[upbeat music] Wanna welcome in Marcus L. to the podcast, the general manager of Scoreboard by Clipped. Marcus, always great to see you. We got a lot of college golf to talk about. Yeah. I appreciate you having me on.
I'm, I'm currently at Omni La Costa. We got the women's final match going off in right about an hour, or an hour 12 minutes if, if, if we wanna be e- exact. So, you know, we got
number one versus number two, Stanford and USC, what everybody wanted to see. So it's, it's gonna be an exciting afternoon. It's, it's been a great women's championship so far.
What, what's it, what's it like just on the grounds during this week? It's weird. Like, because, 'cause every, you know... In every other sport, it's like a crescendo to the finals.
And it definitely is a crescendo to the finals as far as, like, the teams getting better and, like, the stakes are higher and obviously like that.
But, like, on site there's less teams, and college golf is kind of a mom and dad fan kind of thing, so that typically means less people, right? So your, your quarterfinals matches are pretty packed.
You know, your stroke d- play days are, are pretty, pretty good, especially, like, on that Monday Memorial Day.
But then when you get to the final match, it's just, like, there's only five tee times and, like, there's just not a whole lot of people here sometimes. You know, the parking lot's not as full. Yeah.
You know, you know, that kind of deal. So it, it does feel kind of weird a little bit, 'cause it's just not as, just not as many people, not as much fanfare. But, like, the golf is as good as it gets, you know? Yeah.
I guess match play has that kind of cadence to it anyways, right? Even if you think about, like, you go to a US Am and- Yeah... the first two days are packed, and then you slowly, the range is quieter. Right.
Uh, it just gets a little bit, a little bit less. Obviously the crowds might get a little bit bigger and you- Right... uh, down in La Costa.
You're probably not gonna attract a lot of kind of just people who wanna come watch a finals because it's on a resort and it's- Yeah. Not, not on a We-... it's a different dynamic...
not on a W- not on a Wednesday at 2:30. [laughs] Let me put it that way. Yeah, yeah. That, that probably has a lot to do with it, too. Not on, not on a Wednesday at 2:30. But you'll start to see...
'Cause, like, a lot of the men's teams are starting to come in now. So, you know- Yep... start seeing each of the men's teams, the coaches, players, you know, their mom and dads.
You know, you've got, you know, for example, Arkansas played in a semifinal yesterday. So, like, all the Arkansas men were out following. So you'll start to see- Yeah... kind of crossing of, of those teams.
Stanford's probably gonna come out and watch. I think USC on the men's side, uh, it, it will, is in the field obviously as well. So they'll, they'll probably come out and watch the final match just at- Yeah...
some capacity, too.
So once they kinda, especially as you get to 18, if you have some matches kind of get into that loop of, like, 15, 16, 17, 18, which is right by the clubhouse, it'll start to get pretty congested there as we get to the end.
But to start it's not always, it's not al- as always big as, as, as you may think it may be. It's cool that there's a bunch of men's teams who have- Yeah... women's, you know, compatriots- Sure... competing as well.
That's... So the schedule, that's kind of one of the things that I was, wanted to pick your brain about, mainly because of Eastern Michigan [laughs] winning yesterday.
And I guess let's start with them and then, like, just the day they had yesterday. Like, they were 226th in the wor- in the world, in the country- [laughs]... two years ago. You could say the world.
I looked up who's 226 right now. East Texas A&M, and Clipped is ranked 226. Like- Unfortunately, I, I don't think they have $14.5 million coming tomorrow either. Okay. Yeah.
So I, I read a little bit, but it sounds like they got a big infusion of cash. They got a, a former Georgia coach. Still, like, you gotta put the ball in the hole and- Right... and beat some of these...
I mean, they beat Texas. They got- Yeah... through regionals. And, and then there they were.
[laughs] They beat Texas in the quarterfinals, and then they have to, like, turn around an hour later and literally go play Stanford. [laughs] Yes. Where it's like- Yes. Yeah... congratulations, you slayed the dragon.
Here comes Goliath- Right... around the corner. Um- We have three dragons now. Yeah, yeah. [laughs] Uh, it's, it's such an... You know,
you can, you can break it down just kinda, like, on the micro level of what did Eastern Michigan do, and the money infused, and the coach they got, and the way he recruited, right? Bringing players from Georgia.
You know, recruiting a little bit differently. You know, I think many have heard the story of the, of the two sisters that may or may not be spending most of their time in California, not on campus. I cannot...
Like, honestly, I cannot confi- I've heard, I've heard both sides. I really don't know. Yeah, yeah. Um, like you, you can, you can look at it, like, in that micro sense of this is what Eastern Michigan did.
But you can also just look at it in the macro, right? Like, that's just kinda what college athletics is starting to, to become. So, like, it's, it's weird. From what we're used to at least it's weird.
But that doesn't mean it's not gonna become, I, I hate to say more normal, 'cause, like, we just talked about the number 200, 2016. I think you said it was East Texas A&M or something like that. Yeah.
It's not gonna happen again tomorrow. I'm sorry. No. Like, it's just not gonna happen.
