Say Something Nice: Arch Madness, SEC & Jamal Shead | College Basketball Enquirer
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and Ross Dellenger are joined by Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated to discuss the tournaments, teams and players that impressed them as conference championship season got underway. Hear the full conversation on the “College Basketball Enquirer” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
DAN WETZEL: It's time to find our happy place and say something nice courtesy of our friends at Prime Video. So tell me, Pat. Can you say something nice today?
PAT FORDE: I will say something nice about Arch Madness and the mid-major tournaments. I attended the Missouri Valley tournament semis and final Saturday, Sunday in St. Louis, probably the fourth or fifth time I've gone to that tournament. And it's just awesome.
It is great. It is, you know, good fan bases that come from all over the midwest. It's a fun atmosphere, but there's also then the urgency of the potential one bid league.
This really shouldn't be a one bid league, but you get desperate basketball, like Bradley playing for their lives on Saturday in the semifinals against Drake and had them down and couldn't keep him down and ended up losing. And you know, it's the classic scene. The losing coach is wheeling around yelling at the conference brass.
Like, ah, the refs are favoring the team that you think can get into the tournament. Blah blah, blah, blah, blah, you know? There's that kind of dynamic.
It was almost Gregg Marshall-esque watching Brian Wordle yell at everyone about the officiating. So I just-- I love the conference tournaments, especially the mid-major ones, where there's that huge sense of urgency to win them. That's my say something nice.
ROSS DELLENGER: I want to say something nice about the SEC men's basketball tournament. We talked about the SEC women's tournament with South Carolina and LSU and the personalities and the fight and all that stuff. Plenty of personalities to go around in SEC men's basketball as well.
This thing could be bonkers in Nashville. Tennessee won the league. Kentucky is the two seed.
You've got Alabama Nate Oats in there. You got Auburn and Bruce Pearl. South Carolina has come out of nowhere this year.
You got a team on the bubble in Texas A&M and maybe Mississippi State as well maybe needing a win or two. Exciting tournament. Look forward to it. Should be fun.
DAN WETZEL: All right, I'm going to say something nice about Jamal Shead, who is the star guard, big 12 Player of the Year, for the Houston Cougars. 28 and 3, they're arguably the number one seed overall.
I don't think it really matters. But Jamaal Shed is such a great college basketball player. This guy does everything well.
He is just old school great player. Senior, great decision making, shooting, penetration, defense, the whole thing. Total leadership.
I've watched a lot of Houston this year. You have to be tough as nails to play for Houston. If you have not watched a lot of college basketball, watch Houston.
They make a big run, I think America is going to absolutely love the way Jamaal Shed plays basketball. All right, there you have it. Say something nice and actually do it. March Madness edition, thanks to Prime Video. Find your happy place and take the stress out of streaming with Prime Video.