Ty Predicts the 2026 NBA Playoffs

The NBA regular season wrapped up last night and the playoffs are officially set. I am going to give you my playoff preview and prediction. I'll go through the play-in games, pick a winner of those and then have my eight teams set in each conference. Then I'll go through the East and the West, pick the winner of the title and my Finals MVP.

Let's start with the East play-in games.

The 9-10 features the Hornets playing the Heat. Whoever wins this game has one more shot to get the 8th seed in the East. The Hornets have been on fire for months now. They are fun and fast and exciting to watch. The Heat are play-in vets. They have made it to the Finals from the play-in. They know what it takes to win in these games. But, the Hornets are better, younger and hungrier. They will win this game and end the Heat's season. The 7-8 game in the East features the 76ers and Magic. This is a puzzler. Both of these teams should have been better this year. Both teams had higher ambitions. I am going to go with the Magic to win this game and claim the 7th seed, but I have zero confidence. The 76ers may be fully healthy or they may be missing multiple starters. Who knows. That is why I'm going with the Magic. That would leave the Hornets and 76ers playing for the 8th seed, and I'm going with the Hornets. They're too fun to not pick. I want them in the playoffs. And as much as I like VJ Edgecombe, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey, one of them will inevitably be injured for this game. The Hornets will get the 8th seed.

Now for the West play-in games.

The 9-10 features the Warriors playing the Clippers. These teams are both old and not happy to be in the play-in. Who knows if Steph Curry will play or not. This seems about the time of year that Kawhi Leonard seems to get hurt. The Warriors have been pretty bad during the entire second half of the season. The Clippers have been much better, but they have had to work extra hard to get here. But because they have had meaningful games lately, I'm going to go with the Clippers to win here. The 7-8 game has the Suns playing the Blazers. The Blazers are ahead of schedule. So are the Suns. Both of these teams have had much better seasons than anyone expected they would. I'm going to go with the Suns because they have been better all year long. The Blazers are building on something, but the Suns will get the 7th seed. So that would leave the Clippers playing the Blazers. Whoever wins this will have the honor of facing the Thunder in round 1. Congrats. I'm going to go with the Blazers just because I want to see them in the playoffs. I want to watch their guys play much more than the Clippers. That is why I'm going with the Blazers to win the 8th seed.

So, my East playoff teams from 1-8 are as follows, Pistons, Celtics, Knicks, Cavs, Hawks, Raptors, Magic and Hornets. The Pistons-Hornets matchup is going to be fun and exciting. The Pistons are having a great year. They won 60 games and look to be a perenial playoff team moving forward. I already talked about the Hornets and how fun they are to watch. But, the Pistons have a much better defense and Cade Cunnigham is back. I think the series will go six games and the Hornets will scare the Pistons, but the Pistons will eventually tire the Hornets out and win the series. The Celtics are going to obliterate the Magic. The Magic will have a lot of changes this offseason after the Celtics sweep them. They may have a new coach and some new players. The Celtics are the most professional professional basketball team. They play great basketball and make minimal mistakes. And Jayson Tatum is back and looks pretty damn good already. The Celtics seem to be on a mission. The Knicks lucked out in playing the Raptors. Nothing against the Raptors, but the Knicks are a much better team and they are a team that is primed for the playoffs. They have the better backcourt and frontcourt. They may struggle a bit with Scottie Barnes, but Barnes is not the type of player to win a series on his own. The Knicks have Jalen Brunson and a myriad of role players that are solid. They will win the series in five games. The Hawks-Cavs looks to be competitive, but I don't think it will end up that way. The Hawks have been so much better since they traded Trae Young. They play solid defense and their offense moves a ton, which I like. But the Cavs have been waiting for this time of year. They have to make amends for the past few years where they have crapped out in the playoffs. I think they will play much better and I believe they will beat the Hawks in six games.

That would leave me with a second round of Pistons-Cavs and Celtics-Knicks. All chalk. That changes here. I'm going with the Cavs to beat the Pistons in seven games. This will be the best series in the East in my opinion. It is strength on strength too. But the Cavs will pull it out in the seventh game. The Knicks-Celtics should be amazing as well. These two teams are fun to watch play one another. They will go at it. I'm going to go with the Celtics in seven games due to better defense and Jayson Tatum being back. They also have to make up for last season. T

hat means I have the Cavs playing the Celtics in the East Finals. And I believe the Celtics will win that in six games. The Cavs will be tired, but they aren't on the level of the Celtics. The Celtics are better, and they may be the best team in the East at this very moment. The Celtics will return to the Finals.

Now for the West. My West playoff teams, from 1-8, are as follows, the Thunder, Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets, Timberwolves, Suns and Blazers. The Thunder are going to cruise over the Blazers. If the NBA could call it in three games, I think they might. The Thunder are that good, they are pretty much whole and they have a title to defend. The Blazers are on the come up, but they don't stand a chance against the Thunder. The Spurs will take on the Suns in the 2-7 matchup. The Spurs are the most fun team to watch this season in the NBA. Wemby is healthy. Stephon Castle is a star in the making. Keldon Johnson is a great sixth man. Carter Bryant brings a new dimension to this team. Dylan Harper could win rookie of the year. The Spurs are way ahead of schedule, but it is the Spurs and they are awesome. The Suns have Devin Booker, and that's about it. The Spurs will sweep this series and will officially announce themselves as a title contender. The Timberwolves and Nuggets series is going to be closer than expected. Nikola Jokic is back to himself, Aaron Gordon looks to be in game shape and Jamal Murray is having his best season in his career. The Timberwolves have been inconsistent, but they have Anthony Edwards, and he is a stone cold killer on a basketball court. Ayo Dosunmu has been a great addition. Jaden McDaniels is a defensive stalwart, but he is still injured. And Rudy Gobert is still a good defender. The Timberwolves also play to the level of their competition, and they have recent success against the Nuggets. That being said, give me the Nuggets in six games. The Timberwolves have been too inconsistent this season, and the Nuggets have been clicking lately. The 4-5 matchup, the Rockets and Lakers, feels like a real dud to me. The Lakers are injured and LeBron James, while still awesome, is 41. They also play little to no defense, JJ Redick is a mediocre coach and the Forum doesn't hold the weight it used to as a home court advantage stadium. The Rockets do play good defense, but they are horrendous offensively. They have no plan. They miss Fred VanVleet. Amen Thompson has to be better offensively. Alperen Sengun needs to be better defensively. This team has issues. I'm going to go with the Lakers in seven games because the refs will do some wild nonsense to help them win a crucial game 7. It always seems to happen that way for them.

My second round matchups are the Thunder playing the Lakers and the Nuggets playing the Spurs. The Thunder are going to be 8-0 after this series. They beat the Lakers by 40 when they were whole. They are going to obliterate them in this series. The Nuggets are going to beat the Spurs in seven games, and it will be brutal. This is going to be a fun back and forth series. Wemby and Jokic will be cinema. I'm excited to see Murray and Gordon go up against Castle and Harper and Johnson. I'm excited to watch these two young coaches battle. Look, the Spurs are coming, just not this season. I have the Nuggets winning in seven.

That means I have the Thunder and Nuggets in the West Finals. This is the true Finals for all intents and purposes. These are the two best teams in the NBA. I'm going with the Thunder to win in six games. The Nuggets will make it close. They play incredible offense. And even the Thunder, who have the best defense in the league, will struggle in a few games. But the Nuggets play zero defense and that will be their undoing. The Thunder are good, deep and will be well rested going into this series. That is why the Thunder will make it back to the Finals.

This leaves me with a Thunder-Celtics Finals. And as cool as it has been to see the Celtics be this good this year, and to see Tatum back in action, the Thunder are a better team. They are deeper, they are healthy, they have a true home court advantage. The Thunder in the midst of a possible dynasty. They will win their second championship in a row, and SGA will take home another Finals MVP. The Thunder will win a second straight title in six games. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty Predicts the NBA Awards

I listen to a good amount of basketball related podcasts. I like to nerd out on these shows. I especially like it when the hosts and guests go into deep dives about certain things. With the regular season winding down in the NBA, most of these shows have been doing their awards talk. They have been going through all of the awards, who they think will and should win and why they think these people will win. And, with the added 65 game rule, some of these awards are going to people who may have not been most people's first choice.

I personally think the 65 game rule is good and should stick around. I do not like that some players are trying to have certain stipulations put in place so they can be rewarded if they played only 60 games or so. These are the rules, the players union agreed to them and that is just the way it is going to be for the time being. I fully understand that this may dilute certain winners, and mess with some players' money, but they all agreed that this was the best way to go about handing out these accolades. With all that being said, I'm going to give you my picks for the major awards and why I think each player is deserving. I will not do all NBA, all rookie and all defensive teams. That's way too dorky even for me. But I do want to give out MVP, Most Improved, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. These are the big ones. These are the ones that I pay most attention to at the end of the season.

I'll start with Most Improved. I would give this to Jalen Duren. He has gotten so much better this year than previous seasons. He has made a leap to all NBA status. I remember when the Pistons drafted him and I thought, he has the body for the NBA, but does he have the game? He does and it has shown out tenfold this season. He's excellent defensively. He is a hellacious rebounder. And he has shown a great low post offenisve game and he is one of the better rim runners in the league. He has improved leaps and bounds and if this isn't your prototype for this award, I don't know who else it should go to. He has also surpassed the 65 game rule, so he's in great shape to win.

Next we have Rookie of the Year. This is going to go to either Kon Knueppel or Cooper Flagg. I was wrong about Knueppel. I thought the Hornets wasted a top 4 pick on him. But the kid can play. He is a lethal shooter and can get his shot off pretty much whenever he wants. He has partnered up well with LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller and they look like they will be an elite offense for many seasons to come. But Cooper Flagg is doing some highly impressive things on a pretty bad team. Flagg is all the Mavs have. He is their lone offenisve threat, he has had to be a ball handler for them, he is an astute passer and he tries hard on defense. He also has had two 40 plus point games recently, and one 50 point game. He makes the Mavs no fun to play, and I think he has pulled ahead of Knueppel this past week. It will be a close vote, and either guy is a great choice for ROY. I would give it to Flagg at this point.

Next we have Coach of the Year. Joe Mazzula should win. I was low on the Celtics and they are currently the 2 seed in the East. He has made guys like Luka Garza and Nnemas Queta viable frontcourt options. Payton Pritchard is having his best season. Jaylen Brown has become a viable number 1 option and proven to everyone that he can be a guy to build around. He had to find players to replace Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup and he did. He has helped get Jayson Tatum back in the groove in a proper manner. Mazzula is an insane person, but he knows how to coach this game and he has done an exceptional job this season. JB Bickerstaff should get some love, as should Mark Dagneault. But Mazzula has proven his worth this season and he should reap the benefits by winning Coach of the Year.

