Speaker 1: All right, let's get it started. Shall we welcome in
Speaker 1: to a Tuesday edition of Coffee and Company, fueled by
Speaker 1: Thornton's here on Sports Talks seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging
Speaker 1: out with us. We're gonna take you up till six o'clock,
Speaker 1: so take us with you wherever it is you're going
Speaker 1: in these next three hours. You can listen live on
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Speaker 1: A loaded show today and I am solo here, so
Speaker 1: we'll have a couple of guests gonna join us, but
Speaker 1: you will have the opportunity to be a part of
Speaker 1: the show. So I'll start by letting you know who
Speaker 1: will be our guest today, and it's people you are
Speaker 1: familiar with, friends of the program. As they say, we'll
Speaker 1: be talking coming up here shortly with Zack Barnett, a
Speaker 1: FootballScoop dot com, get his thoughts on the college football
Speaker 1: playoff bracket. You know, the more I think about it,
Speaker 1: I don't think the committee is really getting a whole
Speaker 1: lot of criticism, and I don't think that it's it's deserved.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's not a team that got left out
Speaker 1: that you feel like belongs in. And I want to
Speaker 1: say that there's not a team that got left out
Speaker 1: that you feel like if they did get in, they'd
Speaker 1: win the national championship. And I do believe that, but honestly,
Speaker 1: I'm not really sure how much parody we actually have,
Speaker 1: Like part of me says, this thing's wide ass open.
Speaker 1: But then I also just still believe that there are
Speaker 1: certain teams out there that if they turn it on,
Speaker 1: then you know they're gonna run away with it. And
Speaker 1: I'm talking about the Oregons, the Georgia's, but you know,
Speaker 1: George is now without their starting quarterback, which actually may
Speaker 1: benefit them depending upon who you talk to. So again,
Speaker 1: we'll talk to Zich coming up here, probably in the
Speaker 1: next twenty minutes or so. But I'm fired up for
Speaker 1: this college football playoff. I'm ready for these games to
Speaker 1: start right away. And has mentioned I think the committee
Speaker 1: did a pretty good job. I mean, I think you
Speaker 1: could make a case that some of the teams are
Speaker 1: seated in spots that maybe don't make a ton of sense,
Speaker 1: But as far as who got in, I think they
Speaker 1: got it right. And to go back to what we
Speaker 1: were just discussing, you know, there's not a team that's
Speaker 1: left out that I feel like would win the whole
Speaker 1: thing if they got in. And that doesn't mean that,
Speaker 1: you know, if you should. If you can't win the
Speaker 1: national championship, you don't belong in. But like, it's hard
Speaker 1: to claim that you were robbed of a national championship
Speaker 1: because again, like the teams that I think can realistic
Speaker 1: can realistically win it are the teams that are are
Speaker 1: still alive and will have the chance to prove that.
Speaker 1: But there's no team that got left out that can't
Speaker 1: look in the mirror and realize it was their own doing.
Speaker 1: They didn't get screwed over by the committee. They didn't.
Speaker 1: You know, it wasn't as if the committee was biased
Speaker 1: towards their conference. It was that they didn't get enough
Speaker 1: done on the field. And that is always going to matter,
Speaker 1: and it has to matter. And you know, Alabama, don't
Speaker 1: get your ass kicked at Oklahoma and you don't have
Speaker 1: to worry about it. If you're Miami, don't don't blow
Speaker 1: one against Syracuse. If you're South Carolina, you know, you
Speaker 1: don't really have a bad loss, but you also didn't
Speaker 1: do enough good and you have three losses. I mean,
Speaker 1: ole miss lost to Kentucky at home, the Kentucky team
Speaker 1: that was the fifteenth best team out of sixteen teams
Speaker 1: in the SEC this year. So we'll get Zach's thoughts
Speaker 1: on the committee and what he expects to see in
Speaker 1: this twelve team college football playoff that, of course, will
Speaker 1: ultimately determine who is the national champion in college football.
Speaker 1: Speaking of college football, if you're not in the college
Speaker 1: football Playoff, actually, let me back up a second. I
Speaker 1: was going to say, if you're not in the college
Speaker 1: football Playoff, then you probably do not give a damn
Speaker 1: about whatever bowl game your team is going to. You're
Speaker 1: worried about what is your coaching staff doing in the portal?
Speaker 1: Are they keeping players that you want to keep? Are
Speaker 1: they setting up visits with guys in the portal that
Speaker 1: you want to be added to your team? So again,
Speaker 1: that is certainly true. But I think even if you
Speaker 1: are in the college football Playoff, like right now, like
Speaker 1: if you're a coach, you still need to be monitoring that.
Speaker 1: I would say you probably feel pretty good about not
Speaker 1: losing guys while you're still playing for potentially a national championship.
Speaker 1: I mean, I suppose, in fact, I know there are
Speaker 1: at least some guys that are still you know, they
Speaker 1: were on teams that are in the College Football Playoff,
Speaker 1: but they've already decided to enter the portal because they
Speaker 1: want to get I guess the head start on being
Speaker 1: contacted by other schools and whatnot. So I think regardless
Speaker 1: of where your team is, if they're bowling, if they
Speaker 1: were so bad they didn't get to go to a
Speaker 1: bowl game, or if they're in the College Football Playoff,
Speaker 1: I feel like every fan in the country is just
Speaker 1: trying their best to keep up with what's going on
Speaker 1: in the portal. And it is I mean is it's chaotic,
Speaker 1: it's never ending. We also live in a world now
Speaker 1: where you really don't know what to believe when it
Speaker 1: comes to things you see on the Twitter wire. So
Speaker 1: I'm trying my best to keep up with it. And
Speaker 1: I do feel is if I've got a pretty good
Speaker 1: understanding as far as what's going on with Louisville meeting
Speaker 1: you know, Jeff Brahm and what he want to do,
Speaker 1: and we'll get into that coming up a little bit
Speaker 1: later on, because I do feel like we know which
Speaker 1: quarterback Jet Brom wants to get. I think you're going
Speaker 1: to see potentially the same scenario as you saw last year.
