It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think we are.
Get off our show, idiot. The kids are playing or turn off.
The countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother,
gold Play Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really
not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding
me? Now? Here's Nick Coffee? All right, everybody, let's get
it started. Welcome in Happy Thursday. It is Coffee and Company. That's
the name of the show, this radio program. That's what they call it.
Some of you call it nonsense, and I kind of like that better
because we just have some fun. We mix it up. This job that
I do love. It's a dream to be able to do this every day.
And also there's a there's an element to it, John that makes it
fun because it kind of feels like I don't really have to have a job,
you know what I mean? Yeah, I think sometimes when it's the
only thing, at least for me that I've been a part of professionally,
it does like it makes me wonder what I would be doing if I wasn't
doing this specifically, because it doesn't feel like a job. Yeah, I
mean it is. We work, and we work hard, and we you
know, take it serious as far as you know, making sure we put
our best effort forward every single day. But really, it doesn't feel like
a job. You know. I shouldn't say that because then they're like,
well, okay, well he'll do it for free. We just that's the
caveat that comes. Yeah, oh, no doubt about it. But yeah,
I'm excited, eager, ready to get this thing started. Here on
a on a Thursday afternoon. It's hot outside, but it's okay. The
vibes are strong. This place is packed right now. I don't know if
you got here around the same time I did, but did you see how
full the iHeart Headquarters. I hurt louill Headquarters. I should say, I
think the iHeart Headquarters of like the corporation in Texas. Yeah, San Antonio,
but I hurt Louisville. Here at four Street line I've in downtown is
popping Yeah, the conference rooms are popping off. I mean, we must
got some good stuff cooking up. Absolutely. I do feel a little bad
though, because I walked in here about two thirty and there were two young
ladies in here who I'm not sure if they and this is what sucks.
I'll just say this. I love iHeart. I'm a company man, John,
he is literally the company man. This isn't really like I mean,
I guess it is a complaint. I was going to try to dress it
up and like say something without it sounding as if I'm making a complaint,
but I don't think there's any way around it. It's a complaint. I
don't know a lot of people who work here. There have been many people
that have been hired that I've probably emailed back and forth with that maybe I've
heard their name. But because a lot of people work remote, I don't
like I don't know them, I don't see them. Which that's probably not
that unusual when it comes to like the corporate structure of companies. Now that's
just life, that's you know, things evolve. But there were two young
ladies in here, and I can say young. When I started here in
twenty sixteen, I was the youngest employee in the building, not this building,
the other building. Honestly, by by probably a pretty wide margin.
I would say at that time, the youngest person was one of the sales
guys who was a little bit older than me. And now, like these
professionals that were here, these young ladies, I'm not again, I don't
know, I don't know their names and what they do, but they're not
usually here, but they were in here working hard in Studio B, where
I'm that's what this is, right, Studio B. It is so you
know, I walk in and you know, they's like, oh, do
you need this room? And I said, uh yeah, my show starts
here around three and this is usually where I get ready. And they were
like, oh, I'm so sorry, you know, like I we didn't
know. And I'm like, oh, it's fine, like you know,
I'm just this. I'm just gonna get set up. And I said,
I'm actually gonna run and grab something to drink so you don't have to rush
out of here. But they grabbed their stuff and just ran as if like
I was kicking them out, and I think they felt bad. And I
was trying to say, like, look, it's not that big of a
deal because where we are, like the way this is set up, there's
no offices here, like we have a pretty big amount of space I feel
like for the people that we have, but there's no offices. There's some
conference rooms, there's uh, I guess what you what you call those?
I mean they're cubicles, right, I mean or just desks. I don't
know, yeah, because they don't have the typical like wall the cubical walls
that you typically see. But when I started, one of the like one
of the things that helped me figure out who each person was that I worked
with was they had a certain spot, Like I know that you know Evan
and sales he sits right there. I know are one of our sales manager.
That's Buddy Peterson's office right there. And now it's just kind of any
everybody's wherever they can get, and I guess it. The goal is to
make it more of like, hey, we're all collectively together. Nobody's got
an assigned spot. You just set up and get to work and continue to
make this company great, which I like the idea, but I don't.
