This is where I am right now. Good things are happening. Basketball is fun! (AP)

By Matt Norlander

No time to do a formal timestamping of topics today. Just know that I had to record this podcast with Goodman in his hotel room, and that Parrish still killed me over the Power Pyramid. We largely keep it to conference tournaments and Selection Sunday prognostication. Enjoy!

And again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. 

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Draymond Green and Michigan State, will they go farther than Ohio State or Michigan? (AP)

By Matt Norlander

Luke Winn's back on the pod, which means you get a chance to get smarter on a Monday. Yippee! Luke checked in from a hotel in St. Louis after covering the Missouri Valley tournament. If you'd like to read what he wrote while having to endure a couple of days sitting next to Parrish, take a look. And follow the man on Twitter.

Topics:

• From the beginning: Checking in with Luke after the Missouri Valley tournament wrapped up.
• 6:48: A quick, glum moment of regret for Iona and Middle Tennessee State blowing their chances at being Cinderellas this season.
• 9:40: Some Power Rankings talk and the work Luke does on them. There's a lot of work Luke does on them.
• 13:47: Luke worked on a story for the magazine this week about how a certain type of defense was installed in the '90s, and a team that uses that defense today -- and will be in the NCAAs.
• 19:15: Tyshawn Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Marquis Teague and Kendall Marshall. What separates these point guards?
• 24:24: Reader questions! Kentucky and Louisville and Syracuse and Big Ten and finally, how to use tempo-free stats to help you win more money!

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. 

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Bruce Weber and Illinois are not a best coach or a hot team, but they are subject to debate on today's pod. (Getty Images)

By Matt Norlander

After months of waiting, it was time. One of the smart, creative basketball minds who'd never appeared on this podcast finally has. He's Dan Hanner, and he's a treat. Hanner formerly ran Yet Another Basketball Blog, but these days, when he's not economizing things as an economist, he's providing insightful information over at RealGM.com. Today's podcast touches on a few of his recent articles. Read this and this to get a good background of what we delve into. It's not all stats, though, as you'll see listen.

And please, follow Dan on Twitter.

Topics:

• From the beginning: Introducing Dan.
• 1:48: Being an Illinois grad, what's that like? Only Dan can tell us. And then we feel sorry for Bruce Weber because, these days, it's the thing to do.
• 5:40: The Selection Committee no longer values final 12 games at all. Shouldn't it? Dan makes the case, and I agree.
• 7:31: Recruiting and development. Here's where we get a bit wonky, as there are ways to chart how a coach recruits his classes and uses them. Who's getting the most out of their players? John Calipari tops the list, but Ben Howland is actually doing quite well, too.
• 15:55: As we slam into Championship Week, which teams have been trending up/down since February began? There are a few surprises.
• 19:30: Time to get gooey about our early memories of college basketball, specifically this month. I wrote about that yesterday, too.
• 28:07: Pod wrap-up relates to how teams change over the course of a season and why injuries and their effects are sometimes overblown.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. The RSS feed is another way to keep the podcasts coming to you ASAP. We've got a Zune download link as well.

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The photo that will define Reeves Nelson's college career.  (AP)

By Matt Norlander

In immediate wake of Sports Illustrated's piece on Ben Howland, Reeves Nelson and the culture of no accountability at UCLA, the podcast addresses why it's, really, not surprising. Nelson is no longer on the team, UCLA has a big recruiting class coming in -- and you could likely find these sorts of problems at most places not winning consistently right now. Why it's bad: Ben Howland's reputation takes a hit and it's unclear whether he ever separates himself from the past few years of bad chemistry and bad basketball. Aside from UCLA, Jeff Goodman and Gary Parrish and I touch on ...