Now we have Defensive Player of the Year. Victor Webanyama, if he hits the 65 game mark, should be the runaway winner. I don't know how you vote for anyone else. Rudy Gobert is still good, but not on Wemby's level. Evan Mobley has been better defensively than offensively, but not on Wemby's level. There is no guard or forward that even matches what Wemby does on that end. I fully believe that the Spurs will get him that 65th game and he will walk away with this award, as he should. This is going to be one of many for him in what, hopefully, will be a long career.

Finally we have MVP. Luka Doncic is out. He will not meet the games requirement and he will not win his appeal. He also doesn't play defense. When you have to always put in a caveat of, "good for him", that means he is a liability on that end of the floor. He also whines too much. He is also a drag to watch play basketball. I would not give it to Nikola Jokic for his lack of defense as well. Look, I get it. He is an offenisve wizard. He makes unmakeable plays all the time. He is playing really well offensively to close out the regular season. But, for me, a MVP caliber player needs to play hard on both ends. Jokic doesn't even put forth an effort defensively. He has been a turnstile late this season. He never guards anyone that is close to his height or level. He often takes defensive possessions off. I know the analytic nerds love his numbers, but I loathe that he plays zero defense and gets rewarded with the whole, "good enough for him" treatment. That is just an excuse and until he puts forth effort on defense I will continue to dislike watching him play. The MVP comes down to two guys for me, Shai Gilgeous Alexander and Wemby. Wemby needs that 65th game, but I already said I think he will get there. He is the only defensive player I've ever watched that makes it impossible for teams to gameplan away from him. You can attack Jokic and Doncic. You can stay away from Kawhi Leonard's side of the floor. Gary Payton would only ever guard backcourt guys. Wemby guards everyone and guards them all equally well. He is a blackhole. He can be in the post guarding a big, and if that guy kicks it out to a shooter, he can close out and block that shot. He is amazing. And he is only getting better at offense. He has gotten stronger in the post and he can take guys out to the three point line. That's insane for a 7'4 guy with arms that are insanely long. Wemby is an enigma and I love watching him play. But I would go with SGA to win his second in a row. He is the best player on the best team in the league. His numbers and Jokic are pretty equal. He gets to the free throw. He is not the only "free throw merchant" in the NBA by the way. We just hear more about him because the Thunder are always on tv and won the title last season. He is efficient dynamic on offense. He is also a very solid defender. The Thunder win with defense and he has bought into playing on that end of the floor. He gets steals and blocks. He rebounds the ball. He gets into whoever he is guarding. He plays both ends, is on the best team and has numbers even the analytic nerds love. And he has played the most consistent of any of these guys all season long. SGA should win his second MVP in as many years.

That's it, that is who I have winning the major awards for the 2025-26 NBA season. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

UNC Got the Right Basketball Coach

Michael Malone was formally introduced as the next men's head basketball coach at UNC. Let’s discuss.

I don't know what it is about UNC and hiring former professional head coaches with proven track records, but they've done it again. This feels different though than when they hired Bill Belichek last season. The Belichek hire was totally out of left field, so is this Malone hire. But Belichek was out of the coaching profession for a year or so. And he is old. He is one of the older coaches in all of college football. He also has a partner that seems controlling. I don't know if she is, but she seems to have a hold on him and kind of does all of his scheduling and other things. I understand that he probably needs this, he is so old as I said, but it still feels off. And the Belichek hiring has not paid off to this point. UNC had a bad season on the football field, there seemed to be a ton of problems on and off the field and he's already had turnover on the roster and coaching staff. The UNC football program seems like a program in trouble.

When the men's basketball team fired Hubert Davis, and with Caleb Wilson going pro, it seemed like the men's basketball program was going to go through a similar fall off. They let the head coach go after an okay season. Their best player missed the most important stretch of the season and then went pro. And they have had a few dudes already enter the transfer portal, and this was when they had no head coach. So, when the news came out that they were hiring Michael Malone, I was stunned.

About a week ago I wrote about who I thought they were going to go after in the hiring process, naming Tommy Lloyd and Dusty May as the most likely candidates. Well, both of those dudes said no thank you and, apparently, UNC already had their sights set on Malone. Michael Malone has been at the very top of the basketball world. He was the head coach of the Nuggets when they won the title in 2022. He seemed to be set for life as the main guy there, but the team and front office decided to move on late last season. From what I have read some of the people on the team and on the staff did not like his hard core, yelling approach to coaching. Michael Malone is a gruff, no nonsense old school head basketball coach. He demands the best out of his players and he wants them to give their all every single second they are playing or practicing the game of basketball. I can see how this would wear on modern NBA players. Those dudes make a ton of money, they have been the star at most stops and they pretty much know the ins and outs of the game. They do need a figurehead, someone to take the blame and heap praise upon. But that guy needs to be able to adapt to the lifestyles of their professional athletes. That does not work very well for the Michael Malone's of the world. And that is precisely why I think this might actually work for UNC.

UNC went out of their way to get Malone. They hired a guy that has zero ties to UNC. He didn't play there, he never coached there and I bet the only time he has spent in the Carolinas is when he was a head coach in the NBA and his team had a game in Charlotte. But the dude knows basketball and he has proven that he can win a ton of games. He did it at the highest level for a good long time. But what makes this make sense, college players don't make the money that the pros do. They are getting paid right now, but Michael Malone is going to get paid much, much more than them. He can also show off his NBA championship ring anytime he pleases. He can talk about coaching guys like Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray. He knows what it takes to get to the pros. He can help usher these highly rated recruits and transfers into the pros. He can show them exactly what they have to work on to get to the highest level. He knows the game. And I don't think recruiting is as awful as some say. You do have to travel all the time, you have to sell the program, you have to deal with NIL and the transfer portal, but Michael Malone has dealt with most of this stuff in the pros. He has been through the ringer and come out on the other side.

This is a home run hire in my opinion. UNC reached for the stars and grabbed a pretty damn big one. I think this is going to work out really well and really quickly and I think UNC may have just made the hire of the offseason for men's college basketball. This is a big deal. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

The Current State of Michigan Basketball is Pretty Good

For the second time in three years I have gotten to celebrate a Michigan team winning the national title. In 2023 it was the football team. Last night, it was the men's basketball team. Let’s discuss.

I really enjoy this feeling. There's truly nothing better than when your team is on top. It is the best in the world. I do want to say, as wonderful as this feels, the football title felt a little better. I just have to say that. College football is a little more important to me than basketball. I just wanted to put that out there. But that is to take nothing out of what the men;s basketball team achieved last night.

When the season started I didn't know what to think, especially in the NIL and transfer portal era. I had heard a bunch of good things about the guys they brought in. Aday Mara was tall. Morez Johnson Jr was tall and strong. Elliot Cadeau was going to be able to run the offense properly. And Yaxel Lendeborg was this jack of all trades type player. Throw in some of the guys that stuck around, Nimari Burnett, Will Tschetter, Roddy Gayle Jr and LJ Cason, this team was supposed to be good. But I thought I was going to miss Tre Donaldson and Danny Wolf and Vlad Goldin and Devante Jones. Those guys were part of Dusty May's first season, in which he took an 8-24 team to the Sweet Sixteen. They seemed to be in a good place. But this was going to be all new. But, like I said, the media seemed pretty hyped about this new roster. And while I was skeptical, they started the season 12-0, and looked really good doing it. They may have started slow, but they went on a run where they were obliterating teams. And I'm not talking about the run of the mill lower level division 1 teams, they were beating up on highly ranked teams. I started to buy in. Then Wisconsin hit a million threes and cooled any of the good vibes I had about them earlier on. But then they went on another long win streak and I was back in. They got all the way to being ranked number 1 overall. It ruled. Then Duke punked them on national tv and I was back in a funk. Sure, Mara was an incredible defender and Johnson Jr was bullying dudes on both ends and Cadeau was killing it as the lead guard and Lendeborg was all I wanted him to be. But Duke took all of that away from me. I fully stopped believing. Then you can add on the struggle they had in the Big 10 tournament, they did make it to the title game, and won the regular season title, and I just kind of gave up. When the tournament seeds and games were announced, I knew Michigan was going to be a 1 seed, and I even had them in the Final Four. But they went on to cruise and crush the competition in the tournament. They went on an unprecedented run. After Howard was throwing flames in the first half from 3, Michigan went on to score 101 and win by 21. Then they crusted over the early tournament sweetheart Robbie Avila and SLU. They scored over 90 and won by 20 plus points again. And this was the game where Lendeborg became everything I ever wanted him to be. He went for 20 plus and made it look easy from everywhere on the court. He was a menace on defense. He was dunking on dudes left and right. It was dope. They went into the Sweet Sixteen facing one of the top offenses in all of college basketball in Alabama. They held them to 77 points, while they scored 90 yet again. They lucked out in facing Tennessee, a six seed, in the Elite Eight. They went on to beat them by 33 points, In an Elite Eight game. On national tv. In front of everyone. This was the moment where I fully bought in and truly believed they may be able to do it. They looked so much more dominant than any of the eight teams left. They looked even better in the Final Four. I was all in on Arizona winning it all all season. I fully thought they were the best team in men's college basketball. They had just beat Purdue, who beat Michigan in the Big Ten tournament. Well, Michigan proceeded to crush Arizona. They beat them so badly that their coach said that "no team has been able to do what Michigan did to them all year". Also, when accepting his coach of the year award, Tommy Lloyd mentioned that maybe they meant to send it to Dusty May. That was how badly Michigan beat them. They won a Final Four game by 18 points, and it wasn't even that close.

With the national title game last night, I didn't just want a win, I expected it. But, when the game tipped off, it went much different than I hoped. UConn muddied the game up and made it sloppy and slow. This worked to their advantage for a bit. They even held an 18-15 lead with about 11 minutes left. They were holding this elite Michigan offense to 15 points nine minutes into the game. I was terrified. I wasn't nervous, I was scared. I thought they were going to get beat, and beaten badly by a team and coach that knows how to win title games. But Michigan persisted, switched up the game plan a bit and went into halftime with a 4 point lead, 33-29. But the way the media was talking you would have thought UConn was ahead. And that was when a revelation hit me. Michigan played really poorly. They couldn't make a jumper. Lendeborg's injury was clearly becoming an issue. They hadn't made a three pointer. And yet they were ahead by 4 points. Going into the second half, while still scared, I felt calmer than I thought. I did yell once, but my son told me to calm down, and I did. Michigan never let UConn get any closer than that 4 points. They stretched the lead to 11 at one point. They made 20 straight free throws. When UConn played pressure defense, it was freshman Trey McKenney who came up big. Lendeborg started to attack the rim and either make a shot or shoot free throws. Mara's presence was felt on the defensive end. And Elliot Cadeau saved his best game for last. Without him, they may not have won last night. But this was this team's MO all year. They didn't need one guy. They had a team of players ready to make plays and step up when asked. Roddy Gayle had a huge putback jam early in the game. Morez Johnson Jr played excellent defense both in the paint and on the perimeter. I mentioned Mara, Lendeborg, Cadeau and McKenney. This was a full team effort and it showed last night. And while this team became known for offense as the season went on, they played an exceptional defensive game last night, especially in the second half.