I don't know a lot of people, and usually a normal human would would
say, hey, I'm Nick, nice to meet you, But then again,
like that's an awkward situation because then they'd be like we've talked six times
on the phone and an email and you don't know who I am. And
I'm like, well, never, I've never seen you, you know what
I mean? Like it? I think that's a very uncomfortable thing, is
to be talking to someone who is well aware that you know they they believe
that you know exactly who they are, and you don't you know what I
mean like that. That's happened for me from time to time, and it's
uncomfortable and it's awkward now in the same way, like I don't interact with
a lot of people here, I know more people's names that work here now
than I did maybe four or five months ago, and that's mainly because of
the shows we did at Martin's Barbecue. It was kind of forced us to
ingle for a little bit. Yeah, but until then, I only knew
who, you know, the hosts were. I knew who our bosses were,
and that was about the extendon that I worked with. I mean,
yeah, and it's you know, for me, it's a little bit different
because there are people who have sold the show to a client rather it be
a remote, an endorsement, or at least just you know, we had
meetings about it, and it's all been you know, phone and text and
email, and some of these people I wouldn't know if they walked in,
which again that's I guess that's not an issue, but like whenever, you
know, I just think it would be really rude for some for me to
you know, approach someone, Hey, I'm Nick, nice to meet you,
how are you, and they're like, we've talked eighty times. But
maybe they know the same thing, right, and you know, we do
radio. It's not a visual thing, but you know, maybe they don't
know who I am, you know what I mean. Maybe it's the same
thing. Maybe we'd be sitting here talking and not realizing that we've had you
know, many calls together and we've we've actually worked together. But you know,
today there's a lot it just I don't know what it is. There's
something about a lot of people being here just it makes me feel better about
everything. There's a lot of folks that work from home, not only here
within this company but everywhere, and I'm sure those people are really productive.
But yeah, I feel good today as we get this thing started because there's
a lot of folks here and it has nothing to do with me in this
show, but it's just it's good. It enhances the vibes, and that's
what I'm all about. Although I think somebody might be playing some kind of
a sick joke on me here. Oh really, now we are loaded with
snacks right now. I mean the fridge, I mean just completely full with
anything you want, water, sprite, diet coke, regular coke, maybe
some root beer. I mean they got it, all the chips, the
fruit, snacks, everything. I mean, we are stocked up right now
for snacks, which everybody loves snacks. But you know, we don't have
cheese its. We went from having endless cheese it's and now the cheese its
are gone and I was looking for some cheese it's earlier. Yeah, I
mean this is some kind of a sick joke, it is, that's what
they're doing there. I mean nobody I don't think in this company ate a
bag of cheese. It's other than me. For those who don't know,
we get loaded up every week and it's like a kid in school when you
get like a snack, you know, like a recess or something, and
and you know it's like a vending machine with all had to put quarters.
Yeah, and we got good stuff too, like it's not. I mean,
it's it's not just you know, it's not. I mean, it's
better than stuff you'd get in a vending machine, I think, and for
one reason, you know, it usually goes pretty quick because you know,
people love to indulge on some good snacks, and usually there's only like six
bags that cheese It left by the time you get to the end of the
week. And you know, that's what led me to say, Okay,
let's do it. I want some cheese its and cheese It's again underrated,
a good they're they're they're known, they've been around a long time. But
I feel like if you're going to a store to get chips, you're not
going for cheese its. You're probably going for Dorito's, or you're going for
some Lais or maybe you know, some hot fries. But after I was
only Jesus were the only thing available. That's what I That's what I got,
And it became a normal thing for me to have a few bags at
Cheetos throughout the week and all week none And I don't think that's a coincidence,
or maybe just maybe because they were usually the last last one left,
they just assumed we don't need to get him anymore. And if that's if
that's miss Joy that made that decision, I'm gonna have to have a talk
with her because I was. I was finishing the cheese its. By end
of the week cheeses were gone, and they were and I was inhaling them.
