Well, we are getting set for a final four, and for the first time since 2017, it will not involve a Big 12 team.

How about that? I'm Pete Mundo, Heartlandcolleagelessports.com covering the Big 12, of course, each and every week here on the site, on the show.

Catch us on our YouTube page as well. Let's welcome on and say hi to our lead basketball

writer Matthew Postens. He's joining us. Well, Matthew, you're done on the basketball front

a week earlier than I anticipated. I didn't think that we'd be sitting here seven teams in the big

dance, several top seeds without a final four team for the first time in six years. But here we are.

How surprised are you by this? I'm mildly surprised. Yeah, I think when you get two teams from your

conference into the elite eight, or yeah, into the elite eight, I think your hope is that one of

those teams will advance. I thought that both Kansas State and Texas had good

matchups, but I think it underscores the unpredictability of this tournament now, especially

in the past five years when you see three first-time participants in the final four now. You

see how the transfer portal has honestly kind of democratized talent to the next level. It used to be, you know,

schools like George Mason and Butler and schools like that that made final four runs, you know,

took advantage of the fact that not every kid can go to, you know, Kansas and Michigan State

and schools like that and were able to find little gems that, you know, people kind of overlooked.

Now the portal has taken that to the next level and completely democratized,

you know, the way talent gets distributed in this game.

So you can, you know, you can see a school like Florida Atlantic that played Kansas State,

and you think to yourself, well, okay, this is a team that Kansas State should probably be.

Florida Atlantic was a great team, and they were constructed very much like Kansas State,

with the exception of the big man inside.

God, got one.

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