So this isn't just gonna be like everybody's got a donor that's gonna shell out $15 million to woo some coaches from other programs or build a new practice facility.
Like, that's just not, that's not gonna pop up everywhere. It's still gonna be Power Four dominated.
It's still gonna be maybe some, some kind of programs that have, have a historically good golf program still getting some money in there. You're not gonna get a bunch of Eastern Michigans.
I will also say, too, like, like you said, you can throw as much money as you want at it, they still had to go beat Texas. You know what I mean? Yeah. [laughs] They'll...
Which, that, like, their ranking, even their ranking, which is, again, a culmination of their, of their results throughout the year, still would not suggest that they should be in the Final Four. Right.
So I don't care how they got there, it's still miraculous that they were even in that position to compete.
And they, I mean, day one after, I think after their stroke play around, it was like, "All right, are they gonna hang around?" And then they kept hanging around, and they kept hanging around.
And they were really never in jeopardy of missing the top eight, you know? Yeah. So, like, they, they, they balled out all week, you know? So it was s- s- suits... You know, kudos to them.
But I, I think it, I think it speaks more to the macro of, of what's going on in college athletics across the board more than it does, "Oh my gosh, look what, what happened to Eastern Michigan," you know? Yeah, yeah.
I wonder if we'll see it... I mean, you're an Indiana guy, right? Like, we saw it in football a little bit. It's different, but, like, this team that has been, you know, historically terrible- Bad.
Indiana has, is ba- Like, I'm from Indiana. I think, I was talking to Lance Ringler the other, the other day. They were the losingest-... football program in the Amer- you know, in college football until this year. Yeah.
And now it's- Yeah... Northwestern. So, you know, so, like, it's... That's what Indiana does, is lose football games until now. [laughs] Until now. Yeah. You know? Like, that's what they do, you know? Yeah.
But I think, I think we'll probably see maybe more of those that just... I think March Madness has always created those dynamics, and maybe they're just gonna pop up more in, in s- different sports.
And- I would, I would-... the people who pay attention to the niche sports will see them more than- Yeah... you know. I mean, not many people know about Eastern Michigan and what, what just happened, but you're right.
Like, on the macro level, there's someone looking around like, "Oh, they did this at Eastern Michigan. How could we do this in volleyball? How could we do this- Right... in some other sport?- Right...
not necessarily golf?" Right. And it... And, and you got... I mean, and you, you gotta say too, right, like, because of this performance, that investment has probably paid off already, right?
Because everybody's talking about it. At least in the golf world, everybody's talking about it.
Now you got E- Eastern Michigan as something that's being spoken amongst these circles, you know, now becomes some, you know, a place that other players may want to go to, knowing that there's probably some NIL money on the table, right?
So, so, so far, investment well spent, you know? Yeah. It really... Investment well spent. Yeah. There's a quote that's like, "College sports, college sports are the school's front porch." It's like the- Right, right...
I think that's the phrase, or front yard or something. Yeah. Like, it just gets people looking at your house, and then- Yeah... suddenly they're interested. Yeah. Uh, all right.
So and then Stanford goes on and beats them 5-0. They're in the final, like you said, against- Yeah... USC. That's gonna go on. So, like, by the time this is out, that'll be done. Yeah.
It could be an e- epic match, but we have no idea yet, and I hope it is. Um, so let's talk about the men- Yep... a little bit. The men are getting ready. I had...
So there's a, there's a Massachusetts kid on the Vanderbilt team. I had him- Okay... on last week, and it came out this week, talking about the Vanderbilt team. So that's a team I've kinda been tracking all year.
But to be honest, like, haven't watched or followed as closely as I used to when, when I was with amateur golf. And but just looking through some of the...
There were some surprising teams that just did not make it through this year, I think more, maybe more so than in the past. I'm looking at Texas Tech and Illinois specifically.
But for you, were there any other teams that k- were... Felt like they should be there, or are sitting home right now thinking, like, "Man, we really [laughs] should be in La Costa"?
I think you, you can go about it a bunch of different ways, right? You can obviously look at the number next to the team and say, "Okay, lowest ranked team here. Why are they not there?"
Which is gonna be Texas Tech, right? Yep. Seventh. I, I would- Seventh in the country. Right. Seventh ranked team in the country. Yeah. Right? And, and obviously that, that is a shocker.
I, I would also say, too, right, like, as we just talk about thinking about leaderboards and who won what tournaments, I don't know if Texas Tech's name is, came up a lot for me, so that is why it doesn't necessarily shock me.
I, I, I, I lean more towards the Illinois route just because they go every year, you know? Like, a, a national championship without Mike Small there is, is different, you know? So, like, that was more the shock for me.
You could also go one more. Charlotte had a really good year. I think they were maybe 19th in the country, and they didn't make it.
And I say that to say not necessarily that I'm surprised they didn't make it, but the windows, I think, are so much smaller for a program like Charlotte than they are for an Illinois or Texas Tech.