You should put a sign outside of studio being you say, drop off
all let lead over cheese. It's at this door, yep. Leave the
other bags of chips, you know, in our kitchen area. You can
just drop the she's here because nobody else is eating them, and I was,
and now they're gone and it makes me sad. All right, let's
dive in, shall we? Coffee and Company that is us. We are
fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety Nick Coffee the company man,
John Alden taking you up until six o'clock, So hang out, make yourself
at home. We are gonna have a guest this week, which I feel
like is the first time we've had a guest in a long time. But
it's going to be our man, our college football correspondent, our college football
insider. It is mister Zach Barnett of Football Scoop. He'll join us at
four h five today. I want to get his thoughts on a variety of
things, but I may not even ask him about what is I think currently
one of the most talked about things in college football, and that is this
nonsense that's out there about the Big Twelve adding Clemson in Florida State. I've
always sort of been a nerd for conferencery alignment stuff because I just think it's
fascinating because for a long time, you didn't have any of it, at
least, you know, not that I could. You know, it went
from when Louisville got into the Big East years and years ago, what was
it like, two thousand and five, two thousand and six, I think
was their first year in the Big East. At that time, there wasn't
a whole lot going on as far as the higher levels, and then it
really started rolling. You had a game of musical chairs going on, and
that just fascinated me. Right to see teams like Nebraska go from the Big
Twelve to the Big Ten, and to see the sec AD Missouri in Texas,
A and m it just, you know, I guess when I was
really locked, when I was young and I really started to just be obsessed
with college sports and understand conference affiliation that kind of stuff. It was kind
of you know, I just never thought of anybody leaving, and then,
of course, obviously things have changed a lot since then. So I think
conference re alignment for reasons I don't really know, is the one I guess
topic, if you will, talking point among college sports fans that you can
know that where you getting your information is nonsense. You can have a good
you could spot a troll who's just trying to, you know, mess with
people about some fake story, but people run with that more than they run
with anything. Right. There's all kinds of you know, incorrect reporting,
fake news as of course, a lot of people call it like that happens
all the time, and people can usually sniff it out and just not even
give it much thought after reading headline and then using their brain and realizing that's
nonsense. You could do the same thing with some of the conference re alignment
stuff that's happened over the years, but the people don't. They just run
with it. And I don't know if it's because it's such a secret thing
and it's deeply behind the scenes. Right, we're talking conference commissioners athletic directors,
presidents of schools, that kind of stuff, to where like there's I
wouldn't even call it such a level of secrecy. It's just there's so many
people involved in that that like aren't in the public. But it went from
fascinating me to now just annoying me. So it all started after the Big
Twelve, at the Big Twelve media days that I guess, are they still
going on right now? I feel like they've been going on the last couple
of days. Maybe it concluded yesterday, I'm not really sure, but the
talk of the Big twelve expansion really kind of became a story. And you
know, Ross Dellinger, who we've had on this show, who I think
is phenomenal when it comes to college football reporting. He's now working for Yahoo,
used to work for Sports Illustrated. I believe Ross is great, and
I kind of feel like he's been he's been lumped into this fake stuff and
it's unfair to him and I'm not going to come to his defense just I
don't know, maybe he doesn't feel that way, but when I saw yesterday
evening that you know, he was he was included within this report of the
Big Twelve eyeing and potentially adding Florida State and Clemson and even Notre Dame was
thrown in there by one of the reports. When I saw Dellinger's name attached
to it, I thought, Okay, then maybe there is something here.
But then I thought, how, like, how that doesn't make it's not
possible. Like people talk about Florida State and Clemson going to the SEC or
the Big Ten, and I guess now the Big twelve, But nobody seems
to even consider the fact that for that to happen, the amount of money.
I mean, do people not realize that it would cost five hundred and
seventy two million dollars for one of these schools to break the Grain of Rights
deal? Do you know what that means? Nobody's going anywhere, nobody's paying.
I mean, that's not that's not realistic, Like it's it's any talk
of any talk of realignment that includes ACC schools leaving is nonsense. Now,
the future of the league and the fight to break the Grain of Rights,
that's a legitimate story. There's not been a whole lot of updates to it,
and in fact, the Grain of Rights themselves that's another lawsuit that's currently
going on, nobody's ever even seen it. Like this sounds like something that's
made up, and it sounds like an exaggeration to kind of really emphasize how
ridiculous this document is. But nobody has access to it. You have to
actually request to view it in person, and you can't take it with you.
There's no pdf that's being sent around the league like it's a super private
deal. That nope. And again there's lawsuits going on to make these things
public, and I think that's still ongoing. But any talk that you hear
of any ACC school leaving the conference like it's in the works, I guess
I shouldn't say it's nonsense because maybe the Big twelve, the SEC, and
the Big ten could say, hey, if you ever can foot the bill,
we love to have you. But like that, that's not happening.
So I went from just really consuming all of it knowing that it was probably
all exaggerated, made up, or just a troll. But now I'm just
like, what are people doing? And I do feel bad form my man
Ross Dellinger, because again, here I'll read for you. This is a
Big twelve website that I feel like is one of the bigger and more known
websites that covers the Big Twelve. Specifically, it's called Heartland College Sports,
and their story says this the Big Twelve is in early conversations about expansion with
Clemson in Florida State. Initial report from Ross Dellinger, that's not what happened,
Like, that's not true. Ross Dellinger was asked sort of like,
hey, you know, it was more of a hypothetical, like if in
fact they could get out of the Grand of Rights, Like what would be
more attractive than would they want to come into the Big twelve and probably already
beat top dogs or would they want to essentially join two other leagues to where
it would be a little bit more competitive. I mean quite clearly in the
SEC, if those two schools were there, they'd still have success here and
there, and they may be great, but like it's a different world.
