March Madness Has Begun, High Point Upsets Wisconsin, UNC Meltdown, Stanford Steve Giving Best Bets For Friday + Fyre Fest Of The Week

March 20, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Hosts of Pardon My Take recapped Day 1 of the 2025 NCAA men's tournament, a mix of massive upsets, chalky blowouts, and survival scares amid widespread bracket destruction—including their own. Big Cat vented extensively on Wisconsin's elimination, while Stanford Steve joined to analyze paths to the title and Friday bets. The episode blended raw fan reactions, game breakdowns, and gambling angles.

Wisconsin Falls to High Point

No. 5 Wisconsin lost 72-61 to No. 12 High Point, the day's biggest upset and a gut-punch for Big Cat, whose bracket died immediately. High Point, dismissed as a "vacation school" with free ice cream trucks, proved legitimately strong: athletic, sized, fast, and well-coached, with no Power 4 teams willing to schedule them out-of-conference. Chase Johnson, activated late, drained a pivotal logo three when Wisconsin led by eight with 4:30 left, sparking a swing; he finished with his first two made threes of the season. Wisconsin shot poorly inside (no twos since last February), took too few threes (23 vs. their 30+ average), and couldn't rebound or defend. Big Cat called it the worst 12-5 loss in recent Badgers memory, worse than prior exits to JMU or Oregon; coach Greg Gard faces criticism for nine years without a Sweet 16 but deserves credit for modern offense and portal hauls like Nick Boyd (now with three buzzer-beater heartbreaks). High Point advanc

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What you'll learn

1 (00:05) **Intro and Ads** - Hosts plug sponsors and preview March Madness Day 1 action, Stanford Steve bets, Firefest
2 (02:02) **Big Cat's Wisconsin Upset Grief** - Big Cat processes High Point's 12-5 upset win over Wisconsin, Chase Johnson's logo 3 swings momentum
3 (09:28) **High Point Breakdown** - Praise for High Point's size, speed, athleticism; no P4 wanted to schedule them
4 (11:24) **Hank's Troll Questions** - Hank probes upset scenarios, timing, ice cream giveaways at High Point
5 (19:55) **Booth Questions and Memes** - Memes crushed social media quotas; Aaron Rodgers meme deployed
6 (25:34) **UNC's Historic Meltdown** - UNC blows 19-point lead to VCU in OT, biggest in 1st round history
7 (27:21) **Duke-Siena Close Call** - Siena leads at half with no subs, bricks dunks, fades late vs Duke zone

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

March Madness is here and Big Cat's tournament is over as quickly as it started. He does soggy sorrows then faces questions from the room (00:00:00-00:25:03). We talk UNC's meltdown, Nebraskas first win as a program, Michigan State, Arkansas, and Houston looking great, Duke's scare and more (00:25:03-00:52:53). We then talk to Stanford Steve about his best bets for Friday's slate, why Duke can't win it all, thoughts on Villanova and more (00:52:53-01:41:05). We finish with Fyre Fest of the Week (01:41:05-02:04:40).

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