Illinois and Texas Tech are probably gonna be top 15 teams again next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that, right? Programs like a Charlotte,
it takes four years to get to number 19. [laughs] Yeah. I mean, it may take 10 years to get to number 19, 'cause you're building and building and building and building.
So, like, if this was their window, and, like, this was their peak, and they didn't make it to a national championship... And again, I, I have no clue. I don't know how many people they got coming back.
I really have no clue. I'm just speculating here. But, like, if this was kind of their peak of what they were building for the last four or five years, that would be a shock, disappointment.
It's like, okay, now we gotta go through this all over again and try to build for f- another four or five years to get another team that good, and then hopefully make it again. You know, it's... Mike Small will- Yeah.
He's gonna reload next year, you know? Yeah. Sands is gonna reload next year at Texas Tech. They'll be fine. So I, I, I got, I got to thinking about Charlotte as well, just of, uh... Yeah.
What, what, what will, what will it look like for them moving forward if, if this was kind of their chance? 'Cause they had a real- they had a really, really good year. Yeah. And yeah, and you mentioned Sands and Small.
Like, I think it's also just a surprise for two teams that are, that were at least ranked that high. [laughs] Yeah. With coaches who are...
You know, if you're, if you ask someone who are the five best coaches in college golf, like, those two guys are gonna come up in- They're gonna be in the conversation... most conversations.
Long Beach State was another one that I jotted down. Which, to be honest, like, not a team I had paid any attention to. I know, like, Ian Gilligan was there and left a- Yeah... few years ago. [laughs] And think that's...
So that was a team that just surprised me, that they were, I think, in... I kind of, I did what you said you shouldn't do. I went and looked at the numbers and, like, figured, all right, if you're in the- [laughs]...
like, if you're around 30, maybe you're on the cusp and- Yeah... you had a bad week. Yeah. But if you're inside, like, that 20 window- Yeah... and you don't make it. What, how would you...
What round of, like, March Madness basketball is equivalent to just making the nationals? Is that, like s- is that, like, the expectation of a Sweet 16?
And so you get teams who are like, "Holy crap, we made it to Sweet 16," [laughs] and other teams are like, "We did. We were supposed to be here."
And then you get that window of teams that are like, "We blew it the first weekend." I think that's absolutely it. I think- Yeah...
regionals is, like, your 64, you know, round, and we're like, there's a lot of teams that know they're not gonna make it, but they're having a great time. [laughs] You know what I mean? [laughs] Yep.
And, and, and there's more, you know, and there's more pressure on the Illinois of like, all right, if we don't make it out, like, we're gonna look bad.
Like, we don't wanna be the two versus 15 upset, you know, in that first round. You know? That, like that's kinda Illino- you know. There, there, there's a- Yeah...
there's a, there's a, a thought among coaches and in the college golf world that, like, regionals is more stressful than nationals, because, like, it's about just getting to nationals.
And I, I, and I feel like Sweet 16 is probably like that too. You know, maybe a Tom Izzo's like, "Yo, there, it's... We just gotta get to the Sweet 16," is the pressure part.
Then we g- just gotta win a couple more games, right? All the best teams- Yeah... are, whatever. I would say that's a really good comparison.
I would also say, too, because, like, you'll have some teams here that, I mean, again, similar to regionals, but not in the same sense.
They obviously de- deserve to be here-But they're, you know, they are Cinderellas, they are George Mason, right? Where it's like, all right, we're in the Sweet 16 now. We can do anything. If we lose- Yeah... cool.
But if we win, cool. [laughs] You know? That, that's just kind of what it is. Y- you know what I mean? Like, th- th- there's, they're, they're playing with house money at this point. Yeah.
They've already made their AD happy. They've already gotten- Yeah... enough buzz in a recruiting standpoint. Like, they, they've, they've already, they've already succeeded.
So like, you know, if they come out and play well and have four good, or three good days even, that, that was a successful trip for them, you know? Yeah, yeah.
Ryan Downes even said, talking about Vanderbilt had a horrendous SEC season. Mm-hmm. And he said, "We just like, just reset, took a couple days off." And he said, "We were s- super anxious going into regionals
just for that reason." Like we- Yeah... had two bad weeks in a row and you're not- Yeah... you're not heading to California. So yeah, [laughs] he kind of said the same thing.
Like they were nervous and, or at least there's just an anxiety around it. Yeah. How about teams, you mentioned kind of that idea of Cinderella teams that maybe wouldn't make a Sweet 16.
Who are some teams for you that maybe surprise you that also maybe could make a little bit of noise this week? So, so there's two that surprise, there's one that could make noise. So the, the, the two surprises...
The, the one big surprise for me is Memphis. And this is not an active- Yeah... but like I don't think any of us, especially from just like a golf program standpoint, expected Memphis to make it out of the regional.
They also played at Columbus, which if you go by scores and just by anybody that's played that golf course, that is the hardest golf course that i- at, that like a regional will be hosted at.
I think Florida won by like 20 something at even- [laughs] They did, yeah... at like even par or something like that, right? Like they didn't, you know what I mean? It's not like they shot 12 under or anything.
