It’s Elite Eight, and Bruce Pearl isn’t banking on his No.1 overall seed. “We know our place,” he says, riding with just one 5-star recruit on the roster and coming off a game with 15 turnovers, mostly unforced. En route to face a team headed by Mr. March himself, we get it. But Tom Izzo isn’t buying into that claim. The Tigers have proven they can get their act together when under pressure and have been the best team for a good stretch for a reason. So, predictions may be favoring the Spartans, but we all know this will be a close one. Spare the analysts for asking a little more of the broadcasters in a game as such. No, it isn’t just for the second-half battle.

A man, almost a face of the March Madness by now, on one side, and a coach eyeing only his second trip to the Final Four on another. This game could very well become about the two leading men with 40+ years of experience. But as Izzo notes, on the court, it is the players’ world. It is they who bring the crowd, and they who win the games. And when you have explosive rosters as these two, you better believe it to be the talk. Well, it already is.

Both the Spartans and the Tigers head into the matchup as two second-half teams. In its past 16 games, MSU has trailed 12 times by halftime, and their record still reads 12-4. The Tigers? They started with 3-for-20 in just their previous game against Michigan. Only when the Wolverines threatened a lead did they explode. The thought of it has already got Mark Titus excited. “That’s gonna be an awesome game,” he stated on his namesake show. But that isn’t all.

There are quite a few explosive personalities taking the field this Sunday. Chad Baker-Mazara from Auburn and Tre Holloman from MSU are known to react strongly on the court. And Titus is all fired up! Elaborating on his excitement, the podcaster had a demand for CBS. “The shit talking is number one on my list. I think it’s gonna be incredible. I want CBS to bring extra cameras to the arena so they can pick up everything.” Titus said, looking forward to some verbal volleys on the court.

Baker-Mazara has a history of getting thrown out of important games. Think back to his ejection against Yale last year. The six-foot-seven wing reacts quite quickly! On the other hand, Tre Holloman got into it with Michigan rivals Phat Phat Brooks and L. J. Carson on senior night. The Wolverines players tried to disrupt an MSU tradition, and Holloman was having none of it!

Considering all of this, Titus and his co-hosts were excited. However, there was one concern that the reporter had. “I’m scared CBS is gonna cut to commercial too soon. They gotta be careful if there’s a dead ball under 12, let’s just throw it to commercials, no, no. Let’s wait for both teams to get back to their benches, let’s make sure everyone is sitting down.” He said, not wanting to miss any of the action between the two teams, even off the court!

Remember the last time these two met at an Elite Eight? There was Draymond Green and Scotty Hopson. There were last second ties, scrambles for rebounds, and per Pearl, coach’s decisions defining the game. Izzo had taken home the win back then. So expect a deja vu but not the whole of it. MSU will be the best equipped team, but the Auburn head coach is hiding an ace up his sleeve too.

Bruce Pearl shines the spotlight on Dylan Cardwell ahead of Elite Eight matchup

There’s no doubt that Auburn is filled with talent. To be fair, Johni Broome by himself is the equivalent of having a National Player of the Year on your team. However, he is surrounded by insanely talented pieces like CBM, Denver Jones, Tahaad Pettiford, etc. They pick up the part of the game in which he lacks, shooting.

However there is one guy in the Auburn rotation who leaves people scratching their heads. An anomaly, if there ever was one. Dylan Cardwell, even as a bench player, maintains the highest +/- on the roster. The six-foot-eleven big man is the most winningest player in program history, and everyone sees why!

Even the head coach, Bruce Pearl, admitted that the Auburn team needed Cardwell more than anyone understood. “Dylan Cardwell blows away every analytic that’s out there. You can’t look at the stat sheet and think he’s going to lead in plus-minus, and he does all the time,” Pearl said. “What does he do? He dominates the boards. He’s the best defender on the floor. He doesn’t turn the basketball over.” To put it simply, he’s the glue guy. Regardless of his scoring, the team needs him.

Needless to say, Cardwell will be necessary for the matchup against Michigan State. The big man doesn’t score, but his defensive presence and intimidation is a huge factor behind Bruce Pearl’s victories so far. Will Auburn be able to overcome MSU? Only time will tell.