It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day, Now here's Nick coffee. I don't know what it is, but
I feel like I've got like a scratchy throat thing going on where my voice
is kind of slowly fading. I mentioned at the end of the hour there
that I believe there's nothing that can help that better than a cold bush light.
Obviously I'm not allowed to have one, which is, you know,
a fair rule to have in place here with our company, but somebody had
sent me a picture of them already having one, so shout out to you,
which it reminds me of what last night. So I went to get
a beer in the third quarter, and I took my daughter with me.
She was loving the game, but she went to the bathroom and then we
stopped to get to get dad a beer. And you know, for those
who don't know, my daughter is especial needs. She's intellectually disabled. A
lot of things that you would see would maybe make you think she's on the
spectrum with autism, and she's not. But there are a lot of similar
things that you know, you see certain kids with autism have, so you
know, she's at times, will you know, do something that maybe she
doesn't realize is like a no, no, nothing crazy. But the gentleman
who who pulled out an ice cold aluminum bottle bush light and wiped it off
for me because it was, you know, in an icy cool buck tup
of a tub of water. He handed it to me and I gave him,
you know, a ten told him keep the change. And I don't
say that because like I'm a big tipper. It was a nine dollars beer.
I gave him a buck, but he put it down after he opened
it because they have to open it for you before they give it to you.
And while I was putting my wallet back in my pocket, he just
sat it on the counter there and my daughter grabbed it to give it to
me, just like here, daddy, here's your beer. And he grabbed
it from her and was like oh no, no, no no, And
he was like he was just doing his job. Like I'm sure there's some
kind of a rule, but I'm curious, like what would have been like
you know, could he get like could he get in trouble with like the
the alcohol beverage control people, like I mean, she wasn't gonna drink it,
but like if she even like touches it, is it like a like
a no no, Like I thought that was kind of odd. I know,
you don't drink much, John, and you barely have been old enough
to drink very long, but like, I don't know, it was just
kind of it was kind of weird. I saw the illuminum bottle of the
guy's in and it took me back to last night because I'm thinking, wait
a second, like, you know, he was fine. I don't say
this to complain about him, but like there has The reason I broke it
up is because there has to be some kind of a rule to where like
if he got caught with her handing me the beer, she's clearly a young
child, and like he'd be in trouble, or maybe there was something that
happened previously where he did the exact same thing and a child grabbed it but
actually drank it, not knowing any better. And that that's to where like
somebody could legitimately, you know, get in trouble for that, like legally,
and that that's I would imagine that if you end up at a restaurant
or a bar and you are seeing that like no matter what, you're getting
carded to get to get some booze. It's probably because they've gotten in trouble
and they now have to do that every time because you know, they're I
guess trying to tiptoe and make sure they can maintain their liquor license. But
anyways, you know, shout out to that texture who's enjoying a cold bush
light. I'll be there with you in you know, about an hour or
so. I mean not with you, but you know, with you in
spirit. It is somebody who likes to just eliminate bush lights. Good night
for it too. But should that be a contest eventually a bush light with
nick coffee, like see who can drink the most? Because that wouldn't mean
that would be content, but that I guess I'm in a contest, like
when to have a drink? Have a bush light with you? Uh conversation,
Yeah, I mean that could be good. Well they can try to
drink you under the table one of the time. Yeah, Like, so
this is not something to like brag about, and I'm not bragging so like,
I don't want it to come off that way. But I used to
be somebody that would never be able to like shug any drink fast, like
even water, and then now you know, if I'm really thirsty, I
mean I can drink, no joke, two bottles of water and two drinks
like if I just got off the treadmill. You know, I can drink
a beer fast if like I'm in a hurry, like if I know I
got to finish this because you know, my ride's waiting, or you know,
my wife's already put the kids in the car she's driving, and you
know she's probably not happy that she's the d D, so she wants me
to finish, so I can. You know, I can throw it down
the neck, as they say, But it also makes me kind of like,
you know, I don't want to. You know, if I had
to chug a bush light like, I could probably do it pretty quickly.
