CBB With Danny Z: Gottlieb's Green Bay Loses AGAIN, Dan Hurley Embraces Villainhood, And More
I have to be honest with you guys: I'm having a blast writing this column every week. College basketball is such an underrated sport and deserves more mainstream media coverage prior to March Madness. Which is exactly why I decided to start this column in the first place.
Everyone loves to jump on board for the NCAA Tournament, but I say let's get on board now! There are so many games, there's so much intrigue and there are so many storylines that I can't even get to them all. And, if you think there's something I'm neglecting, please feel free to reach out via email dan.zaksheske@outkick.com or shoot me a DM on X @RealDanZak.
OK, let's dive into the third edition of "CBB With Danny Z."
The Doug Gottlieb experiment at Green Bay goes from bad to worse after home loss against IU Indianapolis.
As I wrote earlier this week, things are going very, very poorly for Doug Gottlieb and the Green Bay Phoenix. Green Bay hired Gottlieb, who had no prior coaching experience above the AAU level, to lead their Division I basketball program.
Now, in Gottlieb's defense, he got the job later than most new coaches, so he was a bit behind the eight-ball to start his career. Plus, the team's best player, Anthony Roy, hasn't played since mid-December.
That being said, there's no way to sugarcoat it: Green Bay is terrible. Like, historically bad. And I mean that literally. The team entered Wednesday night's home matchup against IU Indianapolis (one of the two teams in the Horizon League that was ranked lower than Green Bay, according to Ken Pom) on a 15-game losing streak, the longest slide in school history.
Doug Gottlieb and the Green Bay Phoenix dropped their 16th straight game with a home loss against IU Indy on Wednesday night.
(Eric Canha/Imagn Images)
Well, that number continues to rise, as the Phoenix fell to IU Indy, 86-77, on its home floor. The Jaguars led by as many as 22 points in the second half, though the Phoenix showed some fight late in the blowout, finishing on a 21-8 run over the final 3.5 minutes to make the score respectable.
With the loss, Green Bay fell to 339th in the nation (out of 364 schools) and is now the lowest-ranked team in the Horizon League (falling behind both IU Indy and Detroit Mercy).
They haven't won a game since beating SIUE on Nov. 19 and currently sit at 16 consecutive losses. The Phoenix have to play their next four games on the road, so the schedule isn't getting any easier for the 2-19 squad (0-10 in conference play). To make matters worse, their next opponent is Cleveland State, which is 9-1 in conference games.
The good news for Gottlieb is that if the whole coaching thing doesn't work out, he can just continue hosting his daily radio show, which he still does daily from 3-5 p.m. ET.
UConn head coach Dan Hurley embracing villain role after tirade towards referee
After losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in both of his first two seasons, Dan Hurley led UConn to back-to-back National Championships, cementing himself as the best coach in college basketball.
Don't believe me? Luckily, you don't have to take my word for it. Just listen to Hurley himself.
After the game, Hurley refused to back down from his comments. He actually doubled-down, somewhat, by noting that his fame is the reason that cameras are often fixed upon him during games. I assume that his implication is that other college basketball coaches yell at refs, but it's not always caught on television.
"I'm gonna sound like an a**hole here but… the TV cameras like me," Hurley said with a smile.
I must admit: I love this from Hurley. First of all, if you're going to talk smack, you have to back it up. Hurley is a back-to-back National Champion. And while his team is under-performing a bit this season (they fell to 19th after a home loss against Creighton last week), they are still a Top 25 team easily on track for the NCAA Tournament.
Second, what did he say that was factually inaccurate? He is the best coach in the country and TV cameras do spend a lot of time focused on Hurley.
UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley told a referee that he's "the best coach in the f***ing sport" of college basketball.
(David Butler II/Imagn Images)
Third, coaches know that they have to use everything they have to help their team win games. Reminding a referee about his resume might seem like a flex, but it's really the "game within the game" of which any coach and player is familiar.
Working the referees is part of the sport. Hurley wants to win, more than anything, and he's willing to do what it takes to make it happen. Good for him. I hope we get more of this, not less.
Latest update from ESPN "Bracketologist" Joe Lunardi still has the SEC setting an NCAA Tournament record for teams invited to the Big Dance
Earlier this year, I wrote about SEC dominance in college basketball. In early December, Joe Lunardi projected 13 SEC teams in the NCAA Tournament. The Big East currently holds the record for most teams reaching the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament in one year when it sent 11 schools in 2011.
As of now, the SEC is still on pace to beat the record, though one of the schools has fallen out of the tournament. According to Lunardi, Texas is now one of the "First Four Teams Out," sitting right on the line as the 13th SEC school.
As I wrote last month, the biggest problem for the conference is that the teams are only playing each other now that we've reached conference-play season in college basketball. That's what has crushed Texas, which entered SEC play at 11-2 but has lost four of its first six games against conference opponents.
But the league currently has five teams ranked in the AP Top 10, and nine teams ranked in the Top 25. The SEC has never sent more than eight teams to the Big Dance, but that record is almost certain to fall in 2025, even if Texas doesn't get in.
Bruce Pearl's Auburn Tigers are the No. 1 team in the country and one of nine SEC teams ranked in the AP Top 25.
(Jeff Blake/Imagn Images)
That's good news for the SEC, which hasn't had a team in the College Football Playoff National Championship game in the past two seasons after winning four straight titles from 2020-23. In fact, the SEC sent at least one team to college football's championship match every year from 2016-23.
Is the SEC now a basketball conference?
Roundball Roundup…
It wouldn't be CBB With Danny Z without an epic bad beat, so here you go…
Xaivian Lee hit game-winning three-pointers in back-to-back games to deliver victories for the Ivy League-leading Princeton Tigers
A buzzer-beating… alley-oop!?
Not all court stormings are deserved, but Vanderbilt absolutely earned it after knocking off Tennessee
Northwestern player ejected for delivering a kick to the, uh, man parts of a Michigan player.
I'm … I'm not sure what this is…
Speaking of questionable social media decisions, what was the Indiana social media manager thinking with this one?
Well, that's it for me this week. Want to see something included in next week's "CBB With Danny Z"? Shoot me an email at dan.zaksheske@outkick.com or a tweet @RealDanZak.