Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company. Fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day, now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: Because of how much I believe I love the NCAA tournament,
Speaker 2: I do feel sort of a of a is yearning
Speaker 2: a word? I think it is sometimes I sometimes I
Speaker 2: use a word that I'm like, wait a second, is
Speaker 2: that a word?
Speaker 3: Yearning is a word.
Speaker 2: Yes, you're yearning the definition of feelings a feeling of
Speaker 2: intense longing for something, And so I was actually using
Speaker 2: it correctly.
Speaker 3: I just you know, I.
Speaker 4: Thought you said yearning at one at first urinating, I thought.
Speaker 3: You said yearning, and then it took that one's not
Speaker 3: a word, I don't think.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I mean I feel like I'm yearning because
Speaker 2: I I'm yearning for something tonight because tonight, the instead
Speaker 2: of like tournament actually starts. But like, I don't think
Speaker 2: if I was ever gonna be able to really get
Speaker 2: into the playing games, it would have already happened. And clearly,
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm gonna watch tonight. I'm I'm a wager.
Speaker 2: I'm happy we have games, but it doesn't come close
Speaker 2: to the feeling we're gonna have on Thursday. But I
Speaker 2: mean I hadn't. I hadn't really thought of it because
Speaker 2: I'm trying not to go there. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: Louisville could easily lose. I mean I don't think. I
Speaker 2: hope they don't, and I'm confident they can beat Crayton.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I mean, if Lowell is the first team out,
Speaker 2: it's gonna absolutely make the whole two days off.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean ruin the rest of your Thursday. It's
Speaker 3: gonna ruin Friday too. Yeah, I mean like the tournament, Yeah,
Speaker 3: it will.
Speaker 2: And again, if you lost on Thursday at eight o'clock
Speaker 2: at night, still suck, but like it would be different.
Speaker 3: I mean, you have the whole day to be March
Speaker 3: madnessed out.
Speaker 2: Playing in the first game and losing really his worst
Speaker 2: case scenario. If you're gonna make it like i'd rather,
Speaker 2: I mean again, if you had a bet, if you
Speaker 2: had a good season, you got a decent seed, then
Speaker 2: you know that that that means you you accomplish something
Speaker 2: more so than those that are in the play in.
Speaker 2: But man, I think dealing with a first I don't know,
Speaker 2: dealing with a loss in Dayton in the playing game
Speaker 2: would probably just confirm what you you likely knew, which
Speaker 2: your team wasn't very good. But it's hope that doesn't happen.
Speaker 2: But tonight we have games and uh, it probably won't
Speaker 2: be great action, although I know maybe maybe North Carolina
Speaker 2: in San Diego State will be a good game. But
Speaker 2: did you see that Carolina hit some travel issues yesterday?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, so they were supposed to fly into Dayton
Speaker 2: yesterday and it they ended up not being able to
Speaker 2: make it until today. So they know it's rare that
Speaker 2: a team will play the day of travel, but that's
Speaker 2: what Carolina had to do because of some some travel
Speaker 2: issues with their with their flight. And of course, you know,
Speaker 2: a lot are really sometimes there's something perfect about a
Speaker 2: really obvious joke low hanging fruit, if you will, but
Speaker 2: yet it still hits. Therefore, I don't care how many
Speaker 2: people make the same obvious joke. It's still kind of
Speaker 2: funny that their flight must have run into a quad
Speaker 2: one game, Like you get it, I mean, like it's you.
Speaker 3: Know, it's it's I don't know.
Speaker 2: I won't act as if like I was really just
Speaker 2: you know, gut busting with laughter. But you know, clearly
Speaker 2: they've they've had their issue on Jimmy's jet. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2: So you know, we'll see what happens in that game tonight,
Speaker 2: but Thursday's really when it starts. And because you are
Speaker 2: starting the tournament and you know you could easily lose,
Speaker 2: that's just a.
Speaker 1: I have.
Speaker 2: I'm not fearful of Creighton in a way that like,
Speaker 2: I just don't think they can win. But I think
Speaker 2: what's happening with me as we get closer, I can't
Speaker 2: even really let my mind envision any result or scenario.
Speaker 2: I'm sure tomorrow and of course Thursday morning, I'll be
Speaker 2: there as far as just you know, being locked in,
Speaker 2: and you know, probably at that point I will have
Speaker 2: envisioned a scenario where Louisville wins and we're all excited,
Speaker 2: and I hope that's what happens.
Speaker 3: Again.
Speaker 2: You are favored for for a good reason. I think
Speaker 2: it's a deserve you. You're the deserving favorite for sure.
Speaker 2: But I just think, more than anything, I just don't
Speaker 2: want this to be over, right, and if it is
Speaker 2: over that would suck. I still believe that I will
Speaker 2: love this group as much Thursday at two thirty if it.
Speaker 3: Ends then as I do now.
Speaker 2: I mean, I really believe that that even if it
Speaker 2: ends in an early exit, I'll still not view this
Speaker 2: season really any differently. But you know, I guess you'll.
Speaker 2: You'll find out when you find out, right, I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't know. Creighton good team, certainly not who you
Speaker 2: want to play. I mean, Louisville felt like they did enough.
Speaker 2: And I think when I say Louisville felt, I mean not.
Speaker 3: Only the coaches and the players, but like.
Speaker 2: The fans as well, that you did enough to not
Speaker 2: only get in, but to where you could still lose
Speaker 2: in your first round game. But you shouldn't have to
Speaker 2: be playing the second best team in the Big East.
Speaker 2: And they probably are saying the same thing. We should
Speaker 2: and be playing as a non seed against a Louisville
Speaker 2: team in Lexington that should have been seeded closer to
Speaker 2: six than eight, or yeah than eight.