Not that I would want to do that, but you know, like doing
that Keke stand last year for the Vibe Check video that made me, I
guess, realize, Okay, when you're on the spot, the adrenaline's there,
you know, the lights are on. In fact, the camera was
on too, and you know everybody was gassing me up as I'm upside down
drinking beer. I'd never. I mean, I mean this, I've never
done a kekestand before other than like one time, and I'm pretty sure,
like I started choking as soon as soon as it started, so it ended,
and I thought, well, let's never embarrass ourselves again, and they
can do that. And then I did it at the Notre Dame game and
now I've got this confidence in it. But it's like, you know,
at thirty six years old, I mean, if that's something you're throwing out
as like a party trick, Hey, you want me to see how fast
I can chug this bush light like you're probably not, you know, I
guess if that's you, you know, no shame in your game, I
get it, but like, you know, for me, that's not really
a good look. But all this talk about bush light makes me want to
just eliminate any insight tonight, which I probably won't do because, you know
what, that wouldn't be responsible. I got to get up early tomorrow and
you know, get my kids ready to go to daycare, to the babysitter,
and you know, get them breakfast, so I could do that hungover,
but it's it's slushies. Oh yeah, they haven't had one since last
week, so I know they'll be asking this morning. I was a little
little delayed in getting out of the house on my end out their end,
and they didn't get slushies. And you know, hopefully it's not something they
addressed with me as soon as I get home, because you know, hopefully
they forgot about it by now. All right, it's coffee and company.
We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety and been a busy
show so far today. And I mean it when I say that, sometimes
I don't really mean that. This time I really mean it. We've had
a lot to run through in these last couple of hours, obviously a lot
of reaction from last night's win for the Ville and the TBT. They now
are one went away from getting to the round of sixteen, or I'm sorry,
I guess it'd be getting to the round of eight, and that would
be the furthest they've ever gone, right, So they played tomorrow night against
Team DRC and a win here would be one further than what they got last
year. So it's just been I probably haven't said anything that you haven't thought
to yourself, or you haven't heard other people say. But it's just been
awesome. Man. The overall atmosphere at Freedom Hall these last couple of games
has been phenomenal. The camaraderie between fans who you know, I saw some
fans yucking it up in a few There were a few rows ahead of us
last night that they realized, you know, they I don't know if they
still do, and I think they did converse to clarify they do, but
like they sit next to each other at the UMP Center and they've had season
tickets for like ten years, but you know what, they've been seeing much
of each other in recent years for obvious reasons. So you know, just
being around to the Louisville fans getting into a basketball game like that has been
awesome. It's been something that we've missed in a major way. And I
don't think you realize how much you actually missed it until you get to experience
it again. You're like, that's awesome, let's do this again. In
fact, like I know, I'm not the only one that was like,
oh yeah, I'm not missing Wednesday night. I want to do that again.
That was fun. So I know, it's not really like a U
of L basketball event, but everything that comes with it. For this fan
base, I think has just been perfect because you know, there's I mean,
if they lose tomorrow, that'll be a bummer. If they would have
lost last night, that would have sucked. But like this to me just
feels like to give you the old cliche house money. We get to party,
we get to celebrate, we get to watch these guys play that we
loved and still do love. But you know when I'm loved, I mean
when they were here, they were great players. I mean Reece Gaines as
the coach, He's one of the best players' ever played here. So it's
just been awesome, it really has. And last night I feel like the
atmosphere and environment at Freedom Hall was as good as anything for a Louisville basketball
event in years. I mean probably since Louisville played Michigan in the ACC Big
Ten Challenge in December of twenty nineteen. I'm not exaggerating, like when's the
last time there was like a you know again that I'm not even sure how
many people were there last night, but I just mean everything that comes with
it. Right not to say that last night's TVT victory for the vill is
up there with Louisville knocking off you know, Michigan with the number one team
in the country. That's not all what I'm saying, but to see so
many former players there, including Donovan Mitchell, and he's there just because he
wants to take it all in as well. He loves Louisville like a lot
of these guys that are playing for the Ville. He loves Louisville just like
a lot of the guys that aren't playing for this team, but they decided
to come back and be around, like Gorky Jang did on Saturday, first
time Gorky's been in Louisville since he left. Darryl Griffith is there. I
mean, and again Donovan, he's an NBA superstar and he just wants to
be a part of this because he knows what to expect when there's a lot