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is Jeff Brom will
Speaker 1: see who's available, he will get in contact, make his pitch,
Speaker 1: schedule a visit, probably do whatever is done from the
Speaker 1: head coach's position to figure out what he can do,
Speaker 1: what they can offer when it comes to nil, and
Speaker 1: then try to lock it down and get it done.
Speaker 1: And last year, that's exactly what happened with Tyler Schuck.
Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure Shuck committed before some of the other
Speaker 1: big names even hit the portal. So right now, all
Speaker 1: sounds point to Miller Moss being the top target for
Speaker 1: Jeff Brom at the quarterback position. He's going to be
Speaker 1: visiting Louisville, I believe later today, maybe tomorrow, I'll get specifics.
Speaker 1: In fact, it actually may even be later this week,
Speaker 1: but we'll get you squared away as far as what
Speaker 1: you need to know about that. He's not the only
Speaker 1: guy visiting Louisville that is in the portal, but obviously
Speaker 1: the quarterback position very important, and the portal just opened yesterday,
Speaker 1: so it's still very early in this process. But I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of power for
Speaker 1: programs are going hunting for a new quarterback in the
Speaker 1: portal this offseason. Even if you return a starter, unless
Speaker 1: he was like really really good and you felt like
Speaker 1: you know, he was somebody that could get you in
Speaker 1: a position to win your league, You're probably gonna keep
Speaker 1: your eyes open in the portal and try to go
Speaker 1: get somebody else. Having a really good quarterback can be
Speaker 1: a game changer for football programs. Coaches know that. So, like,
Speaker 1: even if you have a guy that's pretty good, if
Speaker 1: you know there's somebody out there in the portal that's
Speaker 1: available that is just maybe slightly better than the guy
Speaker 1: you have, Like, I wouldn't be shocked to see coaches
Speaker 1: trying to go bring in a better QB. So clearly,
Speaker 1: Jeff Browm's gonna have some competition when it comes to
Speaker 1: Miller Moss. But I'd say what he did with Jack
Speaker 1: Plumber and obviously what he did with Tyler Shuck this year,
Speaker 1: I think it would make Louisville a very attractive spot
Speaker 1: for a guy like Miller Moss. Now, when it comes
Speaker 1: to the portal, I tell you what, I'm always transparent
Speaker 1: when it comes to information. I do and don't have.
Speaker 1: I have no clue what is going on with the
Speaker 1: Kentucky players in the portal, Vince Marrow in his situation.
Speaker 1: But last week, you guys, remember, right, we talked about
Speaker 1: the rumor about Vince Marrow potentially leaving Kentucky to come
Speaker 1: to Louisville. I never felt like it was real at all,
Speaker 1: never felt like there was any truth to that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I could be wrong again, I don't know anything, but
Speaker 1: that just never made any sense in any way for
Speaker 1: either side, meaning Vince Marrow leaving Louisville to come to
Speaker 1: Kentucky and join Jeff bromstaff. However, here we are over
Speaker 1: a week removed from that, and there's another report out there,
Speaker 1: this one from Rivals. Their national recruiting director says that
Speaker 1: Dane Key is set to visit Louisville, and Louisville is
Speaker 1: one of the schools that's pursuing him the most. The
Speaker 1: receiver for Kentucky Lexington kid Dad played at UK. I mean,
Speaker 1: him leaving Kentucky really seemed like the ultimate sign that
Speaker 1: things are not going well for Mark Stoops and their
Speaker 1: own in Kentucky's fans don't even seem to blame him
Speaker 1: for leaving and wanting to play for a program that is,
Speaker 1: you know, clearly heading in a different direction than where
Speaker 1: Kentucky's football program is heading. So I still have no
Speaker 1: clue what's going on. But again, Rivals, they're a pretty
Speaker 1: respectable outlet when it comes to coverage of a lot
Speaker 1: of things, including football recruiting and whatnot. They claim Louisville
Speaker 1: is in the mix to get a visit from Dame
Speaker 1: Key and that there's still I guess some belief that
Speaker 1: maybe Vince Merrow ends up on Jeff Brom's staff. So
Speaker 1: despite it coming from a reputable, legitimate source, you know,
Speaker 1: an outlet that breaks this kind of news that covers
Speaker 1: this industry college football, I still have a hard time
Speaker 1: believing any of it's real. But we shall see now
Speaker 1: for what it's worth. Jones did come out and say
Speaker 1: that from what he's told, that there's no visit in
Speaker 1: the works for Dayne Key at Louisville, which I tend
Speaker 1: to lean on the side that the Vince Marrow stuff
Speaker 1: is nonsense and that Dayne Key would not consider Louisville.
Speaker 1: But again, as I said to start this whole conversation
Speaker 1: about Kentucky, Vince Merrill, the big Dog and Dane Key like,
Speaker 1: I have no clue, I have no information at all,
Speaker 1: but man, that would be wild. I mean, day key,
Speaker 1: it would be nice to get him if he wanted
Speaker 1: to come here, but he's gonna have options to go
Speaker 1: just about everywhere, and I just have a hard time
Speaker 1: seeing him coming to the rival. But you know, Jeff
Speaker 1: Bram is a guy that I think playmakers would want
Speaker 1: to play for. And there's no doubt he's good enough
Speaker 1: to play here. And if it would make the rival
Speaker 1: upset even more so than the butt whoop in Louisville
Speaker 1: handed him a couple of weeks ago, then hell yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm all in a r. A little bit later on,
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk to cl Brown of the Courier Journal,
Speaker 1: our weekly chat with cl looking forward to getting his
Speaker 1: thoughts on a lot of things, including this Louisville basketball team.
Speaker 1: The roller coaster ride continues. I'm telling you this season
Speaker 1: has been an absolute roller coaster, at least for me. Now.
