Jack McFarlane 0:00 The HR Happy Hour Network is proudly sponsored by Workhuman. The role of HR is changing fast—and the leaders who move beyond administration into true business leadership will have the edge. Workhuman Live is where that shift becomes real. Four transformative days in Orlando built around the challenges HR leaders are facing now. With 65-plus standout speakers, you’ll get practical, research-backed insights you can use immediately, honest conversations with leaders under the same pressure, and a human-first experience designed to energize – not exhaust. It’s why 93% of past attendees left inspired—and why you need to be there this April 27-30. Register now at WorkhumanLive.com and use code HRHAPPYHOUR before March 31st to save 20%. That’s HRHAPPYHOUR, all one word. Thanks for joining us. Jack McFarlane 0:52 Hi, everyone, and welcome to the HR Happy Hour Network. This is The Play By Play podcast hosted by myself, Jack McFarlane and Nick Schlemmer. Nick Schlemmer 1:09 Hey guys. How's it going? Jack McFarlane 1:10 Well, it is finally that time of year. You know, the weather's getting warmer, minus one little snowstorm that's hitting Nebraska right now, but getting warmer. You know, flowers are starting to bloom, and basketball is here. March Madness is about to start. And is it four days for the first round? Nick Schlemmer 1:28 Four days. Jack McFarlane 1:29 So we are here, Nick. This is a show that we look forward to every year. It is probably my favorite one we do. We're going to do a deep dive into March Madness. Show you our brackets, show you the players we like. It's going to be a blast. Nick Schlemmer 1:41 It'll be a blast. And, you know, we always look forward to the show, just like Jack said. But I think across the entire US and almost throughout the whole world, I think everybody loves the month of March for sports. Jack McFarlane 1:54 All right, Nick, to start things off this year, we're gonna start with our players to watch. I can't remember if we did bracket first last year. I think we did. So we're going to switch it up. We've got a couple players each that we think are going to be some standouts to watch. Now, last year was a fantastic year for me. So I don't have that same level of expectation. I had the whole Final Four right, the whole Championship, right, and some of the players I highlighted were Cooper Flagg and Walter Clayton Jr. That worked out pretty well. Don't have the same expectation for me. I'm not gonna do that again, but I'll start us off here. Okay, first player, this is an obvious one. If you watch college basketball, it's Cameron Boozer, son of Carlos Boozer, you know, former NBA player. I think, personally, he's the best player in the nation. Most people would put him in the top three, whether it's one, two or three. He's averaging 23 points a game, 10 rebounds a game. So he's averaging a double, double and four assist as a big man. That's pretty good; four assists. He's been on a tear, if you go on ESPN, he's got a highlight on there if he played the night before. He's just fun to watch. I think he's more fun to watch than Cooper Flagg, which is probably a hot take. His best game here was earlier in the season. It came during the Thanksgiving Classic Tournament against number 22 Arkansas, who was ranked at the time, but Arkansas did make tournament. He puts up 35 points. So what does that tell you right there? He's a big game player. The final of a tournament all eyes on him in prime time on Thanksgiving, puts up 35 against a ranked team. All right, he's a big time player. Enough said, he's gonna ball out this March Madness. So what do you think, Nick? Nick Schlemmer 3:36 I couldn't agree with you more. Duke is just producing some big time athletes. And we'll leave it at that. I kind of took a little bit of a different approach with my players. My first player is coming from University of Houston, Kingston Flemings from the Houston Cougars. He's a true freshman, and he's been leading the team with 16.5 points per game and 5.4 assists. Houston's always been in the tournament, so, you know, they got a lot of reps. They got a lot of practice in these situations. And I think having a freshman kind of leading the way, which a lot of teams are this year, it seems like, Jack, like the freshmen have kind of been the name of the of all the teams, almost. But like incorporating a freshman into the starting lineup with a team that has so much experience, I'm just excited to see what they can do. Jack McFarlane 4:23 Yeah, that's a great point. I mean, Houston made it to the championship game last year, so adding all that experience with a crazy good guard, I've seen him play a couple games. You know, I watch a lot of Big12 basketball. Yeah, you watch a lot of Big10. He's very good, very good. So great pick. I'm going to keep it in the Big12 for my next pick. And if you don't think Cameron Boozer is the best player in the country, it's this guy. These are one and two right here. Darryn Peterson from Kansas. He's a point guard. He averages 20 and a half points a game, four rebounds a game, that he's a big hustle player. I'll get in that in a second. Shoots 42% from three and gets 1.3 steals