Dusty May was clearly the right choice as the new head coach two years ago. I liked the hire when it happened, and I loved it even more after last night. He knows how to work the portal, and if he keeps up this level of recruiting high school players, as long as he doesn't leave for the pros anytime soon, Michigan men's basketball will be in good shape.

I'm on cloud 9 today. I have been talking to everyone and anyone that asks me how I feel about it all and let them know. This team went 37-3. I grew to love every player. I'm as big a Dusty May fan as there is right now. And they capped it all off by winning the title last night. This is so awesome and I am so happy right now. Go Blue.

 Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty Predicts the Final Four

The men's Final Four is set. UConn will face Illinois in the first game Saturday night, and Arizona will face Michigan in the second game. We have two number 1 seeds, a 2 seed and a 3 seed. We have two Big Ten teams, one Big East team and one Big 12 team. All power conferences, all teams that were ranked inside the top 15 most of the season. This is the way of the current world in men's college sports. The teams that can pay and use the transfer portal correctly will continue to run college sports until some changes are made. It's going to be awhile before we see George Mason or Loyola Chicago in the Final Four. With that being said, I'm going to do a preview and prediction.

UConn-Illinois is going to be an interesting clash of styles. Illinois likes to score fast and furious. They have guys who can shoot from anywhere on the floor. They also have guys that can protect the rim on defense and rebound the ball. They play like an NBA team. Iowa exposed a few things that I think UConn can use to their benefit, probably better than Iowa did. UConn has solid veteran leadership and some young talent. Alex Karaban is a very good shooter and has been here before. Tarris Reed has become one of the better throwback big men in all of college basketball. He has some of the best low post moves I've seen in awhile. Solo Ball can attack and shoot. Braylen Mullins just made the biggest shot of the tournament. That kid can score in bunches. This should be a fun game to watch. I'm curious as to how it will all turn out. Illinois has shooters galore and I think that will separate them from UConn. UConn just gave everything they had in their last game. They came back from down 19. They had little to no chance of winning that game. They needed a bad pass to create a miracle shot. I think that may bite them in the butt this weekend. Illinois is also a really good basketball team that has been consistent and well rounded all tournament long. They easily overcame the mild adversity Iowa threw their way, and they just feel like a team destined to play for the title to me. I think the game will be close up until the end. UConn's bigs will make life tough for Illinois' big men. But the shooting separates Illinois from UConn. UConn is not the dominant team they were in the very near past, and that will only help Illinois push into the final. I say Illinois wins by 8, but it will be that wide because UConn will have to foul late, and free throws will make it seem like a bigger margin of victory than it really is. Illinois will be the first team to make it to the title game.

Now onto the game I want to watch, and I bet most of the country wants to watch as well.

Arizona and Michigan have been at the top of the rankings all season long. Both teams went a long, long time undefeated. Both teams won their regular season conference title. Arizona won the Big 12 title tournament, while Michigan played in the Big Ten tournament title game. Michigan has a program record 35 wins at the moment. Arizona has 35 wins as well. Arizona just showed how good of a team they can be last weekend. Purdue gave them everything they had in the first half. Then Arizona locked in and completely took over. They dominated the second half against a very good Purdue team. They won that game going away. They clawed and scratched, and with about 12 minutes left in the game they totally took over. It was wild to watch. I have been riding with Arizona as my pick to win it all this year most of the season. I picked them in all four brackets I filled out this year. They are a very, very good team with multiple NBA draft picks on the floor. Michigan has had a year to remember. It has been awesome for me to watch as a fan. And they have been as dominant as any team can be in this tournament to this point. They have scored 90 plus points in every game. They have won every game by double figures. Their closest margin of victory was 13 in the Sweet Sixteen. They just beat Tennessee in the Elite Eight by 33 points. Yaxel Lendeborg has been playing out of his mind. Elliot Cadeau is running the offense brilliantly. Aday Mara and Morez Johnson Jr have been manning the front court. And Roddy Gayle Jr and Trey McKenney have been making plays all over the court. Michigan has looked every bit the number 1 seed they have earned. This game is going to feature so many future pros. It will be the closest thing we have to watching two college teams full of NBA players. Both teams also have guys that can beat you on any night. They don't need one guy to do it all. They have multiple guys that can go off and take a game over. I have been batting it back and forth about who I want to pick. Michigan has been awesome. Arizona has been just as dominant and they beat a better team in their Elite Eight matchup. I'll be rooting so god damn hard for Michigan, but I'm going to stick with my pick of Arizona heading to the title game. They have more weapons and bigs that can matchup with the size of Michigan. It will be a close, very well played game of basketball, but I think Arizona is going to hit a big shot to win the game by three points. And I will be absolutely devastated.

That leaves me with Illinois and Arizona playing for the title, and there's no need to beat around the bush, Arizona will roll. They are a better team with a better coach and a better roster. That's just facts. And any one of their players would win Most Outstanding Player. I'll go ahead and go with Koa Peat. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

The SeedSing 2026 MLB Preview

Today I'm going to do my best to give you all a 2026 MLB preview. As I say every year, RD knows this stuff better than I do. He's the expert when it comes to baseball. But my son has grown fond of the MLB and he has gotten me to watch more games the past two years than I did the previous ten. I may have little knowledge, but I have some. I'll go through the divisions, pick a winner, the seven playoff teams and then predict the playoffs. Let's get to it.

I'll start with the American League.

The AL East figures to be the best division in the AL this year. The Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees and Blue Jays all have a legit case to be in the playoffs. And the Rays aren't all that bad either. I'm going to go with the Red Sox to win the division. I'd love to pick the Blue Jays. They were so close to winning the World Series last year, and they only had to replace a few guys. They also still have Vlad Guerrero Jr, who is only getting better. But the Red Sox are the more complete team here. That doesn't mean this division won't house three, maybe four playoff teams.

The AL Central is the opposite of the East. This division will most likely only get the winner in the playoffs. I'm sure the Guardians will be better than most expect. They always seem to do that. And the Royals have been getting a ton of love from the media. The White Sox are getting better and the Twins are constructed to be bad. The central is all about the Tigers. Tarik Skubal is back and pitching on a one year prove type of deal. They signed Framber Valdez. They have a solid and effective lineup. This feels like a year that the Tigers could push for a bid in the World Series. The Tigers, barring major injuries, should coast to the division title.

The final division in the AL, the West, should also be a one team race. The Athletics are good, but they still don't have a home city and that has to mess with their players. The Angels still have Mike Trout, and not much else. The Astros look to be on the back end of their winning. And the Rangers, only a few years removed from being World Series champs, are rebuilding. This is the Mariners time to shine. They pushed the Blue Jays last year. They have all the main pieces back. They will make moves to keep winning during the season. They, on paper, may be the best team in the AL. The Mariners have been preseason favorites before and did not live up to expectations. I feel like they're too good to do that again.

So, my playoff teams in the AL are, first the division winners, the Red Sox, Tigers and Mariners. That leaves me with the three wild card spots, and I'm going to go with the Blue Jays, Yankees and Royals. The Orioles will just miss out, as will the Guardians. But this feels like a solid six team playoff race in the AL. As far as who will play in the ALCS, give me the Tigers and Mariners and the Mariners winning in six games to make it to the franchise's first World Series.

On to the NL, the senior circuit of you will.

I'll start with the East here as well. We have some big spenders and some old teams here. The Phillies are really good and consistent. But they have died in the playoff as of late and they are only getting older. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber can't hit home runs forever. And Trae Turner will one day get slower. The Mets are spending big and made some deals to get much needed pitching help this offseason. But they didn't even make the playoffs last year. The Braves have all the talent in the world everywhere on this roster, and it cannot seem to stay healthy at all. And then there's the Nationals, who look to be building back a competitive team, and the Marlins who are as bad as it gets in the NL. I like the Phillies in the East here, but that's only because the Mets cannot seem to win when it matters most. They spend a ton, but the Phillies product on the field has proven to be better.

The NL Central is better, and it is a three team race here. The Cardinals are going to be bad, but maybe a little fun to watch. They have young talent everywhere that they're trying to develop, which will be fun to watch at times, and then abysmal at other times. The Pirates have some solid dudes on their roster and one of the best pitchers in the game. But this is the Pirates and they don't, or won't pay anyone and then that person leaves and they're back to square one. It feels like more of the same from them. The Central is a race between the Cubs, who are as talented as it gets in baseball, the Brewers, who won the most games in all of baseball last year and seem to churn out competitive teams season after season, and the Reds, who are finally loaded with pitching and hitting talent. I'm going to go with the Cubs to win this division, but it would not shock me at all if the Reds are right there with them all the way to the end. I could see Ely de la Cruz being a possible MVP caliber player this season.

The final division is the West, and I think we all know who is going to win here. The Dodgers are the best team money can buy and I have zero issue with that. They have gained the system and they will keep doing this until there are rules put in place to stop them. The Diamondbacks have some good players and they get some guys back this year that are finally healthy. They could make a little noise. The Giants will be feisty and maybe win 85 games. The Padres have some good hitters, but their pitching staff needs work. And the Rockies get to play next to some beautiful mountains. The Dodgers are the cream of the crop not only in this division, but in all of baseball.

So my NL playoff division winners are the Phillies, Cubs and Dodgers. My three wild card teams are the Reds, Mets and Diamondbacks. As for the NLCS, give me the Dodgers and Cubs, and the Dodgers sweeping them to play in another World Series. As for my World Series winner, give me the Dodgers beating the Mariners in six games. It won't be as epic as last season, but should still be a fun series. As for my award winner, I'll take Aaron Judge as the AL MVP and Tarik Skubal as the AL Cy Young winner. In the NL, give me Paul Skenes as the NL Cy Young winner and Shohei Ohtani as the NL MVP.