Speaker 1: Everybody reacts to games differently. Everybody what you may view
Speaker 1: as an optimistic sign, others may not see any reason
Speaker 1: to be optimistic, and vice versa. As far as pessimism,
Speaker 1: Like everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and I
Speaker 1: know everybody sees things in their own way, but I'll
Speaker 1: lay it out once more. The roller coaster that I'm
Speaker 1: referring to is the highs and the lows that you've
Speaker 1: had this season with Pat Kelsey's team. You get off
Speaker 1: to such a good start when it comes to just
Speaker 1: you know, him getting the job, winning the press conference,
Speaker 1: building a roster, getting fans excited once again. The Bahamas
Speaker 1: trip was really awesome to see. And then in the
Speaker 1: second game, they have a wide out, a really well
Speaker 1: attended game against Tennessee at top fifteen team. Now they're
Speaker 1: the number one team in the country, and man, I
Speaker 1: felt like we were back. And then the game started
Speaker 1: and they got destroyed and that was very deflating. Right.
Speaker 1: So then you have a couple of Patsy's on the schedule,
Speaker 1: no offense development, but they're not a real threat, and
Speaker 1: neither is Winthrop. So you go to the Bahamas not
Speaker 1: really knowing what to expect. You played one good team
Speaker 1: at that point and they embarrassed you at times out there,
Speaker 1: so you know, expectations probably aren't really high. Well, then
Speaker 1: you go and you win two out of three and
Speaker 1: I still choose to believe that you came back with
Speaker 1: some real momentum. You beat Indiana, you beat West Virginia,
Speaker 1: and then you fell short against Oklahoma. But then you
Speaker 1: get back and you find out Case and Pryor's out
Speaker 1: for the year, Corn Johnson's out for the year. You
Speaker 1: then have to turn around and play Ole miss at
Speaker 1: nine o'clock on a Tuesday, which of course was last week,
Speaker 1: and that didn't go well, so you know you're back
Speaker 1: down again. And then I'm not going to claim that
Speaker 1: the first thirty minutes of the Duke game were anywhere
Speaker 1: close to It wasn't as if that you didn't win
Speaker 1: the and you lost by eleven points, but the first
Speaker 1: thirty minutes to see them compete the way they did
Speaker 1: make shots and really not look like they don't belog
Speaker 1: on the floor with the really talented Duke team despite
Speaker 1: being so shorthanded, like I chose to look at that
Speaker 1: as an encouraging sign. So again, the roller coaster. It
Speaker 1: didn't go all the way back up right, because you know,
Speaker 1: you lost the game, But I wouldn't have been shocked
Speaker 1: if they lost to Duke by thirty just given the
Speaker 1: way things had been going and you know, given how
Speaker 1: good Duke is. So we'll talk to cl about Louisville
Speaker 1: basketball coming up here a little bit later on. And
Speaker 1: they've got UTEP tomorrow night, which is actually a decent team,
Speaker 1: kind of for who they are. They're a Conference USA team,
Speaker 1: and it's a nice, I guess, a nice little tune
Speaker 1: up before you hit the road and go to Lexington
Speaker 1: on Saturday to take on Mark Pope. And of course
Speaker 1: it'll be the first ever Louisville Kentucky rivalry matchup with
Speaker 1: these two guys coaching the programs, and man, it doesn't.
Speaker 1: First of all, the game is earlier than it usually is,
Speaker 1: but it also just doesn't really feel like we're days
Speaker 1: away from this game. And I'm sure you can probably guess,
Speaker 1: but I'm not feeling super confident about that matchup right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're going into upp Arena. Kentucky has proven
Speaker 1: to be a really, really good team. They've got wins
Speaker 1: over Duke and Gonzaga, and you know, they're talented, and
Speaker 1: Louisville is very shorthanded. You know, I think even if
Speaker 1: Louisville was at full strength, they'd still of course be
Speaker 1: underdogs in this game because Kentucky's at up, and Kentucky
Speaker 1: has has proven to be pretty good this year, but
Speaker 1: knowing how you know limited they are, and knowing that
Speaker 1: Kentucky can rely on more depth, I mean, it's just,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not a game that as of right now,
Speaker 1: I am expecting Louisville to win. Doesn't mean they can't win.
Speaker 1: It's just gonna be tough to beat those kind of
Speaker 1: teams with the roster that you currently have. You're just
Speaker 1: very limited with how many guys you can play. So
Speaker 1: you know, Kentucky is certainly one of those teams that
Speaker 1: I just have a hard time right now seeing Louisville
Speaker 1: Bee being able to beat because of how how limited
Speaker 1: they are. But we'll get some early thoughts on this
Speaker 1: matchup when we bring in cl Brown. Some other things
Speaker 1: we will get into today. Something you don't often see.
Speaker 1: The number one player in America when it comes to
Speaker 1: college basketball recruiting, decided this morning on First Take with
Speaker 1: Steven A. Smith to commit to BYU. And I've got
Speaker 1: a lot of thoughts on that, and we'll certainly get
Speaker 1: to it at some point throughout the afternoon. And I
Speaker 1: don't know how much it's going to be a topic
Speaker 1: on the show. I'm not sure what I can add
Speaker 1: that you guys haven't already probably read about, but I
Speaker 1: am so can I say fascinated. It sounds awful to
Speaker 1: say that I'm fascinated by somebody who who murdered someone,
Speaker 1: But like, I also know that true crime is the
Speaker 1: most popular genre right now when it comes to content
Speaker 1: just about anywhere, television, podcast, that kind of stuff, so
Speaker 1: I'm not alone. But just reading everything that's out there
Speaker 1: about Luigi Mangione, it's crazy. I mean, he's not the
Speaker 1: first guy that has a background and upbringing that you
Speaker 1: would never suspect would lead to him, I mean, murdering somebody.
Speaker 1: But there's got to be so much more to it
Speaker 1: than what we already know. And all we know is
Speaker 1: what people on the Internet have been able to dig up.
Speaker 1: But it has fascinated me in a major way, and
Speaker 1: I can't I can't stop reading about it at every
Speaker 1: at every turn. So again, I'm not sure what we
Speaker 1: do with that on the show today, but I know
Speaker 1: it's one of the most talked about things on the
Speaker 1: planet right now, and as of right now, I guess
Speaker 1: it's not officially official, but it certainly sounds like Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick really really wants to coach college football. He really
Speaker 1: really wants the North Carolina job, and those that cover
Speaker 1: North Carolina they believe that they're going to give him
Speaker 1: the job, which to me, this just doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 1: But he is one of the best coaches of all time.
Speaker 1: It's just you know, what I would would would love
Speaker 1: to know is what about the college game right now
Speaker 1: is giving Bill Belichick the itch to just, you know,
Speaker 1: start all over. I just don't. It doesn't make I mean,
Speaker 1: I still have a hard time believing it. But then again,
Speaker 1: those that cover college football, and especially those that are
Speaker 1: close to Carolina, I mean, it's a real thing now. Again,
Speaker 1: it's not official, but it sounds like it won't be
Speaker 1: It will be official before too long. So we'll see
Speaker 1: maybe that happens before we end the show today. All right,
Speaker 1: if you want to join us on the show, your
Speaker 1: best bet is to text in BYBO two six five
Speaker 1: three zero seven ninety the Ellen N Federal Credit Union
Speaker 1: text line, and we'll open up the phone lines a
Speaker 1: little bit later on. But on the other side, we'll
Speaker 1: bring him in. The one and only Zach Barnett Football
Speaker 1: Scoop dot com right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: All right, welcome back in coffee and company. That's us
Speaker 1: Fieldbeth Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Let's bring
Speaker 1: him in. He is Zach Barnett, a FootballScoop dot com.
Speaker 1: He's joined us throughout the college football season, and now
Speaker 1: we are here, not the end of the season, but
Speaker 1: we've got the twelve team playoff, and I'll just start
Speaker 1: by asking you to give the committee a grade. How
Speaker 1: do you think they did as far as putting in
Speaker 1: the twelve teams that they chose to put in and
Speaker 1: where they seated them.
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I think I'd give them a
Speaker 2: B minus two C plus. I mean, I guess they
Speaker 2: get in a for their stated goal of protecting the system,
Speaker 2: and I think that the way the season played out,
Speaker 2: it left them with an obvious choice of if we
Speaker 2: demote s m U, then the entire system, uh be
Speaker 2: that conference championship games are going to go out the
Speaker 2: wayside immediately, and that that's not the goal here, That's
Speaker 2: not the point, and it's just kind of the situation
Speaker 2: that was handed to them. So if you view, you
Speaker 2: know sm U, their their selection over Alabama as a
Speaker 2: choice just to protect themselves and the system, and they
Speaker 2: made it happen to think SMU is more deserving than Alabama.
Speaker 2: And I think the Alabama conversation is looking at it
Speaker 2: from the wrong angle. And I think the way this
Speaker 2: system worked, everybody's kind of looking at it being like
Speaker 2: this Boise State, they deserve to be in the field,
Speaker 2: but do they really deserve a three seed? Probably not.
Speaker 2: I mean this thing was modeled after the NCAA tournament
Speaker 2: and Nicks. As you well know, the Summit League champion
Speaker 2: is not guaranteed a top six seed or anything close
Speaker 2: to that. They're guarantee the spot in the field. So
Speaker 2: that seems to be a somewhat easy tweak. But that
Speaker 2: was outside of this committee's purview.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think as we got closer to selection Sunday,
Speaker 1: I think when you would see how they would give
Speaker 1: us the top twenty five throughout the season, those weekly
Speaker 1: check ins, and then you'd see how it would actually
Speaker 1: be put together on a bracket, I think from really
Speaker 1: the beginning it kind of made sense. Okay, maybe we
Speaker 1: wouldn't do it this way because we should probably just
Speaker 1: have the twelve teams that we think belong and then
Speaker 1: seed it who we think is the best four, which
Speaker 1: would then would then get the buye. But I mean,
Speaker 1: I really don't think I think the committee as far
Speaker 1: as who got in, I don't think there's anybody that's
Speaker 1: left out. As far as the teams that were talked about, Miami,
Speaker 1: Alabama as you mentioned, maybe South Carolina, maybe Ole miss
Speaker 1: Like those teams, all of them have to look in
Speaker 1: the mirror. They can blame the committee. They can talk
Speaker 1: about how strong their league is, those of those teams
Speaker 1: that I mentioned there that are in the SEC. But like,
Speaker 1: I think it kind of played out in a way
Speaker 1: as far as who got into where the committee didn't really.
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess they could have put Bama in
Speaker 1: and people would have just lived with it, but they didn't.
Speaker 1: And I think it, you know, the more time that passes.
Speaker 1: It's only been a couple of days, I mean, I
Speaker 1: think they got it right at the end of the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And one other note on the way the feeding
Speaker 2: of the teams is obviously this this this format was
Speaker 2: the sited when we still have five quote unquote power conferences,
Speaker 2: and it was a six plus six uh situation where
Speaker 2: you would have had the automatic dates for the top
Speaker 2: six conference champions, and the bracket was probably would seem
Speaker 2: a lot more balanced if you still had a Pack twelve.
Speaker 2: That's just seem Oregon I had won the PAC twelve,
Speaker 2: Texas won the Big twelve. We'll say Ohio State won
Speaker 2: the won the Big ten in Georgia won the SEC. Well,
Speaker 2: there's your top four seeds, and those are probably the
Speaker 2: four best teams in the tournament, so that would be fair.
Speaker 2: Notre Dame probably would be the five. In that scenario,
Speaker 2: Clemson gets in and boys to take it, and you
Speaker 2: have a lot more equitable bracket. And obviously that's something
Speaker 2: that no one could have foreseen and it's not the
Speaker 2: committee's fault. And as in regards to Alabama, I just
Speaker 2: I had to get up and walk away from the
Speaker 2: show on Sunday because everyone was so b roast over
Speaker 2: Alabama not getting in. And the fact of the matter
Speaker 2: is the committee did value they had some good wins,
Speaker 2: and the committee value If not for those wins, Alabama
Speaker 2: would have seventeenth, a nine to three team with two
Speaker 2: ugly losses. One of them. I mean, that Oklahoma loss
Speaker 2: is as bad as it gets. That's like Northern Illinois bad.
Speaker 2: So I think the committee did value them and just
Speaker 2: Alabama wasn't given preferential treatment. And when you're a lifetime
Speaker 2: of preferential treatment, equality feels like oppression.
Speaker 1: Who of the twelve teams that got in do you
Speaker 1: feel like has the biggest gripe that you know they
Speaker 1: they were maybe the best or one of the best teams,
Speaker 1: and just because of the structure of the format here,
Speaker 1: like they actually don't have that, you know. I think
Speaker 1: Penn State was a team that I'm not even sure
Speaker 1: how good they are, but man, they've got a pretty
Speaker 1: sweet drawl. When you look at how it played out.
Speaker 1: There's some other teams not so much. Who do you
Speaker 1: feel like is looking at their path and thinking, man,
Speaker 1: something just doesn't add up for us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think Oregon has a right to
Speaker 2: be a little bit myth and how things fell out
Speaker 2: for them, considering they're the unanimous number one team. You
Speaker 2: look at the bottom half of that bracket and it
Speaker 2: seems wide open. You have the three seed Boise State,
Speaker 2: which has the best player in the tournament, but outside
Speaker 2: of that, probably the weakest overall team at least they
Speaker 2: recruit it that way, you have a Penn State Notre Dame,
Speaker 2: who are good, not great, flawed teams. And then you
Speaker 2: have Georgia, who's more likely going to be playing without
Speaker 2: their starting quarterback in this tournament, and obviously that's out
Speaker 2: of the committee's control. But that half of the bracket
Speaker 2: looks very inviting compared to the Oregon half, where you're
Speaker 2: going to have either Ohio State or Tennessee top five
Speaker 2: team teams they could go win this thing, it seems
Speaker 2: if things fall their way. And then you have Texas,
Speaker 2: who I think is maybe the second best team in
Speaker 2: this tournament, certainly top three in a semi final game.
Speaker 2: That it's not the way that anyone draws up a
Speaker 2: path as one team, but that's what happens.
Speaker 1: Zac Barnette, fooballscoop dot com is our guys, joining us
Speaker 1: here on Sports Talk seven ninety. When it comes to
Speaker 1: the games, here were the first round games the teams
Speaker 1: that don't get buys. I mean, it's just awesome to
Speaker 1: envision what those atmospheres are going to be like when
Speaker 1: you've got teams hosting somebody for a college football playoff game,
Speaker 1: Ohio State and Tennessee, Texas and Clemson, Penn State, SMU
Speaker 1: Notre Dame Indiana. Of those which I think all are
Speaker 1: going to be good games and it should be awesome.
Speaker 1: What do you you know if you could go to one,
Speaker 1: and maybe you are going to one of them, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure, what do you think would be the best
Speaker 1: the best matchup of those of those first games we're
Speaker 1: going to get.
Speaker 2: I think Tennessee at Ohio State because that's the most
Speaker 2: even matchup, the best matchup, and also it has the
Speaker 2: potential to be great theater. If Tennessee walks in there
Speaker 2: and gets up to a fourteen to three lead or
Speaker 2: something like that, I think you could see the environment
Speaker 2: turn on the home team and Ohio State start to
Speaker 2: feel the tension and the nervousness within the building, and
Speaker 2: I think you can get real uncomfortable for everyone there,
Speaker 2: real fast. I mean, if they had a secret ballot
Speaker 2: among Ohio State players and coaches, I think they probably
Speaker 2: would have chosen to go on the road because then
Speaker 2: you're you're you're getting the the you know you're gonna
Speaker 2: get a hostile environment, and so you're you're prepared for that.
Speaker 2: But the way they lost to Michigan, that's where the
Speaker 2: least everyone saw this Ohio State team. If if they
Speaker 2: go out and play great, then it'll it'll assuage the
Speaker 2: tears from Michigan lost. But if they don't, then that
Speaker 2: it's going to be some toxic wind swirling.
Speaker 1: So is there a chance that Ohio State would move
Speaker 1: on from Ryan Day, like if they somehow got embarrassed here?
Speaker 1: I mean, is that is that something that could happen?
Speaker 2: Uh? So, the the quotes that have been out there
Speaker 2: from from Ohio say ad ross byork Is that he's
Speaker 2: our coach was for him, but he's also said for
Speaker 2: now and I think he's mended. You know, ross Brook
Speaker 2: is a businessman. I think everything he said has has
Speaker 2: been very calculated with the purpose he's rooting for. If
Speaker 2: Ohio State goes on and wins the national championship, which
Speaker 2: this team team could do, he doesn't want to have
Speaker 2: any quotes thrown back in his space. Yeah, we're not
Speaker 2: really sure on Ryan Day. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: he's he's also smart, not unequivocally stating he will be
Speaker 2: back tattooed on my forehead. Riot is going to be
Speaker 2: our head coach in twenty twenty five either, because I mean,
Speaker 2: this is a team, this was a super team. This
Speaker 2: was the team. This is a national championship or bust team.
Speaker 2: And if they go don't even make the big team championship,
Speaker 2: go ten and three, lose their last two games, lose
Speaker 2: them both at home to this medio for Michigan team,
Speaker 2: I would be surprised.
Speaker 1: To be back on well, and it wouldn't be true
Speaker 1: to say that, like it couldn't have gone worse for him,
Speaker 1: because they had a good year. They're still alive and
Speaker 1: potentially could could win the national championship. I don't see
Speaker 1: that happening, but you know, I kind of feel like
Speaker 1: there was already a lot of outrage and just disbelief
Speaker 1: from their fans as far as how things ended with
Speaker 1: that loss to Michigan. I mean, that's the one time
Speaker 1: you really can't lose to them, and it happened. I
Speaker 1: think the second adversity hits and maybe they start to
Speaker 1: kind of crumble, that's when you hear noise louder than
Speaker 1: maybe you've ever heard from Ohio State football fans that
Speaker 1: they want they want to change. And that's why I asked,
Speaker 1: you know, could it could it be possible if that happens,
Speaker 1: Like where do they turn? Because if that job opens up,
Speaker 1: I mean we may see, you know, we may see
Speaker 1: a coaching carousel kind of thing that we weren't anticipating.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I to be honest with you, I
Speaker 2: don't have any immediate names of where Ohio State would
Speaker 2: turn they would want. Yeah, I'm not one of those
Speaker 2: guys that job opens immediately have five names for you.
Speaker 2: I do know that a lot of people would want
Speaker 2: that job for all the obvious reasons. And I mean
Speaker 2: a lot of people said the same things about Texas
Speaker 2: and how you know toxic it can be and all
Speaker 2: that stuff, and they got the right guy. Now, all
Speaker 2: all the orders are running in the right direction on
Speaker 2: the ship. So I say the same way, and I
Speaker 2: think if they go out and lose, it'll be a
Speaker 2: place where we need to reset. But pretty quickly they'd
Speaker 2: get on board and they'd be a top five team
Speaker 2: immediately next season.
Speaker 1: So we've got Scott Fross going back to Central Florida.
Speaker 1: Barry odom is going to take the job at Purdue
Speaker 1: North Carolina. I mean, what do you make of this
Speaker 1: Buil Belichick stuff. I mean, it sounds like there are
Speaker 1: reports that it's happening, although it's not officially official. I
Speaker 1: believe those that cover Carolina are in fact getting good information,
Speaker 1: But I just still for some reason, I just I
Speaker 1: keep thinking, is this real? Like? Is this made up?
Speaker 1: Is somebody trolling us out there? I just I can't.
Speaker 1: I just don't see the compatibility here. I don't know
Speaker 1: why Bill Belichick would want so badly to get an
Speaker 1: opportunity in college at a place like North Carolina. What
Speaker 1: are your what are your thoughts on this whole thing?
Speaker 1: And and and maybe you can make some sense of it.
Speaker 1: For me, he's one of the best coaches of all time.
Speaker 1: But as far as like just to me, this just
Speaker 1: doesn't make a lot of sense for either side.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you have a lot of different leverage
Speaker 2: players going on here. Simultaneously, there's been reports that the
Speaker 2: North Carolina power structure is at odds with itself. And
Speaker 2: you have the Chancellor and the a D on one side,
Speaker 2: and uh, I guess the president of the Board of
Speaker 2: Trustees and some donors on another side. Uh, and then
Speaker 2: the some of the and that side didn't want Mac
Speaker 2: Crown out to begin with, but he was. Mac was
Speaker 2: fired while the AD and the chancellor were MAUI for
Speaker 2: the basketball tournament, so you have a lot of hurt
Speaker 2: feelings over that, and then you have Belichick, and all
Speaker 2: this reporting is like, you know, Belichick's accepted the job
Speaker 2: if they've offered it. He's willing to accept if they
Speaker 2: offered the job. But that's not it's not really how
Speaker 2: this works. Guys, like he's got to be offered the
Speaker 2: job before you can accept it. So it definitely seems
Speaker 2: like Belichick's trying to leverage North Carolina into an offer,
Speaker 2: and to me, it seems like he's got maybe half
Speaker 2: the power structure in but they're trying to pressure the
Speaker 2: actual people who work for the university to expend the
Speaker 2: offer because only they have the power to do. So
Speaker 2: that's my read on it, and my other read is
Speaker 2: at Belichick at the same time positioned himself to say, well,
Speaker 2: if North Carolina doesn't work out, some other college will
Speaker 2: hire me. And if a college doesn't hire me, then
Speaker 2: also get an NFL job. And I also think he's
Speaker 2: trying to approach this with obviously I'm seventy two years
Speaker 2: old and not be your head coach forever, but I oh,
Speaker 2: by the way, I have a son who's uh happened
Speaker 2: to be a college defensive coordion. Why don't you go
Speaker 2: in ahead and we'll name him my replacement before I
Speaker 2: even coach my first game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's one that I hadn't really even heard about
Speaker 1: and thought of until a little bit later on in
Speaker 1: this process when his name was floated out for the job.
Speaker 1: But that one, that one actually is something I can see. Okay, Yeah,
Speaker 1: if that's if that's really maybe the root here as
Speaker 1: far as what he's trying to do, then I can
Speaker 1: I can make some sense of it. But man, just
Speaker 1: imagine telling somebody, you know, eighteen months ago that Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick would be a finalist for the North Carolina job,
Speaker 1: and like it may actually happen. It just seems it
Speaker 1: seems crazy. So do you one more question for you, Zach?
Speaker 1: Do you think that we'll see other power jobs open
Speaker 1: up in this in this cycle? It doesn't mean usually
Speaker 1: by now it's already happened if there was going to
Speaker 1: be a move, But obviously things can change. And and
Speaker 1: another thing to keep in mind that some coaches probably
Speaker 1: are are probably safe another year or so as these
Speaker 1: schools try to, I guess, get a feel for what
Speaker 1: it's going to look like for them when they have
Speaker 1: to start paying at leads themselves.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think that's obviously a lot of
Speaker 2: it is. You're we're at a year where most of
Speaker 2: these changes seem to start in the SEC, and we're
Speaker 2: at any a point in the cycle where it doesn't
Speaker 2: really make sense for a lot of these schools to
Speaker 2: move on. Then obviously the house payments coming on, everyone's
Speaker 2: just kind of taking a wait and see approach with that.
Speaker 2: Although we did see it's still been business as usual.
Speaker 2: Like Purdue fired Ryan Walters and then just today they're
Speaker 2: given Barry Otum six million a year, which is two
Speaker 2: million more than they paid Walters. So if they're worried
Speaker 2: about outlining another twenty plus million that they didn't normally
Speaker 2: have to pay, then they're not acting like it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the SEC and the Big Ten throughout
Speaker 1: whatever this looks like, when it comes to the house settlement,
Speaker 1: they're going to you know, we already know it, but
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be kind of evident that
Speaker 1: they can print money compared to some of these other
Speaker 1: schools that just aren't in that exact same situation. I
Speaker 1: lied one more quick question for you, just because it's crazy.
Speaker 1: We've got the twelve team playoff. There's a lot of
Speaker 1: excitement there. But I feel like college football fans like
Speaker 1: myself and you always see as everybody talking about the portal.
Speaker 1: I mean it's constant. Are we to a point now?
Speaker 1: Are we there yet where you can say that there
Speaker 1: really isn't any player in college football that hits the
Speaker 1: portal that you can say that you're completely stunned by,
Speaker 1: because I think we're kind of getting close to there,
Speaker 1: but just wanted to get your thoughts on that. I
Speaker 1: feel like everybody should just be well aware that, no
Speaker 1: matter how much you think your player loves where he is,
Speaker 1: if he gets more money, if he gets the itch
Speaker 1: to leave like these players are going to do it.
Speaker 2: I'd be pretty stunned if Arch Manning hits the portal
Speaker 2: at Texas, just because he's such an institutionally important player
Speaker 2: at that school as he would be. He's arch manding,
Speaker 2: he's a crown prince of the entire sport, so for
Speaker 2: him to leave things that have to screw up royally
Speaker 2: punt intended. So I don't foresee that happening, just to
Speaker 2: be clear. Yeah, other than that, I think it surprised
Speaker 2: for stunned, Probably not you know, the other names, the
Speaker 2: other franchise quarterback games. The guys that you assume are
Speaker 2: being taken care of handsomely, they're guys that are that
Speaker 2: immediately become remind of guys that are all about to
Speaker 2: move on anyway. So that's the one that comes to
Speaker 2: mind immediately.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just I think eventually we'll get there whenever.
Speaker 1: You know, maybe a few more years have passed, but
Speaker 1: I just think we still have guys that hit the portal,
Speaker 1: and fans want to point the finger and blame somebody.
Speaker 1: How did we lose this guy? And I think right now,
Speaker 1: you know, there are some real reasons why guys leave,
Speaker 1: because the program is struggling, because there's a coaching change,
Speaker 1: because the NIL situation is not great. But sometimes guys
Speaker 1: just decide to leave because they can and they want to.
Speaker 1: It's not because the coach did something wrong. It's not
Speaker 1: because the check didn't clear from nil. You know, players
Speaker 1: just have the ability to do really whatever the hell
Speaker 1: they want, and we have I've gotten to that point
Speaker 1: pretty quickly, Whereas hundreds of years seemingly before it was
Speaker 1: the players had no control really over anything. So I've
Speaker 1: been fascinated to see the you know, college fans. We're
Speaker 1: a college market here in Louisville that you know, are
Speaker 1: just slowly but surely adjusting and realizing that this is
Speaker 1: now a much different world than it once was. But Za,
Speaker 1: you are always gracious with your time. Keep up the
Speaker 1: great work. And if I don't talk to you again
Speaker 1: before the holiday, have a very merry Christmas, my friend.
Speaker 2: How good you as well?
Speaker 1: Take care. That's Zach Barnett of FootballScoop dot com. Good
Speaker 1: stuff as always, quick break, don't go anywhere, keep it
Speaker 1: locked right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. All right,
Speaker 1: welcome back in as we wrap up the three o'clock
Speaker 1: hour here coffee and Company. Phil Beth Thorton's on Sports
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Speaker 1: seven to ninety. So some breaking news here that is
Speaker 1: worth mentioning as we wrap up at three o'clock hour.
Speaker 1: Not really surprised news, but certainly an update that is
Speaker 1: worth sharing. We now know that ja Corey Brooks is
Speaker 1: headed to the NFL Draft, and I saw the graphic
Speaker 1: that he posted, which is really what every player is
Speaker 1: doing to make some kind of an announcement. Right It's
Speaker 1: the vertical portrait graphic that has some usually they've got
Speaker 1: some pretty good graphic design elements. And then, of course,
Speaker 1: you know, a long message that I'm not sure many
Speaker 1: people read. I did read ja Corey Brooks's message, though,
Speaker 1: I feel like that, you know, that's the least I
Speaker 1: could do, given the fact that he's he was a
Speaker 1: really special player here for just one year, and I
Speaker 1: wasn't quite sure what he was announcing. So he's going
Speaker 1: to the NFL Draft, which I assumed he was doing
Speaker 1: that anyway, because he's out of eligibility. So my guess
Speaker 1: is that he is announcing this today because he just
Speaker 1: wants people to know that he's not going to be
Speaker 1: playing in the bowl game, which I mean, it's still
Speaker 1: kind of I will say this. Fran Brown, the coach
Speaker 1: at Syracuse, I give him a lot of credit. You know,
Speaker 1: he's still trying to run with the old school mindset
Speaker 1: of like we don't opt that around here. We play football,
Speaker 1: and who knows, maybe Syracuse turns into a team that
Speaker 1: doesn't lose a single player to an opt out. I
Speaker 1: doubt that's the case, because if you know you're transferring,
Speaker 1: I don't know why you play in a Bowl game
Speaker 1: because you're gonna get a late start, and it just
Speaker 1: I mean, if you get hurt, then you went out
Speaker 1: there and you know, played for your team. But if
Speaker 1: you like already know you're moving on, it just seems
Speaker 1: kind of silly. But maybe some guys won't won't decide
Speaker 1: until the bowl game's over as far as what they
Speaker 1: want to do, if they want to stick around or
Speaker 1: hit the portal. But you know, I don't want to
Speaker 1: act like guys are just for sure, not like, for example,
Speaker 1: like Tyler Shuck and Jea Cory Brooks are guys that
Speaker 1: I felt like there was no scenario they would play
Speaker 1: in this Bowl game against Washington in El Paso. But
Speaker 1: maybe that's unfair of me to assume that they wouldn't
Speaker 1: just want to play, because you know, why not. But
Speaker 1: ja Corey Brooks, again, I don't get the I don't
Speaker 1: get the sense that he has that he has announced
Speaker 1: well I guess I can just read it word for word,
Speaker 1: but he doesn't have any eligibility left, so I'm not
Speaker 1: really sure where you know, what the announcement is that
Speaker 1: he's going to the NFL Draft, And by the way,
Speaker 1: I do think he's gonna end up being a good
Speaker 1: player in the NFL. I mean, you never know, I
Speaker 1: think at receiver unless you've just got some ability that
Speaker 1: that you know, nobody else on the planet has, like
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase continues to show each and every week for
Speaker 1: the Bengals, justin Jefferson. I mean, there are some special,
Speaker 1: special guys, but I think there are many guys in
Speaker 1: the NFL at receiver that last for a while and
Speaker 1: have have long careers, and it's really just because one
Speaker 1: they're talented and they and they you know, they're they're professionals.
Speaker 1: They show up, they get the job done, they take
Speaker 1: advantage of opportunities. But it's really timing and situation. So
Speaker 1: that'll be a big factor for Jacory Brooks. But you know,
Speaker 1: he was a really successful receiver at Alabama and was
Speaker 1: catching touchdown passes from Bryce Young as Alabama was, you know,
Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the country, and then
Speaker 1: he gets hurt and then last year really just kind
Speaker 1: of lost opportunities because of the injury and he ended
Speaker 1: up in the portal. Jeff Brown was able to get
Speaker 1: him here on campus for a visit. Got the nil
Speaker 1: situation where it was you know, clearly good enough for
Speaker 1: Jacory Brooks to make the decision. And you know, he's
Speaker 1: one of those guys that I feel like he'll be
Speaker 1: an early example of somebody that, like, you know, you
Speaker 1: consider him a former Cardinal because you know he is
Speaker 1: he was a good player here, but he only had
Speaker 1: him one year and look, you'll take it right, one
Speaker 1: year of Jacorey Brooks is better than no year's with
Speaker 1: Jacorey Brooks. But you know, if he's really good in
Speaker 1: the NFL, like he becomes one of the better receivers
Speaker 1: in the league. Which I'm not saying that he that
Speaker 1: he that he will end up having a career like that,
Speaker 1: but you know, he'll be somebody that you kind of
Speaker 1: wish you'd have had for longer than just just one season.
Speaker 1: But yeah, Jacory Brooks is is going to the NFL Draft.
Speaker 1: And also, I believe we have our first commitment in
Speaker 1: the in the portal for Jeff Brown and it comes
Speaker 1: from an offensive lineman perdue transfer. Let me make sure
Speaker 1: I'm getting the name correct here, Mahani, I'm sorry, Mahammi Mussa.
Speaker 1: He is an offensive lineman started every game last year
Speaker 1: for Purdue. Obviously, he's got some some big tenis experience,
Speaker 1: and you know, you have I think the core of
Speaker 1: your old line coming back.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: You're obviously gonna lose some guys to graduation, Michael Gonzales
Speaker 1: and some others. But you know, I've already seen some
Speaker 1: noise out there about Purdue players in the portal and
Speaker 1: why Louisville would want them because Purdue was really, really
Speaker 1: bad last year. And you're not wrong. Purdue was really bad.
Speaker 1: That's why they fired Ryan Walters after just two seasons.
Speaker 1: But I continue to trust Jeff Brahm's ability to to
Speaker 1: to evaluate talent and these guys that are leaving Purdue,
Speaker 1: including a defensive back whose name I can't think of
Speaker 1: right now, but you know, he was the I think
Speaker 1: he was. Was he the Big twelve or sorry, was
Speaker 1: he the Big Ten Rookie of the year, Freshman of
Speaker 1: the year, maybe he was All Freshman team? Yeah, theeneman
Speaker 1: he is. He's a defensive back from Purdue who didn't
Speaker 1: have as good a year this year, but last year
Speaker 1: as a freshman, was one of the best freshmen in
Speaker 1: the Big Ten. So I think Louisvill's involved there, and
Speaker 1: obviously they've now landed one guy from Purdue so I
Speaker 1: trust that if Braun, I mean Broun would know these
Speaker 1: guys probably better than than most that are recruiting them
Speaker 1: in the portal, because these are guys that committed to
Speaker 1: Jeff at Purdue and then just didn't get a chance
Speaker 1: to play for him at all, or didn't play for
Speaker 1: him for that long because he ended up coming to Louisville.
Speaker 1: So I'm not at all bothered by taking somebody from Purdue,
Speaker 1: despite Purdue being really, really bad last season. So all right,
Speaker 1: we got to get to top of the hour break here.
Speaker 1: We got two more hours to go, so I encourage
Speaker 1: you to stick around. We'll talk to C. L. Brown
Speaker 1: of the Courier Journal. We'll do that coming up probably
Speaker 1: around four twenty or so. And we also what I
Speaker 1: want to get you on the other side, now, this
Speaker 1: UTEP team, you know, they're well aware that Louisville now
Speaker 1: is not what Louisville once was many years ago. I mean,
Speaker 1: Louiver clearly is in a much better situation now than
Speaker 1: they were during the Kinney Payne era in the end
Speaker 1: of the Chris Mack era. But UTEP, I mean, if
Speaker 1: they were looking to give Louisville some bulletin board material right,
Speaker 1: something to motivate them for this UTEP game tomorrow, because
Speaker 1: I obviously it's the game before you play Kentucky. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't really blame you TEP for looking at Louisville
Speaker 1: as an opportunity for them to go get a win
Speaker 1: against a power program at their place, because again, many
Speaker 1: teams have done it in recent years. But this isn't
Speaker 1: the same Louisville team that you know was coached by
Speaker 1: Kenny Payne. So but with all that said, I think
Speaker 1: this is a rare game against a a non power
Speaker 1: program that you know isn't going to challenge you like
Speaker 1: Kentucky or Duke or Ole Miss the teams you've played recently.
Speaker 1: But they're better than Winthrop, They're better than you know,
Speaker 1: better than you know Bellarman, those kind of teams. So again,
Speaker 1: we'll talk, we'll talk some hoops on the other side.
Speaker 1: Stick around, two more hours to go. Right here, it's
Speaker 1: coffee and company. Phil about Thornton's on Sports Talk seven
Speaker 1: ninety