of Louisville fans involved and it's, you know, a celebration of Louisville basketball
in some former fashion. And you know, they could have easily lost last
night, but they didn't, and it's just great. I Mean, you
got Jeff Brom being put up on the screen and I'll tell you this,
I love Jeff Brom. You guys know that. But I love watching Jeff
Brom watch Louisville and other sports. I've always heard that, Like he's just
I mean, it's not to try to be the football robot like a lot
of coaches do. Jeff Brom is just a sports guy man, like he's
if he can do anything, and his downtime, he's gonna watch other sports,
mostly football, I would assume. But like if you see Jeff Brom
in a Louisville basketball game, TVT game last night, or like a volleyball
game, he's not doing it for show. He's into it, man,
like he loves it, and he was getting you know, he was fired
up to see Louisville pull off the victory in the elam ending. He was
getting routy and not rowdy. I mean, I don't know if Jeff gets
rowdy, but you know he was into it as much as most when it
comes to trees, knocking down those free throws. Pack Kelsey and his son
Johnny ball games sitting next to Donovan Mitchell. I mean, it's just,
I mean, not to mention. You know, another great former player,
former coach, David Pagett, is calling the action with John fantas. It
was so awesome and I hope they do this every year and maybe the overall
vibe won't be at this level when Louisville Basketball actually starts giving us stuff to
really enjoy, like, you know, winning games. But what's happened in
the last two games, I guess, the only two games of this year's
tvt for this team. It confirms what I've always said, we will do
this differently than most because we're just different this. I mean, when you
think of putting this event together and incorporating as many alumni teams as you can,
Louisville is the spot for it. Because again, last night, Freedom
Hall was rowdy. I mean I knew how loud it was. I was
there. I didn't really know how it came off on TV, but you
know, john said, oh it was loud, And this confirms it isolate
David Johnson, here go one on one. I like it. Don't settle
it to the ram Johnson. I mean that is it gives me chills.
Make fun of me if you want. I realize it's not a real game.
Maybe it's corny, but man, that was awesome. And last thing
I'll say real quick before we get into, you know, the actual basketball
side of it. To see the current team that pack Kelsey put together be
so into watching these guys play, I mean, one of the elements here.
And I'm glad somebody brought this up. I didn't think of it,
but it makes sense. They're watching their coach out there playing Peyton Siva and
that. I mean, that's got to fire him up because I know they
love Peyton, and you know he's out there leading this team and he didn't
play a ton of minutes last night, but you know, Peyton's probably introduced
him to all these guys on this team, and and and they've gotten to
know them now, familiar with their careers. That kind of stuff. I
mean, there's nobody better than Peyton to really describe and you know, give
you the full lay of the land as far as being a louis of basketball
player, what the city will do for you later in life if you give
it your all, that kind of stuff. And again, I know I'm
talking about corny things here, but like to see Kahani Roofs, the true
freshman who probably never even heard of many of these Louisville players ever before he
randomly started being I see randomly, but Pat Kelsey had one has one true
freshman, and it's this young man who was committed to Michigan and then dec
committee when Jawan Howard got fired, he ends up at Louisville. He led
like three or four different cards chants last night, and the way they were
set up, they were in the bleacher seating area to where he had a
bunch of room, like he could get out there on the flat surface,
like between the actual lower bowl and the court and just get people into it.
And I know there were a ton of people who were around me didn't
know who he was, and I'm like, dude, that guy's on our
team. He's a freshman. You know. Noah Waterman's going crazy after Russ
Smith knocks down three straight threes, So you know, I just look,
that won't have anything to do with this team as far as how good they're
going to be this upcoming season. But it's just another added element in regards
to just the overall shift and vibe energy surrounding Louisville hoops. And last year
was great too, but there was an elephant in the room, and that
was the fact that we were coached by a bum who didn't even bother to
show up to the TBT other than one time, I think, you know,
and that was really just like a desperate escape for us to just not
remember that we were going through the worst hire ever. And now we've got
everything that comes with the TBT and it's great and the future looks really bright
too, and it's awesome. So look, I don't think this team's look
that good. To be honest with you, I can't give you a reason
as to why they they've you know, underwhelmed, but hey, they've won
two games, and now maybe they regroup and maybe they put together their best
performance tomorrow night which will get them to the quarterfinals. I think it's the
quarterfinals. I'm not sure the bracket, I mean, the bracket is set
up. Just let actual let me pull up the bracket here, because I
think it's set up just like the instead of a tournament bracket, isn't it.