There you have it, my best shot at a 2026 MLB preview. Enjoy the season.

Another view

Let’s get it out of the way, the Dodgers will win their third straight World Series. They are the best team by a long shot, they are still hungry, and everyone knows there wilol be no season next year so LA will do whatever it takes to win. Now, lets predict division winners.

AL East - Toronto Blue Jays, they got a taste last year, they want it all now.

AL Central - Detroit Tigers, the best team, and pitcher, that no one is talking about.

AL West - Seattle Mariners, hungry and ready to make their first World Series.

AL Wild Cards - Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals

NL East - Philadelphia Phillies, the Mets will Mets again. Same as it ever was.

NL Central - Chicago Cubs, the North Siders will final put the Brewers to bed.

NL West - LA Dodgers, obviously

NL Wild Cards - Cincinnati Reds, San Diego Padres, Arizona Diamondbacks

The ALCS will have another Toronto/Mariners seven game classic with Seattle winning. The NLCS will have a hot Reds team meeting up with the Dodgers. Cincinnati will take the first game, then lose the next four sending LA to their third straight World Series. The Dodgers will sweep the Mariners and poor Seattle will have to wait for their first World Series game victory. Then we wait as the 2027 season will be wiped out by a strike. I hope I’m wrong about that last sentence.

Play Ball

RD

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Who Will Be UNC's Next Coach?

North Carolina men's basketball have let Hubert Davis go. He was in the title game in 2022, but two first round exits in a row seem to have been the nail in the coffin. Let’s discuss.

Hubert Davis played at UNC, had a solid NBA career, did some tv analyzing and took over as the head coach of his alma mater in 2021. He was there for five seasons, compiling a record of 125-54. That's an average of 25 wins a season, which is really good at the college level. He took UNC to the NCAA tournament four of those five years. The other season they finished 20-13 and declined an invitation to the NIT. In his four tournament appearances UNC had the miracle run to the title game in his first season, made the Sweet Sixteen the next time they made it, and then had to the two first round exits.

The run to the title was unexpected. They made the tournament as an 8 seed. They beat Baylor in the second round, who was the number 1 seed in their region. They then went on to beat UCLA Saint Peters, another Cinderella that season, to make the Final Four. That would have been exciting enough, but they weren't done there. They beat their rivals Duke to make the title game. And they had a big lead in that game until Kansas decided to make a run and win it all. That set the expectations high for Davis.

Not even making the postseason in year two was a bummer. But they returned the next season and made a Sweet Sixteen run, eventually being ousted by Alabama, who would go on to make the Final Four. Then they were beaten in round one the next year, and this year, blowing a 19 point lead to VCU. That was the final deed for the higher ups who make the decisions at UNC.

I do want to say, Davis was coaching without his best player, Caleb Wilson, and basketball is the one sport where one player can change a team's fortune. Caleb Wilson is that good. He is going to be a top five pick in the upcoming draft. And without him you could see that UNC was a totally different team.

If it were me, I would have given Hubert Davis a bit more leeway, another season to see what he could do with a new recruiting and transfer class, but UNC didn't see it that way. And now they are going to go on a big time search for their next men's basketball coach. It looks like they're going to take a big swing too. The early names being mentioned are the cream of the crop, and with the resources at UNC, they may be able to pry one of these coaches away.

Brad Stevens was the first name I heard, but he has already taken his name out of the running. That makes sense because he is doing the job he wants and he is very good at that job. Now that Stevens is out, names like Dusty May, Todd Golden, Billy Donovan, Tommy Lloyd, Nate Oats and TJ Otzelberger, among many others. The idea of Dusty May leaving Michigan scares me. He may want the pressure that comes with coaching a high profile basketball school. He has done wonders in two short seasons, but maybe he wants a bigger challenge. Todd Golden is at Florida right now, and they just got beat by Iowa. He has a national title, can recruit and has shown a nice ability, save for their last inbounds play last weekend, to draw up good plays. Billy Donovan is an interesting name. He has been in the pros for awhile now, but the Bulls are getting younger and he may be sick of this never ending rebuild. Maybe he wants back in the college game, and he is one hell of a basketball coach. Tommy Lloyd has Arizona as a real threat again. They're a number 1 seed and have looked great so far. He is also a very good recruiter and he puts players in the pros. Nate Oats is a jerk, but the dude understands the modern game and he is a very, very smart head coach. He makes his offense better with the plays he draws up. And TJ Otzelberger is young, upcoming and has one of the best defenses in college hoops right now. He also likes to bomb away from three point land.

All of these guys are very solid, very interesting options. I don't think Lloyd or Otzelberger will leave their current jobs. They seem happy and comfortable where they are right now. I don't think Billy Donovan wants to go back to the college game. He has been in the pros too long. Nate Oats and Dusty May should intrigue UNC very, very much. Oats, as I said before, is a college basketball offensive genius. He is prickly, but Roy Williams coached there for years. Dusty May knows how to use the portal properly, and has shown an ability to recruit high school stars. He also has a very solid offensive game plan for every opponent and defense has been Michigan's calling card all season. But I really think Todd Golden may jump at the possibility of coaching UNC. He has taken Florida to the top. He turned them into a 1 seed this year after a slow start. He can do all the things UNC will want in a new coach. Maybe this is just me hoping that Dusty May doesn't want to leave Michigan. Or maybe I just really, truly think that Golden is the best option of the names I listed.

Time will tell, I bet UNC is going to take their time, but if they are going to swing for the fences, these are the names I'd keep an eye on for the time being. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on the First Rounds of the Men's NCAA Tournament

The first weekend of the men's NCAA basketball tournament has come and gone like a whirlwind. I watched a ton of the games, and my son's team who qualified for state, and I have some thoughts.

The very first thing I thought of this morning as I updated our brackets that, for the most part, the big spenders in NIL are winning games, and winning them with relative ease. Every one seed, save for Florida, more on them in a bit, had little to no trouble making it to the Sweet Sixteen. I watched Michigan, who held a slim four point lead in their round 1 game, end up rolling both opponents on their way here. They won their first game by 21, and they beat SLU by 23. They have looked good and I have been enjoying watching them play. Arizona had a battle for about two minutes last night against Utah State, and made easy work of their first two opponents. They have been bigger, faster and overall better than both teams they have played. And Duke, even though they had a first round fight with Siena, easily dispatched with TCU and looked back to normal. They are as good as a team is in men's college hoops this season, and with the benefit of the refs' whistles, they should make the Final Four.

Florida, the number one seed that worried me most, proved why last night. They couldn't even get a shot off in the final seconds. They struggled to guard Iowa. They struggled on the boards. They weren't hitting shots. And when you combine all of that, that results in the madness of March. Iowa played well, don't get me wrong, but Florida blew it last night and they are the first number one seed to be bounced from this tournament. And it happened before the Sweet Sixteen. It is hard to go back to back in college sports, but I expected them to be playing this weekend. My hat is off to Iowa though. They slowed the game down, had Florida play at their pace and level and won the game on a last second three. It was your quintessential upset.

Other than the one seeds, we have one double digit seed here, Texas. Texas has played very well, they played their way in from the First Four and beat two quality teams in BYU and Gonzaga. They will be up against it playing Purdue, but they have more than proved their worth so far in this tournament.

Every other team, save Texas and Iowa, is a 6 seed or better. We have six Big Ten teams. I mentioned Michigan and Iowa already, and joining them we have Michigan State, Illinois, Nebraska and Purdue. Purdue and Michigan State belong and have looked very good in their first two games. Nebraska survived a buzzer beater and look to be on borrowed time. And Illinois may be playing the best of any Big Ten team right now. They have blown by their first two opponents and look as locked in as ever. The Big 12 have three teams, Arizona, Houston and Iowa State. Houston looks as good as Illinois, but they play better defense. Iowa State is making shots and they are lethal when they are hitting threes. And Arizona is a legit one seed. They are so damn good in every facet. The SEC also has three teams, Arkansas, Alabama and Tennessee. Tennessee squeaked by Virginia, and without the help of late whistles, they may not be here. They are about to hit a buzzsaw in Iowa State. Alabama beat the snot out of Texas Tech last night and have me very worried as a Michigan fan right now. They look very good and very determined. And Arkansas, mainly Darius Acuff, have been as elite as they come on offense. They needed a late game surge to beat High Point, but High Point was the early darling and they were making shots. Darius Acuff is so good and I'm stoked he is getting proper billing as a top prospect in the next NBA draft. And we round out the Sweet Sixteen with two Big East teams, St. John's and UConn. St.John's won on a buzzer beater over KU, but I felt like they were the better team. They're tough as nails and they will make Duke uncomfortable this weekend. UConn looks to be back to normal and they are mashing teams on the boards and hitting outside shots. I'm really excited to root for them when they take on MSU this weekend. UConn has always held a place in my heart, they may be the only college team other than Michigan that I have ever liked, so they will get my allegiance in their upcoming game.

But, the sheer fact that no mid majors are in the Sweet Sixteen, that only four mid major teams won a first round game, and then were easily disposed of by a power conference team, that should show you how big the gap is right now in the NIL era. The teams that can spend the most are winning at the highest clip. Michigan has four starters that are transfers. St.John's best player started his career at KU. Arizona is filled with transfers and five star freshmen. Duke has the best freshmen NIL money can buy. This is the way of college sports right now, and it will stay this way until some regulations are put in place. Until then, the tournament, and any other playoff scenario in major college sports, is going to be filled with teams that spend the most. That is how it is. That's good for me as a Michigan fan, but I get the frustration from fans of smaller schools. It takes away some of the beauty of the tournament.

Where we stand today, I have all four of my Final Four teams left. I have my title game still in play. I got 11 of 16 Sweet Sixteen teams right. And it is because I went chalk. And with all this being said, I still had a blast watching all weekend, and I cannot wait to watch this weekend. I love college sports, and I adore the tournament. 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

AJ Dybantsa Made His Case to Be the #1 Pick in the NBA Draft

I am beginning to believe that AJ Dybantsa should be the top pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Let’s discuss.

Some things have to fall into place for this to occur. The team that ends up drafting first will need a score first wing. Dybantsa has said he may come back to school for another year, I don't believe that. And he has to put together solid workouts throughout the draft process. But what he did yesterday, that was more than enough for me to push him ahead of guys like Daryn Peterson, Cam Boozer and Caleb Wilson. Those four guys have been the talk of the whole season. They seem to be the consensus top four guys in the draft. But I feel like Dybantsa's game yesterday really put him over the edge. Look, I fully understand that BYU was beaten in that game, but it had nothing to do with how he played. Dybantsa did everything he could to keep his team in the game. He scored 35 points. He had 10 rebounds. He moved the ball on offense. He put forth effort on defense. He looked every bit the best player that is now draft eligible right now. I have concerns about the other three guys I mentioned, but none of that comes to mind when I watch and think about Dybantsa as the top overall prospect.