a game. He is electric. Now there are some concerns. He's had a lot of problems with health, and I'm going to put that in air quotes, because he's just flat out sat out. Either sit out whole games, play half the game and sit out. There's a lot of controversy around him, so the thought is, hopefully, in March Madness, he's there for all the games. Now, Kansas has won a lot of big games without him, so they're a good team even without him. So with him, it's a huge bonus. Now, his best game, in my opinion, was against TCU. He had 32 points in 32 minutes. If you want to talk about an efficient player, he almost, in all the games I was looking at the stats, he would have either equal to or more points than he had minutes. So you know, he's a point per minute player. That's unbelievable. And he's a freshman, like I said, a lot of people think he's the clear best player in the country. I would put him at number two, super, clutch, lethal shooter. This guy, if, if he plays in every game of March Madness, could lead can could lead Kansas all the way. Seriously, he's that good. He's that good. Jack McFarlane 4:23 I love it. And for my second player, I'm kind of so I'm going with, you know, how? Won't spoil it yet, but I'm going with Nigel Peck from Miami Hurricanes. He's, you know, he's a fun player to watch. He's, he's a big time player for the hurricanes, and he's averaging 16.5 points per game, and three rebounds and three assists, for a point guard, three to four rebounds, that's pretty good, in my opinion. I think across the board, that's very solid. And of course, you know, he's averaging three and then three assists per game. That could go up as a point guard. I feel like he's just always been a fun player for me to watch. I've always kind of liked the Hurricanes in the back of my mind, and he's been on the roster the last time they made their run. So it's kind of a I love to see it, and to watch him play again. Jack McFarlane 6:25 I mean, well, I'm sure we'll bring out the point of your connection to Miami a little bit later on, but you guys will totally understand why Nick is a Hurricane fan. Okay, I'll let him tell that in just a little bit. I've got one more player here for us, and also from the ACC we're going over to North Carolina. We got Caleb Wilson. He's a forward. Don't want to spoil why I'm picking him just yet, like Nick. Caleb's averaging 20 points a game, nine rebounds, three assists, 58% from the field. So the best way I could think of him is a point forward, right? So he's 610 he technically is a small forward, power forward, yeah, he's basically a guard. He's basically a 610, point guard. He can bring it up the court, super efficient in the paint. I think his best game was against Stanford. He put up 26 points on 70% from the field. So think of him as a point forward, right? He's He's not shooting threes, but he's basically a point guard. You know, that's the best way I can think of him. I'll get into why I picked him. You know, there are a lot of good players in the country, and he's not usually one of the top 10 mentioned. So we'll get into that in a little bit. But we've gone through some players, and that's fun. But let's jump into the best part, the one that everyone wants to hear, and that's brackets. So let's start with upsets, right? I'm sure you've got a couple. I've got a couple. Tell me one of your biggest upsets that you've got. Nick Schlemmer 8:29 I don't have a lot of big upsets this year, Jack, I know we kind of talked about this before the show, and I'll let you kind of mention what we talked about, but I have Texas Tech, excuse me, Texas A and M, beating St Mary's in the first round. Slight underdog, with the Texas Tech being underdog. Texas A and M, I keep thinking, Texas Tech, Texas A and M, that's my that is one of my takes. Jack McFarlane 8:58 I'll go over it real quick, like Nick said, we were talking pre show and with NIL, right? That's it's been, is it your three now, three or four, NIL has been out for a while. So back in the day, you know, you could have some mid majors that just had elite, an elite player, maybe even two, that then went on a big Cinderella run. Well, now, if there's one or two or three good players in mid major, the big school is going to buy them next year with their NIL money. That happens over and over again. The mid majors get worse and worse, and now that we're three to four years into it, it's really, really hard to pick upsets. I'm telling you, when you go fill out your bracket, because Selection Sunday was three hours ago. These are fresh. We just made our brackets. It's hard. You're going to find that... but it's March, right? They're going to be upset. Nick Schlemmer 9:46 It's March, anything can happen. These teams are just going to have to play perfect basketball. Jack McFarlane 9:52 Exactly. I go back to last year, all four one seats made the Final Four, which had. Happened since 2008 you know, that's a it's a changing of the guard. You know, the big schools are not going to be upset as much as they used to be. But I, with that being said, I was able to scratch a couple, a couple upsets. My first one is going to be an 11 seed, which, right now could be