Big Ten. I don't know. I mean, the Big Ten's clearly a
good conference, but you know, I mean you just have you have less
to really, you know, the Big Ten has a weaker bottom, if
that makes sense, whereas in the SEC at times, you know, you
can have seventy percent of the league teams that don't you know, any given
Saturday, they might mess around and beat the number one team in the country.
So you know, that's really what And it will play the clip for
you guys a little bit later on because he did a Ross did a sit
down interview with a guy named John Kurtz, who I don't know specifically,
but he's somebody who is. In fact, if you go to his YouTube
page, he's got twenty thousand subscribers on YouTube, so shout out to him.
He's clearly got a big following. But the banner at the top of
his YouTube says this conference realignment, college football, college hoops, So like,
this is a guy who knows the engagement he's going to get when he
talks about realignment, because it's that's what this it's since the beginning of realignment
sort of being a thing on the Internet that people just consume like it's always
getting traction, like it always moves the needle. And there's clearly been a
whole lot of realignment in the last fifteen years. I mean again, just
think of some of the school like think it's just happening now, but the
USC and UCLA are going to be in the Big ten, Like that's insane,
is it? Not. And there's even more crazy examples to throw out
there as far as how it's just crazy. But a lot of them are
schools that don't matter, right, Like the Rutgers in the Big Ten is
just stupid, but like it's not thought about often because who thinks about Rutgers,
right, But like now you've got Texas and Oklahoma in the SEC,
which just sounds crazy. So yes, there's been a lot of movement,
but I would be willing to bet that eighty percent of stories, reports,
leaks, whatever you want to call it on the internet, especially Twitter and
message boards, in the last fifteen years, eighty percent of them have been
nonsense and not true at all. But you know what it gets. I
mean, there's a lot of traffic, which I guess can still produce revenue
for people who are running websites and that kind of stuff, but I mean,
I wish it was I mean, like again, I hear people who
I like, some people I know, and they discuss this and they just
completely ignore the fact that they can't go anywhere. Nobody in the ACC can
go anywhere. It would cost you five hundred and seventy two million dollars to
break the grain of rights. Who's doing that? And these schools have a
lot of money, right, Like you know, a couple million is nothing
to a lot that we're talking over half of a billion dollars just to leave
your conference. It's not happening, And from what I can tell, there's
really been no ground gained by the schools suing. So, as I've said,
many times, why not say it once more? The one thing that
looks as if it's going to be the nail in the coffin for this league
is also the one thing that's keeping it together. That the gran of Rights
appears to be ironclad and it's in place till twenty thirty four. That's ten
years from now, folks. I'll be forty six years old, which is
insane to say, but that's how I mean. How old are you,
John, twenty six, you'll be thirty six? My age, it's crazy.
Yeah. Like my son, he just turned four, he'll be fourteen,
he'll be playing. He'd be in high school when the grand of Rights
runs out. I mean ten years. I feel like, no matter what
age you use, sounds like an exact, like a big gap, right,
Like my daughter's eight, she'll be an adult, she'll be a grown
up. Like, if there was ever any legitimate, like you know,
loophole that was found, there's some kind of a a way out. I
think they would have found it by now. So again, realinment's fun at
times, but like I maybe it's just me getting older, but like this
is just stupid because it's not it's not happening. And yes, there is
the scenario where the ACC could bargain and like give him a reduced buyout,
but let's just say they knocked off one hundred and seventy two million, we're
gonna give you a hundreds seventy two million dollar discount, you still got to
pay four hundred million dollars. Like, it's just insane. So the ACC
is stuck together, and that is a good thing, but a bad thing,
right because once you had the clear division, and I can respect Clemson
in Florida state for at least not just just you know, being transparent.
They don't like the fact that they're gonna get left behind from a revenue standpoint,
and this whole kumba y'all, we're all in this together was a lie.