Cam Boozer is the closest to Dybantsa for me. He is a very good big that can stretch the floor. He is also a solid rebounder. His defense leaves me wanting, but that can be fixed. The issue I have with Boozer, he isn't as complete as Dtybantsa is right now. Boozer tends to float in and out of games. He goes much harder on offense than defense. And he seems to let little injuries affect his game. I still think Boozer is the clear second best prospect, but he is far behind Dybantsa for me.

Everything that has been said about Peterson's lack of caring feels more true everyday. He is an amazing talent, he makes it look so effortless on offense. But he truly does drift in and out of games. He has asked to be taken out of games. His coaches have questioned his will. It may be unfair, but the proof is out there. Peterson has all of the skills in the world, but if he isn't willing to put in the work, I don't know if a franchise should use their first overall pick in the draft on him.

Caleb Wilson is kind of an enigma to me. I watched him play earlier this year and came away super impressed. He made UNC look like a legit threat in the ACC. He can go inside and out. He puts forth tons of effort. He is a good basketball player. But he has some injury that shut him down for the rest of the season. This happened about a month ago, but he missed all of the crucial games it felt like, and that was when UNC needed him most. I understand that he has a clear future in front of him. He is going to make millions of dollars in the NBA, and he probably didn't want to risk getting hurt again, or making his current injury worse. But the other three guys played through the year, or are still playing. The lasting image I had of Wilson was him in street clothes watching VCU beat UNC. That would make me pause a bit before deciding to draft Wilson first overall.

All four of these guys have a case to be the number 1 pick. Peterson was the consensus number 1 for a long, long time. But then the drifting in and out of games occurred. Wilson was making a good case for himself until he got hurt and missed the rest of the season. Boozer has all of the skills in the world, and his team has more games left, which means he has more of a stage to boost his stock. But he has some clear gaps before he catches up to Dybantsa. And what I saw from Dybansta last night really blew me away. This kid is really, really good. He seems to love the game. He puts all of his effort out on that court. I don't know why any team would take anyone else first overall. Even if I had a glut of wing players, I'd make room for Dybantsa. He feels like a player you can build around. He is only going to work harder to get better. He has a passion for basketball and I would be pounding the pavement to take him first overall.

Time will tell, but Dybantsa really looked like the best prospect for most of the season, and especially last night, in the upcoming NBA draft. The kid can ball. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Ty's 2026 March Madness Preview

I'm going to do my men's NCAA tournament preview and prediction today. Instead of going through each and every game and whittling it all down to a winner, I'm going to let you all know who I have in the final four from each region, who my sleeper team in each region will be, who I have in the title game and who I have winning it all. I'll also pick the most outstanding player at the end as well. Let us tarry no further,

I'll start with the East Region. Duke is the number 1 seed here and the overall number 1 seed in the whole tournament. They're loaded with talent everywhere, deeper than they have been in the past and have what looks like the player of the year in Cameron Boozer. They also always get a beneficial whistle and they have the easiest path to the final four. They are my pick to reach the final four in this region as well. They shouldn't have too much slowing them down. Kansas has been up and down all year. Michigan State has floundered a bit lately. St.John's got a horrific seed and draw and UConn is not as unstoppable as years past. As far as a "sleeper" team goes, I have UCF and South Florida each winning their first game, then immediately getting bounced. I guess you could call St.John's my "sleeper" because I have them going to the Sweet Sixteen, before running into Duke. Duke got the draw they have because they are the best team in men's college hoops this season. Anything less than a run to the final four would be a bummer for them.

Florida is the number 1 seed in the South, but after seeing what Vanderbilt just did to them in the SEC tournament, they may be the weakest of the number 1 seeds. They don't have a picnic either if they get to round 2. They will face either Iowa or Clemson, both teams I think can beat them. Houston is the 2 seed and Illinois is the 3. I think both of those teams could make a run to the final four if things break their way. Nebraskas has had a memorable year, but if they can't get past Troy it will all be for not. And I have no idea which UNC team will show up, which doesn't bode well for them. I have Houston making their way to the final four. They have a stud star player in Kingston Flemings, and they play exquisite defense. They can also rebound the ball at a high rate and they can shoot the three when they need to. Kelvin Sampson has a complete team. As for my "sleeper" in the South, this one is tough. Troy can beat Nebraska. I also think McNeese can dispose of Vanderbilt, VCU can easily beat UNC and Texas A&M is as solid a 10 seed as there is. I'm going to go with McNeese to push their way to the Sweet Sixteen and be the proverbial 12 seed that makes a deeper run than most expect.

Moving to the Midwest, we have my favorite team, Michigan as the 1 seed. They've had a hell of a season, but the Big Ten tournament title game scared me. Purdue outplayed them in every facet. They made Michigan look small and slow. Michigan also didn't hit open shots like they normally do. They also didn't rebound well. That scares me. But they have the dudes to make it right and make a deep run. Iowa State got the 2 seed here, but they're inconsistent and small. If the threes aren't hitting for them they're toast. Virginia is a solid 3 seed and Alabama would have been a threat as the 4 if their second best player didn't just get suspended. Michigan has a clear path to the final four if they can right their wrongs from the Big Ten tournament title game. They didn't win 31 games by accident. They're a good squad and I think they will represent the Midwest Region in the final four. My "sleeper" from the Midwest was easy. I'm going with Akron to make a run to the Sweet Sixteen, They are a very good mid-major and they feel like a team that is destined to bust brackets. I also believe that Santa Clara is going to really expose Kentucky. Kentucky is not very good this season, and Santa Clara is going to let the country see that in round one.

Wrapping up the region, let's head over to the West. Arizona is right up there with Duke in my opinion. I believe they had a real shot at being the number 1 overall seed. Instead they will enjoy their stay in the West and should make the final four. Purdue will be a tough out for them as the 2 seed here. Purdue just showed how good they can be when they're on. They easily disposed of Michigan in the Big Ten tournament final and look to be back on track. There's a reason they were the preseason number 1 team going into this year. Gonzaga feels lacking as the 3 seed. And I'm curious to watch BYU and AJ Dybansta's tournament experience. They could make a run, but it wouldn't shock me if they get ousted in round 1. I do think Dybansta is going to show that he should be the favorite to be the number 1 pick in the NBA draft in the tournament. But Arizona is so good and so complete and so dominant. I think Purdue will give them a bit of a scare, but Arizona should make their way to the final four out of the West. As for my "sleeper" here, give me High Point. I think they can beat an inconsistent Wisconsin team in round 1, and they could make Arkansas very uncomfortable in round 2. No one else in that region that is a higher seed makes me feel like High Point does.

So, that means I have three number 1 seeds, Duke, Arizona and Michigan, as well as second seeded Houston in the Final Four. I know, chalk is boring but that is how it is in the age of NIL. The blue bloods can spend more and make deeper tourney runs. As for the title game, I have Duke and Arizona, even more boring, I get it. But I'm going with Arizona to win it all this year. They have a bit more experience than Duke and they have guys that can slow down Cameron Boozer. And I'll take Bradyn Burries as my Most Outstanding Player. He is going to show why he should be a lottery pick in the draft and the Wildcats will raise another title banner in their gym. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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Miami (of Ohio) Belongs in the NCAA Tournament

Miami (of Ohio) got beat for the first time yesterday in the MAC tournament. Let’s discuss.

This is a big deal because they had won 31 straight to that point. They were the last undefeated team in men's college hoops, and you knew this was coming because of all the close games they've had of late. Hell, they weren't even the Vegas favorites for the MAC tournament, that honor went to Akron. And trying to go into the NCAA tournament undefeated had to be weighing on the players and the coaches. That is a tough thing to do.

They still managed to finish the season at 31-1. They have more regular season wins than Arizona, Duke and Michigan. They went undefeated in the regular season, and the conference season. This hasn't happened since, I believe St Joseph's many seasons ago, when Jameer Nelson was their point guard.

What makes this regular season for Miami (of Ohio) feel different though is the sheer fact that some analysts don't have them as a lock for the NCAA tournament. That baffles me. What else do they have to do to prove they belong? When teams like St Joseph's or Gonzaga or Florida International or any mid-major for that matter have a season this good, even if they play in a notoriously one bid league, they are put in the field no questions asked. But because people like Bruce Pearl go on tv and say some nonsense, we have to have a conversation asking if a team that went 31-1 belongs. That is so stupid to me. Of course they belong in the field. They have 31 wins. They were a top 25 team for most of the season. They blew teams out and won close when they had to.  Sure, the MAC isn't a power 4 conference, but still, 31 wins is wildly impressive. You play the schedule, and the job of the team and coaching staff is to win. And Miami (of Ohio) did that and then some.

Because Pearl popped off at the mouth, we have others who apparently think the same way he does, and they think Miami (of Ohio) doesn't belong. It seems that the Bruce Pearl's of the world would rather see a 17-14 Cincinnati Bearcats team because they play in the Big 12. Or they want an 18-13 Indiana team, who was just beat by Northwestern in the Big 10 tournament because of the branding.  Pearl seemingly wants a 16-15 Auburn team in the tourney because they were a preseason top 10 team. And maybe it's because he coached there and now his kid is the head coach. As far as mid majors, I bet Pearl would rather have a 24-7 UCF, or a 20-10 San Diego State state team in there because they have had better tournament history. The fact of the matter, at least to me, Miami (of Ohio) has had a better season than any of those teams, and I would pick them to beat any one of those teams were they to get matched up with them in the first round.

I also saw that some who have Miami (of Ohio) in the field have them as high as a 10 seed. That also baffles me. They should be no lower than a 6 seed to me. I feel like a 4 would be ideal. That would put them in the same grouping as teams like UNC, Vanderbilt and Virginia. These are all teams that, to me, are comparable to what Miami (of Ohio) has accomplished this season. This would also pit them against solid competition in round one and two, if they were to get that far, and all fans could see how they stack up against power 4 teams. But the sheer idea that this team shouldn't be in the field, or that if they are put in the tournament they need to be a 10 seed or worse, that is flat out wrong. The audacity to go on television and call this team and this staff out is asinine. Unfortunately we live in a world where hot takes are the norm and no one seems to call people out when they make a claim this stupid.

