Posted by Matt Norlander

Really happy to bring you my 30-minute chat with Andy Katz today. I hassled the writer in the field who's probably considered the most synonymous with college basketball (an impressive feat, as he's just 40 years old) for about a year. Hey, he's very busy and it's not easy to track him down.

But now that I did, I think you'll like what he has to share. His start in journalism began after he was cut from the varsity basketball team, mid-season, during his senior year. And he did not graduate college with a degree in journalism; he had intentions on going into the Navy if his news-writing career didn't pan out.

What's more, he only got on his path to ESPN.com because of the way he covered boxing, a sport he knew very little about.

It's a pretty enlightening interview, start to finish, in terms of Katz's background, but also how ESPN.com and ESPN's television people have evolved in the past decade. He takes you a little bit behind how the machine works in Bristol. Enjoy!

CBSSports.com College Basketball Podcast: Andy Katz interview

Posted by Matt Norlander

If you think you're unfamiliar with Jim O'Connell's work, just go back to any time you read an AP story in the newspaper.

It was then you read his words.

For more than 30 years, O'Connell has been with the Associated Press. He's most well known from his college basketball work, but as he mentions in the podcast, editing copy and covering the Olympics is just some of the other heavy lifting he's done with the world's premier news organization.

O'Connell goes by "Ock" to those who know him well. He's one of the most respected writers in the business. He's not on Twitter, rarely on television and doesn't do a lot of radio shows. But he's damn smart and a diligent worker, covering the biggest games around the country, then turning around and doing a Wagner game the next night. A pro's pro, truly. And he deserves more exposure, even if he doesn't necessarily seek it out.

I wanted to get him on to just talk. Just have him detail his background and how he earned a byline with the AP — something that's considered a privilege, and one of the tougher achievements in journalism. Everyone knows Ock, and Ock knows everyone.

Enjoy the podcast. It certainly won't be the last time I have him on.

Posted by Matt Norlander

Hey! Nice to see you again, and we hope you're enjoying this podcast, which we're getting quite good at delivering to you on the regular, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The great thing about this little 'cast, in my humblest of opinions, is that it's a wide variety of attacks. Monday we had Angevine talking with Jon Wertheim about one of the most anticipated sports books of the year. In the latest episode, we keep it in house. Matt Jones and I decided to act as if it were a month from now; to talk about the bracket and break it down as if it were being play this week.

We did this using Jerry Palm's latest bracket projection, one Jones takes a few good-hearted jabs at through the podcast.

Yes, we pick a national champion and everything. Honestly, it was an exercise that was more fun that I expected it to be at first.

If you'd like to subscribe to the podcast, you can do so on iTunes, or with a Zune. (Yes, we're Zune-friendly!) Here's the XML link, for those so inclined. Or just listen below. Whichever you choose, we're grateful to be in your earbuds, buds.

We can't help ourselves: Analyzing the mock bracket

Posted by Eric Angevine

You're going to see and hear a lot from Jon Wertheim in the upcoming weeks. He and Tobias Moskowitz teamed up to write Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won, which can you purchase right here.

The book is going to be one of the most widely discussed and read ones in 2011. Consider it a Gladwellian take on sports and stats and predictions.

So in today's CBS College Basketball Podcast, I talk with Jon about his new book, and we get into why it's good for the the ref to swallow his whistle from time to time, why defense isn't the only thing that wins championships, and why it's good to have a selfish superstar or two on your favorite team. Check your preconceptions about sports at the door.

We hope you like the variety we're aiming to deliver with this podcast. Expect more big guests in the near-future.

CBSSports.com College Basketball Podcast, with Jon Wertheim

Posted by Matt Norlander

I hope you're settling into our little schedule here, as we're loving giving you three podcasts per week. For a Friday, we're introducing you to someone you probably know very well.

His writing, at least.