It's similar in the fact, but you do your first three games are
at the same location, whereas in the in the INNTO Double A tournaments,
the first two yah. So technically so technically right now we have the sweet
sixteen, yes, and when you get to the next round, I guess
the Elite eight. It's just it's a one off and then from there you
go to the Final four, which will be in Philadelphia, so you know,
same amount of rounds, that kind of stuff. So Louisville essentially has
made it to the second weekend if we're talking, instead of a tournament bracket.
So you know, maybe they come out and put together a really good
performance, regroup, and then whenever they do play whoever it is, maybe
it's Kentucky who plays tonight, then you know, then then they get even
better. But last night, the elam ending is how they were able to
win that game. I mean, there's no there's no doubt about it.
In fact, they led when the elam inning started, I think, but
it wasn't by much and all the momentum was with was with Sideline cancer.
And there's no doubt the crowd absolutely played a huge role in Louisville being able
to I mean, is it fair to say claw back because you did that
right? You trailed it was first to seventy one, and you know it
didn't look like you were going to be the first of seventy one. I
thought for sure they were losing, like I just did, because ninety nine
point nine point nine percent of the basketball I've ever watched comes down to what
the clock hitting zero, But the elam ending makes it to where if you
are sideline cancer, you can't hold on. You can't you know, survive.
You can't just rely on the clock and have a big enough lead to
where even if you are crumbling and you're melting down, you're still gonna be
able to win because of time. That's what makes it awesome. So you
know, you have to actually go make winning plays to win the game,
and in everyday basketball with a clock, you really don't. I mean,
obviously you got to make plays to win. But there's many many games that
I can think of from the teams I watch that I'm a fan of,
including Louisville of course, to where you ran out of time and you held
on to win, but you didn't feel like you did much at the end
to to to really put it away right like you you literally just benefited because
the team that made their run, they made it a little too late,
and sideline Cancer had a few opportunities to close it out. Whenever that guy
that was Balding that was hitting threes all game, the short guard, I
think he played it. Where he played might have been Hampton, I think,
I mean he was. He was on fire in the first half,
made some plays in the second half too. He's real mouthy talk the whole
game. And when he he got that wide open three, I thought,
for sure, he's not missing that, and he did, and that's when
Trez got the rebound. And you know they did they review that, John.
They kept going to this I did, but see whenever they go over
to the scores table, I guess maybe my vantage point didn't show it.
Like I didn't even know you could review it, because there was also a
play on the other end not far from that that they could have they should
have reviewed, and they didn't. And then I'm not even from what I
could tell, it looked as if there wasn't gonna be enough to overturn what
they initially had called, which was all they were talking about in the broadcast,
Yeah, which was that they called it Louisville ball. And you know,
sure enough they got the ball and Tres got fouled, and and you
know, they made it work. So somebody asked me on the text line,
says Nick. The voice of the Cards. Paul Rodgers tweeted out last
night that NAA Basketball should adopt the elam ending. What do you think,
I'll say what I've said about the elementing for a while. I love it,
but I don't I can't tell you that if I had to say so,
I would make it the way we end basketball games in the college game,
the NBA, even high school because it's just so different, you know,
like from like an entertainment standpoint. I love it, but it's just
so different than what we've been used to. Like I can't imagine an n
S Double a tournament without a buzzer beater, you know what I mean,
which that actually does happen. You know, it would be great, though,
you know how they always experiment with new rules in the n It if
they did the elam ending one year, oh yeah, I just to see
how it would work out, yep. And I saw somebody earlier put out
there that they should do it in like the non conference tournaments that take place
like the Battle for Atlantis and all that, and and I don't I wouldn't,
you know, I think that would be cool to see it in those
events. But then you get into, okay, well, hey, if
we'd have played the typical way with the clock hitting zero, not the elam
ending. You know that gets real weird if you're a bubble team. Yeah,
for seeding that type of stuff, because it's not you know, if
you're gonna if you if you're putting teams in the tournament based off of resume,
you know the fact because eventually you're actually playing different games. If you're
doing that, you know what I mean, Like, it's it's not the
same thing. It is, but it's not, if you know what I
mean. So I'm not ready to advocate that it should replace the way we
currently play basketball, where you get four quarters or two halves and you wait
until when the clock hits zero whoever's got the most points. But I love
it, man, it has been really and to me, if it's a
if it's a relatively close game and I don't have any interest, like for
example, tonight, I'm not gonna watch closely. But if I hear,
you know, somebody, if I see somebody tweet out elam ending the Kentucky
Elaw Familia team and the Marshall heard that team, I might tune in if
it's close, because you it's gonna likely be a pretty competitive and entertaining finish
just because of how you know what you have to do to have to win.