The committee should do the right thing and put all this talk to rest and let everyone know that Miami (of Ohio) is a shoo in for the tourney, and they will most likely be a 6 seed at the lowest. I do want to say, congrats to the team and staff for what they have accomplished this season. Winning 31 games in the regular season puts them in rare territory, and now they will be mentioned with every other team that finds a way to win 30 plus games in the regular season. That is quite the year. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Bam Adebayo Had a Good Game Last Night

Bam Adebayo did something incredible last night.

The Heat have been a pretty run of the mill franchise since the pandemic. Yes, they made a run to the finals a few years back, where they were crushed in five games by the Nuggets. And they had a similar run to the Finals in The Bubble. Other than that, they've been a play-in team or a team that doesn't get out of the first round of the playoffs. They are in that same position right now. I believe that they're in either 7th or 8th place in the East, with no real sign of making that top 6.

Last night I guess Bam decided he was sick and tired of being an also ran. Granted they were playing the Wizards, but Adebayo's stat line was one for the ages. And I didn't turn on the game until late in the third to watch what was happening. I got an update on my phone that he had 31 points after the first quarter. He outscored the Wizards himself in the quarter. He went into halftime with 42 points and I remember thinking it would be cool if he went for something like 60 or 70 points. Not once in my mind did I think he would eclipse those numbers. Then I saw he had 62 after the third quarter. That was when I figured I had to see what was going to happen. Bam finished the game with 83 points, the second highest single game scoring record in the NBA. He surpassed the 81 Kobe Bryant had over a decade ago. The only player with more in one game is Wilt Chamberlain, who famously scored 100 in a game once.

For this to come from a modern big in the modern NBA is special. Guys like Bam don't score this in any game. Ever. This was wild. I didn't believe it when I saw it. I like Bam Adebayo enough as a player. He is an incredible defensive center. He's also undersized, but he hustles his ass off and plays hard. He is one of the few Kentucky players who I have grown to like in the NBA. I also like how understated and about his business he is when he has interviews or something of the sort. When the game ended I had to go and look at the stat sheet. I needed to see it with my own two eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming all of this. He shot almost 50 percent from the field, going 20-43. He took far too many threes for my liking, 22, and he made 7 of them. That's a lot for a player like Bam. I have to assume that when he realized he was on fire from the field, he decided he had to start bombing threes. But the biggest stat, the one that made my eyes bulge, he was 36-43 from the free throw line.

I have griped constantly on this site about fouls and free throws, and this stat should be exhibit number one on how bad it has gotten in the NBA. But when I saw this last night I simply didn't care. Sure, he took as many free throws as he did field goals. Yes, he took 14 more free throws than the entire Wizards team. And the Heat took 59 free throws in total. I'm sure this game lasted much, much longer than it needed to, but Bam was in his bag last night. And he made 36 of them. That is amazing, Just imagine if he was 100 percent from the line last as well. He would have had 90 points. And just for good measure, Bam added 9 rebounds and 3 assists. He also chipped in a couple of blocks and steals. And he only committed 3 fouls all game. That is an amazing stat line for a month of a season. Bam did it in one night.

I am just flabbergasted at this whole thing. Stuff like this doesn't happen all the time, and when it is a big man, that makes me so happy. And when it is a guy like Bam Adebayo, it just makes me happy. I can remember being mad when Kobe did it, thinking he was hogging the ball. I couldn't have been more wrong. When a pro is on fire like that, and when they feel almost unconscious from the floor, they need to be fed and they need to shoot as many times as possible.

This game is going to go down in history. Hell, it kind of already has. But people should not forget this game by Bam anytime soon. He scored 83 points. His team won by 30. They may move up the standings. He contributed rebounds, steals, blocks and assists. He embraced his girlfriend and mom after the game. I am so happy that this happened to a good dude like Bam Adebayo. I implore you, go look at his stat line and watch some of the highlights from this game. It was amazing and Bam Adebayo is now in the record books for all time. That's pretty cool. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Foul Culture in Basketball Stinks Right Now

The complaining about officiating in the NBA, and men's college basketball for this matter, has gotten out of hand. Look, I've never been a fan of refs. When I was a player I disliked them, and as a coach for junior basketball now, I dislike them even more. Refs make decisions based on biases, on a feeling or if they are mad at someone for coming after them. They tend to make proper calls more times than not, but it's still a feelings based job. It's frustrating and annoying, but that's the way it is. The problem I have is twofold, kids I coach are acting like current players, and the talk to the media is becoming way, way too much. I want to touch on the kids acting like current college and pro players first.

I have coached my son since he was in third grade. He is an eighth grader now, and it has gotten worse every year towards refs. No one takes accountability. Whenever they get called for a foul they put their hands up and say the refs are bad. When they do get a clean block or steal, but a foul is called, you'd think the refs had made a joke at their family's expense. The kids that I now coach, if you ask them, have never once committed a foul. Whenever they are called for one they think the ref is out to get them. It was so bad this year that I told them during practices I wasn't going to call anything unless it was egregious, just to try to get them used to the reffing in our league. They would get so mad at me that they would complain about a lack of foul calls in a team scrimmage. That is sickening to me. It is not always the ref's fault. Kids commit fouls on almost every single play. It's the truth. But, when my eighth graders watch men's college games, or the NBA, they see their favorite players getting called for fouls, throwing their hands up and screaming at the refs, putting all the blame on them. It has to stop.

I could say the same thing for falling down on the ground to try and draw fouls. I have kids who aren't great, so their solution to being on the floor is to fall down, hoping that the refs call a foul on the opposition. I will have kids blatantly miss layups, go to the ground and get free throw shots. Or, if they don't get a foul call, gripe the rest of the game. This destroys any flow we may have at the moment. The second a kid drops to the ground, that kills any team defense you want to play. This is rampant more so in the men's college game too. I was watching some games during the week and I noticed so many kids trying to draw contact as opposed to just making layups. And if they don't get the call, they spend their time picking themselves up off the floor and griping at the refs all the way down, essentially making it four on five going the other way. This is just an awful new occurrence in games. Kids don't know how to properly shoot layups because they see their favorite players going for contact instead of just making the shot. Kids need to stay on their feet, and so do the pros and men's college players.

Now to the NBA.

Look, I get it, the Thunder get away with murder. Shai Gilgeous Alexander knows how to contort his body and get foul calls. They mug their opposition going for steals every single night. But the foul stuff is not what makes this team great. They play hellacious defense. They have the MVP on their team. They have a great frontcourt on defense. They have rim protectors. They have everything a title winning team needs. It is not just the fouls that have gotten them to this level. So for the coaches going to the media, none of you are Phil Jackson or Greg Poppovich. This doesn't work like it used to. Refs aren't going to watch these press conferences where a coach berates refs and starts to get calls all of the sudden. Also, what star player, past, present or future, hasn't foul baited? Michael Jordan did it all the time. LeBron James is still doing it to this day. Luka Doncic spends more time with the refs than he does playing defense. Shaq spent his early career at the foul line. As did Kobe, Wilt and Hakeem Olajuwon. Star players in the NBA get preferential treatment. That is how it has always been and always will be. So coaching bringing this nonsense up again is just that, nonsense. It's also sour grapes. Just deal with it. As for LeBron groaning about "marginal" calls, get the hell over you. You are the second greatest player of all time. You have gotten so many preferable calls throughout your illustrious career. I feel like he has only gotten worse with the refs since Luka Doncic joined the Lakers. But for LeBron to come after the refs, don't bite the hand that feeds you, especially at 41 years old now.

Refs aren't great. They have a tough job and 50 percent of them are not very good at what they do. They also get too involved in important games, and no one is in those arenas to watch the refs. But the constant griping, on court and off, that has to stop. It is making it even tougher to watch full games at this point. Basketball is not the sport I used to watch. People are too busy flopping, or trying to draw contact, or yelling at the refs. The game isn't as beautiful as it could be, and I think it can get back to that if the stuff with the refs calms down a bit. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

I Will Be the Next Great Viii Sports Athlete

One of my favorite things to watch on the weekend is ESPN The Ocho. For a few years now ESPN News takes the weekends off and becomes The Ocho.

For people that may not know what The Ocho is, it is a joke from the movie "Dodgeball". Back when that movie was made the mere idea of dodgeball being on tv was so crazy that they had to make up a network that didn't exist. ESPN took that idea and ran with it. When The Ocho is on ESPN News they show all kinds of odd sporting events. One day we saw bandsaw races. That is exactly what you think. People took their band saws from home, suped them up and they have them race other suped up band saws. They show lots of wiffle ball and omega ball. They have corgi races. They have some events like slippery stairs and beer stein holding competitions. But this past weekend I saw my new favorite sporting event, and it is one that I am literally going to try to get involved in.

We were flipping through the channels, we got bored of basketball and my dad and son told me to channel surf. Then I happened to come across The Ocho and a sport called Viii Sports. For people that may not know what this is, Viii Sports is an event that consists of eight quick sports competitions and each contestant is scored on how many hits or makes they have, and how fast they finish the event. It all starts with chipping three golf balls into a grassy area that has some circles painted on it and a tee. Then the contestants have to throw three softballs in the air and hit them with a bat. Then they have to hit three tennis balls into a net, make three shots on a basketball hoop from short distances, throw three footballs through an open target, kick three soccer ball into a small net, throw three medicine balls over a line that is a certain distance away and finish it off with what looked to be about a 20 yard sprint.

I was immediately enamored by what I was watching. It looked so simple and so very fun. The contestants looked like regular people. They had stay at home parents, people who worked office jobs and people who head up programs at their local YMCA's. It all seemed so achievable and easily doable. While watching my son convinced me to sign up for their newsletter and it actually seems kind of easy to get involved. All you have to do is have a local YMCA that holds an invitational every year. The hang up for me, they are not doing it in my area as of now. I will be contacting the people involved to see if they are going to come to Saint Louis anytime soon. But they do have competitions in Wichita, which isn't too terribly far from me. It is a very drivable distance.

While watching, I truly think I could do this sport and do it at a high level. I'm not a great golfer, but I am a good mini golf player. And the chip into a certain area is a skill I think I could develop pretty quickly. I played baseball growing up, and coached my son when he played. When I was a coach my main job was to hit ground balls to the team before practices and games. Throwing a ball up in the air and making contact is second nature to me. I don't play tennis, but my sister in law does and I'm sure she would help me out with volleying a ball into a small netted area. Basketball is my favorite sport, I played and coach it, and the distances they have to shoot from go no further than a free throw. That was where I lived when I played. I was a big man that was allowed to only venture out to the elbows and free throw line for my shots. I always dreamed of being a QB when I was a kid, but I was too big. I was a defensive end. But I was always throwing a ball and i tend to gravitate towards carnival games that require throwing a ball through a circle net with an opening. And I think I'm pretty accurate. I can kick a soccer ball through a net, and not make it rise. When I looked for a local sports company, and was asked to do soccer demonstrations, short kicks into a net was my bag. That was all I knew how to do, and do well. Chucking medicine balls is fun too. I used to do this as a goof when I would throw shot put from time to time in high school. I just like hucking medicine balls. And a 20 yard sprint would be just what I would need to close it all out. I think I could do really, really well at this. I will say, the people on tv made it look easy, but I'm sure it is tougher than it looks. But I still want to give it a go.

