaga, Coach, and
02:58 say they have superstar talent, first-round talent. Do they have that this year? And what can we
03:02 anticipate out of the WCC this year? Well, listen, when you look at a team like Gonzaga, they do have
03:09 the talent. Now, is this the level of Gonzaga teams we've seen the last four or five years?
03:14 No, but they're good enough, and they aren't properly priced as being a favorite. I think
03:19 the key when you look at a team like Gonzaga is the play of Ryan Nembry. The transfer from Creighton
03:25 has not shot the ball well from three so far to start the year, only at 25 percent, shot it at 30
03:30 percent or higher the previous two years. So he's got to do a little bit of a better job, plus his
03:34 turnovers are up to about 2.7. He's got to be better. I think the thing that makes it interesting
03:40 is the team that usually sits in second in this league is St. Mary's, and St. Mary's has not
03:46 gotten off to what I consider to be a usual St. Mary's team. They're usually a tough out. They're
03:52 really good defensively. They have not looked great in non-conference play. Winners of three
03:57 straight, they had a three-game losing streak earlier this year. Weber State, San Diego State,
04:02 Xavier, they started to break the ship. So you still could find some money on a team like St.
04:07 Mary's because if you're in St. Mary's, you hope that you get a split, and it may come down to,
04:12 guys, on March 2nd, St. Mary's will host Gonzaga. That game could probably decide the regular season
04:20 title based on what could happen the rest of the way.