So will do you know do you know if Indiana wins, where they'll
be playing. I don't know where, but I know that on the other
side, it's it's between I think Connecticut, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, and
one other that I'm not thinking of right. So Indiana, if they win
tonight, they're gonna play the winner of tomorrow night's game, which is the
Penn State Pittsburgh alone. Oh well, Penn State made it that for Yeah,
Penn State knocked off YU and then another upset took place in the in
the Wichita region. Wichita has been good in this event for you know,
since it started. They got upset last night by Colorado's alumni team. So
here's who's left in this event. So again, Indiana and Eveland Drive played
at seven o'clock on FS one. I mentioned the Penn State in Pittsburgh,
that that that's in the Pittsburgh Pod and whoever wins those two games will play
each other. On the other side of the bracket, you've got the Cincinnati
region that features Red Rose, Thunder and Takeover BC. I gotta be honest,
I don't know who either of those teams are, and I'm glad they
don't list them as I mean, they tell you if it's an alum team
or not. So that's probably just a mixture of different players, probably some
players we've heard of, but they're not all from you know, they're not.
It's not a roster where seventy percent is from the same school. And
then the the other matchup in that I guess that side of it, meaning
the winner of Red Rose Thunder and Takeover BC they'll end up playing. It
looks like the winner of Carmen's Crew, which is Ohio State's alumni team,
and then a team named Heartfire who is not on the line too. That's
right, I knew. I recognize that name for some reason. So yeah,
they are the reigning champions. They've got a lot of guys who I'm
familiar with now that I look at the roster, as far as far as
like Jordan Bell, former first round pick in the NBA draft, played for
the Warriors for a while. DJ Kennedy was a baller at Saint John's.
So yeah, they they're gonna be a tough team to get passed, I
would imagine. So that's that's that matchup. And then if you go to
the bottom of the bracket again, this is where we get to the Louisville
side in the Kentucky side. So Kentucky wins tonight, they're you know,
we already know that Louisville and Kentucky could if this thing goes chock, it'll
be Louisville and Kentucky playing each other at Freedom Hall. But on the other
side of that, so you know, let's say it is Louisville and Kentucky
and Louisville ends up winning, they'll end up jumping up the bracket to play
whoever comes out of the that defending champs crew. And on the other side,
this is where you have looks to be Team Colorado, the Colorado alum
and then the Kansas alum Mash Street. They'll play each other. That is
th again, that's tomorrow, and then the other is Huge Alumni. I
didn't even know they had a team. They are the Forever Koogs and then
Team Challenge Als. So a lot of the I feel like this could be
a record for the for as far as the amount of alumni teams that have
that have advanced this far. But again maybe I'm completely making that up,
but I hope to see everybody out there tomorrow because it's gonna be awesome.
And uh again, you can never overlook anybody in this event, but this
on paper is there is their easiest game, to be honest with you,
all right, don't go anywhere. It's coffee and Company fuel. Bud Thornton's
right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, Coffee and Company rolling
along here on a Tuesday afternoon. Don't forget I'm out next week. I'll
be I will be on vacation, looking forward to, uh, using all
my vacation that I have left. I think the other two days that I'll
be able to use at some point before we get to the end of the
year will be considered comp days. And you know, that's what I want
to do, get rid of it before we really get into the thick of
things with football season and basketball season, and you know, as I've mentioned
many times, for me, really that's the start of a new year.