Texas or NCSU. I think it's going to be Texas, but I pick either of them because that is gonna be the game against BYU, who's a six seed. I pick the 11 seed. I'll never pick BYU ever in my life. It worked out last year. I picked 10 seed Dayton, and they ended up winning. So let's hope for it again. Tell me about your second upset. Nick Schlemmer 10:36 Mine goes right along with that. I actually have BYU beating Gonzaga in the round of 32 it's a three seed versus a six seed. We know Jack's feelings of BYU. I don't know. I haven't watched a lot of you know BYU basketball. I know they're a solid squad. No, you know, I that was one of my other upsets. I didn't have many. Jack McFarlane 10:59 Wow. Anyone that wants to fill out a job application, please feel free. It's for a co host position here at the play by play. Nick has not been informed he will be fired after that last his little upset there, he'll be very upset when he gets the news. So let's move on. I've got one more here, and this is a five seed versus one seed so upset in quotes. But that's Vanderbilt beat in Florida. You know, it's in the south region. It would happen in the sweet 16 in my bracket, I don't know. I just couldn't bring myself to let all the one seeds continue once again. I really like the other ones over Florida. Maybe they have some sort of championship hangover. That's my logic there. You know, it is March. It's crazy. It's just It's hard with these upsets, you know? So, yeah, you guys will find out. But let's stay on the this is, you know, kind of the same as an upset. Do you have a big Cinderella, right? It happens every year. A team that should have lost first round makes it to the Sweet 16, or a team makes it to the Elite Eight. That was like a seven seed and eight seed. You know, tell me about your Cinderella this year. Nick Schlemmer 12:06 It does happen every year, and I swear I always I missed the train every time on picking Cinderella, I don't have a good track record, so my Cinderella. Call it a Cinderella in quotes. It's a seven seed the Miami Hurricanes. I have them going a very long way in this tournament. And so that's going to be my Cinderella Jack. I'm sure you've got a better pick than I do for a Cinderella. I can't go any lower than a seven I don't think,]. Jack McFarlane 12:33 Yeah, I know that that was my problem too. And I've actually got a six seed as a Cinderella. It's just really it's we keep saying it's really tough. This year, the competition is so good. At the top my Cinderella is going to be North Carolina. That's why I mentioned Caleb Wilson. I like you, North Carolina. They got 80 points a game. They're five and two versus the top 25 they play in a tough conference, so I think they're a lot better than their ranking, which is how I usually pick a Cinderella and yeah, I do have them making it to the Sweet 16 and then losing to Houston. But I figured, you know, sweet 16 is the 16th, that that's Cinderella territory. So that's kind of my idea there. Nick Schlemmer 13:16 You know, speaking on Cinderella's, you know, we, I feel like we have to shout out maybe a couple of these teams just to, just to put their name out there. You know, we've got Hofstra, Alabama right away. That's a tough game. They haven't made it. And I don't know the date, but it's been a very long time since they've made or maybe a first time appearance. You've got right state, Tennessee state. You know, some of these teams haven't been in that tournament for a long time. Jack McFarlane 13:42 Queens, I think it's their first time. Now, I've read something crazy about them. This is only, like their third year of eligibility to even make the tournament, like they just moved to d1 and so although it's their first time, it might not be their last. Seems like they've got a pretty good squad. They have to play Purdue, so I don't think they'll be making it very far. Nick Schlemmer 14:01 I just thought of another one. You know, they have a lot of hype and march madness in their Cinderella story, McNeese. Jack McFarlane 14:07 And then there's one more that, you know, actually, I probably should have put on my upset list, and I just didn't. I didn't even think of this one because they've been so good this year, it's the only team in the country with one loss, and that's Miami of Ohio. Now they went undefeated in the regular season. They did lose in their conference tournament, so now they have to play for the 11th seed in a first four. If they win, they'll play Tennessee. I have them beating Tennessee. I don't have them going any further on that, but that's another team to keep an eye out for. I mean, they were fantastic this year, so don't be shocked. Nick Schlemmer 14:46 100%, going undefeated in the regular season is unreal. Jack McFarlane 14:50 At any level, right? Like, yes, they don't play in the SEC, but they still went 26-0, that's unbelievable. So I don't know. So just keep an eye out for them. Why don't you tell me, Nick, what teams we should really keep an eye out for? I want to hear your Final Four. Nick Schlemmer 15:09 Final Four. All right. So from the east region, I have Duke. A lot of people I think are going to have Duke. From the west, Miami