Like they- Yes. Yeah... it's a tough golf course. I think Memphis made it through at plus 25, and they were like third in the regional or something like that, right?
Like, it's a really tough golf course, really tough regional, but you know, Blake Smart and Isaiah Jackson have done a really good job there.
So to see them get through, I think the progression for them too, I was kinda looking at their rankings. You know, I think it's what? High s- high 60s, maybe low 70s, sometimes it's kind of that bubble number.
They were outside, or they were right at 70, I think, before they played their conference championship. Finished second, so they didn't get an automatic bid, but that pushed them right into being a little bit more safe.
Yeah. Right? And then they go place third in the regional, now they're, you know, ranked 55 or 60 or something like that, right? So it's like- Yeah... they barely got in.
They were barely in a regional to start with, to then finish third at what I would consider the toughest from a golf source, golf course standpoint, um, out of that regional. That was super impressive.
I think the other one is Chattanooga. I, I think those am- amongst that have seen them play and have seen their team and that know Blaine aren't surprised.
But from a ranking standpoint, I understand where the surprise come from. But like I've seen them a couple years in a row, and I've seen what Blaine's built.
Like I, I go to the w- the Western Intercollegiate at Pasta Tempo just about every year, and they're a team that gets in there because, not because, but you know, Pepperdine's in, he's a former assistant at Pepperdine, so there's a relationship there.
That's how these things work. Uh, so they're in the tournament, and I've seen them play and I'm like, man, he, they're, they're good. Like they, they're scrappy and they compete.
You, you go look at their tournament list of like, you know, you could say, oh, they finished 8 out of 15 here and 9 out of whatever here, but it's some of the best tournaments in college golf.
Like they have a really tough schedule. So they're not afraid of playing against the big dogs either 'cause they've seen it all year, you know?
So I, I think that's, that's something to be said when they get into a regional or whatever, it's like, yeah, we, we've played with all these teams before.
You know, like they're, they're not really shocked or, you know, intimidated by playing with a, an LSU or something like that, you know?
I, I, so I'm, I'm not shocked, but from a numbers wise, obviously they weren't necessarily supposed to make it that far. Yeah.
Are they a team that you kind of, you said there's, there, those were your two, and you said one could possibly- That would be the one... maybe make a little noise is Chattanooga. Yeah. That would be the one.
I mean, it would be, it would be super Cinderella if it were them. If, if, if we were going to say like a team outside of, let's call it the top 10, top 15, that has a chance to make match play- Yeah...
I think it would be USC. I, I got a lot of faith in what Mark Hankins is building there, and Colton Locke as assis- assistant coach.
I, I texted Hankins the other day 'cause he, he was at, uh, I think Missouri at one point, Nebraska at one point, Iowa at one point, and kinda all rebuilds. And I was like- Yeah...
"Man, you just cannot stay away from a rebuild, can you?" He's like, "Buddy, I can't." [laughs] So he's, you know, so that's what he's doing at USC.
They kinda had a low period where they were trying to figure out the direction of the program. And I think in year, what is, whatever this is, two or three, I mean, he's got them to a top 25 program.
I think they're right at 23 or something like that right now. Uh, but that, that's a team that like, they, they got some guys and they can play. You know, I think they had the Big 10 Player of the Year this year.
So they, they've, they've got some guys that I wouldn't be surprised if, if they, uh, if they have a really good, really strong performance this week. That bastion of Big Ten golf. [laughs] Yeah. So. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah.
Long time Big Ten, uh- The cradle of Big Ten. I still can't, like my brain- Yeah... does not compute it yet. But, but listen, I, yeah.
W- every time I see their like uniforms now and it's got the patch on there, the Big Ten patch, and I'm like, eh, it just doesn't look right. [laughs] Yeah.
I was doing something about Micah Thorburn, and I think I, I just like off the cuff said Pac-10. Yeah. And then I was like, oh my, it, I mean, that's long gone. And it's, and someone was like, "It's the Pac-12."
I was like, it used to be the Pac-10. It's been so many things. [laughs] Just- Yeah, exactly. Yeah... I'm old. I'm old. Yeah. And now they're trying to come back, so now we gotta do it all over again. Yeah.
How about just La Costa in general as, as a venue? This is our th- Third... and I'm, I'm more thinking about like this is the third year. Grayhawk was three years. Mm-hmm.
And I remember, I can't remember the name of the, the W- the Wake Forest women's coach. They won the last year at La Costa. Yeah.
And she was talking about like how much data and how much information they were actually just kinda gathered over the first two years. That third year, they were really good, and they won. Uh,
are, is there, maybe you saw with the women
this time around, but like the third year, is there, has there been anything that shows like some teams a little bit more comfortable or teams with seniors or players who have been there for two or three years competing there?
Does it, has it made any difference, or is this like, is there any even anecdotal evidence? [laughs] Right. Yeah. I, I think this is gonna be more subjective than data-driven, but- That's what we do here. Yes.
[laughs]I, I don't... I think the experience piece of it is overrated from a golf course standpoint, especially in stroke play.
