Who Makes The Final Four? / Florida State Primetime LIVE 9

Overall Tone & Structure Fun, fan-oriented solo show with bracket talk, personal stories, and light humor (e.g., celebrating Florida and Miami eliminations, "corn-mageddon" for Iowa-Nebraska). Jacob shared his strong early-round bracket performance (one entry ranked ~6,000th out of 30 million) and admitted some misses (like Florida losing to Iowa). He built a "second-chance" bracket with in-depth game-by-game reasoning, leaning on stats like KenPom, offense/defense balance, and historical trends. Ended with women's bracket, baseball, and a shoutout to FSU Splatoon esports. Men's March Madness Discussion (Main Focus) Jacob called this one of the most interesting Final Fours in years (no all-#1s like last year, after Florida's upset loss to Iowa). He noted Purdue's easy path to Elite Eight and highlighted toss-ups. Sweet 16 Matchups & His Quick Takes: Duke vs. St. John's: Duke looks best on paper but struggled early vs. Siena. He picked Duke (citing a weird historical trend: teams beating Mount St. Mary's the prior year often win it all), but liked St. John's (Pitino factor) for a potential upset. Michigan State vs. UConn: Very close (52-48 odds for UConn). Michigan State has better offense; UConn better defense. He leaned defense-wins-championships → UConn. Purdue vs. Texas: Purdue favored; he saw their run potentially ending soon. Iowa vs. Nebraska ("corn-mageddon" rivalry): Nebraska leads in most KenPom categories → Nebraska. Illinois vs. Houston: Big offensive showdown; he leaned Houston. Michigan vs. Alabama: Michigan takes care of business. Arizona vs. Arkansas: Arizona handles it easily. Other notes: Liked Iowa State's shot; called Duke "fraudulent" at times; referenced streamer MoistCr1tikal's funny Michigan State-to-championship prediction (possibly vs. Michigan). His Second-Chance/Final Four Prediction (fun "100% confirmed" version for laughs): Elite Eight advanced: Nebraska, others leading to a Big Ten-heavy Final Four. He jokingly went all-in on a Big Ten quadfecta (Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Purdue? — with Michigan vs. Michigan State in the title game). Called it the "Big Ten quadfecta" — would be hilarious if it happened. He showed multiple brackets, praised his own "ball knowledge," and noted the top public bracket only had 3 wrong so far. Overall vibe: Wide-open tournament; could see a 3-seed crash the Final Four. Women's March Madness More "chalk" (favorites advancing). All #1s still alive at Sweet 16 stage. Sweet 16 Teams Mentioned: UConn, North Carolina, UCLA, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, LSU, Duke, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, TCU, Virginia. His Takes & Second-Chance Picks: UConn is a massive favorite (odds like -100,000); "utterly dumb" dominance → easy pick to win it all. UCLA (33-1) strong. Liked LSU (familiar from past FSU matchup; good coach). Upset special: Notre Dame over Vanderbilt (due to Hannah Hidalgo — he saw her destroy FSU live, met her courtside while working the game; called her excellent). Other picks: Texas, Michigan, South Carolina, TCU advancing in regions. Final Four-ish: UConn, UCLA, etc., with UConn winning the championship. Notre Dame run likely ends in Elite Eight. He emphasized picking #1s far in women's brackets as a safe strategy. FSU Baseball Quick Hit Record at the time: 19-4 (strong season). Playing Florida that night (down 5-0 in top 8th; "we're cooked" — humorous). Upcoming: Home series vs. Duke (March 27-29). Then at Stetson. Ranked ~top 10-25 in Baseball America/D1 Baseball polls. Optimism: Another College World Series push, hosting regionals, maybe getting "over the hump" past Super Regionals. Closing & Shoutouts Thanks for tuning into recent solo shows. Follow him on X: @jsmith_sports. Big plug for FSU Splatoon esports (his team?): Undefeated (4-0), clinched playoffs, next vs. Houston. Deserves fan support — follow @FSUSplatoon on X. "If you care about FSU athletics at all, give them some love." Camera was partially cut off the whole show (self-deprecating joke). Sign-off: Enjoy the tournament, great week, see you next time. Solid, breezy episode full of bracket enthusiasm and Seminole pride. Jacob's predictions leaned chalk with some fun chaos (all-Big Ten Final Four), and the Hidalgo story added a nice personal FSU touch. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.