Hurricanes, Midwest, Iowa State. Really hot team right now. I like where they're going. And then south from the south region, the Houston Cougars. Jack McFarlane 15:27 Yeah, I think those are solid. I've got a lot in common, and by a lot, I mean too, but that's pretty good for four. So East Duke. I've got Duke going out. West, Arizona. Now I think Duke is the best team in the country, personally. If I had to pick a second it would be Arizona. They are so close. It is neck and neck for me. And the only reason I chose Duke was because of Cameron Boozer. That was the dividing I think they're so good. Third team, in my opinion, third best team, also that close to them is out of the Midwest, and that'd be Michigan. I've got them in the Final Four. Yes, they lost to Purdue today, or was it yesterday? Anyway, they just lost to Purdue in the Big10 Championship. I still think Michigan is better, right? We'll see final team, Houston, I agree with you. You got to show a little bit more big 12 love. That's why I've got two of the big 12 teams. And Houston's just always good. I don't know they've been. I feel like I forget the stat. It's like Elite Eight or better in the past four tournaments or something. Give them the Final Four. Again. That's what I'm saying. Let's hear about your champion. Nick Schlemmer 16:34 All right, so as I mentioned earlier in the show, I've got Miami going a very long way, all the way to the end and winning it all, going up against Duke in the championship. I have Miami winning, you know, they're a really good three point shooting team. As a team, they're shooting around 36-37% from the three point line. That's solid, which puts them in their conference, close to the top spot, not quite, but close. You know, they're averaging 78 points per game. So like Jack mentioned, North Carolina averaging 80. They're up there being one of the better, higher-scoring teams, kind of, around the nation. And then from the free throw line, which is huge in March, free throws a lot of times win games that's overtime versus not over time, and as a team, they're shooting 75% think that's pretty solid as a team, Jack McFarlane 17:28 That's very good, especially when it's not like the NBA, where even the big men are shooting, you know, yeah, 70-80% college big men shoot like 53% yes, that is very, very good. Now I gotta say we have a chance to have a very entertaining championship game, because I've got Duke winning. So if it's Duke versus Miami, we might have to do a Play By Play, live mini episode of our reactions. But yeah, I've got Duke. Like I said, I think they are slightly, slightly the best team in the country. So I almost always go against Duke. Last year I had them losing to Houston the Final Four that worked out years ago, when it was Zion Williams, I had them losing to Michigan State. That came true. So I'm actually always going against Duke this year, I figured it's time for a change. You know, we'll see if it works out for me. I'm not sure, but here's some big reasons I picked them. Boozer is one of them. Their defense is the third best in the nation, allowing 63 points a game. Defense wins championships. That's easy, right there. They've won back to back ACC tournaments. They have a scoring margin of plus 19.1 which is elite. They shoot 50% from the field as a team, very good. They've got a great sharpshooter, Isaiah Evans, with 14 points a game. They're going to get their center back, Patrick in gongba, I believe is how you say that the second he's very good, huge. He's huge. They've got a lot of veterans, plus the freshmen. I think it's a complete team. They're my champions. Nick Schlemmer 19:00 I love it. Yeah, it's a great day. Jack McFarlane 19:03 Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Some funny things I would like you to tell the story of, why Miami, right? Why are you so high on Miami? Nick Schlemmer 19:10 Why am I so high on Miami? You know, one loved the area, love Florida, love South Florida. But couple years back, I had them going all the way, just kind of on a whim, and sure as heck, they made a run all the way to the final four. And I've never had a better bracket. You know? It wasn't quite as good as Jack's bracket last year. That was good standard. That was a great bracket. Jack McFarlane 19:34 Yeah, it's fit. I when I was reading our show notes here, and I saw that I knew exactly what Nick was getting at. I believe it was two years ago. We, I mean, we have an episode on it. I'm gonna have to go back and listen, yeah, I think they were a four or five seed. You had them going all the way. I'm like, Miami is not going all the way, no way. Sure enough, they make the Final Four. And Nick's bracket whooped me that year. So, I had to get my I had my revenge last year. Jack McFarlane 19:57 I'm trying to see if history repeats itself. Jack McFarlane 20:00 It might. Who knows? I mean, you know, they made it all the way in football. Maybe they made it all the way in basketball. I don't know. March is crazy like that. Like a funny thing about that Nick, I think I told you, but I can't remember. I've actually got Miami losing in the very first round to Mizzou. Nick Schlemmer 20:18 It's the hometown area. Jack