• From the beginning: UCLA.
• 11:46: Aren't a lot of these problems mirrored at Mississippi State the past two seasons?
• 15:40: Jerry Palm, as of this podcast's posting, has UConn in the field as an 11 seed. Why? Because the profile still stacks up favorably to other fringe squad. But the Huskies aren't a tournament team and cannot be trusted.
• 19:36: Getting Draymond Green into the POY debate. Also, Goodman thinks it's "sad" one of these guys won't win it. What I forgot to bring up on the podcast: There are six POY awards, which is dumb, and so it's likely T-Rob/AD/Day-Day may split in some regard.
• 24:26: Ohio State now has problems and Parrish thinks reaching the Elite Eight is highly questionable.
• 28:28: Indiana away from home in the NCAAs -- will we see a different team?
• 29:59: The lower seeds we're expecting a lot out of come bracket time.
• 32:43: And out of nowhere, I'm raked over the coals for my final version of the Non-BCS Power Pyramid.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. The RSS feed is another way to keep the podcasts coming to you ASAP. We've got a Zune download link as well.

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Cincinnati: not as safe as its fans want to believe.  (AP)

By Matt Norlander

CBSSports.com bracketlogist Jerry Palm isn't afraid to tell you how he really feels. Or, rather, how he thinks the tournament selection committee does, and will, when it picks the field of 68. Palm owns and operates CollegeRPI.com and he's Monday's guest on the podcast because he's got the at-large crop pinned down as well as anyone.

This was a very fun podcast. I'd never spoken to Jerry before, but it felt as though we'd done about 20 pods together. I think you'll enjoy it, and the episode is not really all that much about bringing up teams and deciding whether they're in or out. I toss a few bones that way, but 80 percent of the pod is filled with other material that's more interesting.

If you'd like to follow Jerry and watch him callously and hilariously continually break fans' hearts or just plain tick them off, get to Twitter.

Audio menu:

• From the beginning: Being that Jerry's a first-time guest, as I'm wont to do, I let him tell us how he became to be Jerry Palm: RPI Expert and Superior Bracket Prognosticator.
• 7:00: The biggest distinction in what Palm does is, he is putting his mind into the Selection Committee's way of thinking. These picks and seedings are not his opinion -- except when it comes to Cincinnati, who he very much hates.
• 8:23: Since Jerry has kept his hands dirty with the RPI for more than 20 years, I had to get his opinion on the formula itself.
• 11:20: He's been to three mock selection meetings in Indy. Jerry knows the process. We swap stories on what we like and don't about the NCAA's media hamster wheel.
• 19:15: Who are the most interesting/intriguing/haziest-to-p
  roject teams right now? This is where you can see if Jerry picks on your team.
• 28:05: Which fans are the worst? Which fans can't stop harassing Jerry on Twitter? One fanbase shocked me; the other very much didn't.
• 32:47: Quick hits to wrap things up. The two vs. three seed gap; Murray State similar to 2006 George Washington? Jerry explains why that's not the case; the most undervalued team; and, finally, Northwestern.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. The RSS feed is another way to keep the podcasts coming to you ASAP. We've got a Zune download link as well.

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Jordan Taylor's having a down year, but are there six better players in the Big Ten than him? Seth says yes. (AP)

By Matt Norlander

One of CBS' premier college basketball analysts joins me again. Seth Davis is preparing to basically spend the next month sleeping at CBS headquarters, as he'll be providing insight and analysis for the network. So before he hunkers down, it was time to get him back on the pod. We've our disagreements on the RPI's legitimacy -- and on Jordan Taylor's value and his season so far. .

Audio menu:

• From the beginning: Treadmill tips. Yeah, I kind of get this thing off to a rousing start, let me tell you.
• 2:52: OK, hoops. Duke is the first topic. Why does the perception of this team fluctuate so much over the course of three months?
• 9:00: Seth is down on Jordan Taylor. I am not. Let's talk about it.
• 13:22: Might as well get into the RPI and let Seth have one more lobbying session for it. This is pretty civil, all things considered. I'm actually proud of myself for not letting this devolve into a 30-minute back-and-forth, which is what I did with myself in the mirror this morning. Day's getting better.
• 20:56: The refs suck, by the way. Actually, they don't. But everyone thinks so. Let's clear that up and remind people why Teddy Valentine isn't such a bad dude.
• 27:13: Why is the Player of the Year race a two-man one with Anthony Davis and Thomas Robinson? Doesn't Draymond Green deserve to be at that table?
• 30:00: NATE WOLTERS ALERT.
• 30:37: The pod wraps up with some of our stories of how Seth and I got into college hoops when we were young.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. The RSS feed is another way to keep the podcasts coming to you ASAP. We've got a Zune download link as well.