All right. So the ACC football kickoff currently ongoing, we will hear from
Jeff Brahm as well as Ashton Jilotti, Quincy Riley, and Tyler Shuck.
Tomorrow, and I'm not really sure what to expect. I would imagine it'll
be the typical stuff you get, you know, talking about getting ready for
camp and the off season and things like that. So we'll hear a lot
about Tyler Shuck's injury history, I'm sure, and all those things, and
we'll certainly have a lot to chew on from that over these next couple of
days. But the big ten media days they started today, and this of
course is their first year adding the teams from the PAC twelve, USC,
UCLA, and Oregon and Washington, so obviously that's really going to be the
dominant thing, I think right out of the gate, just like it was
when the SEC had their media event last week, because Texas and Oklahoma are
now there. But every commissioner has talked about expansion in some former fashion other
than the ACC, because I mean, the question about conference expansion are not
about them expanding. When it comes to the AEC, it's about losing potential
members to another league that wants to expand. But I still feel like that's
all for nothing because there's no way out at this point. But that could
change, and I still don't know how, but you never know. Right,
never say never. So I feel like now we have each athletic director
I'd hate to even say on record because you know, they could say like
they give themselves some wiggle room to where whatever they say could really, you
know, mean anything. I think that's what Sanke did, you know.
I think he was a little more on the on the stronger side of like,
look, we're not going to just cut up our pie and give more
pieces without you know, any reason to do it, which is something people
rarely consider when they talk expansion, is that you don't do it just to
do it. There's got to be a reason for Texas and Oklahoma joining the
SEC. The reason was because of money and value. Same thing with the
Big Ten adding the West Coast brands, and with the ACC it was an
insurance policy because if you do lose teams, if somehow Clemson Florida State find
a way to get out of the league, you keep it at fifteen members
in an ESPN doesn't have the ability to start all over and say, look,
we're actually going to pay you a lot less than what you've been complaining
about. So today the Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti, he said this that
he's comfortable with the current Big Ten roster, but he went on to say
that he knows that could change down the road, and then he said it
probably will. So when I say probably will, I think that I mean
when he says it, I guess not when I say it, but probably
will means the ACC. Right, what else would it mean? Because there's
nobody that's in the SEC that would leave to go to the Big Ten,
and there's nobody in the Big twelve that I think you would want in the
Big Ten. So it comes down to Notre Dame if they ever wanted to
join a league, which, by the way, I think they would join
the Big Ten over the ACC. I mean at this point they would.
I mean yeah, I mean maybe if it was years ago and they were
already locked in I mean everybody. I mean again, they're already in the
league and every anything else. And there's all kinds of legitimate criticism about John
Swaffer, regardless of what Jim Phillips has to say, but he could have
really, and I mean really utilized some leverage like we've never seen before in
college athletics. In twenty twenty, Notre Dame was given the opportunity to play
a league schedule in the ACC, but they didn't actually have to join the
league. Notre Dame would not have had a season, which, by the
way, you know what that means, no games on NBC, no revenue.
I mean, they would have still been able to make money in some
form or fashion. And everybody took a loss when it comes to the pandemic
that year. But my point is this, what kind of a chump wouldn't
utilize the first opportunity he has to actually force Notre Dame to join your league.
He didn't do it. Now, I think there was some revenue,
like there was some revenue share with a lot of those NBC games that went
to the ACC, right, they got a good cut of that, which
you know, that's something. But how much different and this is crazy because
I hate to gas up Notre Dame, but how much different is the ACC
if they have Notre Dame, Like you think Clemson in Floriday are still trying
to leave. I guess maybe, but you would have had way more money
for everybody in the league because of Notre Dame. They're a one off man.
There's nobody like them. They have a national TV deal with the NBC
that pays a bookoo amount of money and they have a national reach. So
if they join the ACC and you go to ESPN and say, look,
let's redo it, you're getting First of all, you're getting way more money
than you currently have, and hopefully this time around, it wouldn't be a
situation where you have to agree to terms that are locked in for twenty years.