Like, you, you, you look at just about any, any year, any golf course, even, even when we were at Grayhawk, you're typically gonna get the best teams finishing in order after four rounds of stroke play, right?
It doesn't... I don't care if you're a freshman, sophomore, junior, first time here, whatever. The, the guys hit- and, and girls, hit the golf shots, right?
They know, "I'm supposed to hit it here, so I'm gonna hit it there," right? I- this isn't, this isn't a golf course that's tricky. It's hard.
It definitely asks you to hit some tough shots, like 15 is one of the coolest holes I've ever seen, and the pin locations that they use there are awesome. 16 is a tough hole.
It's gotten better because the greens are more resp- re- uh, receptive. It's definitely grown in since year one, and I think that has changed how the golf course plays.
But, like, as far as just being here multiple years, I really don't think there's an advantage necessarily in stroke play. I would understand it for match play, just because you're used to the cadence and the routine.
So a team like an Auburn is not unfamiliar with that schedule of, "Okay, we've played four rounds. Now we gotta do this draw party. We're gonna get something to eat.
Okay, I gotta recover because the first tee time's 6:50. I don't exactly know what time I'm teeing off yet because Golf Channel's deciding what time I tee off.
Then I gotta get the break in b- in the middle, and then we're gonna have this after..." You know what I mean?
Just kind of all of those things, as opposed to, like, in Eastern Michigan, where they're kind of deer in headlights. "Okay, what's next, Coach? Where do we go now?" You know what I mean?
Like, that part I think is a little bit different once you get to, to match play. But as far as stroke play, I, I honestly think just the best teams end up playing well. Like, it's not really an experience.
You either got it that week or you don't. Yeah. You know? And, and the best teams end up playing.
And I think we saw it on the women's side, like even from a stroke play standpoint, it wasn't necessarily one, two, three, four, five from a rankings order.
But the two best teams in the field clearly played better than everybody else. Yeah. And it, you know, and it's not because they've been here before. It's 'cause they're better than you guys. Like, it's that simple.
[laughs] Yeah, yeah. They're better, they're better than everybody else. Yeah. And, you know, and I, I imagine we'll see something similar on the men's side. Yeah. Individuals, just men's individual. Yeah.
Any, like, general thoughts about this group of players, the top end of it? I think very similar to the women's side. When there's 156 players in the field,
and, and maybe more so on the men's side because y- I, I think many people would agree with this, just it's... The men's side is deeper. It's much more compact as far as, like, talent level, right?
Like, you, you know, on the women's side there's, there's a big difference between Fara, O'Keefe, and the fourth player on, I'm gonna call out a random school, I'm sorry, but let's say Texas Tech, right?
Like, that's, there's a big difference between that, right? Yeah.
Sure, there's a gap between Jackson Koivinen and the fifth player on whoever, but, like, you know, there's players on Vanderbilt that at, at any given moment are better than Jackson Koivinen, right?
There's players on LSU at any given moment, any given four-round stretch, that are just as good if not better than Jackson Koivinen, right? And, and that's just how it works on the men's side.
It's a little bit deeper player to player, team to team, right?
So I think all you really ask for in a, in a 156-player field is that those names do end up at the top, 'cause we, we want to root for those legacy-type building things. And this goes for all levels of golf, right?
We, we do the same thing with, at US Opens and PGA Tour events, right? We want to see Scottie Scheffler contending for a Grand Slam at the US... You know what I mean? We want that. Yeah.
So I, I think that's all we want here is, like, sure, if it's, you know, we want to see a Jackson Koivinen and a Preston Stout, or, you know, I think a lot of people are claiming for Ben James, 'cause he hasn't kind of knocked off a big one yet.
I mean, we'd love to see- Yeah... Koivinen and Ben James battle down the stretch. You know, or even, you know, my sleeper is, is the kid from BYU, Akina. Like, and- Yeah... 'cause he's had a really good year.
Like, if he pops up on the leaderboard, like, that's what we want to see. Not to say we wouldn't love a whoever from whatever, but... [laughs] Wells Williams or, yeah, someone- Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
But, you know, but you know what I mean. Like, we, it's not that we wouldn't love that, and, and that it would mean they didn't play well or whatever.
But I think, I think from a legacy standpoint, we, we, like, we want to see the big names up there. We want to see it mean something for their careers, if that makes sense. Yeah. I mean, it's wild to think
whatever, three or four years later, Gordon Sargent and Chikara were... And who was the third guy in that? There was a three-man playoff that year that Sargent won as a freshman. It's not Ludwig, was it?
I don't think it was Ludwig. I, I remember walking down the fairway. And w- and that may have been for, like, a team something. But I remember walking down the fairway scoring one, and Ludwig Åberg was in there.
And I was like, "Oh, this is pretty cool." Yeah. [laughs] I mean, I watched him play at Yale- Yeah. [laughs]... his junior year. Yeah. Just, like, went, drove down there- 100%...
and it was him and the, like, UNC Austin Greaser team. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Just, like, wandering around following Ludwig play Yale. Yeah. [laughs] It's insane.