Speaker 4: So I got a question how much of this for
Speaker 4: Louisville fans? It is just like optics. Let's just say
Speaker 4: that there's a different number next to our name that's
Speaker 4: not eight, and you see us matched up with Creighton, Like,
Speaker 4: what if we are the four seed and then Creighton
Speaker 4: is the higher seed? Are we still looking at it
Speaker 4: like Creighton team's tough, or do we have that extra
Speaker 4: like mental boost that, oh, we're the four seed, we
Speaker 4: should be able to take care of them easily. But
Speaker 4: now it seems like we have a little bit of
Speaker 4: not doubt, but a little bit of just kind of
Speaker 4: second guessing. Because it is a famous eight nine game
Speaker 4: you're playing up against it almost just as evenly matched,
Speaker 4: I guess you'd say. But with the caveat of every
Speaker 4: it seems that everyone's saying that Louisville's way too underseeded.
Speaker 3: But it also.
Speaker 4: Sounds like I haven't watched Creighton all that much this
Speaker 4: year either, and again our boy Kalkburner, but like it
Speaker 4: seems like they also got kind of under seeded as well.
Speaker 3: Don't you.
Speaker 2: I mean, isn't this the best example the way this
Speaker 2: played out as to everybody's collectively realizing, Oh, yeah, you
Speaker 2: don't watch Big East basketball because it's not on any
Speaker 2: of the ESPN family of stations you're aware of, like
Speaker 2: the Big East, Who's good, who's bad? If you play college,
Speaker 2: if you if you follow college basketball. But like Creighton
Speaker 2: was the team I thought they were as far as
Speaker 2: their record resume, but I haven't watched them much at
Speaker 2: all because again, they're they're not often on I mean,
Speaker 2: they're never on an ESPN station, So you know, I've
Speaker 2: seen them a couple of times here and there. But
Speaker 2: I think a lot of folks are like, yeah, Creighton,
Speaker 2: they're decent, but you just don't really know because you
Speaker 2: haven't watched them now.
Speaker 3: Also, people feel the same way about like Marquette.
Speaker 2: So that was a really good question you had as
Speaker 2: far as does the seed line sort of make us
Speaker 2: even though we know we got robbed, do we have
Speaker 2: that in the back of our mind, fear that maybe
Speaker 2: the committee was right and we're not as good as
Speaker 2: we thought we are, and this Creighton team is gonna
Speaker 2: be a real tough challenge. They're gonna be a tough
Speaker 2: challenge regardless. But I don't know, if I look, I'm
Speaker 2: not doubting this team at all. I just throughout the
Speaker 2: entire year have have have always tried to remind myself
Speaker 2: at any moment, you don't really know what's going to happen,
Speaker 2: and live in the moment, don't take any win for
Speaker 2: granted because you know who knows you know, And I
Speaker 2: think we're going to be great moving forward. I have
Speaker 2: no issue with I mean, I think Pat Kelsey's going
Speaker 2: to have a great tenure here. But because of the
Speaker 2: recent struggles you had in previous years, and you know,
Speaker 2: really just throughout this entire year, you started, you know,
Speaker 2: you started losing guys early, and then you didn't know
Speaker 2: how good you are. You're losing games to teams that
Speaker 2: are really good, and you're kind of getting better. So
Speaker 2: I don't know, it's just been a very very rare
Speaker 2: year that I can't compare to any that I've just
Speaker 2: been worried about them losing every game. Not because I
Speaker 2: don't think they're good, not because I doubt them, it's just,
Speaker 2: you know, I realized that they could lose, and I
Speaker 2: think anytime I felt sort of maybe some maybe it's
Speaker 2: something I don't even realize it's happening, but maybe I
Speaker 2: am starting to not be as confident in this team
Speaker 2: because I'm looking at that eight Austin. But anytime I
Speaker 2: get there, I do get a sense from other Louisville
Speaker 2: fans like yourself, even that kind of remind me like, no,
Speaker 2: the committee got it wrong. We are better than Creighton.
Speaker 2: We could lose, but we should be able to go
Speaker 2: take care of business because we know who this team
Speaker 2: is you know what I mean? So, like I don't know,
Speaker 2: maybe others, I hope this the team I was gonna say,
Speaker 2: I hope this team doesn't do that. But I just
Speaker 2: don't think that they that they're just not wired that way.
Speaker 2: I think their maturity. I think the guy leading them,
Speaker 2: you know that that's one real positive in this overall
Speaker 2: situation is that I think Pat Kelcey and the crew
Speaker 2: he is leading, they're the kind of guys that when
Speaker 2: they hit the floor at rupp Arena on Saturday or
Speaker 2: on Thursday, there's really not going to be anything in
Speaker 2: their mind about where they're seated. They're just going to
Speaker 2: be focused and ready to play. They never get too
Speaker 2: high too low, and that's really I think why they've
Speaker 2: been able to put together such such a such a
Speaker 2: good season that again we believe, should be better than
Speaker 2: you know, an eight seed.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: So I talked about this earlier and I haven't yet
Speaker 2: played it. This is a feature from the ACC Network,
Speaker 2: and I don't really know where it came from. I
Speaker 2: just know it's really really well produced. It's very high quality.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's going to be part of
Speaker 2: like a feature they're doing or if it's going to
Speaker 2: be part of a of a documentary or whatever, but
Speaker 2: it's it's it's a behind the scenes look at well,
Speaker 2: it does show some behind the scenes stuff, but it's
Speaker 2: actually Pat Kelsey, Chucky, Hepburn and Arren Edwards discussing the
Speaker 2: beginning of this whole thing, right the revival, when everybody
Speaker 2: arrived and how they kind of all came together.
Speaker 3: And it's about two minutes long.
Speaker 2: We usually don't play audio this long, but I feel
Speaker 2: like it's worth hearing because of you know, this team,
Speaker 2: and it's it's stuff that you would think without seeing
Speaker 2: it and watching it play out the way that it did.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of folks would say, yeah, that's
Speaker 2: very corny, and maybe it is, but like I know me,
Speaker 2: I don't, I don't care.
Speaker 3: Like I've I have.