I highly suggest people go check out Viii Sports. It is fun and looks like pretty much anyone could be a star if they put their minds to it. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Is There a Market for Anthony Richardson

While I was out exercising this afternoon I got a news alert on my phone that Anthony Richardson was able to seek a trade from the Colts. Let’s discuss.

I had high hopes for Richardson when he entered the draft. Florida wasn't very good in his final season, but he was one hell of an athlete. He kept them in many more games than they ever should have been in that season. He had a tremendous arm and he could manipulate the defense with his legs. He was like a bigger, although lesser of an athlete, Lamar Jackson. Don't get me wrong, Jackson is a much better QB and he has more than proven that, I just got Jackson vibes from Richardson when I watched him at Florida. He didn't disappoint at the combine either. He lit it up in fact. He did so well that he turned that into being the fourth overall pick in the draft his year. And he was in line to start right away for the Colts. He did and he would make plays here and there. He would do things that looked incredible. Then he would make a boneheaded throw, or run when he didn't have to. It was to be expected from a young QB in the NFL.

Then the injuries started to pile up. Richardson was a high pick in fantasy drafts his first two seasons, but then he would seemingly get hurt in week two or three. He was so useful in fantasy because of his ability to throw and run. But you can't do that when you're on the bench in street clothes. Then the Colts went out and got Daniel Jones in the offseason. And when they announced Jones as the starter I chuckled to myself. I figured the Colts were going all in on a tank job to get the top pick in this draft. But Daniel Jones played well. He did some solid things and he looked like he was going to lead the Colts to the playoffs and Jones was going to be a pro bowler. Then he got hurt. And instead of giving the starting nod to Richardson, they went out and signed Phillip Rivers, who's older than me. They convinced Richardson to take care of his plethora of injuries and opted for a 44 year old QB. What a crock. The Colts nosedived out of the playoffs and now Richardson is free to test the market.

The issue I see him running into though, there aren't too many teams that are going to start him over their incumbent QB. His current team has moved on to Daniel Jones. The Titans, Bears, Jags and Packers all have proven, yet young starters at QB. The Dolphins, Steelers and Cardinals should all be looking for new QB's in the draft or in free agency, but I bet they will want someone more established, or at the very least, proven. Other teams in the playoffs or hunt for the playoffs already have guys they count on. The Lions are set. The Eagles are all good. The Ravens have the best QB in the league. The Commanders will get Jayden Daniels back next season. They're all good.

So when I look around at teams that may go for Richardson in a trade, he will be going somewhere to back someone up, or be a one year bridge QB until they can move on to the younger guy. The Raiders are most likely going to draft Fernando Mendoza first overall and roll the dice with him. Richardson may be a solid option to back him up, but I don't think he will want to do that for a full season again. The Giants seem to be set with Jaxson Dart. The Saints found out they like Tyler Shough. The Bengals still have Joe Burrow and the Cowboys are sticking with Dak Prescott. These are some of the teams drafting in the top 15, and they won't be looking to give up big money for a backup QB.

When I look at it, when I take a step back and try to find a team that Richardson can go to and possibly start, there's only two teams on my mind, the Jets and Vikings. The Jets have already moved on from Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. They want Mendoza, but they have the second pick and he will be gone by then. They'd be foolish to take a QB at the number two pick, so maybe they would give Richardson a shot to start. He is bigger and more consistent with the ball than Fields. He can make more plays with his legs as well. The problem is, Aaron Glenn needs to show some progress in year two, and if Richardson isn't that dude, or gets hurt, he will be in the exact same position as this last season, and that may cost him his job.

As for the Vikings, they have said that JJ McCarthy is not the definite starter going into next season. And they don't have many great options on the bench right now. I have heard that they are kicking around bringing back Kirk Cousins, but I would stay the hell away from that if I were them. Richardson is bigger and more athletic than McCarthy. McCarthy has a better arm, but not by much. McCarthy has also proven that he cannot stay healthy for more than a few weeks at a time. But I could say the same thing about Richardson. But, if I were the Vikings, and I'm in the market for a dual threat QB with a ton of upside, and who may need to prove himself, I'd take a flyer on Richardson and have him and McCarthy battle it out this entire offseason. And if Kevin O'Connell is this "QB whisperer", that could be proved tenfold if he can get anything out of Anthony Richardson, even if it is just a one year bridge to the next franchise QB for the Vikings. 

We will see where the next chapter of Anthony Richardson’s career is next.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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I Have a Way to Fix the NBA's Tanking Problem

The NBA has a tanking issue. It has become quite apparent and something needs to be done. Let’s discuss.

I love basketball, and in particular, the NBA. It is the purest and best form of basketball. The athleticism, the shooting, the defense, it is a true joy to watch. It is my version of ballet. I love it. But, especially at this point of the season, the teams that are out of the playoff picture start to tank games for better draft position. It waters down the games and it's a true drag to watch as a fan.

I'm currently rooting for a team that is in tank mode, and let me tell you, it bums me out. The Grizzlies have been out of it for awhile now, and lately they're putting players out there that I don't even know. They have a bunch of two-way guys, and since trading JJJ, the new acquisitions are getting the bulk of the playing time. I will say, I have enjoyed the hell out of watching Cedric Coward progress into a legit player to possibly build a team around. But all of this has not resulted in many wins. And lately I haven't been tuning in to many of their games. I know what is going to happen and I don't want to watch it unfold. I would be even more bummed out to be a Wizards or Nets fan right now. They've been tanking all year. Sure, they have found a few diamonds in the rough this year, but they aren't winning many games. Teams like the Jazz and Trailblazers had solid starts, but now the owners and GM's are more concerned with draft position, so injuries are piling up to crucial players and they are going into full tank mode. This happened a few years back when the Mavericks were dealt some injury blows, and they openly tanked, were fined by the NBA and still secured a lottery pick. Hell, after they traded Luka Doncic last season, they were rewarded with the number one overall pick, Cooper Flagg.

Tanking works in some scenarios, but it is just making some NBA teams unwatchable. I don't know what the solution should be, but I do have an idea that I have heard others mention on separate podcasts. I don't like the lottery anymore. It is a drag. I'm not here for fully getting rid of the draft. If they do that they may as well only house professional teams in big markets. I also think they need to keep free agency, both restricted and unrestricted. The idea I like the most, and think the NBA really needs to consider, flat draft odds. I want every team to have the same chance at the first pick as they have at the 30th pick. I don't care if that team just won 10 games or the title, I think everyone should have the same odds. I know this adds some issues with player placement. If this were the case this past draft, that means the Thunder would have had the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. That would be tough to swallow for a lot of fans, but that feels like something that would happen once every 10-15 drafts or so. I do think that this would also help to make every team play the proper players. A lot of teams would be less likely to play a bunch of two way players or deep bench guys. I think this would lead to less load management from players and coaches. I feel like injuries would not be so prevalent. I just feel like flat draft odds would make it impossible for teams to tank. There would be no reward for teams that decide halfway through the year to throw in the towel. I also feel like flat odds would force teams to try as best as they can to stay in the race all season long. The product on the court would be much better. The better players would try harder. Defenses would be much more intense and focused.

I love the idea of everyone having the same shot at the top prospect. That's what I would pitch if I had a say to the higher ups in the NBA. Make it all even and see how that plays out. That seems like the best option they have at this point. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

I Want the Bulls to Be Good

I don't know that I have seen such a mediocre fall off in the past decade when I look at the Chicago Bulls. Let’s discuss.

When I was a kid the Bulls were the best. They had Jordan and Pippen and Phil Jackson and they were winning titles left and right. Jordan is the greatest, Pippen was the perfect Robin and Jackson is one of the best coaches of all time. They were able to bring in great complimentary pieces, like Dennis Rodman and Ron Harper. They drafted properly with guys like Luc Longley and Steve Kerr. They were in on the international players before it was a big thing. But the most important thing, and I will say this until the cows come home, they drafted Michael Jordan and kept him through his prime.

The Bulls were the definition of a dynasty. They had some down years until they drafted Derrick Rose, who made them relevant again. They had some nice runs with Rose, but then his knee exploded and that was when this team became the best at being mediocre. They have gone through any number of players to try and make themselves a viable playoff threat. They traded for Nikola Vucevic when he was still a borderline all star. But he never really lived up to the hype as a stretch big man. He would have one of two good games a month, then revert to being average. They got Zach Lavine when he was angry with Minnesota. This seemed like a good move at the time, but Lavine is just an empty stats guy. He can fill up the scoresheet, but it never amounted to many wins. They went out and signed DeMar DeRozan, who is one of the better midrange offensive players in the game, but he doesn't play a ton of defense, and if we learned anything from his trade from the Raptors to the Spurs, teams seemed to get better when he was not on them. They traded for Alex Caruso, or maybe signed him, I don't remember. Caruso is only good when he is on a contending team and he has to guard multiple guys. He has never been a scoring threat and he never will be. That doesn't suit his skill set. I liked when they drafted Coby White, who had his moments, but he never lived up to the lottery selection he was, and now he is gone. They gave Patrick Williams a big deal when he hadn't really proved much of anything. And they seem to be whiffing on their most recent draft picks. All of this kept this team in the play-in race, but they never made it out, or if they did, they were an easy first round out. Billy Donovan is a solid coach, but he has never been given a real chance to win big in Chicago. Every time he shows some stability, and the Bulls get their head above water, they trade guys or force him to play players he may not want on the floor. They let go of Caruso so they could build a team around Josh Giddey. Giddey is okay, but he is not a number one option that you can win a title with. Plus, he has had some questionable off court issues in his past. They let Ayo Donsunmu go. Matas Buzelis hasn't been able to put together a month's worth of solid play. Jalen Smith is a fine backup center. He starts for the Bulls. They now have three of the exact same player in guards Anfernee Simons, Rob Dillingham and Jaden Ivey, all of whom they traded for. Simons can score and do not much else. Dillingham is wildly unproven and Ivey has been very up and down his whole career. And he tends to be injury prone. They also added Collin Sexton, who I like, but he cannot seem to stick with one team any longer than one or two seasons.

