Happy Holidays everyone! As you head to wherever you’re settling in this week for the return of St. Nick and his band of flying mammals, give a listen to this week’s RTC Podcast. In this edition, we talk through some of the big upsets of the past couple of weeks, what it all means long-term, and hand out some holiday gifts to the Santa, Grinch and the other dignitaries through five weeks of the season. Give it a listen as you wrap those remaining gifts for your disliked uncle and your ridiculous cousins. The full rundown is below.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record, and feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-9:32 – Michigan State and Kansas upset
• 9:32-13:05 – Kentucky and Virginia shut down quality opponents
• 13:05-16:50 – Other notable wins
• 16:50-38:17 – College basketball Christmas awards
• 38:17-40:33 – Saturday’s undercard preview
• 40:33-47:02 – Kentucky-Louisville Preview

We heard you! After some polite gnashing of teeth in the Twitterverse — the best hashtag was clearly #freethepod — we finally got our collective acts in gear at the same time long enough to record another RTC Podcast. We’re going to try to get this thing moving again on the regular twice-weekly schedule, but make sure to blame Shane (@sconnolly114 #blameshane) if we don’t! This week we take the time to dig into the first four weeks of the regular season, discussing what we think we’ve learned at this early stage and looking forward to the next three months. We also invited RTC national columnist Bennet Hayes (@hoopstraveler) along for the ride, and we hope to have him on board more often than not this season.

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record, and feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-8:53 – What does Gonzaga’s impressive start mean?
• 8:53-11:52 – Villanova, Virginia and convincing the country they are for real
• 11:52-15:29 – Surprise teams that are legit
• 15:29-18:10 – Early impressive victories
• 18:10-27:15 – Conferences that helped or hurt themselves so far
• 27:15-38:15 – Kentucky’s dominant start
• 38:15-43:58 – Duke’s almost as dominant start
• 43:58-52:48 – You, Me and the AP – Maryland, Michigan State, UNC
• 52:48-56:26 – Moving past finals week

That’s right, it’s in all caps today because we ARE JUST THAT EXCITED ABOUT THE START OF THE REGULAR SEASON.

In a few short hours, games will tip off around the nation (well, actually, Eastern Washington and Texas Southern are playing in Cheney, Washington, right now, for some strange reason) and the long and winding road from practice to pinnacle begins. To prepare for a season that on paper appears as wide open as it’s been in several years, the RTC Podcast is here to walk you through things. As always, Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosts, and the guys spend this Season Preview Edition focusing on takeaways from each of our conference preview podblasts (located here), talking Top 25 teams, justifying Preseason All-America selections, and giving their Final Four picks (which are surprisingly similar this year).

Make sure to add the RTC Podcast to your iTunes lineup so that you’ll automatically upload it on your listening device after we record, and feel free to contact us through Twitter or email — we’re listening.

• 0:00-12:54 – Conference Preview Takeaways
• 12:54-21:39 – Picking Randy’s New Favorite Team
• 21:39-27:07 – Talking Top 25s
• 27:07-36:42 – Preseason All-Americans
• 36:42-51:30 Final Four Discussion, Wrap

Three weeks until games start for real and it’s time to dig into the upcoming college basketball season. The RTC Podcast is back in earnest, with Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114) hosting, and the guys spend nearly an hour discussing the key storylines on teams, players and the game as a whole for the upcoming year. There’s also a brief introductory interlude on the shenanigans that went on in Chapel Hill for the better part of a generation, but the majority of this podcast puts that aside and looks forward. The complete rundown is below, so feel free to bounce around as needed to get the spots you’re most interested in, and make sure to listen toward the end to win a free RTC t-shirt if you can get the right answer to the question we posed. Over the coming weeks we’ll be releasing conference preview podblasts for each of the seven major leagues as well as the Other 26, so keep an ear out for those as well.

Also, if you’re new to the RTC Podcast or simply need to refresh your subscription on iTunes, don’t hesitate: every episode can be found here!

• 0:00-9:40 – UNC Scandal: What It Means
• 9:40-15:20 – The Biggest 2014-15 Storyline
• 15:20-29:45 – Championship Level Tier
• 29:45-37:35 – Teams Whose Postseason Performance is Affecting Their Preseason Projection
• 37:35-39:32 – Best Conference Discussion
• 39:32-44:15 – Players We’re Excited For
• 44:15-53:27 – Preseason Picks We Want To Own/Wrap-up

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back… We are only 30 days from the start of college basketball games, 24 hours from ESPN’s mega-Midnight Madness coverage, and a handful of minutes from Shane’s next dose of Xanax. The RTC Podcast has returned for Season Three: The Immutables, and we’re kicking things off this glorious mid-October week with a warm-up edition — a little bite-sized something that reviews some of the top storylines and themes coming out of a really quiet offseason. Note that this isn’t really a preview episode — that, among many others, will release in the coming weeks — but this podcast, hosted by Shane Connolly (@sconnolly114), is meant to ease us into the season with plenty more to come. The full rundown is below, and remember, you can subscribe to every episode on iTunes with a simple click of a button.