Like, I don't think people realize, just go to amateur tournaments. [laughs] Oh, yeah. You don't know who you're gonna run into. Exactly. You don't know who you're gonna watch. Ex- exactly. Exactly.
Um, but that would be super cool if we ended up with, with, uh... And obviously, like, the Masters invite is- I always forget about that part, too, yeah. Yeah.
And if Koivinen or James or Stout get it, I mean, if they win, I don't even know if... They're not gonna be amateurs next year. No. But if Akina wins it- Right... that's awesome. Yeah.
Sophomore from BYU going to- Yeah... going to the Masters, uh, would be super, would be super cool, yeah. So that, it feels to me like there is a big three. It's James, Stout, Koivinen.
And then, like, that next group is very good, but those are the three guys for me that- Yeah, yeah... feel like are- Yeah... the cream of the crop. Yeah. And all you ask for, again, is that, just that their...
You, you hope that their names are up there in contention as we're watching Golf Channel coverage on Monday. That's all you ask for, you know? Yeah. Yeah. That's all you ask. You mentioned Golf Channel driving tee times.
Yeah. Can you expl- can you explain that? So it used to be, and boy, I hope I'm not wrong, but I'm pretty sure I'm not wrong.
[laughs] It used to be, so, like, we, you know, from a, from a tournament admin standpoint, you know, you got the NCAA committee. They've got their participant manual, right?
And it tells you, you know, "Here's the tee times. Seeds one, two, three, four, five, six, seven go off in this order off the front. And then the other seeds go off of this.
And then on day two it does this, and we flip, and da, da, da. Says where everybody's supposed to tee off." For the match play days, it is, it used to say that it was, like, one V eight and four V five.
And then in the second wave it was then what? You're two, seven, and- Three, six... three, six. Yeah. Right? Now it just says, like, match one, match two, match three, match four.
And essentially what happens is after that stroke play day on Monday's done, they get together with Golf Channel and kind of say, "Who do we want-In our coverage window. Yeah. So they, so they- Okay...
somewhat determine who goes where depending on who they want to be, kinda, in that, you know, in that progression of what's in the coverage window.
So it used to be kinda straightforward, but like when I'm doing the draw party now, I'm like, I can't do any of my pre-work 'cause I'm waiting for, you know, which is not a bad thing.
But Golf- you know, Golf Channel's kinda dictating who's, who's teeing off when, you know? [laughs] I did, I didn't realize that. That's- Yeah. That's kinda crazy. Yes. So a- after, after, what was it?
I think it was after,
yeah, after we de- uh, determined the eight during the women's, J- Justin Silverstein of USC is sitting with his team and they're eating their, their, uh, their dinner on the, on the practice putting green.
He's like, "Hey, do you, you know what time we tee off?" I was like, "Ah, honestly, I don't know." I was like, "You should be..." And he's like, "Well, remember Golf Channel does it now."
And I was like, "Yeah, that's right. I did forget that." Yeah, that Golf Channel kinda determines where everybody goes, so. That's it. I mean, to be the, like, does it really matter? For them it does.
But like to the ratings, I just, I'd be, I c- people, sickos are gonna just turn the... I don't know how many people are like, "Oh, I gotta tune in to watch- Right. And I, and I-... Ben James and Jackson Koywon."
I don't think they're, like, moving the n- maybe I'm wrong. Right. But it just feels like the golf should just be on.
I think from a match play standpoint too, right, like you, you have to wonder, like, what is their definition of moving the needle, right?
So like is it because this is a good match up or is it because it's a brand that everybody loves, right? So for example, like, I think Stanford was the later match playing Pepperdine,
which I think they waxed them, right, like 5-0, right? Yeah. That was your later window, and it's like that's not ratings, but everybody wants to watch Stanford. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean?
But the better match really was the early one, which J- that's why Justin thought he was gonna go off late, was USC and Duke. Like, that was a dog fight. Yeah. Ram Maleksi beat Jasmine Ku. I watched the first nine holes.
Ram Maleksi was eight under through 14. You know what I mean? Like, it, it was a- Yeah... phenomenal match. I think they, I think USC won 3-2, but like they went back and forth and it came down to the final match.
Like, to me, that would've been ratings, but like it just depends on what is driving the ratings, you know? So that- Yeah... those are the kind of things they go through. Yeah, yeah.
All right, let's get to, uh, let's get to some picks. Let's do it. Um. I had to write 'em down. I did too. [laughs] Let's get it.
[laughs] I mean, it's so, it, yeah, I, why don't you, if you can read a team or you can read your eight and anything that matches, I'll match, and then we can talk about anything- Okay...
anything different or, like, storylines that we think might pop up from some of these. Okay.
I think, I think your locks for match play, and I'm, I'm gonna do 'em by the, the way, or like I'm gonna give you the seeding as well, that they're seeded in like the- Oh... NCAA manual, right? Okay.
Because they have, like, a tournament seeding based on rankings, regional finish, whatever. So I think your locks are gonna be your top four seeds, which are Auburn is one. Yep. Lourdes two, Texas three, Virginia four.