Speaker 2: Had a the enjoy The enjoyment that I've got from
Speaker 2: this entire season in this team is honestly like something
Speaker 2: that I didn't even really like know existed. And I
Speaker 2: know that sounds dramatic and it sounds over the top,
Speaker 2: and part of it is just because of how bad
Speaker 2: we were in previous years, but also like I kind
Speaker 2: of mean it like this grow like when I think
Speaker 2: a guy who really felt in a way proud to
Speaker 2: be here. They love the fact that they were the
Speaker 2: ones tasked with bringing this thing back and getting these
Speaker 2: you know, basically bringing this fan base back from the dead.
Speaker 3: You know that's it's just been the perfect.
Speaker 2: Storm with everything, and again, hearing these guys talk about it,
Speaker 2: I thought was pretty cool.
Speaker 3: So I'll let you guys hear it as well.
Speaker 5: We knew we had a challenge, a daunting challenge in
Speaker 5: front of us when we took the job here in
Speaker 5: that we had you know, zero scholarship players on a
Speaker 5: roster and we had to build an entire roster a
Speaker 5: very short amount of time.
Speaker 6: Well, he first called me, it was like it was
Speaker 6: like he knew me for years. He'd promised me anything.
Speaker 6: What thing he did promise me is that we was
Speaker 6: going to win. And that's all I needed to hear.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 5: First day on June fifth, when the guys all get
Speaker 5: together for summer school, we have a major team meeting
Speaker 5: really lay out our standards and what we want our
Speaker 5: culture to be. The other thing we do, I think
Speaker 5: is kind of unique. We present our shields and your
Speaker 5: shield as each player stands up in front of the
Speaker 5: team and presents kind of their life, their makeup, who
Speaker 5: they are, and picture is that of a shield, like
Speaker 5: one that ancient warrior would use on a battlefield.
Speaker 7: That shield meant everything. You know, we all just opened
Speaker 7: up deep about our feelings and you know what struggles
Speaker 7: we've been through. You just kind of feel the connectments
Speaker 7: with our team.
Speaker 5: Yes, guys on day one, in that first meeting, to
Speaker 5: love each other because the power of the unit, which
Speaker 5: is at the core of our program, is the uncommon
Speaker 5: commitment to the guy next to you, and it's based
Speaker 5: on love.
Speaker 7: That one word I've probably described coas Kelsey with is energetic.
Speaker 7: You know, he just always walks in the room. You know,
Speaker 7: whether it's seven am ten pm, he's always just energetic.
Speaker 5: A bunch of stuff. But I was at the front
Speaker 5: of the line when it came to energy and passion.
Speaker 6: That helps us a lot. You know, when he comes around,
Speaker 6: everybody know that it's going to be loud and it's
Speaker 6: going to be a lot of energy.
Speaker 3: Tad works, it's a lot of.
Speaker 1: Skills for taking about another one.
Speaker 5: Louisville Athletics is one of the most important things in
Speaker 5: town and it just runs through the blood of people
Speaker 5: that live here. It's in their DNA run up.
Speaker 6: We've seen Louisville and sweets teams at lead eight final,
Speaker 6: fourst National championships.
Speaker 7: So we wanted to bring the energy back because the
Speaker 7: fans have been dying to just see Louisville back in
Speaker 7: the place where it's always been.
Speaker 5: People are emotional about how difficult the last couple of
Speaker 5: years have been and how happy it makes them to see,
Speaker 5: you know, Louisville raised to prominence once again.
Speaker 2: So again, I just I thought that was worth hearing
Speaker 2: the beginning of this whole thing when they arrived in June.
Speaker 2: And you know, I didn't really need to hear it
Speaker 2: from them because I could.
Speaker 3: I could.
Speaker 2: In my opinion, I think it was pretty obvious that
Speaker 2: these guys didn't just you know, play really hard and
Speaker 2: play well together and play for one another.
Speaker 3: But I could.
Speaker 2: I could since that they knew what they were doing
Speaker 2: to us, They knew that we had been dead and
Speaker 2: they were bringing us back. And it was not I
Speaker 2: didn't want to say it was a gradual thing, because
Speaker 2: you know, once you could see these guys were going
Speaker 2: to compete, I mean, fans were, I mean even whenever
Speaker 2: it looked as if they weren't going to be that
Speaker 2: good because of the injuries, and they got their butt
Speaker 2: kicked by Ole miss. Well, then they came out against
Speaker 2: Duke and they competed. They were they were ahead for
Speaker 2: thirty minutes, and you know, that's a moral victory kind
Speaker 2: of thing.
Speaker 3: But also they were fighting. They weren't they weren't going.
Speaker 2: To concede and just accept the fact that they had
Speaker 2: a bunch of injuries and everybody's really only here one year,
Speaker 2: and you know, expectations are kind of out the window.
Speaker 2: They locked in and they you know, they kept fighting,
Speaker 2: and it was a reminder that, yeah, you want your
Speaker 2: team to win, but if they're gonna lose, man, I
Speaker 2: can still enjoy watching these guys play because they're they're
Speaker 2: you know, it's not the same product we saw the
Speaker 2: previous regime. So, you know, with all that said and everything,
Speaker 2: we just had, like that's another reminder for me as
Speaker 2: to why, like, when this ends, it's gonna be so sad.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'll be okay, but I just don't want
Speaker 2: this to end. And the reason you're able to have
Speaker 2: this group of guys together in one year, putting this
Speaker 2: kind of a turnaround together is because of the new
Speaker 2: world of college athletics, and thank god for that, but
Speaker 2: also the reason you only get him for one year,
Speaker 2: and it just feels so it feels like you're being
Speaker 2: robbed of not having a mult I mean, Chucky Heapburn's
Speaker 2: one of the best guards I've watched play here in
Speaker 2: my lifetime. He is not saying he's the best, but
Speaker 2: he's one of the best. And usually when I'm talking
Speaker 2: about guys like that, I'm talking about guys who played
Speaker 2: here for a long time. And with Chucky we only
Speaker 2: got a year. Same thing with Terrence. I mean, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't put him up there as far as you know,
Speaker 2: being one of the best ever. But he's really good.