So at least they're being they're being upfront about it. But anything you
see about the Big twelve, adding because again I would love I've mentioned it
for a long time. I kind of got a crush on the Big twelve,
Like I think it's cool it. You know, it's catching my eye,
Like, you know, I like the Big twelve. I kind of
feel like they're heading in the right direction. I think Loil could be a
good fit there, but like that's not possible. They're not going. They
can't get out. And by the way, another good point on the text
line coming in here. I mean, five hundred and seventy two million dollars
is an insane amount of money. I feel like on any level of any
no matter how rich you are, if you're a billionaire, five hundred and
seventy million dollars is not chump changed to in any and I think, in
any avenue of life. But now you've got schools that are going to be
on the hook for twenty two million annually to pay student athletes the ACC unless
they just decide to, you know, disband and just close up shop and
let these schools go wherever these guys are stuck together. All right, we
got a lot more to get into the rest of the way here. I
don't have any strong thoughts on it, But I do see a lot of
folks pitching about the Kentucky basketball non conference schedule, which I mean, it
looks like their schedule is looked for years now. Like this is no different
than any schedule that Cows put together. So like, I don't know why
people are expecting it to be any different under Mark Pope, because Mark Pope
is not I mean, Mark Pope really inherited this guy actual, To be
honest with you, Also, a new I guess component if you will,
an nc DOUAA selection process for the inn Civil, a tournament that I think
is awesome. I want to talk about that. It's I'm not going to
nerd out on numbers, but they they went a route. They went a
different route than I would have ever expected as far as how they're going to
get a better feel for who legitimately belongs in the tournament when it comes to
bubble teams. So we've got that, We've got we got a lot to
get into. So stick around. I'll get our quick get to our first
break here so we can manage the clock. And hope you stick around.
I mean, why would you not? What else are you gonna do?
Imagine not sticking around for the rest of this show. Today it's coffee and
Company. We're fueled by Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety.
So far, so good for my my, uh, you know, my
attempt to really get into the Olympics this year. When it comes to the
men's basketball team, Team USA, they played last night in Vegas against Canada
and did not play really well. I mean can tell these are guys that
you know, the best players on the planet, but they've not played together
very often, right, I mean it's still kind of new, but yet
a Canaida roster that has a lot of talent on it, they still got
demolished by a Team USA in a game where again I watched about eighty percent
of that game, and you know, clearly you're seeing again the best players
on the planet doing what they do. But as far as you know them
looking like they're gelling and you know, establishing some rhythm and whatnot, like
that's still a work in progress. But to be honest, they could probably
still play the way they played last night and and hopefully win the goal.
But they'll get better. And you know, just seeing it was something I'm
trying, like I'm trying to, as I talk about yesterday, I'm trying
to really, you know, live in the moment and realize that we have
I think one of the best rosters we've ever had for an Olympics with basketball
that I can remember. So And by the way, it was also really
cool to hear to legendary broadcasters on the call that you rarely ever hear.
In fact, I don't think I can never remember hearing them on the NBA,
which was Gus Johnson and Bill Raffree, which by it wasn't it wasn't
the NBA, But you know what I mean, watching NBA players with those
two guys calling it good stuff? All right, it's coffee and company speaking
of good stuff. That's us, right at least I hope. So I
know the good stuffs at Thornton's. And if you're not a member of the
refreshing wards program at thornton She should be. You'll save money at the gas
pump, You'll your day will be better if you include an experience out of
Thornton's. You know along the way, and if you're in the Kentucky and
area, there is likely a Thornton's close to you, So stop in today
and sign up to become a member of the Refreshing Awards program if you haven't
already. Four h five, we're gonna talk to Zach Barnette FootballScoop dot com.
I want to get his thoughts a little bit on the realignment nonsense.
And I don't want to do it because I feel like I'm being a hypocrite
here, but I will because the Big twelve media day was yesterday and the
day before and I don't think it's going on currently, but I really don't
know. But either way, like Dion Sanders saying things that he says his
son should or Sanders, I mean like at some point the fatigue has got
to kick in for everybody else, right, Like nobody can be shocked or
surprised when Prime and his sons, and I guess really just anybody affiliated with
the Colorado program say things that like most wouldn't say, but they like if
you are Georgia or you are Michigan or just won the national championship. I
mean, there are some teams who can show up to a media day for
the conference and say things like we are everybody's super Bowl, and it may
sound cocky, but like you know, there's like legitimacy to what they're saying,
because beating them would be a big deal. But Colorado's saying it,
well should or Sanders saying it that we know where everybody's super Bowl? Like
again, when does when does the shock value run off for everybody else?
Like that's it's not true, And I mean even if it is, it's
because people want to embarrass you because of your delusional sense of worth, if
that makes sense. I mean, I think somebody said it best on Twitter,
shout out to Colorado for gifting eight teams of super Bowl victory last year.
I mean, they were terrible and they're probably going to be bad again
this year. And it's just wild to me that Deion Sanders, I believe,
is the only coach that could continue to say what he says, act
the way he acts. And I'm not saying he's doing anything criminal. I
mean, if anything, he's consistent, like Dion is being Dion the same
guy he was when he was a player, Like he's very confident. I
would call it cocky arrogant, but as a player, he had some legitimate
reasons to be that way, right, he was flashy and he was damn
good guy was playing two professional sports at the same time. But as a
coach, you won four games, man, and I mean, you weren't
good and this year, you know, I would at least have some level
of humility to where like, hey, we're going to prove people wrong.