I think they're locks. Yeah. I agree with you. It's hard for any of them to not be in the top eight.
I think after that, I think number five, Oklahoma State has a decent showing as defending champions and still makes it in the top eight. I'm going to go LSU as well. Okay. They're seven.
North Carolina, because I'm extremely biased. Uh, they are the ninth seed. [laughs] I li- I live too close to there. I like their, I like their coaches. I li- I like their program. Go Tar Heels.
And then I think the Oklahoma one's gonna happen, the 15th seed. I think Hibbard's last ride is gonna be something this week. Hi- Hibbard, you're familiar with this, correct? I, I, I am.
I, but you're gonna say something that I think is gonna su- surprise me, 'cause I, he's still coaching. Yes. He's not, he didn't just leave. No.
So he's finishing out this season, and then he's [laughs] going to Ge- Georgia Tech. Correct. And I think that works for a guy like Hibbard. I don't think that works for a lot of people.
I- I, that's why I assumed he was just gone. Yeah. I don't think that works for a lot of people. Hi- Hib- Hibbard's a special dude. Like, he, he's a rally the troops type of dude.
He's a run through a brick wall type of coach. You know what I mean? I, I, I imagine as soon as that news broke, he had a very honest conversation with his pr- players, was like, "Hey."
'Cause what it, from what it seems like, I know there's a bunch of reports flying around, but like, "It's time to move back with family, and all my family's in Georgia." So he wants to go back.
Georgia didn't offer him the job. Georgia didn't call about the job. So he wants, so he's like, "Georgia Tech's open. I'm gonna go do that," right?
Doesn't seem like OU slighted him or didn't wanna pay him or anything like that. Doesn't seem like it's bl- bad blood.
They've got the associate head coach who's gonna do a great job as well, and, uh, Jonathan Moore I think his name is. So I, I bet he's looking at his guys like, "Yo, I'm not leaving you guys as, like, I'm just ditching.
Let's, let's go ride this thing out one last time and see how far we can get, and then, and then let's move on." So I, I imagine that's gonna be a big rallying cry for their program.
And he, you know, it's hard to count Hibbard out too. Like, the, hi- his teams are always scrappy, so I wouldn't be surprised if they at least get to the eight. Yeah. Guys, there were them. I, I scratched them out.
I had them written down, and I scratched them out. I have all the first five that you mentioned I have as well. LSU, North Carolina, and Oklahoma I do not have. Okay. I had Ole Miss.
I was thinking about- I'm, like, secretly kind of rooting for Ole Miss with the whole Michael Isasi, like, just I would love for them to have a really good week. [laughs] Yep. Yep. Yep. Um. No, that would be great.
And who else did I have? I've got Pepperdine and Vanderbilt as two kind of, like, little flyers.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna root for Vanderbilt because it's got the only Bay State connection really in the, in the whole thing, and Pepperdine is just, like, a little sneaky team that- Yeah...
has some, you know- They're good... good players. Yeah. They're good. They're good. And they're- They're good...
they've kind of got, like, a little bit of a, you know, they've won recently, so they've got some, a little bit of that juice. I don't know what's on the team from, uh, from that, from that win. But those are my three.
Make the case for LSU. I, like, I know they had a really strong kinda start to the year, and then it just feels like they, they kinda slipped. I think they're a year early, and I think that- Okay...
has been a theme the last couple years. I think the year that Auburn won, they were a year early. I think the year Oklahoma State won last year, I think they were a year early.
I think LSU might be a year early, where they're- Okay, I like that. Yeah. They've still got Arnie there, which has been great, and he's, he's a world-class player. Yeah.
Uh, Jake Amos has done a great job recruiting and, and, and their program's really good. They're really deep too.
I think they've got all five players inside the top 150 or so from a ranking standpoint.So I think, I think they could make a run at least to match play.
Uh, uh, you know, you hate to call the seventh a sleeper pick, but, like, I think they have a legit shot at, at, at winning the national championship.
I think Lance always says too, like, the best team never wins match play. It's always teams ranked somewhere between, like, five and eight. Somewhere around there is kind of the sweet spot. Yeah.
And they will be right in the sweet spot, so that's kinda where I'm, where I'm slotting it right now. But I, I, you know, I could, I could be completely wrong by Sunday, but I, I, I like, I like my chances. Yeah.
I do like your Ole Miss one too, though, because I'm, I'm... I teetered on that one. I, I couldn't decide, 'cause Chris Malloy's a phenomenal coach, and I couldn't decide if it was
a, you know, kinda like they were at SEC where it was like, "We can do this without LaSasso," or if it was a, "Hey, we kinda need La- LaSasso right now." Yeah. I didn't know which one it was gonna be, you know?
So, but I, I, I'm with you, though. I could see them making a deep run as well. Yeah, I'd love to see them. And like you said, Oklahoma State's defending champ, very strong.
And you got Auburn, who's the champ two years ago. So those are the two LaCosta winners. Yeah. And Auburn is obviously super deep. Uh, who, who do you have, who do you have winning it all? I think Florida.