Speaker 2: In fact, he was phenomenal in Charlotte, and he's really
Speaker 2: been good all year. So let's hope they can at
Speaker 2: least get past me one game at a time, right,
Speaker 2: get past Creighton, and then of course, you know, and
Speaker 2: we'll see what happens against Auburn if you can.
Speaker 3: Get there, all right, quick break, we'll come back on
Speaker 3: the other side.
Speaker 2: I got some numbers I want to share with you
Speaker 2: as far as just you know, some t ends when
Speaker 2: it comes to previous tournaments. The seed line thing. I've
Speaker 2: never been a real believer, but man, history does show
Speaker 2: you that for whatever reason. You know, for example, like
Speaker 2: the twelve five is always tricky. You know, it's always
Speaker 2: different teams and whatnot. But we'll get into that, and
Speaker 2: there's some more love not surprising for Tyler Shuck out there.
Speaker 2: As far as far as getting closer to the NFL Draft,
Speaker 2: I mean, this guy could be the third quarterback taken
Speaker 2: in the draft, which I think we know the guy
Speaker 2: was good, but he didn't really have hardly any NFL
Speaker 2: momentum at all when it all came to an end
Speaker 2: here and now he's a guy that again some people
Speaker 2: think he will be the third quarterback taken.
Speaker 3: So a lot more to get to. We'll roll along here.
Speaker 2: It's Coffee and Company fuel about Thornton's on Sports Talk
Speaker 2: seven to ninetey.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: So for those who missed it, we did talk a
Speaker 2: little earlier about the just some numbers when it comes
Speaker 2: to this match up with Louisville and Creighton. One thing
Speaker 2: to keep in mind about Creighton, they they do not foul.
Speaker 2: In fact, there is nobody that and not only the tournament,
Speaker 2: but the country that commits fewer fouls than this Creighton
Speaker 2: team ten point eight fouls per game, dead last in
Speaker 2: the country. So they also turn the ball over a lot.
Speaker 2: Really one guy, specifically, Steven Ashworth, their point guard, fifth
Speaker 2: year guy, started his career at Utah State, been at
Speaker 2: Creighton the last couple of years.
Speaker 3: A good player.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's putting up sixteen points and he's got
Speaker 2: more total assists than Chucky, but he's very charitable, loves
Speaker 2: to give it away. So hopefully Louisville can can can
Speaker 2: force him to turn it over and they can make
Speaker 2: they can make Creighton pay for those turnovers. So I
Speaker 2: would say there's a stat there as far as the
Speaker 2: turnovers that you feel like, you know, could could really
Speaker 2: could really benefit you if you can take advantage of it.
Speaker 3: However, also the fouls.
Speaker 2: I mean, Louisville is at their best whenever they are
Speaker 2: getting to the free throw line a healthy amount of times.
Speaker 2: So you're gonna probably, you know, not to say you
Speaker 2: have to get to the line a certain amount of
Speaker 2: times for you to win this game. But I just
Speaker 2: think these guys, especially guys like Chucky and Fat if
Speaker 2: they're you know, they're clearly good. I mean, Chucky's a
Speaker 2: great player all around, great defender, clearly a great distributor.
Speaker 2: But he's also at times been a good scorer for you.
Speaker 2: In fact, he's i mean he's averaging seventeen points a
Speaker 2: game something like that, maybe a little bit less than
Speaker 2: that actually, and he's had games where he's been, you know,
Speaker 2: above thirty a couple times. So you know, he's a
Speaker 2: valuable guard in a lot of aspects. But having somebody
Speaker 2: who you know, at times can go get you a
Speaker 2: bucket and score or get to the line, there's a
Speaker 2: lot of value there. So I just think when those
Speaker 2: two guys as scorers, when they're getting to the free
Speaker 2: throw line, everything else seems to kind of open.
Speaker 3: Up for him, especially Chucky.
Speaker 2: So in order for that to happen, you would probably
Speaker 2: need to have this Creighton team fouling more than they
Speaker 2: typically do. Now, Ryan Kulchbrinner is seven foot one. He's
Speaker 2: averaging you know, how many points is he averaging? Close
Speaker 2: to twenty, isn't it. Yeah, he's averaging nineteen more four
Speaker 2: points per game, eight and a half rebound, eight point
Speaker 2: eight rebounds and of course two point seven blocks. And
Speaker 2: I'm sure this will will be mentioned during the broadcast
Speaker 2: or maybe not, I don't know, but it is wild
Speaker 2: that the two leaders in college basketball as far as
Speaker 2: dunks are going to be playing against each other in
Speaker 2: the first round. Because James Scott last I checked, he
Speaker 2: was second. Maybe he has since fallen, but Ryan Kalchbrenner
Speaker 2: has been number one in the country in blocks or
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, in dunks all year because you know that's
Speaker 2: what he does. He's around the rim and he dunks it.
Speaker 2: So he's going to be a problem, no doubt. And
Speaker 2: I know that Creighton is better than Stanford, but what
Speaker 2: I mentioned earlier is that Stanford having raynad Be. You know,
Speaker 2: I think he's one of the best front court players
Speaker 2: in the country. Now he's not Caulkbrinner, he's not seven
Speaker 2: to one, and they are extremely large and effective but
Speaker 2: in different ways. Sounded awkward, yes, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: not only long and effective in different ways, but you know,
Speaker 2: guy's name Cockbrinner. So it's just just you know, just
Speaker 2: just a just just my It's.
Speaker 3: Not about how big he is, it's about how you
Speaker 3: use them. But he's also big.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, I mean, my my immature mind sometimes just
Speaker 2: gets distracted with things like that.
Speaker 3: But but he's seven to one.
Speaker 2: In fact, he's he's seven to one and two seventies,
Speaker 2: so he's a he's a big fellow. So look, I
Speaker 2: don't want to say, let's let this guy just do
Speaker 2: whatever and Louisll's gonna be fine if they stop everybody else.
Speaker 2: But it was nice to see where you have it.