We were picked to finish near last in our conference. We look forward to
going out and show it. Like they're they're talking is if they're coming off
of an appearance in the playoff, and it just I don't know why it
annoys me. I feel like things will begin to sour pretty quickly if they
don't take a few steps forward this year. Maybe I'm maybe I'm naive about
it. I think you're right, But what I think is always going to
be the case is if they take a step forward or if they take six
steps backwards, whatever's going on with him is always going to be a talking
point. And that's what bothers me. And it shouldn't bother me because I
knew. I mean, I've been saying that for over a year before d
uncoached a game. He was going to bring eyeballs and attention regardless, and
that's I guess that's just something I should accept. But I mean again they
want they won four games last year, and I don't think they're going to
be that much better this year. I mean, I guess they don't have
to play Texas and in Oklahoma those teams are leaving, but like they were
terrible. And Dion, by the way, like not only did he coaches
get a passing year one right, and he gets a pass to an extent
even for me, not that he cares, but he did. You know,
put it was a brand new team. He used the portal and like
they had more transfers than anybody, so like to an extent, like it
was the honeymoon right first year. But like even throughout that, like he
showed in my opinion, his inability to be a top tier coach in college
football at a Power five school. I mean, he took away the play
calling duties from a head coach who left Kent State as a head coach to
go call plays and be the OC for him. The offense was doing well,
they were scoring, They've got talent on offense. Their defense was dreadful.
But because he didn't like the way plays were being called for his son
at quarterback, he pulled play calling duty from from the guy's name who I
don't remember now, but he he's left Colorado. Night's the head coach of
San Diego State. Like, your offense was good, your defense sucked,
and yet you're worried about your son and how he like you're doing daddy ball,
Like that's some Friday night light stuff for you. I mean, like,
I think this is going to end very, very poorly. And people
can say, oh, you're just a hater, you're mad because Prime's different.
No, Prom's been Prime forever and to his credit, he's a he's
he's always going to have people talking about what he's doing when he's involved in
football because that's just what he does and it's a gift. Not many people
can do that, right, But like I I just somebody show me what
what makes you think that he's going to like have an insane level of success?
And you can bring up Jackson State and that's fine, they were good
there, right, But you know what, that was quite literally an example
of Deon Sanders being Deon Sanders having the you know, the notoriety that he
does, the ability to sell. He brought players to play at Jackson State
that could have been starters for some of the best teams in the country.
Now, his roster wasn't loaded that way, but I think at Jackson State
credit for the success. But I'm of the belief that the biggest factor in
why he won there is because he got dudes to bypass Power five Top twenty
programs to go play FCS football for an HBCU, which by the way,
is a credit to him. But I don't think it was because he was
scheming up some great x's and o's. He had dudes that should never be
playing at that level. So you know, we'll see. But I mean,
if I was like a coach in the Big Twelve and I was constantly
asked by everybody there over the last two days about Colorado and Deon Sanders,
there's a level of it that is expected because they're joining the Big Twelve again
like they're new to the league. But other than that, like I mean,
who said it best last year? Was it Dan Lanning? Whenever Colorado?
When it was clear that Colorado was leaving Dan Lanning. This is what
Dan Lanning said on his reaction to Colorado leaving the conference. Not a big
reaction. I mean, I'm trying to remember with what they won to affect
this conference. I don't remember do you remember them winning anything? I don't
remember them winning anything. That a great I mean again, that's that.
I think he's clearly doing that to poke fun. But it's true, and
nobody says it like Colorado sucked before Dion and they were bad last year and
they got more sizzled, they get more attention. But that's a coach being
asked about Colorado leaving the league and giving He's giving you a direct, honest
answer that a lot of coaches would feel like, well, you know,
I just worry. I just worry about my team. I worry about us
getting better every day in practice. That's Dan Lanning being like, not a
big reaction. I mean they hammered Colorad. I mean this is a body
bag, not a big reaction. I mean, I'm trying to remember with
what they want to affect this ofference. I don't remember you remember them winning
anything. I don't remember them winning anything. That's the end of it.
Is the best good to And then how about this when they played Colorado rooted
in substance, not Flash rooted in substance. Today we talk with our pats.
You're talking your helmet right every moment the Cinderella story is over. Man.
