Hour 2: Overreaction Tuesday, plus ESPN’s Jay Bilas Previews the NCAA Tournament

0:00Rich Eisen:Get in the game with the college-branded Venmo Debit Card. Wreck your team with every tap and earn up to 5 % cash back with Venmo Stash, a new rewards program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance. Just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo Debit Card at Venmo.com slash college card. The Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. Select schools available. Venmo Stash terms and exclusions apply at Venmo.me slash stash terms. Max$100 cash back per month. Shot clocks, big shots, upsets, aces, TGL playoffs are here. First, Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club.

0:37Rich Eisen:Then, Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tiger's Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up. It's playoffs. Tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6.30 p.m. and 9 p.m. only on ESPN and the ESPN app. This is the Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of the Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash Rich Eisen Show and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show.

1:20Play ball!

1:21Rich Eisen:This is the Rich Eisen Show. The World Baseball Classic is awesome. I cannot wait for Venezuela to play Team USA tonight. From the Rich Eisen Show studio in Los Angeles. Earlier on the show. Winner of the Players' Championship, Cameron Young. Coming up. ESPN college basketball analyst, Jay Billis. ESPN NFL draft analyst, Matt Miller. And now, it's Rich Eisen. Hour number two of the Rich Eisen Show is on the air. It's Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday coming up here on the program. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial here on the show. It is March Madness, and we love being part of the ESPN world for March Madness for the first time in the 11-year history of this program, which means we don't have to sneak around and use ESPN's site without them knowing that we're utilizing them for a bracket competition.

2:21Rich Eisen:Right, Chris? You want to tell people how they can get involved in the bracket? Yeah, go to the ESPN's Bracket Challenge. Men and women search Rich Eisen show one word all together and join our group right now. Yeah, Cooper and Xander have already put in their brackets. Beat against us. Taylor will be doing it tonight. One individual picks every game and pops his predictions on ESPN.com every single year. And this individual did it today. I read from the preamble that he wrote before giving his predictions. I read this quote. Last season, my bracket was chalky. I had all four number one seeds reaching the final four, Houston and Florida advancing to the championship game and the Gators cutting down the nets.

3:05Rich Eisen:The backlash was swift and unrelenting. I was criticized for not picking an underdog to reach San Antonio, but when the dust cleared, all four number one seeds reached the final four and the Cougars and Gators battled it out for the title. You're welcome, and I forgive you, all of you. End quote. Yeah, buddy. And he joins us right now here on The Rich Eyes and show Jay Billis the wordsmith and predictor. Did I get that right, Jay, all of it? You did, and your University of Michigan should be proud of your comprehension and your reading skills. That was excellent. Oh, I picked up the meaning, sir.

3:40Rich Eisen:I picked up everything in between, mean everything dripping from every syllable that you typed into your keyboard you like i like it you spike the football to use the yeah i enjoy i don't know when this started rich but um when they asked us to start picking games i was against it because i don't know who's going to win these games and so but people seem to love this part of it they want to know who you think is going to win but if I knew who was going to win, I would move to Vegas and sit by, I would sit by the pool with a drink in my hand. Yeah, buddy. Like I was in Goodfellas or something. And drinks are on the house there, as we all know.

4:22Rich Eisen:So I did read everything that you wrote Jay. And it's interesting. You have neither Michigan nor Duke reaching the final four. Why do you think that Jay Billis? well i i chose iowa state which is in michigan's region just to piss you off and you succeeded you succeeded jay you got to appear objective as i wasn't just targeting you which i am uh i took michigan state uh so that that you wouldn't get upset thinking that i was a homer dukey and i picked duke last year and was correct um but uh you know duke's got a couple injuries that they're dealing with right now. And I do think, in all seriousness, I think they got the most difficult region.

5:08So, look, these are kind of flyers because I think this year is going to be different. I don't think it's as chalky. But who knows where the – you know, if we knew where the upsets were coming from, you know, this would be easy. But Michigan State's really experienced, and I kind of went with that, even though Duke is – I think Duke is a better team. If it were a seven-game series, I'd take Duke and Michigan. to win their regions, but it's not. It's a one game and out thing.