McFarlane 20:19 Now, Mizzou, is a 10 seed. Miami is a seven seed. It's being played in St Louis. So I think Mizzou is going to have a little bit of a home, home crowd. Nick Schlemmer 20:29 I don't know if a lot of people are going to leave Miami right now. Jack McFarlane 20:32 Yeah, right, but that'd be that's gonna be interesting if Miami loses, or if they win, right? If they win, then your bracket is going to be one of the better ones. Nick Schlemmer 20:45 That's for sure. It'll be fun. Jack, I think we've got a fun March Madness/March month ahead of us. Jack McFarlane 20:52 I really think we do. You know, it starts in four days. So everyone that's at work or school is going to have it on their second screen or on their phone. I will, I'll be working. I'll have it on my phone. Have to right? It's March, so, it's just an exciting time. And let's do one more of a fun thing. Our producer, Carleigh, had the idea of this. This is quick. Forget how good the school is. Forget the players on the school who was winning your championship if it was based on logos? If it was just based on college logos, who do you have, Nick, or what are some of your contenders? Nick Schlemmer 21:26 You know, I think I have one person or one team that I like the most: Virginia. I like they got the V and I like the crossing sword. Something about it. It's simple, it's clean. They kind of have an added component with the sword, yeah, just a letter combination, but there's a lot of good logos. But I think I like Virginia the most. Jack McFarlane 21:47 Virginia is a good one. It's recognizable with the V and the orange. It's a unique color, but the swords with a nice added touch. I like Virginia a lot too. Nick Schlemmer 21:55 Jack, what's yours? What's with some of your contenders or your favorite? Jack McFarlane 21:59 It's really hard. It's really hard. I liked Queens a lot. They're like a lion with a crown a blue line, but it's like a traditional lion. It's very interesting. You'll have to look it up. That would be out there for me. I like Kansas logo. It's kind of goofy with the Jayhawk. But I don't know, I kind of like it. But I think, oddly enough, after looking at all of them, my favorite one, because, you know, Logos shouldn't have too much going on. In my opinion, they should be recognizable and yet unique, like Virginia, and for me, that's University of South Florida, right? The green bull. Yep, I don't know why. Maybe, you know, growing up, my select baseball team, we use that exact logo. So maybe that's why, yeah, maybe that's why it holds a special place in my heart. I just think it's really unique. It's gonna, yeah, it's simple, it's unique. It's recognizable. That would be my champion based on based on logo. I don't have them even winning a game. Nick Schlemmer 22:52 Mine is going out first. Jack McFarlane 22:54 I think I've got Louisville over them. So, yeah, well, I think that'll do it for our brackets there. I'm really hoping one of us has a killer bracket. I think it would be you over me. I don't feel too confident this year, we'll see. You know March Madness is madness. That's the best way to put it. So we'll take a quick break right here and come back with everybody's favorite quote of the show. Nick Schlemmer 23:19 Alrighty, everyone, we are wrapping up today's show with the quote of the show. And this quote, I like it a lot. It goes right along with our March Madness theme for this month's episode. And this quote is by Geno Auriemma, the UConn Women's Head Basketball Coach, okay? And I think he couldn't have said it better. He said, and I quote, "the bracket doesn't care about your resume. It only cares about what you do between the lines." Jack McFarlane 23:54 That's perfect. That is March Madness, right? March Madness. You could be like Miami of Ohio, win every single game in the regular season and lose the first game in tournament play, which is what they did in their conference tournament. So, you know, that happens all the time. That's where we get Cinderella's from. It just takes one game, takes one game. So I kind of hope for more Cinderellas than we predicted this episode. That's always fun. But, you know, I wouldn't mind getting a perfect bracket. You know, fun fact, the odds of a perfect bracket are 50/50, right? You either get it or you don't believe what anyone else knows. Don't believe them when they say it's like next to nothing. It's 50/50 so, I mean, I would love the prize. It's what, a one million dollar prize if you pick a perfect bracket? Maybe we'll have it. I'm telling you this, if one of us gets the perfect bracket, next episode is from live on the beach, so I look forward to that! Nick Schlemmer 24:47 Let's do it well, Jack, this is a fun episode. Like I said, we've got an exciting month ahead of us for all kinds of sports, but mainly basketball. Jack McFarlane 24:55 Yeah. Thank you all for listening. I hope you guys also get perfect brackets. We can all share the million dollar prize, and yeah, we hope you enjoyed. Thank you so much for listening as always, and we've got a really exciting episode next month. Nick Schlemmer 25:09 So stay tuned. Thank you for tuning in, and bye for now. Transcribed by https://otter.ai