Mike Francesa Failed Hilariously At Attempting To Analyze The NCAA Tournament

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This is fantastic. And not just in general. On the Mike Francesa scale of hilarity that includes falling asleep during his radio show and thinking Al Albuquerque was a fake name and not an MLB reliever, Francesa faking his way through a Maryland-Florida State matchup in the NCAA tournament is an all-timer.

Right off the top, it’s like a minute of dead air and him saying “Uhhhhhhhhhh” as he tries to find out how Maryland and FSU fared against each other. Then, when he realizes Maryland and FSU no longer play in the same conference — haven’t since 2014! — he says, “I’m forgetting now. You’re right.”

Hey, fine. Teams have moved around the major conferences a lot in recent years. It still takes a minute for me to remember Syracuse is in the ACC. Sure, my job isn’t to talk on the radio to millions of people about the NCAA Tournament, but fine.

After that, Francesa just fakes his way through a test about Maryland like a guy who hasn’t done any of the preparation.

“Maryland should’ve been better.”
“They’re hot and cold.”
“I could see them winning this game. I could see them losing this game.”
“Pretty big things were expected for them.”
“Good coach. Well-coached team.”
“A lot of expectations there.”
“I don’t think they had a great year for them.”
“You forget that Maryland moved.”
“I’m not a big Florida State fan.”

Some notes on those thoughts peppered between some dead air and uhhhhhhhhhs.

Maryland was 25th in the AP preseason poll. Big things weren’t expected.
Yes, Maryland could win and Maryland could lose.
Maryland started 20-2 and closed 4-6, so they’re not really “hot and cold” as they “started hot and fell apart late.”
I’d bet $1,000 when Francesa says “good coach” he thinks it’s still Gary Williams, who hasn’t been the coach since 2011.

Also, this is three minutes of nothing analysis about a Maryland-Florida State game that may never happen, since the two can’t meet until the second round.

I can’t believe Francesa is retiring this year when he’s still bringing the heat.

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