Right, they're fighting for clicks, We're fighting for wins. There's a
difference, right, there's a difference. Right. This game ain't gonna be
playing in Hollywood. It's gonna be played on the grass. Right, It's
gonna be played on the grass. Let's go Bargs. That's like the best
thing ever. I want to go play for Dan Landing right now? Where
do you think he put me? Special teams? Just run around and hide,
just drill the kicker. Yeah, I don't know if I mean,
I mean, if they asked me to do it, I would try,
but I'm not sure i'd be up with the job. I'm not sure me
drilling anybody would do much of an impact on a football field. It always
reminds me when I had Mike Bush on the show years ago. I think
it was like twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen out at might have been one of
Bobby Petrino's golf scrambles or something. We did the show out there, and
I asked Mike Bush, if you know, if I played football, you
know, where do you where would you put me? And he told me
that I could be the guy that runs out and picks up the tee after
kickoff, and I felt very much owned, but also I couldn't really deny
that. I mean, it probably would be the best role for me on
a football field, But you can also be a baseball umpire. I know
you've done that before, right, Yeah, yeah, I called it second
plate instead of second base. So you know, well, all right,
let's get to our next break. We'll come back on the other side.
Keep this thing rolling along. What I do want to get to before we
bring in mister Zach Barnett. A football scoop is the Field of sixty eight
crew put together who they believe would be representing Team USA in the Olympics for
basketball if it was only college basketball players from the upcoming season, which I
feel like a couple of noticeable observations from their list. We'll talk about it
next right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. So the Field of sixty eight
they cover college basketball. Jeff Goodman, robbed Auster that crew, and they've
really really expanded their coverage each and every year, and I feel like it's
safe to say they're they're probably, I think collectively the leading outlet for college
basketball now nationally. Would I mean, wouldn't you say John, that's fair
because John Rothsky, I know, he's associated with CBS Sports. He's kind
of like the figurehead, yeah for college basketball, but he doesn't really have
his own show and stuff. Yeah, like his con his content is just
social media. Yes, I mean, he does have a website where he
updates some things, but he's not cranking out stuff. He doesn't do.
You know, he really doesn't have his own platform. He's on CBS Sports
Network every now and then, and he's great, by the way. But
you know, I'm just giving shout out to these guys because you know,
I didn't know college basketball is a niche thing compared to the NFL, college
football and even the NBA. But they, I mean, they exclusively cover
college hoops and they do a good job at it. So they put together
their College Team USA for the upcoming season, meeting players who are currently going
to be playing college basketball. And more than anything, I wanted to bring
this up because I think it's a sign that because of the portal and because
guys can stick around in college and make money and not bail. It's just
different, right, The best players in college basketball every year that are going
to be talked about a lot within college basketball. I mean, a lot
of these guys aren't NBA players, And I don't know, maybe I'm just
maybe I'm just remembering it differently than it really was. But I feel like
when you used to bring up the best players in college basketball for an upcoming
season, it was guys who you felt for sure were going to be NBA
players, And now it's just not because again, you can stick around in
college play four or five years now, make a lot of money and just
still not look like a guy that really translates to the next level. Now,
for example, the starting five according to these guys, Ryan Kulkbrenner from
Creighton, big man who was really good for Creighton, and you know,
maybe he'll get drafted. But that's somebody that I mean, again, this
last draft was as weak as can be. If you didn't get the feedback
and you didn't feel good about your draft stock, I mean, I don't
know how you could say that you're going to have a much because you could
be you could be better after another year, right, But maybe that means
your status will actually be even weaker, because maybe next year's draft's going to
be a lot stronger. So you know, he's a good player, but
I don't know if he's going to play in the NBA. Cooper Flag.
That guy's gonna be the first pick in the NBA draft, Like that's that's
a known thing. So he's he's the exception here, at least in the
starting five. Alex Caravan, the big man for Yukon. I mean,
he's clearly a good player, you know, at the college level. I
mean him coming back was a big deal. He averaged thirteen and five last
year, six' eight, big guy. But again, if he didn't
have good enough draft statut a draft stock to go last year, I mean,
you know, does people think he's gonna go next year? I don't
know. He's he's a stretch, a stretch meaning like he's a guy they
put in the post. But he can also shoot a little bit, so
maybe he'd maybe he does translate. And to be fair, he is somebody
that I remember when he did come back. It might have been Goodman who
said that's the one guy that like there shouldn't have been really a decision like
he's he would have been drafted pretty pretty you know, first round for sure.
So maybe he's also an exception. For a guy that just said,
hey, you know what, I've just won two straight national championships. Let's
see if I can win three. And then the other two are guards.