You think Florida? Dude, I, I think, I think they've c- they're peaking at the right time. The talk is all Virginia and Auburn, has been all year- Yeah... as number one and number two. Yeah.
I think Virginia has tailed off just a little bit as a team, and I think it's because of depth. I don't... I- they've got guns at the top, for sure. Yeah. Right?
But there's five points on the board in match play, and I think, and I, I know for a fact Florida has all five of their players, if not six, inside the top 100 from a ranking standpoint.
They don't, they don't have a Ben James or a Jackson Koivun, but they got five points they can go get at any given moment. And then obviously a coach that's been there before and won at Gray Hawk in J.C. Deacon.
They got Dudley Hart as an assistant, who's been invaluable for both the men's and women's program. That's... They, they are starting to become a well o- well-oiled machine from a program standpoint.
To, so to see them reload as quickly as they have and to get to the number two team in the country, like, I, I think they got a really legit shot this year.
You saying all that just made me think of your, your point about Charlotte at the beginning- Yeah...
where, like, they do all this building, but then they kind of, in F- in Florida's case, they won with, like, Ricky Castillo and- Ricky and Biondi... Biondi and, like, that group of seniors- Yeah... together won.
But then those guys left, and they had to, like, like you said, they had to rebuild again. And now here they are again, [laughs] like- Right... four, what? Three or four years later, and... And they're good.
I mean- Yeah... they got Luke Poulter, and then they got- Kress... I think, I think Kress is still there for, like, years. Yeah. [laughs] He was a freshman on that team, right?
Yeah, I was gonna say, he's been there forever. [laughs] What do you say? He's like, uh, one of those college basketball guys. You're like, "He's still on the team?" Yeah.
[laughs] He's, he's been suing the NCAA for three years now. Yeah, yeah. For eligibility. And who do you like individual? Oh. Do you have a pick on the individual side?
This is, this is the hardest one, 'cause it- Oh, I mean, you, right, you said, it's a crap shoot. I feel like I've picked Ben James, like, the last three years, and it hasn't happened. [laughs] I, I'll put it this way.
I don't think it'll be Koivun. I, I can almost guarantee you that. Okay. There's just too many players in the field. Yeah. You know? It's just, it's just hard. Like, it's...
But again, he's proved me wrong every week as far as, like, you can't win every week. And he's like, "No, Marcus, I can." I'm gonna stick with Ben James again this year. I, I, you know- Yeah...
I think the only, the only, the only hole in his resume for me is that he doesn't win enough. I think he's won twice this year, and one of them was his home event.
I think he won, I can't remember if it was Ben Hogan that he won, but either way, like, when you look especially at the Haskins race, right, I think Koivun's got, like, six or seven wins, right? Yeah.
Stout's got four, and then Ben James doesn't have anything outside of, like, top seven- I know... or something. But he's only got two wins. And one, it...
And for me, like, unless your home event is just, like, the strongest event ever, I don't, I rarely ever look at the home win as, as a win. You, you know what I mean? Like, you're kinda supposed to go get that one.
So- Yeah... I think this will be a good cap for him if, if he can go out with a win. And, and, and, um, and I also saw him in the gym this morning, so I think that's a good omen.
He's a, he's, he is a fascinating character. He's a Connecticut kid. Yeah. And so kind of been tracking him a little bit too.
He had a really tough, like, uh, he just, sometimes when the lights get bright, it just gets a little... And I, I, like, I don't, you don't watch... I watched him at the... I got to go to the Walker Cup- Okay...
at Slivers, which was crazy, and I followed him- Yeah... for a little bit. And, like, he looked, he played probably the worst out of that US team. Okay. And that was kinda jarring.
Yeah, it's just, it's ki- like, doesn't, he doesn't pop up on, at PGA Tour stuff when he gets exemptions. He's just... But he's all, he is super steady. Granted, he's gonna have his PGA Tour card, like- Right. He is.
So he's kinda playing with house money this week, too, so maybe that, uh, loosens him up. For sure. Um.. Who, who, who's your team and individual pick? I'm taking Auburn. Ah, boo. [laughs] So trust me, man.
And I think Stout, I think Stout wins individual. Okay. Okay. That dude's awesome. I wa- That would, that would mean a lot to me if he... I followed him- Yeah, that would mean a lot.
I followed him and Miles Russell at the Northeast Am last year, and like, God, he was good. And so was Miles Russell, but Stout was awesome. Yeah. The second to last day, I s- I watched him play.
Yeah, so those are my picks. That's, it's gonna be fun. Again, I, I think it's, it's, it's gonna be wild from a standpoint of, like, we could go O for eight here pretty easily. I don't think we will.
[laughs] But, like, just, there's just so many good teams here. There's so many good players. Like, it's- Yeah... I mean, all, all these teams are, are good enough to make it to the eight, to be quite honest. You know?
Yeah. If, if, you know, it just takes a, takes a couple putts to drop. Yeah. All right. Well, our Zoom is telling us we're literally down to seconds, so- Okay... thank you for joining. You are the best.
Enjoy the last, your next weekend, uh, in California. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me, man. Thanks, man.
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