So I don't mean we'll never know, right, it's it's long gone,
But I can't see Notre Dame not joining the league at that point.
Who else were they gonna What are they gonna do? Not have a season?
I mean, I guess they could have opted to do that, but
I don't think anybody would do that if they had another option, even if
it means joining a league that you're already in in every other sport and you
already play four games every year against that league. And Swafford didn't do that.
I mean, it's he's an idiot. So anyways, Notre Dame would
be the option for expansion for anybody. Again, if Notre Dame starts working
the phones because they no longer want to be independent, which they're not going
to do, any league would take them. So after that, like if
you are the Big Ten, John, who would you say? Would be
like if you're adding four teams? And do not feel obligated to say Louisville
on my behalf, because I actually think Louisville would have a tough time getting
an invite to the Big Ten under any circumstance. But if you are acting
as Tony Petiti's assistant, I like that, Junior Associate Commissioner John Olden,
that's it sounds I mean, print the business cards. It sounds official.
And you're you're deciding four members of the ACC add value to the Big Ten.
Who you going with? I think you obviously have the easy ones with
Clemson and Florida State, and I know Florida State's kind of been a handful
and so maybe there would be some pushback with them specifically. But after those
two, I think the next one you go to is North Carolina specifically,
just because they have they're kind of They've always been the biggest overall brand in
the ACC, not just obviously football related, but when you include basketball as
well, and I think the Big Ten does value basketball to an extent.
And then along that this may not be a popular choice, but I feel
like you're not getting North Carolina without Duke, and I think Duke would kind
of come along with them by default, so maybe that wouldn't happen. That's
just what I would do. But again, maybe I'm thinking too much along
the lines of basketball specifically with this, because if you don't let's just say
it's not Duke for that fourth team after that, probably go Virginia. That'd
be my next choice if you don't include Duke, if they're not a package
deal with North Carolina. Yeah, I think as much as the nonsense about
Florida State is true as far as just them being difficult and them not being
a good academic school, if you're expanding and you are the Big Ten and
you're looking to go to the ACC, you will take Florida State because they
give you a lot of value with their reach, their brand, and it
puts you in Florida, which you're not in. Like right now, you
literally have from California to the Pacific Northwest, and then you go, well,
what's the most western team outside of those? It's got to Nebraska,
right, Yes, So then you kind of move over and you're everywhere right
midwest. You can get up to the east of course with Mary Maryland and
Rutgers and State too. Really, and if you hit Clemson, you're in
the car you're in Carolina. There you hit North Carolina. I mean though,
by the way, North Carolina is a humongous state as far as population.
It's a huge university as far as an alumni base and that stuff matters.
They have a big and I know there's a lot of jokes made about
the fake classes that you know basketball players took years ago, but actually think
they are a good school academically. And then you know, you're down in
Florida. If you go get Florida State, so you know, from there,
I think it would come down. I mean, I think actually if
they were gonna take a second Carolina school, they would take n C State
just because those are both public schools. And but here's the thing with that,
I feel like if you do do that, I think you still have
to bring Duke along. Dude gives you nothing though, Like Duke doesn't have
a brand, Duke doesn't have a big alumni based. Duke's alumni base is
tiny, and they're not even they're in like New York. Like Duke would
only be a team. You'd be adding because they would give you another basketball
power like Duke has no football history. Duke has no football fan base.