And again, these are two guys that wanted to leave but realized I probably
won't get drafted. And that's Mark Sears for Alabama because some of you guys
may not even know he's a good guard. He played at Ohio, not
Ohio State, but Ohio the Bobcats for a couple of years, then transferred
to Obama and has been really good for Natoates. And then John L.
Davis FIU transfer who transferre to play for Cali period at Arkansas this upcoming season.
And you know, he's somebody that again wanted to go pro. I
mean, he was one of the last guys to make the decision to end
up, you know, transferring to Arkansas because you know, he was going
through the process and didn't have I mean, he was not believed to be
a guy that that would be drafted. So I don't look at this and
say wow, because again I bet there are casual college basketball fans that did
not know a single one of these guys. I mean, is that crazy
to say, like Jo Davis John Davis play at FIU. Yeah, I'm
sorry, I keep saying, FIM surprised Hunter Dickinson isn't on that list.
He was on the reserves and that was I don't know if it was a
hot take. But Colprinner's really good and and and so is Dickinson. But
they have Col Brinner as a starter. Like Cooper Flag is probably a name
you know of because he's the he's believed to be the next like phenom.
What I mean by that is he is somebody that people assume when he gets
to the NBA, he will not only perform at a high level, he
will win games for teams as a rookie because he's that gifted. I mean,
some of the video that I've seen, I I assumed it was exaggerated.
I assumed he hit a shot or two. There's there's legitimate footage of
of the Team USA Select Team playing actual Team USA in Cooper Flag plays for
the Select team. I mean he's given him work. I mean he's scoring
uh at all levels, getting to the rim, knocking down threes, scoring
off the bounce. I mean he's he's fearless and he's really talented. So
again, a lot of these guys, even if you're a casual college basketball
and you don't know a lot about him, because they didn't have years of
hype. Because the hype comes for guys that are going to go to the
NBA, at least they're expected to go to the NBA. And the only
guy of those five is Cooper Flag that I feel like I said any level
of that, So I don't think that's like a bad thing. I don't
look at it and say, wow, college basketball is down. I look
at it and say, it's just different now. Like John O'Davis and Mark
Sears would have left college two years ago, probably because you know what,
what else they got to prove they're not going to go to the NBA.
They're gonna start making money playing in Europe or somewhere else. But now they
can stay in college and make more money there than they would if they were
playing in Europe. And I think that's good for college basketball. But again,
I don't know if my view on it is even worth anything, because
I'm going to love college basketball regardless of who's playing it. It's always best
for the sport to have a guy like Cooper Flag that is going to bring
more eyeballs because people who don't give it damn about college basketball, they're gonna
want to see this guy and at Duke and see what he looks like because
he's believed to be a guy that could be one of the all time great
players to ever play the game. That's an exaggeration, it's all based off
hype, but that's the hype that he has right now. I mean it
was like Zion, And honestly, Zion was a little different because by the
time Zion got to college, his hype had kind of faded a little bit.
People were acting like, you know, he's not in great shape.
You know, he's not a good enough shooter. I mean, he was
the third ranked player in his own class at Duke. People know that or
not. Cam Reddish and RJ. Barrett were ranked ahead of Zion Williams.
And then Zion Willmson got to college and then we all realize, oh,
this guy's different. I feel weird being excited about another phenom being in college
basketball. But because because I feel like whenever that was the talk of college
basketball every single year, especially with Kentucky, I guess it just became old
and you wanted to see more respect for the older players. Now you're getting
that, but we haven't had a true phenom since the Zion Williams and that
We've talked about for several times. But I'm with you. I was.
I was annoyed by it as well, because I always just felt like it
was nonsense, even when there was the occasional player that did produce at a
high level. But Zion changed it for me because I was a big Zion
fan. He was the one college basket and they played the same year.
By the way, but when John Moran and Zion Williamson were in college,
I would go out of my way. I would plan to watch them play.
And I didn't even bet at that time. I mean, I mean,
I'm not a fan of Murray State or Duke, but those guys were
so exciting and they brought so many eyeballs to college basketball that typically wouldn't have
been there without them. And I think Cooper Flag can do that all right.
The other names here real quick. R. J. Davis is a
reserve guard from Carolina, Hunter Sallas, a reserve guard from Wake Forest,
Kamari Richmond, a wing from Saint John's. Aaron Bailey, who is another
freshman alongside Cooper Flag he's at Rutgers, Coleman Hawkins at Kansas State. And
then Hunter Dickinson is your other big man head coach, No surprise, Dan
Hurley, all right, we got another two hours, so stick with us.
We're gonna get the four o'clock hours started with a guest, a very
important guest. He's our man, mister Zack Barnett of football Scoop. So
stick with us right here on Sports Talk seven ninety m