Speaker 2: You do have you know clearly, uh you know, Louisville
Speaker 2: does not have a whole lot of size in the
Speaker 2: front court to throw at teams. Now they can double.
Speaker 2: And James Scott, you know, he's physical. He does the
Speaker 2: best he can, but you know, sometimes he's just gonna
Speaker 2: get you know. I mean, I do think when James
Speaker 2: is more often than not found himself in a spot
Speaker 2: to where he does get score on more often than not,
Speaker 2: I feel like it's a it's better offense than it
Speaker 2: is defense. And then Waterman, you know, he's a big
Speaker 2: physical presence, but he's limited athletically and and not a
Speaker 2: guy that I would really want defending an agile big
Speaker 2: on the wing. Now, with that said, that's not Calburner
Speaker 2: he's going to be around the paint, so maybe maybe
Speaker 2: Waterman's out there to just you know, wear him down physically.
Speaker 2: And I would imagine you're going to bring the double,
Speaker 2: but you know, with that, there's always the chance that,
Speaker 2: you know, he could pass out of it. And that's
Speaker 2: one thing I don't know, And I feel foolish saying this.
Speaker 2: Here I am talking about how much I know about
Speaker 2: college basketball and how you know I'm a nerd for it.
Speaker 2: If there's ever a time for me to shine with
Speaker 2: useless information that nobody else may know or care about,
Speaker 2: it's during the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm know him.
Speaker 2: However, I don't really know because somebody asked me, hey,
Speaker 2: is is Ryan Cockburn or a guy that can really
Speaker 2: hurt you with his passes out of a double team?
Speaker 3: And I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, when it comes to assists per game, he's
Speaker 2: only averaging one. Therefore, I would say that he's probably
Speaker 2: not somebody that's getting a lot of dimes because he's
Speaker 2: able to, you know, feel the double team coming and
Speaker 2: dish it off to somebody for an easy bucket. So again,
Speaker 2: that doesn't mean he can't do it, but his stats
Speaker 2: didn't don't you know that his stats would not really
Speaker 2: indicate that that's something that we would need to worry about.
Speaker 2: All right, This is another piece of sound I wanted
Speaker 2: to share with you guys, because if you were on
Speaker 2: the fence about going to this game, like you know
Speaker 2: that you could go, you just have kind of thought, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'll watch from home and I'll make it their Saturday
Speaker 2: if they get there. And if look that's what you
Speaker 2: want to do, do it if the hell you want. You know,
Speaker 2: people can live their lives, make their own decisions. But
Speaker 2: I think our man John Fanta, which by the way,
Speaker 2: I was a big Fanta guy before became the cool thing.
Speaker 2: He has become the rock star of college basketball. He's
Speaker 2: a phenomenal human being. I remember having John Fanta on
Speaker 2: during like the Chris Mack coaching search, Like that's when
Speaker 2: I first got to know him a little bit. And
Speaker 2: sure enough, you know, over the years we've kept in touch.
Speaker 2: He's been on the show many times, and obviously he's
Speaker 2: grown and had a phenomenal uprising within his career as
Speaker 2: a college basketball analyst, commentator and just overall badass. And
Speaker 2: he is, like I remember last year we were talking
Speaker 2: about Trilli Donovan kind of becoming this and Trilly's kind
Speaker 2: of pull off because Trily, I think realized that if
Speaker 2: he does ever really get outed, which I think he
Speaker 2: kind of did, it could really you know, hurt you know,
Speaker 2: hurt his livelihood as far as like what he does
Speaker 2: other than you know, just live behind an anonymous account
Speaker 2: and break news when it comes to college basketball. So, look,
Speaker 2: college basketball doesn't have like a Herb Street right like Bill's.
Speaker 2: I guess it is the closest thing to it. But like,
Speaker 2: I can't think of any like big time college basketball
Speaker 2: personalities that you feel like are sort of the you know,
Speaker 2: that are above everybody else. But that's saying some Dicky
Speaker 2: V's one hundred and five years old, so like we
Speaker 2: you know, so you know, when it comes to just
Speaker 2: somebody that you feel like, hey, here's a big college
Speaker 2: basketball story or topic or situation, I want to hear
Speaker 2: this guy's thoughts on it, right, And I've always felt
Speaker 2: like college basketball has really lacked that at the national
Speaker 2: level for quite some time now, and I thought maybe
Speaker 2: it could be Trillly And I'm like, truly should no
Speaker 2: longer be anonymous, Like he should come out and just
Speaker 2: and just clearly run with it because he could on it.
Speaker 2: It seemed like for a while there he could independently,
Speaker 2: anonymously behind a discord account break news about college basketball
Speaker 2: that nobody else could. Like, he had that kind of rolldex,
Speaker 2: he had that kind of intel, And maybe you know, clearly,
Speaker 2: I'm sure he still does, but I just you know,
Speaker 2: for me, it doesn't seem as if he's been as
Speaker 2: active anymore. And I think he might have got his
Speaker 2: Twitter account hacked and he had to start over. So anyways, truly,
Speaker 2: I'm still I'm sure is still doing his thing. But
Speaker 2: like John Fanta, he's like the most lovable, likable guy,
Speaker 2: and he's a pro. He's passionate about college hoops. Like
Speaker 2: I feel like this season specifically has kind of become
Speaker 2: the year of Fanta to where he has I mean,
Speaker 2: he's emerged, and he's clearly much more well known now
Speaker 2: than he's ever than he's ever been. And I don't
Speaker 2: know a soul that doesn't like him. And if you
Speaker 2: don't like him, that's that's a you problem, I would say.
Speaker 2: But he did this. This was his rant on the
Speaker 2: Field of sixty eight about the first two days of
Speaker 2: the tournament.
Speaker 3: And he included Louisville.