5:34Rich Eisen:So you've got Michigan State knocking off Duke and Iowa State knocking off Michigan. You mentioned why Michigan State might be successful in that regard. What do you like about Iowa State, Jay? You know, Iowa State played unbelievably well in the Big 12 tournament. They're playing their best basketball. They're great defensively. And, you know, they score almost 20 points per game off turnovers. and they've got a shooter named Milan Mamchilovich, who is from Wisconsin. But, I mean, he's like a Dirk Nowitzki-type shooter. He shot 50 % for three on the season, and he's made close to 120 of them.

6:09It might be 120. I don't know the exact number after that last game. But, I mean, he scored nine points in a minute before halftime against Arizona. And Arizona's Jaden Bradley hit a buzzer shot to move Arizona to the championship game, and they wound up winning it. But that was one of the, honestly, it was one of the best basketball games I've ever seen. It was so, such a high level. And I think Iowa State, the only problem with Iowa State, the only, you know, issue that they have is they're not a great free throw shooting team. And in a close game, you know, maybe they clang one or something.

6:40And that's the difference between winning and losing.

6:43Rich Eisen:You choose Arizona to cut down the nets. I give you the floor on what you like about them to win six. They're unbelievably talented. And they're big. they won their conference tournament. They won their conference by a couple of games to the Big 12, which I thought was the best conference in the country. They're not a prolific three-point shooting team. And it's not that they can't shoot, it's they choose not to. They want to play inside out. The only thing that you could go, wait a minute, I'd be careful here, is they've got three freshmen in their starting lineup, and those guys play really big roles for them.

7:17I don't think they play like freshmen. But last year, Duke had three freshmen in their lineup and was a play or two away from playing Florida for the title against Houston. They didn't handle the last minute or two of regulation very well and wound up losing. But I just got to it's more like Arizona has been among the most consistent teams. They only lost two games this year. They were back to back at Kansas and then against Texas Tech full strength when Arizona wasn't full strength at home. and uh and you know like the consistency of it like consistency doesn't necessarily help you in the tournament but uh but they they were the most consistent team them and duke throughout the course of the regular season and i think that matters well i mean one of the things i love about the

8:01Rich Eisen:tournament too jay is we see uh a player who can be dominant come to the fore that might not get a lot of run throughout the year um in terms of national exposure give me the names of a couple players that you're looking forward to seeing hit this spotlight and potentially go on a nice run and get their name in a few headlines, Jay? You know, there's one in particular, like one of the questions that I think we get a lot is who's the player that can put his team on his back and carry it to a national championship, kind of like Danny Manning. People felt like Danny Manning did in 1988. And they're really year to year, aren't that many of those guys.

8:45But this year, there's a player at Arkansas as a freshman from Detroit, Michigan named Darius Acuff Jr. And I'm telling you, Rich, that dude is the real deal. Like he's the first player since Pete Miravich to lead the SEC in both scoring and assists. And in conference games, he averaged like 24 and a half points and six and a half assists and he was unbelievable in the the sec tournament and in the championship game against uh vanderbilt i mean he had 30 and i don't even think he played his best so i think when people he had 49 points earlier this year against alabama in a game that went to multiple overtimes um so i think people that haven't seen him as much will will watch him going wait a minute why isn't he being talked about as the over overall number one pick in the draft along with Darren Peterson of Kansas and AJ Devansa of BYU.

9:39I think we're going to look back in this draft and go, why did A-Cup Jr. go so low? And he's playing with a bum ankle. He's in a boot most of the week when he's not playing. I don't know how much he's practicing, if at all. But if not practicing makes you play like that, I don't think anyone should go to practice.