The podcast is going to have Parrish on regularly, so for his first appearance, why not do something different: his path to success. How did Gary ascend to CBSSports.com's premier college basketball scribe? He tells his story, from high school journalism on up. He lucked into his gig at the Memphis Commercial-Appeal, which then led to his being hired here in 2006. Plus, we discuss what to expect from Ohio State-Wisconsin, and the erosion of UConn after last night's blowout loss to St. John's.

Kemba's player-of-the-year ballot's suddenly being swooped into the ether.

Enjoy, and please feel free to send your questions and comments. Love correspondence and feedback: matt.norlander@cbsinteractive.com.

You're also highly encouraged to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Getting to know Gary Parrish

Posted by Matt Norlander

Normally, this podcast won’t be so long, I don’t think, but today it’s a bit of a doozy. Since Matt Jones will be doing some hosting duties whenever I’m not shooting this thing off to the Internets, I didn’t want to wait another episode to get him on. So Jonesy (Jonesy, is it OK if I call you Jonesy?) and I are the second part of this podcast.

We breeze our way through conference talk of all the BCS-level leagues, plus the A10 and Mountain West. There’s some good dialogue about surprise teams in there, too, plus we complain about the free food fed to us when we work.

The first half of the podcast (I didn’t mean to Tarantino this blog post) is a joy as well, as I had to get Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard on to talk about Georgetown-Syracuse in advance of that big game tonight. Waters is a pro’s pro, and it was an honor to have him on. He’s dialed into the culture of that city and that program so well, I was stupid to not have him join me sooner. I hope you like our 20-minute convo.

Is Georgetown the better team right now? And what’s Jim Boeheim really like? (There’s a particular nugget in there many will be surprised to learn, I think.) Waters also gets into his early days of journalism, how he sort of lucked his way into a round of golf with Michael Jordan and what some of the best places to eat in Syracuse are. Yes, more food talk.

Listen below, and please search and subscribe in iTunes, too. We’ll be back with another podcast for you Friday morning.

Podcast No. 3: All things Syracuse-Georgetown, plus expansive conference talk

Posted by Matt Norlander

Why not get your Tuesday moving along by listening to a 21-minute podcast? Below, we're offering you just that.

Our second episode is still simple, just Eric Angevine and myself shooting the stuff, and we get into, among other things:

• Pitt's level of expectations without Ashton Gibbs for the next two weeks.
• The coaching situation not only at N.C. State, but a number of jobs that will likely open up by April 5.
• A look at what to watch for on television tonight and tomorrow.
• Since Angevine is going to UNC-Duke Wednesday night, we figured why not discuss that game, too.

We're going to do our best to deliver this podcast to you three times per week, and I've got a guest lined up for Wednesday morning's podcast, so be on the lookout for that.

As a reminder, you can subscribe on iTunes. Just search "CBSSports.com College Basketball Podcast" and you should be good to go.

CBSSports.com College Basketball Podcast, episode No. 2

Posted by Matt Norlander

Need more of us?

What's that you say? No? Not in any capacity whatsoever? All right, then, in that case, you're gonna love this. Get ready for some sweet podcastin' action!

I've hosted a podcast over at College Hoops Journal for well over a year now, but with the CBSSports.com gig now being my primary duty, the higher-ups wanted me to combine what I did there (you know, getting guests like, oh, some dude named Gus Johnson) and implement it into a podcast for this outfit. After hours of negotiation that included my demands of copious amounts of Nutella and mangos, we agreed to start this bad boy up this week.

Fellow CBSSports.com writer/blogger Eric Angevine joined me for the first episode. Matt Jones will be joining the fold soon enough; the man has created the Kentucky Sports Radio podcast, which is only one of the most popular basketball-oriented podcasts out there.

You can listen to the debut episode by clicking on this link, and you can subscribe in iTunes here, which is my CHJ feed but will still continue to update with the new version of the podcast.

CBSSports.com CBB Podcast: An introduction to our voices