Top 25 Voter Pod

Waco Tribune-Herald

Big 12 and Baylor college basketball talk — men and women — every week with Zach Smith and Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald. We never mail it in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 03/03/2023

    Will Baylor make the Sweet 16? Plus Nicki Collen's best coaching job, BU's seniors, Big 12 bests

    • It's Senior Day at the Ferrell Center on Saturday, as the Baylor men host Iowa state and the women welcome in West Virginia. Let's talk about those seniors and what they've meant to these programs — Adam Flagler, Flo Thamba, Caitlin Bickle, Ja'Mee Asberry and others, fuzzy COVID eligibility or not.  • That win over Texas in Austin last week was certainly Nicki Collen's best coaching job at Baylor, as Brice wrote in a recent column. She seemed to push all the right buttons in a nothing-to-lose situation and thwart the Longhorns' title hopes with a 63-54 win. And now her team could end an up-and-down year on a four-game win streak.  • The Baylor men won't 3-peat for the conference title as Kansas has it sewn up, but could the Bears, who were injury-riddled are much healthier than a year ago, wind up going much deeper in the NCAA Tournament this year after bowing out last year in the second round? This team seems to have a deeper bench, is healthy and could go pretty far if they can overcome some streaky shooting.  • Who are your Big 12 Player of the Year and Coach of the Year picks? Teams in the state of Kansas should sweep the men's awards, it seems, while the bests on the women's side are a bit of a toss-up — especially after Rori Harmon's eyebrow-raising comments after Texas' loss to Baylor last week.  ----- Music: https://purple-planet.com/ Support the show: https://wacotrib.com/sports See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  2. 02/25/2023

    Who's really #1 in the NCAA? Has South Carolina passed UConn? Plus our bucket list for hoops venues

    Special guest Kelly Hines (@KellyHinesTW), veteran sportswriter of the venerable Tulsa World, joins Trib sports guys John Werner and Brice Cherry for some Big 12 and Top 25 basketball talk. • Houston moved back to No. 1 this week for the fifth week this season, which has seen several different teams holding the top spot. That indicates may indicate there's no clear-cut favorite to win it all, but as of today, who's most likely to cut down the NCAA nets in April? Does that team come out of the Big 12 for the third year in a row? What about four Texas teams getting to the Final Four? • On the flipside of the college basketball powerhouse that is Texas is what's happening with Oklahoma's Big 12 teams, which is ... not great. OU is in something of a rebuilding mode with second-year skipper Porter Moser; meanwhile, while OSU is in the bottom half of the league, it looks fairly likely to make the NCAAs this year, and Mike Boynton has only taken the Cowboys there once before. What's the feeling among the faithful north of the Red River? Heck, Oral Roberts may be the best team in the state. • No. 1 South Carolina continues to reign on the women's side. Consider this: Dawn Staley's team's last six NCAA finishes are national champs, Elite Eight, Sweet 16, COVID-19 (with a 32-1 record), Final Four and another natty last year. Have the Gamecocks supplanted UConn as the premier program in women's college basketball? Parity is on the rise. • John's back from a quick trip to Manhattan, Kansas, aka the "Octagon of Doom," which looked pretty great on TV. We've made trips to Allen Fieldhouse and other cool places in Big 12 play over the years, but what's the best basketball venue Kelly and John have ever been to, and what's on your bucket list? ----- Music: https://purple-planet.com/ Support the show: https://wacotrib.com/sports See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  3. 01/27/2023

    Making Texas history, Baylor's big win streak, inside AP poll voting and more

    We're joined by special guest Danny Davis (@_dannydavis), longtime Austin American-Statesman sports writer and a fellow AP Top 25 voter, for some college hoops talk with the Trib's Brice Cherry and John Werner.  • History was made this week in the AP women's basketball poll, as no Texas teams were ranked in the women's top 25 for the first time, ever. Is this just a fluke or a hiccup, or more of a trend? Has the level of Lone Star basketball slipped?  • The Texas women have been up and down this year, already with six losses, and you're never sure which team will show up. Vic Schaefer has taken the Longhorns to the Elite Eight in both of his first two seasons. What are the odds they can make another deep run?  • One guy who's fun to watch is Keyonte George: The Baylor men are on a five-game win streak after an 0-3 start, including a big Big Monday win over the defending national champs in the Kansas Jayhawks. What has been the key to their hot stretch?  • As AP poll voters, what's your approach week in and week out? What's the method to your voting madness?  • We've got the Big 12-SEC Challenge in the men's game this weekend, with Kansas at Kentucky, a Top 10 matchup with Texas visiting Tennessee and Baylor hosting Arkansas, among others. How much do you think these coaches get into these conference battles? Do they have any lasting benefits beyond bragging rights or what?  ----- Music: https://purple-planet.com/ Support the show: https://wacotrib.com/sports See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Big 12 and Baylor college basketball talk — men and women — every week with Zach Smith and Brice Cherry of the Waco Tribune-Herald. We never mail it in. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.