9:56Rich Eisen:Yeah. I mean, his foot looks fine to me, certainly when he's breaking it off in people. you know what i mean like that's what he's doing right now i mean he's he's like a it's like trying to guard a fire hydrant that's attached to a ferrari um he's it's unbelievable how he's built how strong he is and he's a great finisher around the basket over size and then he's got a three-point game a middle game transition uh it's it's remarkable it's jaw-dropping to watch him play when he's playing his best you know jay uh jay bill is here on the rich eyes and show yesterday i was talking about uh calipari and patino uh and of course you know me being me i made it a little bit about myself because yesterday was my 30th anniversary of my first ever sports center and it was a round of 32 and i might have done a umass and a kentucky highlight that day as calipari was kind of coming to the national four for the first time as a baby face coach there in Amherst they made the final four and then Patino won it all cutting down the nets in Kentucky and it's just amazing that you got uh you know Calipari now the champ of the SEC tournament and Patino the winner of the Big East tournament still doing it and and they could go deep in this tournament now Jay no question unreal no question like both of them I think I think St.

11:23John's was probably underseeded as a five in the East. It's just a really tough bracket. I mean, that's sort of the national champion bracket. Seven of the top eight seeds. I think St. John's is the only team among the top eight seeds in the East that hasn't won a national championship in its history. You know, UCLA's got 12 and Duke and all this stuff. I mean, it's crazy. Kansas is in there. It's crazy how many national championship coaches, UConn coaches that have won championships in in this century um it's it's ridiculous or this decade I should say it's ridiculous uh how difficult that bracket is but you know Patino's in his 70s and Cal's not far off from that um how I think you and I've talked about this like I grew up in Los Angeles and I'm 60 62 years old and when I was in uh grade school I think I was in fifth grade.

12:18John Wooden retired at the, during the final four in 1975, he announced he was quitting after the championship game when they played Kentucky in the title game. And he was 65 years old. And I thought he was the oldest man that had ever lived. And, and now these guys are going well into their seventies and Patino's really energetic. I wish he'd stopped wearing that white suit, but other than that, like, what do you got to complain about?

12:41Rich Eisen:It is true that Duke got, I think, hosed by the committee here. Michigan State's another one, right, with a national championship. As a matter of fact, that's the last Big Ten team to win it all was the Mateen Cleaves, Izzo-coached Michigan State Spartans. But John Shire has already matched Roy Williams in numbers of ACC championships in his career in his first four years. And I'll give you the floor on what he's been able to do post-Coach K, now entering this tournament as the number one overall C. Jay? You know, Rich, I'm not impressed by John Shire. I'm awed by him. I don't know how old he is, 37, maybe, something like that.

13:23He might be younger than that. But for a guy that age to have this level of maturity, and the one thing that stands out above all his abilities, X and O, leadership, whatever, is he has always known exactly who he is. And he's going to coach to that. And he's not trying to be Coach K or to emulate Coach K. Certainly, he's taken principles and lessons from Coach K. We all have. But he's not trying to be that. He's doing things a lot differently than Coach K did. You know, his offense is different. Coach K had a thing, maybe his last 20 some years, where he only hired former Duke players as assistants.

14:05John's not doing that. He has a couple. But he's brought in people from outside. And so he's, they have some different experiences and thoughts. He's very intentional about everything he does. It's really impressive because that, you know, following a legend, especially when you're a quote unquote family member that has to do it, we haven't seen a lot of success in that model. And they not only got the right guy, but they got the right one out of their stable, which, you know, North Carolina did it with Roy Williams when they brought him back from Kansas. but that's unusual that is not the norm and uh just an incredibly impressive guy whose demeanor is fantastic with the officials with the players uh he always seems to hit the right note he's just a remarkable remarkable coach and uh it went and a great guy well he should have great demeanor with

15:00Rich Eisen:the officials jay they're always on his side you know man you walk yeah exactly especially against well but especially against michigan you know but but look i mean you know the the you have to give the officials a break there. I mean, they're human beings and they need to hate Michigan as much as the people who know you hate Michigan. But you're the problem. I think the thing, Rich, you need to acknowledge this, is that there are unbelievable reasons to love Michigan. I mean, it's a great school, great people. I think the reason that people hate Michigan is you. wow if you would kind of let go if you would let go of this maize and blue thing i think people would actually like michigan you're the problem you're kind of the steve wojo house key slapping the floor that led to the dk yeah i'll take that yeah i'm your wojo i'm i'm the wojo here no that's okay somebody's got to be somebody you're gonna be okay i appreciate that.