Speaker 2: When he talked about the you know, people to not
Speaker 2: be working on Thursday and Friday because this is such
Speaker 2: a special day. So again I'm not pressuring you to
Speaker 2: uh to go ahead and take a PTO day and
Speaker 2: get your ass to Lexington on Thursday. But after hearing this,
Speaker 2: you may decide to do it. And I'm sure, I
Speaker 2: mean I tweeted that video. It's got one point three
Speaker 2: million impressions, Like that's the Fanta effect that's going on
Speaker 2: right now, folks. But here is here's John Fanta earlier
Speaker 2: this week talking about these first two days of the
Speaker 2: tournament on Thursday and Friday, and why you know your
Speaker 2: priority should be you know, should be set up to
Speaker 2: where you you know you you prioritize hoops and nothing else.
Speaker 8: If you're working Thursday or Friday, you're an idiot, Like
Speaker 8: forget forget it. If you are actually going into the
Speaker 8: office and trying to do real work, are you kidding me?
Speaker 8: You're taking off work if you're a if you live
Speaker 8: in Louisville and your team that hasn't been in the
Speaker 8: NCAA tournament in six years, and you say, you know
Speaker 8: you've got that July trip to Disney, and I really
Speaker 8: want to ride you know, the the Space Mountain or
Speaker 8: the Star Wars ride at Hollywood Studios. And I can't
Speaker 8: afford to take off the one day of work where
Speaker 8: my team that's been six years in the making. Are
Speaker 8: you serious right now you're gonna be at that game?
Speaker 8: And if you are in America watching our network right now,
Speaker 8: you are not working on Thursday or Friday. And if
Speaker 8: your boss has a problem with it, tell him they
Speaker 8: can go see Jeff Goodman and Rob Dolster because I'm
Speaker 8: not having it.
Speaker 2: God, I love John Fanta milf right man. I love
Speaker 2: John fantas Milk Club. Baby, God, I love Fanta. He's
Speaker 2: the best man. He is absolutely the best. And it's
Speaker 2: his time to shine because you know, he got March.
Speaker 4: He's got this like boyish like like army childish laugh.
Speaker 3: He's so dorms he's so lovable.
Speaker 2: Yes, And there's other guy, like I think somebody who
Speaker 2: is as like who wants to be maybe like the
Speaker 2: official guy for college basketball. It's John Rostein, but he's
Speaker 2: a psychopath.
Speaker 3: Like I think he mightn't stand rost.
Speaker 2: I think Rostein might like there's really not anything you
Speaker 2: could tell me about Rostein that would be like wild
Speaker 2: and weird and maybe maybe creepy that I that I
Speaker 2: wouldn't believe, you know what I mean, Like I'm not
Speaker 2: accusing him of anything, but there's something there, and.
Speaker 4: You're you're deeper in the woods than I am with
Speaker 4: with college basketball? Does he really like show his face?
Speaker 4: I've seen video Rosto radically in the past, but all
Speaker 4: I ever see of his his takes are on Twitter.
Speaker 2: You know, so Rostein is So that's another That's another
Speaker 2: good example. And this is this is just the reality
Speaker 2: of it. You keep your TV and I don't mean
Speaker 2: you Austin, I mean everybody when you're talking when it
Speaker 2: comes to sports, your your programmed. If you're gonna have
Speaker 2: live sports on, it's gonna be ESPN. It just is sure.
Speaker 2: So he doesn't have any affiliation. Neither does Fanta, And
Speaker 2: you know, like that that's a bigger deal than people realize,
Speaker 2: not because you know, I'm not here to just kiss
Speaker 2: ESPN's ass, but they've they've you know, they've not really
Speaker 2: had any legitimate competition as far as networks out doing
Speaker 2: them when it comes to viewership.
Speaker 3: Now, I think.
Speaker 2: Fox has a great crew CBS has a great crew
Speaker 2: that cover college sports, college basketball specifically, they just aren't
Speaker 2: in front of as many people. Therefore, like Rostein is
Speaker 2: on CBS Sports Network all the time talking college hes,
Speaker 2: but you probably don't.
Speaker 3: Go there very often because why would you rite? Yeah,
Speaker 3: so you know, play exactly, so exactly.
Speaker 2: So Fanta is the best, and I'm I'm happy, happy
Speaker 2: that he is. He's shining.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: So this these are some numbers I wanted to share
Speaker 2: with you guys that again, you do with this, you
Speaker 2: do with this, you do whatever you want with this,
Speaker 2: because I've never really been real I've never been big
Speaker 2: on trends, Like I think when it comes to making
Speaker 2: a pick and basing it off of you know, the
Speaker 2: last nine times something's happened that trend, I just it's
Speaker 2: never made sense to me because again we're talking about
Speaker 2: different teams. Like sometimes you'll look at a trend and
Speaker 2: it'll be a different coach. Like when when when everything
Speaker 2: is different, the only thing is the same is the
Speaker 2: fact that there's a seed line that's the same. Like
Speaker 2: I just to me, it wouldn't have any impact on
Speaker 2: the now. Yet these trends are I mean, they're there
Speaker 2: for a reason, right, it's I mean, I think it
Speaker 2: probably more than anything, just you know, coincidence. But anyways,
Speaker 2: I just thought these were interesting and I thought I
Speaker 2: would share. So since two thousand and one, there have
Speaker 2: only been eight first four games with lines of five
Speaker 2: points or higher. So keep that in mind. So the
Speaker 2: first four games, they more often than not. Then you know, yeah,
Speaker 2: says more. Let me see, by the way, I want
Speaker 2: to give credit to where this is coming from. That's
Speaker 2: where I was trying to. Yeah, this is from Max Barr,
Speaker 2: who covers college basketball for the Believe Network. And so
Speaker 2: since two thousand and one, there were only there's only
Speaker 2: been eight first four games with lines of five points
Speaker 2: are higher. Favorites are seven and two straight up and
Speaker 2: six and three against the spread in those contests. So
Speaker 2: Carolina is favored by five at least they were. I
Speaker 2: think now it may have moved Carolina. They're now favored
Speaker 2: by four and a half. So again, I like Carolina
Speaker 2: to cover there. I probably will bet that and then
Speaker 2: if they lose, you know, I'll just you know, I'll
Speaker 2: hope that that means I got a loss out of
Speaker 2: the way before we get to Thursday and Friday, when
Speaker 2: there's going to be endless amounts of games to wager on.