I don't know what game the Bulls are playing, but they, and by they I mean the front office, don't seem to truly know what they are doing. They are taking some of the oddest swings I have seen in a long time. They are too far in to tank, and their record, especially in the Eastern Conference, is on par with being in the play-in once again. The roster construction and team building makes zero sense and the powers that be seem to be more than thrilled to stay in this weird mediocrity they have set for themselves. I like the NBA much more when the Bulls are relevant. At this moment, and for the past decade, the Bulls have been wildly irrelevant. And that bums me out. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Thoughts on a 27 Year Old College Football Player

I'm all for college football players getting paid, and if they can get more in college than in the NFL, go for it. No one knows how long they are going to be able to play, especially a sport like football, so get it while you can. There needs to be some more rules around NIL and the transfer portal, but that is a topic for another day. But I did see some news recently that made me throw my hands up in frustration.

By now we all know about the Miami linebacker who is entering his eighth year of college football. That is wild and kind of odd to me, but Miami is a blueblood, was just in the national title game and they may be even better next season. Yesterday I read about another college football player who was just given his ninth year of eligibility. The player's name is Solomon Tuliaupupu and he plays linebacker for Montana. I read that he started his career at USC, transferred to Montana and has become an all conference player since signing with the Grizzlies. I understand that he got a waiver due to injuries, and add that to the extra year for COVID, and a redshirt season, Tuliaupupu will be a 27 year old fifth year senior when he suits up for Montana next season.

This seems like overkill. I don't get why he would get a waiver for a ninth season, but Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss was denied a sixth season. Rod Moore got a sixth season with Michigan due to injury, but Chambliss was denied. I wonder why they are so hard up to not let Chambliss play, but this linebacker at Montana gets a ninth season. Keep in mind that he will be 27 when the season starts. That is an adult. He could be a father at this point. My wife had our first kid when we were 29, only two years older than Tuliaupupu. He is going to have teammates that are 18 when they start practice. How will he engage and talk with them? What are they going to be able to relate to?

That's too old to still be in college. Some people were all up in arms because Indiana had one of the older rosters in college football last year. They averaged 24 years old. This kld is 27. He is older than a ton of professional football players. There are some guys that have come and gone in the NFL before 27. I get it, maybe Tuliaupupu will not be a pro football player, but continually putting it off for so many years will only hurt any shot he has at the NFL. Teams are going to draft much younger guys that they can mold in the team's vision. Tuliaupupu is already the player he is always going to be. He could walk into a few locker rooms currently in the NFL where he is one of the older linebackers, as a rookie. He would be going on 28 his first season in the NFL. That is some players' prime, or even late prime. He would just be entering the league. I just don't see a NFL front office taking a chance on a rookie only two years away from 30. Maybe Tuliaupupu knows this, knows that he will be done after college football, so he is just trying to make as much as he can at Montana. Or maybe he just loves the game and doesn't want to stop playing until he absolutely has to. But this is just overkill. This is where some of the problems lie with waivers and the portal and NIL. Some guys get preferential treatment, and it almost feels like they give it to players who are not in a power 4 conference. There's far fewer players that make the league that are not on a power 4 conference team. And when they do, they are usually older and undrafted. But they are not 28 as a rookie.

Props to this guy for playing the game he loves for as long as possible, but there has to be a point where a player moves on and tries to be a professional. Being a 27 year old fifth year senior is too much and needs to be fixed. I'll be curious to see him play just because he is far too old to be a college athlete, but this is the state of the game at the moment. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts on Super Bowl LX

Super Bowl 60 happened last night and I have some takes. I'll start with the game.

The game was very dull for the first three quarters. I love a defensive battle, but this was more akin to the offenses playing poorly. Neither team could move the ball after their first drive. The Seahawks got a field goal out of it and the Patriots had something happening, but a sack stalled any momentum they had. After that it was a bunch of punts. The Seahawks were able to move the ball a little here and there. The Patriots could not do a damn thing. They were a three and out machine. I will say, part of it was the Seahawks defense. They were all over the Patriots offense. They were attacking the left side of their o line, which is their weak spot, and they ravaged the QB and run game. Devion Witherspoon was constantly in the backfield. The d line was getting pressure on almost every play. If I was a Patriots fan, it would have been abhorrent to watch. Lucky for me I'm not a fan, so this was a delight to watch. The Seahawks were able to get a few more field goals and head into halftime with a 9-0 lead. The second half was much better. The Seahawks finally got the first td of the game. Sam Darnold threw a nice pass to AJ Barner, who was wide open. This was the point where I figured the Seahawks were in control. That was most definitely the case. Sure, the Patriots scored a td early on in the fourth to make it a 12 point game, but it was never going to get closer than that. The Seahawks added a field goal, then they swarmed the Patriots on a pass rush that resulted in a pick 6. At that point, with the score 29-7, it was all over but the shouting. The Patriots scored a meaningless td with about 2 minutes left to cut it to a 16 point lead, but it was all done.

My final thoughts on the actual game, it was boring and dull. But it was cool to see these two defenses show up ready to play. Both the D's were fast and furious. They wanted to hit everything in sight. The Patriots were close to multiple interceptions. The Seahawks capitalized on turnovers, causing a fumble and the aforementioned pick 6. They also got a late interception that all but sealed the game. Both teams got tons of pressure all night as well. It was nice to see some modern teams playing ferocious defense for once. But both QB's had subpar games. The Patriots couldn't run the ball either. The Seahawks were able to run, and that was what separated them. They were able to sustain drives for longer periods of game time. Kenneth Walker had a massive game, leading to him winning Super Bowl MVP. Barner had a solid game, as did Cooper Kupp, which they needed due to JSN being held in check and missing time due to a concussion. The Seahawks o line, while not great, played better than the Patriots, and they opened up more running holes for their backs. The Seahawks were the better team on paper and on the field and they earned their rings. Mike MacDonald had a great gameplan, his coaches and players ran it to perfection and they dominated this game pretty much from start to finish. Congrats to the Seahawks on their championship.

As for the stuff outside the game, let's talk about it. Bad Bunny put on one hell of a halftime show. He is quite the showman and he had an energized and fun show. I liked that he brought out Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin. I saw that Pedro Pascal, Jessica Alba and Cardi B, among others, were on stage dancing during the halftime show. I also loved that his whole show was about love being stronger than hate. I liked that he brought out what looked like the 5 year old that was detained by monsters to present him with the Grammy he just won. The show was lively and easy to dance along with and just a good time. I liked it quite a bit.

As for the commercials, nothing really stuck out to me. I don't like that celebs are doing most of these commercials. Commercials should be for actors trying to break into the business. That was how it used to be, but now we have superstars doing commercials. I feel it takes away from the fun of older ads. I wasn't as stoked for the Dunkin commercial as years past. I will say I did like the one with Chris Hemsworth and the other one Matthew McCoungehey and Bradley Cooper. But that was about it.

All in all it was like most other Super Bowls. The game was off until it was on, the halftime was fun and the commercials were just fine. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

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Thoughts on James Harden Going to The Cavaliers

Yesterday I wrote about a big trade involving the NBA team I root for. Well, the NBA decided they had to pull off an even bigger trade a few hours after JJJ was moved to Utah. Let’s discuss.

James Harden is on the move yet again. He started his career with the Thunder, and wasn't happy with the fact that he wasn't the focal point of the offense. They traded him to the Rockets and he had his best years with them. But he grew tired of each new star player they brought in to play with him so he decided he wanted to team up with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant and forced his way to Brooklyn. When Kyrie wouldn't get vaccinated and KD couldn't stay on the floor, he decided he wanted to play with Joel Embiid and edged his way to the 76ers. When that blew up in his face he decided he wanted to go home and play for the Clippers. And that actually seemed to be working out just fine. He didn't have to be the focal point, he was back home and he was playing pretty well. But he didn't get the contract he wanted, and even though he may have made some claims today saying he did not request a trade, he has found his way to Cleveland, being traded for Darius Garland and a second round pick.

I want to believe Harden when he says he didn't request a trade and that he wants a chance to play in the finals and that that is easier in the Eastern Conference and he wanted to leave the Clippers in a better space to rebuild quicker, but I just don't buy it. James Harden is a good enough offensive basketball player. He is a willing and very good passer. He is a tremendous three point shooter. He can still get to his spots on the floor. He shoots a ton of free throws. He is a ball stopper and constantly needs it in his hands, but he usually ends up doing good things with it in the long run. He can just come out and admit he wanted out of LA because he thought that it was going to be next to impossible to get to the Finals in the West. He is a mercenary. That has come to be his thing in the NBA, and I don't mind it from his perspective. He wants to get paid, he likes going to new and different cities and he usually helps that team win. And he is getting close to the end of his career, and maybe he truly does want a shot at a ring. I don't know if I fully believe that, but maybe this move is his last, and best shot at a Finals appearance.

The East is not close to the level of the West, the Cavs are getting better everyday and they can make a strong push to close the season out and make a deep run in the playoffs. Now, will the usual Harden show up in the playoffs? The guy that disappears in crucial moments? History points to yes. But maybe Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley can help him overcome that stigma. That's the best part for the Cavs too. They did have to trade a key piece in Garland, but they got to keep everyone else. Donovan Mitchell is still their top player. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen will protect the rim and rebound the ball. Jaylen Tyson has been a total revelation. They have a solid bench, especially for the East. This is a good team that will be even better on offense with the addition of Harden. Harden is going to take some pressure off Mitchell, get three point shooters wide open looks and have Allen and Mobley rolling to the rim for lob dunks. This will only help the Cavs, unless playoff James Harden shows up, which is very likely.

The Clippers got a point guard that is 10 years younger than Harden. He is twitchier and faster than Harden. He isn't a great defender, but he is much better on that end than Harden. He doesn't have the ego Harden has either. But Garland is almost always hurt. The past two seasons have been filled with random, weird injuries that seem to pop up out of nowhere. Garland just cannot seem to stay on the court. Harden always plays. He barely misses games. Garland misses a ton. But I think, if they keep this group together, the Clippers did get wildly younger at point guard. They just need Garland to play. Kawhi Leonard is having a great season. Brook Lopez has started to look more like himself. Kris Dunn is an elite defender. And Ivica Zubac is looking more and more like himself with every passing game. I think the Cavs "won" the deal with Harden coming over. But the Clippers got younger and faster, as long as Garland plays 20 to 25 of the last 30 plus games.

I'm very curious to see how this all plays out for the rest of the season. But what I do know, the Cavs are going to push their way to a three or four seed and get home court because James Harden brings wins with him wherever he is traded to. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.

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