16:02Rich Eisen:I'll take that as under advisement. Also, is that kind of a shot at Woj for slapping the floor? You're saying that was unnecessary? Please. No, the Duke's only slapping the floor to play zone. Come on now. Do your break. All the guards that used to get credit for slapping the floor, they'd do it out front, and then they'd yell at the big guys for not blocking a shot or grabbing a rebound. I love it. It was total show. They would slap the floor and look at us and say, you do it. In the few minutes I have left with you, Jay Billis, let's have a little bit of fun here. I tuned into the ACC championship game on Saturday night, Virginia and Duke expecting to hear your voice and instead pleasantly thrilled and surprised to hear the voice of Dick Vitale calling the game.

16:51Rich Eisen:A little bit of gravel in there, but still at age 86, awesome with a capital A man. and he's doing the first four game taking up between NC State and Texas tonight with Charles Barkley. I mean, Dick, he's awesome, man, with a capital A, Dick Vitale. That's all I just wanted to say, right? Remarkable. I mean, remarkable. I mean, we've both known him for a million years and had the honor of working with him. But I do hope that on the broadcast tonight they do us a favor. Like, I think what would be great is if they had Barkley and Vital, but only had one microphone and the two of them have to fight for it because like people don't understand, like Vital is scrappy.

17:40And if he has to fight for the microphone, I think he'll kick Barkley's ass, especially the fact that Barkley is wasting away in front of us. vital now vital now has the size advantage and uh and if they have to fight for the microphone my

17:56Rich Eisen:money like vital would be a number one seed and brian anderson could be the mills lane of that tug of war you know what i mean like he can handle it he can exactly just give him give him a standing eight count every once in a while and let him go and then who cares what happened in the game we'll we'll read the paper tomorrow i love it and i have to ask you this before i do let you go for real Jay Billis. What is the story behind the Bill Raftery desk name sign that's over your left shoulder? Oh, yeah. Jay, what is the backstory of that, please? What is that? So I called the last game, last college basketball game in the in the Meadowlands used to be called Brendan Byrne Arena.

18:34Yes, sir. And they hosted about they hosted that 96 Final Four you're talking about with with Calipari and Pitino. So the last game was Duke versus Butler back when Brad Stevens was coaching Butler and it was a game that Kyrie Irving got injured in and didn't play again until the NCAA term. He only played 11 games that year. So when I went into the arena for the day before the game practices, because it was the last game, it's almost like they were cleaning everything out. And I walked through one of the corridors and there's a guy in there cleaning out an office. And he says, hey, you're friends with Bill Raftery.

19:11This is his old office. Do you want anything out of here. No way. And I looked around and there were a bunch of empty bottles, which I didn't need. But there was this crappy old nameplate on his desk and I go, this is it. And I put it in my backpack and it's been in my house ever since.

19:30Rich Eisen:Awesome. Does he know you have it? Oh yeah, he knows because his daughters see it every once in a while when I'm on one of these things and everybody gets a laugh out of it. But yeah, Raph said, what do you do and with my nameplate, like, give it back. Too bad. Farder's keepers. Exactly. Exactly. He abandoned it. It's all fair in cleaning out an office in the old Brendan Byrne Arena. Man. Jay, thanks for the time. Look for more of my texts and ask you to come back here. Two cents on everything that's going on in this tournament. Have a great one. Looking forward to it. Congratulations on 30 years since 1996.

20:07Rich Eisen:I will take it. I will take it, man. I still can't believe it. and the fact that some of these other guys like Coach Cal and Patino are going strong. Just like you two. It's great. When did you get there? 95. 95. I'm a year ahead of you. Okay. Congratulations on 31 years. Long time since you were in the White Shadow. Yeah. Long time since both of us had hair. That's correct. I mean, it's pretty clear we are aging before everyone's eyes. Jay, I appreciate the time. And like I said, I will take your criticism under advisement and then thoroughly ignore it. it's not criticism it's truth jay bellis here on the rich eyes and show ladies and gentlemen here always great that net raftery nameplate fantastic i would take that too and never give it back fantastic and by the way tonight brian anderson with the call dick vital and charles barkley with the analysis and it is apparently the first game that dick vital has ever called in the nc tournament wow what yes he was never put out on loan by espn right yeah that is insane age 86 and i i will say this um because i did reach out to see if he would join us later this week and he is supposed to only do one broadcast a week on doctor's advisement and apparently the doctors are not happy that he's doing another one this week so he's hopefully going to join later in the tournament.