Speaker 2: But some other notable numbers, and that one really wasn't
Speaker 2: that interesting, But on this one you could you could
Speaker 2: do something with. So four seeds in the tournament have
Speaker 2: gone seven, fifteen and one when favored by eight and
Speaker 2: a half points or more in the last ten tournaments.
Speaker 2: So four seeds have only covered thirty one percent of
Speaker 2: the time when they're favored by eight or more when
Speaker 2: they take on the thirteen seed. So some games to
Speaker 2: keep an eye on. Maryland is favored by ten against
Speaker 2: Grand Canyon, Arizona is favored by fourteen against Akron. So
Speaker 2: if that, if history repeats itself as far as what
Speaker 2: happens there, that tells you that Maryland may not cover
Speaker 2: the ten, Arizona may not cover the fourteen. I can't
Speaker 2: bet on Akron because they've burned me twice. I do
Speaker 2: think they're good. John Gross has done a good job.
Speaker 2: I think he deserves an opportunity to get back in
Speaker 2: the big, the big leagues, if you will.
Speaker 3: I mean he he had a good run in the
Speaker 3: in the.
Speaker 2: Mac years ago at Ohio University, turned that in and
Speaker 2: nearly beat Rick Patino's twenty thirteen team, if I remember correctly,
Speaker 2: and then he went to Illinois and just didn't really
Speaker 2: break through, but then he got the job at Akron
Speaker 2: and he's done a really good job there, So I
Speaker 2: may that may be one of my first plays I've
Speaker 2: put out there as far as just I think Akron. Again,
Speaker 2: I don't think they're gonna win, but I think they
Speaker 2: can cover against Arizona.
Speaker 3: So again, just keep that in mind.
Speaker 2: Only only thirty one point eight percent of the time
Speaker 2: have four seeds favored. I'm sorry his have four seeds
Speaker 2: covered when favored by eight and a half points or more.
Speaker 2: Here's another thing to keep in mind. Five seeds as
Speaker 2: six point favorites or more are nine eighteen and two
Speaker 2: against the spread since two thousand and nine, So just
Speaker 2: thirty three point three percent of the time since two
Speaker 2: thousand and nine have five seeds covered when they're six
Speaker 2: point favorites or more. Oregon favored by Oregon's favored by
Speaker 2: six and a half over Liberty. Clemson is favored by
Speaker 2: seven and a half over McNeice. I don't know enough
Speaker 2: about Oregon to know what to do there, but I
Speaker 2: definitely think McNeese state can cover seven and a half.
Speaker 2: Will Wade, I mean, maybe there's a chance, maybe there's
Speaker 2: a chance there's a distraction, because obviously he's he's gonna
Speaker 2: likely be coaching.
Speaker 3: His last game there. But I and I'm not anti Clemson.
Speaker 2: It's just, you know, I've never really felt like Clemson
Speaker 2: was that good, to be honest with you, which, again,
Speaker 2: if that's Louis's best win, then that means the resume
Speaker 2: isn't even as good as a lot of people in
Speaker 2: my in my eyes, I guess it's not even as
Speaker 2: good as people thought it was. But that doesn't mean,
Speaker 2: you know, you can't control how good your opponents are.
Speaker 2: So when I tell you I don't think Clemson's very good,
Speaker 2: it's not like I'm saying that that we're all full
Speaker 2: and Louis's not any good. All right, So this one,
Speaker 2: this one is maybe the game that I have the
Speaker 2: most confidence in right now. I know the SEC is
Speaker 2: loaded this year, trust me. We've talked a lot about it,
Speaker 2: even on the show. We talked about it. But Vandy,
Speaker 2: I think the Wheels fell off. They did just enough
Speaker 2: towards the end of the season to get in, but
Speaker 2: they have not played well lately, they've been getting killed.
Speaker 2: They don't play any defense, and they've got a Saint
Speaker 2: Mary's team that I think will run them. And Saint
Speaker 2: Mary's is favored about three and a half. So I
Speaker 2: really like Saint Mary's here. But again, this is the
Speaker 2: trend so mid major schools, which again Saint Mary's is
Speaker 2: a mid major. When they're playing as seven seeds, they've
Speaker 2: gone twenty two to nine and one against the spread
Speaker 2: since two thousand and four, So again this is the
Speaker 2: Saint Mary's mid major as a seven, I think they're
Speaker 2: going to cover, and history says that in that spot,
Speaker 2: mid majors do cover seventy one percent of the time. Now,
Speaker 2: this one is not a great sign for Louisville as
Speaker 2: small favorites of three points or less over number nine
Speaker 2: eight seeds are on a brutal skin of eight and
Speaker 2: fifteen straight up and five seventeen and one against the spread.
Speaker 2: So Louisville favored by is it still two and a half?
Speaker 2: Let me double check here, because I think that's where
Speaker 2: it's at.
Speaker 3: I never saw it get the two. I just always
Speaker 3: saw it at one and a half.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So right now, let me just scroll down here
Speaker 2: on the good old fashioned sportsbook. App Yeah, so Louisville,
Speaker 2: where we go. I gotta go to the beginning, because,
Speaker 2: of course, with a first freaking game. Louisville is currently
Speaker 2: favored by two and a half according to DraftKings. So
Speaker 2: again I'm not telling you this should make you not confident.
