Episode 22: Nicole Auerbach returns to talk Kentucky

USA Today college baskeball reporter Nicole Auerbach joins Ahearn Alley to discuss why Kentucky might be vulnerable if Kansas State comes to play, as well as the outlook for the rest of the Big 12 teams in the tournament. Stick around to the end to hear the excellent story of how Nicole's Twitter avi with the Cameron Crazies came to be.

Episode 21: Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation on the NCAA Tourney

Selection Sunday is only five days away, but Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation's Blogging the Bracket was kind enough to make time in his busy schedule to join Ahearn Alley and Derek Smith for this week's Bring on the Podcast. We talked about the upcoming Big 12 conference tournament before moving on to the more prominent one featuring 68 teams from across the nation next week.

Chris isn't any more optimistic than us about K-State's chances to get up to a 6 seed, but he had some nice things to say about the Wildcats as well. He believes Marcus Foster is still underrated nationally and expects KSU's reliance on defense to be a positive as we get deeper into March.

Also, I forgot to ask during the podcast, so I sent Chris an email afterwards to see if he thought the committee would take Thomas Gipson's injury into consideration when looking at the loss to Northern Colorado. This was his response:

I've found that while the Committee says it takes injuries into account, its track record is actually mixed. However, that loss was so early in the season that it likely won't matter anyway, especially given K-State's position on the seed list.

If you're not doing it already, you'll definitely want to be following Chris on Twitter this week at @chrisdobbertean for all the latest insights on bracket action around the country. You can also check out his latest daily bracket update, which has Kansas State as a 9 seed vs. Iowa in San Diego.

Episode 20: Mattisbear returns to talk Baylor again

Mattisbear from Our Daily Bears returns with a much more optimistic attitude after his last Bring on the Podcast appearance sparked Baylor's four-game winning streak. He tells Derek and Ahearn Alley what Baylor needs to do to make the tournament, why the Bears are once again playing well down the stretch, and how Isaiah Austin is becoming an intimidating player despite wearing goggles and making facial expressions like this.

We also touched on why Will Spradling got too much blame in the loss at Baylor and Derek offered a brief explanation of Fake Patty's Day to our enthralled guest. If you're not doing it yet, be sure to follow Matt on Twitter at @mattisbear.