21:40Rich Eisen:But you go, Dick Vitale. Him and Barkley tonight. NC State, Texas, for the right to play on in the NCAA tournament in the first four. One, Mike. That's a great idea. And Brian Anderson can handle it. Go back and forth. Brian Anderson can handle it. But what a brilliant idea. Let's get Barkley and Vitale calling a game and in comes Brian Anderson to have to make it all work. And he will. I cannot wait for that tonight. That's Moussi, along with the WBC final. Oh, man. Lots of stuff to watch tonight. 844-204-RICH-NEMBER-TO-DIAL. Overreaction Monday on a Tuesday when we return.

22:26The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

22:34Rich Eisen:Rich Eisen here. You know that feeling of handing off your taxes and then hearing nothing? Total radio silence. Well, not anymore. Now your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full-service expert who checks for every deduction and keeps you in the loop with real-time updates on your phone. Just match with your dedicated expert, upload your docs, and go live your life, confident you're getting every dollar you deserve. This is how taxes should be. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real-time updates only in iOS mobile app. Only available with TurboTax full-service experts. Get into the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event and get away with a deal so right, it almost feels wrong.

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23:51Rich Eisen:We had such great experiences that whenever we travel somewhere new, we always check Airbnb first to find a place that fits our needs. the homes we've stayed in comfortable safe private you feel like you're part of the community after a long day of exploring or sitting on a beach it really is nice to come back to a place you can call your own airbnb is also a great way if you want to earn some extra money while you're traveling or out of your house for an extended period of time you can make your home work for you while you're away not as a full-time thing not as some big production just something that fits into trips you're already taking you can use the money for that dream vacation or put that money towards that outdoor kitchen you always wanted hosting on airbnb just feels smart your home may be worth more than you think find out how much at airbnb.com slash host back here on a rich eisen show radio and tv all together fun interview so far jay billis right there accusing me of the reason why everyone hates michigan um and we had cam young on earlier uh i got a text from billy andrade oh yeah uh driving to tucson now to play on our champions tour what's up billy great interview with cam young um love that you're all locked in all the best congrats on your wheel of fortune win what he texted well you're friends with billy andrade how about that you didn't well yeah i did i went to the one of the first celebrity tournament i ever was invited to outside of the Jimmy V because of ESPN was the, uh, Android Faxon event in, um, in Rhode Island.

25:26Rich Eisen:Nice. Oh yeah. That's where I met Sandy Koufax for the first time. Oh, shut up. Yup. It was, I did mention to him that apparently he dated my mom. I just wanted to, or my mom, my mom went to like a sock hop with him. I think I want you to appreciate something. You know, the story that you love making, You once said about how Keith told you, like, every day tell one joke less? Yes. Okay. I've been doing that. Yes. And earlier in the show, we were talking about people that your dad knew, and I was going to say something, but I didn't. So I want to let you know that I have been paying attention. You had been.

26:02Rich Eisen:I do tell one less joke than I really want to tell. Okay. And now that's my way of getting that out. But now you still got the joke in. Well. I did mention Sandy Kofi. You mentioned that. I did mention that. Okay. Great. It's Kofi. Anyway, what's up, Billy Andre? And plus, I got to be, you know, in a way, channeling my inner Jim Rome, where people tell me how awesome my interviews are. Which you definitely love. Epic. Epic. Okay. Let's go to the phone lines. Garrett in Portland, Oregon. What's up, Garrett? Garrett, what up, man? Sorry. You there, Garrett? Garrett. Yes, I am. What's up, bud? What up, though?

26:40Hey, I wanted to give you guys a quick list of the AFC, NFC folks that I think are going to make it, especially with the new trade we just learned about this morning.