Speaker 2: It's just, you know, a trend that I thought was
Speaker 2: worth mentioning. In these situations where you're favored as the
Speaker 2: eight seed over the nine by three points or less,
Speaker 2: those eight seeds are eight and fifteen straight up in
Speaker 2: their last twenty three games. I don't like that, five
Speaker 2: seventeen and one against the spread, So you know, keep
Speaker 2: that in mind, and me again, I don't like that either,
Speaker 2: but it is what it is. And then another similar
Speaker 2: match up Mississippi State. They are favorites over Baylor by
Speaker 2: one and a half and they're the eight, Baylor's the nine,
Speaker 2: and then last one, and then we got to get
Speaker 2: to our last break. Two seeds that are favored by
Speaker 2: less than seventeen points since two thousand and seven have
Speaker 2: gone twenty two, eight and two against the spread, So
Speaker 2: seventy three point three percent of the time since two
Speaker 2: thousand and seven. If you're a two seed, and you're
Speaker 2: favored by less than seventeen, there's a good chance you're
Speaker 2: going to cover again when by the way, Michigan State,
Speaker 2: by the way, is favored bout seventeen and a half
Speaker 2: against Bryan So it's half a point off, but it's
Speaker 2: still I think worth mentioning. So I kind of like
Speaker 2: that play just because I think Michigan State is a
Speaker 2: lot better than I mean, Bryant is the fifteen seed
Speaker 2: for a reason. Michigan State, I kind of feel like
Speaker 2: they could have a they could have an average game
Speaker 2: cover that. But then again, you know, the teams that
Speaker 2: make the tournament, that win their league to get there,
Speaker 2: most of them lose, right, meaning the teams of the
Speaker 2: mid major caliber, they get seated like you know, thirteen fourteen,
Speaker 2: fifteen sixteen, But they also will they've been good enough
Speaker 2: and have had good enough year, and they have enough
Speaker 2: confidence that, like, if you don't come ready to play,
Speaker 2: they may hold you accountable for it for a little while,
Speaker 2: which may not mean they'll win, but it may not
Speaker 2: have them losing by eighteen, which, of course, if that's
Speaker 2: the case, then you know, then if they lose by seventeen,
Speaker 2: then technically you know they didn't win, but they covered
Speaker 2: all right, last break, We'll come back on the other
Speaker 2: side and wrap it up. It's coffee and company. Feel
Speaker 2: about Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: So, according to Jordan Schultz, he is a Fox Sports
Speaker 2: NFL insider. Also, I feel like he kind of shoved
Speaker 2: being Rappaport in a locker.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's again. They got in a fight. Oh kay, Yeah,
Speaker 3: we're gonna have a Starbucks. We're gonna Starbucks.
Speaker 2: Kid, right, We're I have an FN problem if if
Speaker 2: you know, don't keep my name out of your mouth.
Speaker 2: But he reports that Tyler Shuck is I'll just read
Speaker 2: you his tweets. This little quarterback, Tyler Shuck, one of
Speaker 2: the fastest rising prospects in the draft, has ten pre
Speaker 2: draft visits and four private workouts lined up with key
Speaker 2: decision makers including GM's head coaches.
Speaker 3: And offensive coordinators.
Speaker 2: So, you know, third quarterback being taken in this draft
Speaker 2: could be earlier then maybe a lot of people are
Speaker 2: expecting if they really like him, or it could be
Speaker 2: later just to you know, we know Cam Ward and
Speaker 2: Shadore Sanders are going to be the first two at
Speaker 2: least that's the way it appears to be as of now.
Speaker 2: But with shuck Man, I hope it, hope it works
Speaker 2: out for him, and really do I mean there's already
Speaker 2: some people saying that bo Nicks being able to have
Speaker 2: such a good first season as an older quarterback that
Speaker 2: you know, played a lot in college. And you know,
Speaker 2: maybe the ceiling's not super high because they're not, you know,
Speaker 2: young and you know raw, But you could still get
Speaker 2: a quarterback that can really help you, all right, I
Speaker 2: know somebody who can help you, fellas when it comes
Speaker 2: to a rec Tyler's function or maybe low testoster on
Speaker 2: that the Louis of Men's Clinic. They can help you
Speaker 2: with a lot of things, not just ed or low T.
Speaker 2: How about Pirnie's disease. That's something that they can help
Speaker 2: you with as well, weight loss therapy, hair restorations. So
Speaker 2: think about being a happier, healthier man. And they're the
Speaker 2: ones who you should reach out to, and in fact,
Speaker 2: you should reach out to them regardless because you may
Speaker 2: not even realize what they can do for you to
Speaker 2: you know, maybe you feel like you're okay, well you
Speaker 2: could be better, right, Like that was me. I didn't
Speaker 2: realize what low T was or that I had it.
Speaker 2: I just knew that, hey, something doesn't seem to be
Speaker 2: adding up. Let me go talk to doctor Wood at
Speaker 2: the Little Men's Clinic and see what's up. And sure enough,
Speaker 2: my tea was low. The tea was low. Now it
Speaker 2: is no mo. How about that Louis Men's Clinic. Check
Speaker 2: them out online Loubvelemen's Clinic dot com babo two four
Speaker 2: four four four thousand. They probably wouldn't like that with
Speaker 2: the Austin the tea was low, but it is low
Speaker 2: no mo thanks to the Louis of Men's Clinic.
Speaker 3: It should like yeah, they should appreciate that.
Speaker 2: It didn't really roll off the tongue very well. But again,
Speaker 2: really really appreciate them. And I know there are many
Speaker 2: of you that hear me mention them quite a bit,
Speaker 2: because you know that's what we do around here. But
Speaker 2: you know that I'm saying things that you're probably thinking
Speaker 2: to yourself, you know what that could be me? Like
Speaker 2: maybe I have low TI. Maybe maybe you know it
Speaker 2: wasn't just maybe it wasn't just too much alcohol. Maybe
Speaker 2: I might have ed, so there's no harm in going
Speaker 2: and having a conversation with him, and I would imagine
Speaker 2: that they'll get you on the right track and maybe
Speaker 2: change your life like they did mine. That's not how erbally,
Speaker 2: that's not an exaggeration, it's the truth. All right. We're
Speaker 2: out of here, we're out of time, so you guys,
Speaker 2: enjoy your evening. We're back at it tomorrow, one day
Speaker 2: closer to Louisvell's first tournament game in a long, long time.
Speaker 2: Have a good one.