• 0:00 – 2:20 – An In Person Podcast/Summer Blur
• 2:21 – 7:20 – A Few Headlines From a Quiet Offseason
• 7:21 – 10:41 – SMU/Emmanuel Mudiay
• 10:42 – 15:14 – Kentucky Returnees
• 15:15 – 24:02 – Coming & Goings: Wisconsin/Michigan/UCLA
• 24:03 – 32:30 – Coaching Carousel: Who Didn’t Move (Calipari/Ollie/Hoiberg)
• 32:31 – close – What’s Coming at RTC/Wrap

After nearly six months of basketball, from practice to the podium, the 75th and final RTC Podcast of the 2013-14 season is here. It’s been quite a run, filled with analysis, wild predictions, #cheerfortheears, more analysis, numerous fantastic guests, a bunch of informative correspondents, and even a few t-shirts thrown in. While we exhausted ourselves in some respects by plowing through at least a couple pods per week, we feel like it was well worth the time and energy, and we certainly appreciate all of the listeners that tuned in along the way. For the offseason, we expect to check in at least once every few weeks, depending on when there are enough things to talk about, but we’ll definitely be back when the NBA Draft deadline has passed. In this week’s podcast, we break down the National Championship game, consider UConn’s future and talk about some of our memories from the preceding season. The full rundown is below. Give it a listen.

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• 0:00-22:01 – Breaking Down UConn Capturing Championship #4
• 22:01-26:10 – Shabazz Podium Comments
• 26:10-31:09 – UConn’s Place Among The Elite Programs
• 31:09-35:11 – A Brief Conference Realignment Interlude
• 35:11-37:28 – UConn in the AS (After Shabazz) Years
• 37:28-44:20 –  Future of John Calipari
• 44:20-49:13 – Derrick Gordon Comes Out
• 49:13-56:29 – Evaulating the 2013-14 College Basketball Season

It’s here. For the better part of five months, teams around the country have worked their tails off to prepare for and compete in the NCAA Tournament. Sixty-eight hopefuls were invited three weeks ago; only two remain standing today. It’s all about getting a chance to play on Monday night, and Kentucky and Connecticut, two of the top basketball programs in America for decades running, have earned the right to compete on that stage. In this week’s RTC Podcast, the guys reflect on the Final Four games — what went right, what went wrong — for each of the four teams, take an aside to investigate the final outcome of #cheerfortheears, and break down the National Championship that will played in Arlington, Texas, later tonight. It’s a long but worthwhile listen this week, and we hope, as always, that you’ll join us.

• 0:00-15:17 – Kentucky Wins Another Thriller
• 15:17-28:53 – UConn Hands Florida Another Loss
• 28:53-32:40 – #CheerForTheEars
• 32:40-37:42 – Postgame Reactions From the Winners And Losers
• 37:42-46:23 – What a Win Means For Each Program’s History
• 46:23-1:07:51 – Championship Game Preview

This was a really fun RTC Podcast. In this, our Final Four Preview Edition, the guys spend the first half of the show revisiting many of our takes from the preseason and throughout the season on each of the Final Four teams: Florida, UConn, Wisconsin and Kentucky. It’s compelling stuff, both in how spot on we could be about these teams at certain points of the season, and how off we could also be at others. We then broke down the two upcoming games Saturday and revisited the #cheerfortheears meme, the reward of which will be collected on Friday night in the great city of Dallas. The full rundown is below. Join us!

Four Teams Remain

Be sure to add the RTC Podcast to your lineup on iTunes so that you’ll get all of our ongoing coverage throughout the NCAA Tournament.

• 0:00-8:48 – Trip Down Memory Lane: Florida
• 8:48-17:45 – Trip Down Memory Lane: UConn
• 17:45-24:36 – Trip Down Memory Lane: Wisconsin
• 24:36-36:13 – Trip Down Memory Lane: Kentucky
• 36:13-39:00 – Reflecting on the Archive Carnage
• 39:00-44:57 – UConn vs. Florida Preview
• 44:57-50:30 – Wisconsin vs. Kentucky Preview
• 50:30-52:26 – #CheerForTheEars

We’re down to four teams left standing en route to the 2014 Final Four. But before we start breaking down those games and everything else associated with what should be a fantastic weekend in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the guys take the time to review the four games that comprised a gripping Elite Eight. On this week’s RTC Podcast, we break down Wisconsin, Florida, Connecticut and Kentucky’s wins, focusing on the things they’re doing well and some of the key storylines surrounding each game that sent them to the ultimate dance party.

The full rundown is below. Be sure to add the podcast to your lineup on iTunes so that you’ll get all of our ongoing coverage throughout the NCAA Tournament.

• 0:00-12:37 – Wisconsin Earns Bo Ryan His First Final Four
• 12:37-18:18 – Florida’s Seniors Finally Get Their Final Four Trip
• 18:18-23:32 – UConn Rides Shabazz and Home Crowd Past Michigan State
• 23:32-30:18 – Kentucky More Than Just Flipping the Switch
• 30:18-34:03 – Best Games of the Weekend

Happy Sweet Sixteen, everybody. We hope that you’ve had some time to rest up from a crazy opening weekend and are starting to digest the match-ups heading our way on Thursday and Friday nights. These eight games look to be outstanding in different ways, both storyline and basketball, and to get you ready for this the Sweet Sixteen, the RTC Podcast crew invited all four of our regional correspondents back to break down each region in a bite-sized segment of this week’s edition. We welcome back Brian Otskey (East), Bennet Hayes (South), Walker Carey (Midwest) and Drew Murawa (West) to discuss what to watch for with this week’s games. There might even be some predictions. We’ll try to do an Elite Eight preview edition that will drop on Friday night/Saturday morning, so keep an eye out for that. This edition’s full rundown is below.

• 0:00-3:54 – Louisville-Kentucky Headlines Super Sweet Sixteen Schedule
• 3:54-8:09 – Other Sweet Sixteen Highlights
• 8:09-20:04 – Previewing Midwest Region with Walker Carey
• 20:04-36:17 – Previewing South Region with Bennet Hayes
• 36:17-48:03 – Previewing West Region with Andrew Murawa
• 48:03-59:40 – Previewing East Region with Brian Otskey
• 59:40-1:09:33 Revised Final Four Picks