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Whenever Calhoun does leave, what is next for UConn basketball? (Getty Images)

By Matt Norlander

I have to admit, sometimes, I'd love to make these podcasts just storytelling with Goodman and Parrish and leaving most of the basketball talk out of it. When Nickelback bashing, goalpost hanging, drunk tire-changing and late-night driving is part of the court-holding, why get into the hoops?

Well, we do. All of that described above is on today's pod, plus an assortment of basketball team topics.

In order:

• From the beginning: It's the worst possible way to start a podcast. Goodman's a Nickelback fan. Let the excuses rain down from the heavens.
• 2:25: On Kentucky and expectation and why it's logical to believe this team is as good as we want them to be. Final Four seems inevitable. National champs? .
• 8:06: Kentucky needs a loss? What?
• 11:00: UConn and Jim Calhoun. Will he coach this Saturday? What's the future of this program whenever Jimbo leaves? And if this team beats Syracuse Saturday, it sort of feels like the 8/9 game is in its future.
• 17:36: New Mexico's a fine example of seed and expectation and team talent. What have the Lobos proven and what seed do they deserve? Parrish takes up the case that seeds four through eight stand to be fairly similar, no matter who lands on what line this season.
• 20:55: Storming the court. We bring it up here, but Goodman actually cops to hanging from the goal post after Arizona beat Washington. Just picture that.
• 24:36: The college basketball player who is shorter than Parrish. Goodman's now obsessed with this.
• 26:44: And it's time for Parrish to steal the show again by sharing a story of something stupid he did. In this case, it was changing a tire with a drunk Mississippian college kid at 2 in the morning. Oh happy day!

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. The RSS feed is another way to keep the podcasts coming to you ASAP. We've got a Zune download link as well.

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This is the room where the magic, and brain cramps, got made. (NCAA)

By Matt Norlander

The podcast reaches its wonky zenith today. John Gasaway, the driving force behind Basketball Prospectus, and Nate Silver, renowned New York Times political blogger and NCAA tournament projector, join me. Both were at the mock selection meetings last week in Indianapolis.

The process was a lot of fun, a lot of work and a bit flawed. All aspects are covered in the podcast. If you're interested in learning how the bracket is built, there is no better source of knowledge for enlightenment than today's 40-minute conversation. It easily could have been two hours. If you like getting smart, follow John and Nate on Twitter, if you aren't already.

Enjoy -- the tournament starts in 22 days. 

Rundown:

• From the beginning: Nate tells us why he was intrigued by the mock selection and what good he thinks it does do for his research. John shares his overview of the process as well.
• 6:06: Why some of the process was unnecessarily tedious.
• 8:16: Taking you into the room and sharing the details of who was in there, what we did when, etc.
• 10:15: Expounding on my column, Nate and John explain why the RPI is still an undeniably big part of committee evaluation.
• 19:25: Going over the bracketing and seeding. What fun! If only we had more time to do it.
• 24:46: Regions and lack of balance all over the bracket. We get into why that's inevitable. This is a lot of Nate discussing his work related to travel and why the West Coast's lack of good teams also plays into this. Additionally, John makes the case for more rematches in the tournament.
• 31:55: The teams or scenarios that surprised us the most after hours of evaluations.
• 37:00: Pod wrap-up with good reviews of the NCAA and perspective on how tough this job is to do but also reinforcing how easy it would be to implement better data into the process and make the master seeding less flawed.

Again, I thank you for taking the time to listen to the podcast -- whenever you can. I ask that you, if you like what we're doing here, encourage like-minded hoopheads to subscribe in Tunes as well. Guests like Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, they're the guys who make me sound better and make the podcast worthwhile. The other guys? Gary Parrish and Jeff Goodman, they really make it entertaining, and of course you can count on our trio show each Wednesday. The RSS feed is another way to keep the podcasts coming to you ASAP. We've got a Zune download link as well.

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