Duke again, after being in Carolina. It's so hard to see it this
way, especially if you just follow those that region based off of basketball,
because Duke has been great, just as good as Carolina, right, but
in that state, I think Duke has is the smallest fan base out of
those three by a lot. NC State's got a huge fan base, and
so does Carolina. Duke is just Duke is segmented. I mean, Durham
is small. I mean wake Forest probably has a similar type of fan base
than Duke. They just have never been Here's the thing. There are Duke
fans like they're not really from North Carolina think oh the place, yeah,
like the Northeast. But again, it's one thing. If that's a massive
university, it's a small universe, you know what I mean. So maybe
they would do that, right, you could get the three of them and
leave wake Forest behind. But in a weird way, Virginia, I can't
really tell you why. I would say that it's valuable. But since the
ACC has been discussed as a league that could lose members because of expansion in
the Big ten of the SEC. Virginia has always been a hot name and
it must just be because of the school and because of the I mean,
I can't you are still kind of in the DC area as well too,
which is pretty large popular Virginia. They may have a lot of alum right,
and they they may be a really good academic school, which I believe
they are, but Virginia is the one you can't sell me on brand,
Like they have no brand in football ever, and in basketball, you know,
they've been relevant and of course they've been good under Tony Bennett. He
won a championship and that you know, so they they they have something,
but that's because again Florida State brand, Clemson brand, North Carolina brand,
NC State brand. Even if you're gonna go Duke, it's because of brand.
Although it's one sport, not saying you would do that, but Virginia
it must be everything outside of brand. And it's not to say they don't
have any branding, like they're I mean like they're a known program. But
for some reason they've always been viewed as a really attractive candidate because it would
be if they would be the northern most SEC team, if they went to
the SEC. They certainly fit. I mean they're a state school, which
is you know, in fact, these two leagues have a lot of schools
that are University of Illinois, you know, University of Kentucky, Indiana,
that kind of stuff. So I'm not sure if that matters. Like what
the school's called, I don't really know. But if it's like the school
of the univer flagship university, yeah, the flagship university for a big,
big state that has a lot of population, It has a lot of people
and has a lot of an alum I mean, I guess that's where Virginia
comes in. And honestly, outside of that, like I think, honestly,
Clemson, Florida State, Virginia, and Carolina would be the four that
would be most attractive. Louisville would be in that second tier. And I
don't really know where they'd end up in that second tier, right, Like,
they probably would be comparable to n C State and Miami and who else.
Like I feel like I'm forgetting somebody in the league. That would happen
Virginia Tech, now, I see, I don't know much about their alumni
base, and and they're they're they're I mean, they have they have a
brand in football, so yeah, maybe that maybe maybe you throw them in
that tier as well. Now i'd love to see Louisville in the Big Ten.
I don't think it'll ever happen, but I'd love to see Louisville in
the Big Ten. I I would too, I just you know, I
don't think it's realistic, and it would be I don't know, like when
I think of Louisville playing in either let's say the SEC blow or the ACC
blows up today and they end up in the Big Ten, the Big Twelve,
of the SEC, all of them would be weird to just think about.
But I think the one that would just feel the most like all right,
here we go would be the Big the Big, the Big twelve,
just because you know, you've got other schools like Louisville that have kind of
bounced around over the years. It would be a collection, a hodgepodge of
the misfit cos. Yeah, exactly, I mean, that's that's I mean,
honestly, I think that's a good way to put it. But I
could see them more realistically in the Big Ten, in the SEC. And
I'm not saying like realistic based off of like what would happen. But like
I don't know, some about Louisville playing in the SEC would just be weird.
I mean, they'd be com I think they'd be able to be competitive
in basketball, and as long as things go over with Pat Kelsey. But
obviously, you know, you're in a different planet if you're talking football in
the SEC. All right, quick break, we'll come back and wrap it
up on the other side right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We can
get back into the basketball conversation tomorrow when we have a little more time.
Just as far as the non conference schedule, because it really, I mean
it's tough to say that this is, you know, one of the most
challenging schedules you'll ever see, because I have no clue if that's the truth
or not. In fact, I don't think that's the truth. But when
you see Tennessee the battle for Atlantis Field, Kentucky, I mean, even
old Miss you know this. This is going to be a challenging first year
for Pat Kelsey as far as just the opponents. But you know, let's
be real with ourselves. I mean, if he can get to the dance,
I mean I would imagine we'll probably have amnesia and not remember what we've
been through in recent years because I can't think of Louis will get into the
tournament and not having expectations. It just would be weird. But you know,
the bar is set low when it comes to, you know, doing
some things to really get us excited. That's already happening, by the way.
So anyway, we're out of time, so if you missed anything on
the show today, make sure you check out the pot. It'll be up
here shortly and we'll be back at it tomorrow for a Wednesday edition of Coffee
and Company, and I hope you guys will join us right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety