Speaker 1: All right, Derby Week rolls along here. Thanks for hanging out,
Speaker 1: thanks for joining us wherever you're listening however you're listening,
Speaker 1: certainly appreciate it. I know I stole that from Colin Cowherd.
Speaker 1: I'm sure if you listen to the Herd then you've
Speaker 1: heard him say that. But it's a great way to
Speaker 1: you know, because again this day and age, you've got
Speaker 1: people listening live, you've got people listening on podcast in
Speaker 1: a lot of different ways. So big thanks to you,
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Speaker 1: live at seven ninety Louisville dot com. And I was
Speaker 1: thinking earlier, earlier, I was looking at I was on Instagram,
Speaker 1: That's what it was. I couldn't remember which social media
Speaker 1: platform it was, but I was on Instagram and I
Speaker 1: was just scrolling. And obviously the algorithm targets things that
Speaker 1: you're interested in, or maybe they you know, maybe they're
Speaker 1: listening to us. And I know I'm not the only
Speaker 1: one that has noticed this. In fact, I think it's
Speaker 1: become like a conversation that you hear, maybe not frequently,
Speaker 1: but there's just no scenario where you could be talking
Speaker 1: about something without googling anything on.
Speaker 2: Your computer or your phone.
Speaker 1: Or clicking on anything and then sure enough, just you know,
Speaker 1: you mention a product, you mentioned something, and then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden you pop open a social media app Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat,
Speaker 1: and then there's an ad for something that you just
Speaker 1: discussed aloud. Like that makes people assume that they're listening
Speaker 1: to you, which, hey, if it's targeting me for things
Speaker 1: that they think I'm interested in, there's a good chance
Speaker 1: they're right. So anyways, I was on Instagram and I
Speaker 1: was just talking about the different Derby Festival events that
Speaker 1: we have here, because to be honest with you, I
Speaker 1: mean there's some that I've known of for a long time,
Speaker 1: like I knew of them, but there's also many that
Speaker 1: I didn't know was a thing. And I kind of
Speaker 1: just did it, not a full deep dive today, but
Speaker 1: just kind of looked at the entire schedule of the
Speaker 1: Kentucky Derby Festival events and I didn't know that we
Speaker 1: had a one million dollar hole in one golf contest.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that we had Actually I knew of this,
Speaker 1: I forgot about the bed races, which by the way,
Speaker 1: took place this week. There was kind of some controversy.
Speaker 1: As far as the winner, we can maybe get into
Speaker 1: that a little bit later. I'm not sure if it's
Speaker 1: super controversial, but there is somebody who had a picture
Speaker 1: of two beds crossing the finish line and the one
Speaker 1: that is crossing just a hair like it was clearly
Speaker 1: a photo. Finish was not announced the winner, and it
Speaker 1: sounds as if there's been some confusion on.
Speaker 2: Okay, there used to be a.
Speaker 1: Rule that everybody had to have their hands on the
Speaker 1: bed as it crosses the finish line in order for
Speaker 1: you to win, and maybe that's why they.
Speaker 2: Didn't get the victory and their competitor did.
Speaker 1: I don't know which companies it was that ended up
Speaker 1: coming in first and second, but hopefully they just had fun,
Speaker 1: because you know, if you were out there really competing
Speaker 1: and there was a big prize on the line, you
Speaker 1: know that could really be controversial. But anyways, looking at
Speaker 1: all these great different events that we have here for
Speaker 1: Kentucky to every festival season, it's just a reminder how
Speaker 1: rare this is, and I get a little bit I
Speaker 1: don't know in my own head sometimes when we get
Speaker 1: close to Derby, because you know, I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's fomo, which is you don't know what that means,
Speaker 1: it's fear of missing out. I'm not sure if it's
Speaker 1: that or if it's you know, an insecurity that I have,
Speaker 1: But like, I wish I was more into horse racing sometimes.
Speaker 1: But again, over the years, I've just convinced myself that
Speaker 1: there's really no scenario where I'll ever be super into it,
Speaker 1: but other people are. You know, it kind of makes
Speaker 1: me feel like, hey, you know, I wish I shared
Speaker 1: that same interest that some people have. But I was
Speaker 1: talking with Paul Miles earlier today, one of our our
Speaker 1: phenomenal reporters over their own news radio eight forty whas,
Speaker 1: and he was we were just talking about what the
Speaker 1: Derby's kind of turned into, not necessarily just Derby season,
Speaker 1: but the Kentucky the Kentucky Derby itself. And I was
Speaker 1: just thinking, to the people who come here in their
Speaker 1: private jets that land at Bowman Field or and you know,
Speaker 1: stay for a few days, maybe they just come for
Speaker 1: the Derby and then fly out, Like do they realize
Speaker 1: that we do these things, like we have a steamboat race,
Speaker 1: Like that's to me, that's you know, some would say
Speaker 1: maybe that's kind of weird. I think it's kind of cool.
Speaker 1: So as we get closer and closer to you know,
Speaker 1: the actual Kentucky Derby, which it'll be here before you
Speaker 1: know it, Derby Week's rolling along pretty quickly. I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to take it all in, right, because
Speaker 1: I can't match the level of love and passion that
Speaker 1: some people have for horse racing. So I'm just trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, embrace all the things that come with Derby.
Speaker 1: And I mean we've got a balloon fest, hot air balloons,
Speaker 1: so you know, it's not just a horse race. There's
Speaker 1: a lot that comes with it. And it's a special,
Speaker 1: special thing around here. I know I've said it many
Speaker 1: times this week. I know I've said it many times
Speaker 1: in years prior, but there's just something about being in
Speaker 1: Louisville during the Kentucky Derby Festival season and.
Speaker 2: It's it's good vibes, good energy, all right.
Speaker 1: So a lot to get into here today, and I'm
Speaker 1: not really sure where to start, but I feel like
Speaker 1: this is going to be a thing for many, many
Speaker 1: many years to come, this time of year where we
Speaker 1: talk about something that we didn't talk about for, you know,
Speaker 1: decades prior and what I mean is once you get
Speaker 1: to the end of the college basketball season, that's whenever
Speaker 1: everybody's attention shifts to the portal and NIL, because NIL
Speaker 1: has led us to players sticking around in college basketball
Speaker 1: longer than they ever used to. And there's some real
Speaker 1: numbers that I want to get into here in just
Speaker 1: a moment that I think really makes me feel more
Speaker 1: confident in what I've been saying for a while, and
Speaker 1: that is that you know, the new world here with
Speaker 1: NIL and the transfer portal, meaning now you get paid
Speaker 1: to play, and now with the portal, you can go
Speaker 1: wherever you want, seemingly as many times as you want.
Speaker 1: So what that has done is that has made college
Speaker 1: basketball a much better product, not only because you know,
Speaker 1: you guys sticking around longer, but because you got you've
Speaker 1: got free agency essentially where you can just you know,
Speaker 1: build a team from scratch, just like Pat Kelsey did
Speaker 1: a year ago. Like that, that's that's good for the game.
Speaker 1: And yeah, there's the downside of it, where you don't
Speaker 1: get guys to stick around for four years. The four
Speaker 1: year player is going to be a real rare thing
Speaker 1: moving forward, and that is and you know that sucks However,
Speaker 1: I still believe that if you're just looking at the
Speaker 1: pros and cons, I mean, it's way more beneficial for
Speaker 1: college basketball.
Speaker 2: This new world is than detrimental.
Speaker 1: And I you know, I'm somebody who loves college basketball,
Speaker 1: so I certainly appreciate that. So again, I don't see
Speaker 1: any change as far as what I guess late March
Speaker 1: and really all of April is and that is where
Speaker 1: you get a feel for what your team's gonna look
Speaker 1: like the following season and the NBA Draft. I mean,
Speaker 1: you used to have guys that would go to the
Speaker 1: NBA Draft knowing like they would turn pro, enter their
Speaker 1: name and draft and know that they didn't have any
Speaker 1: real chance of getting drafted, right, but they just decided, Look,
Speaker 1: I don't want to stick around in college anymore. You know,
Speaker 1: I can come back and get my degree whenever I'm
Speaker 1: twenty one years old, and I want to go ahead
Speaker 1: and start my pro career now, because you know, when
Speaker 1: you're a professional athlete, Let's be real, in most instances,
Speaker 1: you can't do that for the same amount of time
Speaker 1: that folks can do most jobs that they have. Right,
Speaker 1: like God willing, I won't need to have any athleticism
Speaker 1: or be in great shape to do this for as
Speaker 1: long as they allow me to do it. If you're
Speaker 1: a basketball player, you got a window. And if you
Speaker 1: spend four years in college, yeah, it would probably be
Speaker 1: a great experience. I doubt anybody would ever regret that experience.
Speaker 1: I'm sure there are some examples, and yes, you would
Speaker 1: get an education and you'd live a good lifestyle, right
Speaker 1: if you're I mean before an il, before anybody was
Speaker 1: getting paid to play as far as you know, name,
Speaker 1: image and likeness, they were still living a pretty good life.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: They've got a I mean, these college athletes have nice
Speaker 1: facilities they live in. They don't pay for health insurance.
Speaker 1: I mean they're fed, and you actually even get like
Speaker 1: a stipend, like the cost of attendance stipend. So like
Speaker 1: even before that, you were still living a great lifestyle.
Speaker 1: It wasn't as if you were out here just you know,
Speaker 1: doing manual labor and being tortured, nothing like that. So
Speaker 1: you know, like it would make sense that you would decide, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, I'll come back and get my degree, because again,
Speaker 1: why not go ahead and start making money and instead,
Speaker 1: let's just say you've got a.
Speaker 2: Ten year pro.
Speaker 1: Let's say you're going to play till you're thirty two
Speaker 1: years old, and by the time you get thirty three
Speaker 1: or just you know, your body's not what it once
Speaker 1: was and you no longer are playing at the level
Speaker 1: to where you can earn a living doing it, G League.
Speaker 2: Europe, wherever.
Speaker 1: So if you left college at twenty you would have
Speaker 1: had twelve years to do it. You leave college at
Speaker 1: twenty three, you have less time. So again it's not
Speaker 1: that big of a difference. But now you've got guys
Speaker 1: that are turning down the NBA knowing that they would
Speaker 1: get drafted, albeit maybe late first round, second round. They're
Speaker 1: now turning that down to come back to college because
Speaker 1: they're gonna make more money. So Draft Express put this
Speaker 1: out earlier. Today, they're only one hundred and six players
Speaker 1: that have entered the twenty twenty five NBA Draft, according
Speaker 1: to the NBA's latest release.
Speaker 2: This is the.
Speaker 1: Lowest number of early entrants since twenty fifteen. And it's down. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's down from a peak of three hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: three in twenty twenty one. Think about the timing here
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, that was right before the NCAA's
Speaker 1: NIL era officially started. So again, these numbers probably don't
Speaker 1: really surprise you, but I just thought it was worth
Speaker 1: sharing because again, I think of all the sports that
Speaker 1: have you know, impact, been impacted differently with this new world,
Speaker 1: I don't even think it's I don't think it's close.
Speaker 1: College basketball has benefited from it more than any and
Speaker 1: it's not just because of the obvious right that guys
Speaker 1: stick around in college. You now have you know, guys
Speaker 1: that are twenty two, twenty three, sometimes even older than
Speaker 1: that playing and they're mature their experience. Maybe they don't
Speaker 1: translate to the NBA, but you know, the product of
Speaker 1: the game is good, and when you've got the portal,
Speaker 1: you can go add guys that are twenty two, that
Speaker 1: have played a bunch of college basketball that can come
Speaker 1: in and really help you, you know, make a big
Speaker 1: improvement from the year prior, or maybe even you know,
Speaker 1: just sustain what you did the year prior. But let's
Speaker 1: go back to where college basketball was before this happened.
Speaker 1: I think I think it was suffering in a big way.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm gonna always love college hoops because you know,
Speaker 1: that's just what we do around here. I mean, I
Speaker 1: know not everybody probably is obsessed with it like I am,
Speaker 1: but we're clearly a big college basketball market, both programs
Speaker 1: here in town. I mean I think, let's I mean
Speaker 1: in the state, I should say both Louisville and Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Like when people think of our athletic programs, they think
Speaker 1: of basketball, and I don't really see a scenario where
Speaker 1: that we'll ever that will ever change. But you know,
Speaker 1: when you've got top twenty five recruits coming in for
Speaker 1: a year leaving, if they're one and dones, or guys
Speaker 1: that stick around for a second year, because that's what
Speaker 1: this wasn't. I mean, it wasn't widespread, but it was,
Speaker 1: but it was growing. And what I'm talking about is
Speaker 1: guys who weren't good enough to be you know, one
Speaker 1: and dons right out of high school because they weren't
Speaker 1: maybe they weren't developed yet, maybe they were still just
Speaker 1: you know, all about potential. It wasn't about anything they
Speaker 1: were actually ready to do and produce. So then you
Speaker 1: would have guys that would come back for a second year.
Speaker 1: And if you're a top twenty five recruit of McDonald's
Speaker 1: All America and you're American and you're coming back for
Speaker 1: a sophomore season, and it's because maybe your freshman season,
Speaker 1: like you didn't you didn't really have a big role
Speaker 1: because you weren't ready. Like it was almost as if
Speaker 1: like you got to go pro after that year, because
Speaker 1: at that point, if you keep sticking around in college
Speaker 1: like you had no time to develop, I mean you did,
Speaker 1: but you didn't want to. You would you would just
Speaker 1: move on because guys who stuck around in college that
Speaker 1: were really really highly regarded players. I mean, it was
Speaker 1: viewed if you it was viewed that you were a
Speaker 1: bust if you didn't leave early. And I just think,
Speaker 1: you know, you go back to guys like DJ King,
Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson for Louisville, I mean even EJ. Montgomery for Kentucky.
Speaker 1: You know, clearly those guys weren't great. I think they
Speaker 1: knew they were never going to make it to the NBA,
Speaker 1: but they just decided to move on from college and
Speaker 1: start their pro career. And look, maybe they don't regret
Speaker 1: doing that, but there's also I think some level of
Speaker 1: of of being worried that you're The longer you stick
Speaker 1: in college, the more people were going to bring up
Speaker 1: the fact that you were a McDonald's All American or
Speaker 1: a top twenty five recruit, and if you're still in college,
Speaker 1: it was just viewed as a bad thing that you
Speaker 1: were a bust and you're you know, you know, your
Speaker 1: story's over. Yeah, you're you're all right, you're decent, but hey,
Speaker 1: they were really wrong about you. Will now, I mean,
Speaker 1: you've got time to develop. I mean, because let's be real,
Speaker 1: if you're not ready to play as a freshman and
Speaker 1: you're at a high level, you're probably going to transfer
Speaker 1: after your freshman season a to a program where you
Speaker 1: can have a bigger opportunity.
Speaker 2: So I just think it's it's.
Speaker 1: Beneficial for literally everyone involved in college basketball. I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess those that would probably say, hey, you're out
Speaker 1: of your mind, this is killing us. It's probably the
Speaker 1: mid majors, right, the coaches that are recruiting players and
Speaker 1: developing them for a few years and then they're about
Speaker 1: to enter a special season that they've been building for.
Speaker 1: But then they're two best players. They leave because they
Speaker 1: can go elsewhere and make more money, and they'd be
Speaker 1: foolish not to do that. So yeah, I guess from
Speaker 1: that aspect, there are some signs there are some downsides
Speaker 1: of it, but they'll adapt, right, I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: they have to do. I mean, it just sounds like something,
Speaker 1: you know, unheard of, but I really don't think that
Speaker 1: we're that far away from it being a very public
Speaker 1: sales pitch from mid major and low D one programs
Speaker 1: that we're selling you to come here and we'll give
Speaker 1: you an opportunity right away and then you can get
Speaker 1: the hell out. I mean again, think about that, a
Speaker 1: coach selling you come here, you'll only be here for
Speaker 1: a year, and then you can go.
Speaker 2: To a better program.
Speaker 1: Like that's just unheard of, and I'm sure that's not
Speaker 1: going to be directly how it is, but that's probably
Speaker 1: a good to an extent. I think that's probably a
Speaker 1: good sales pitch because you know you can sell that. Hey,
Speaker 1: with with coaches at the high majors now being able
Speaker 1: to reload and add to their roster with grown experience
Speaker 1: players that are twenty one, twenty two years old, most
Speaker 1: coaches are choosing to do that, and I think that's
Speaker 1: a trend that's only gonna grow. So you know, if
Speaker 1: you're coaching at the low D one or mid major,
Speaker 1: you can you know, you use that against those coaches, right, like, hey, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know they offered you a scholarship, but let's be real,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to sit and wait for a long
Speaker 1: time because they've got this guy back and that guy back,
Speaker 1: and oh, by the way, they brought in two guys
Speaker 1: that play on the wing just like you. So why
Speaker 1: don't you come here. Yeah, it's not the SEC, it's
Speaker 1: not the Big Ten, it's not the ACC. But you'll
Speaker 1: get minutes, you'll put up big numbers, and then when
Speaker 1: you hit the portal the next year, you'll have everybody
Speaker 1: calling you again. I mean, I doubt that that will
Speaker 1: be like the direct sales pitch, but I feel like
Speaker 1: that's what you should do if you want to, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're gonna make this work, because if
Speaker 1: you just try to, you know, I mean again, you
Speaker 1: could try whatever you want to keep guys to stay,
Speaker 1: but it's just not realistic. You can't pay, and the
Speaker 1: nil situation is just gonna be just gonna be much different. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, I used to kind of worry about the
Speaker 1: future of college basketball because you know, the product wasn't
Speaker 1: great and you needed guys like Zion Williamson and Anthony
Speaker 1: Davis to really bring eyeballs to the sport because you know,
Speaker 1: of the product, meaning guys that everybody knew were probably
Speaker 1: going to be stars in the NBA. And you can
Speaker 1: tell when you watch them play for programs like Duke
Speaker 1: in Kentucky. But you know, you don't get those guys
Speaker 1: very often. That's a pretty rare thing. Well, now maybe
Speaker 1: you don't have I mean, Cooper Flag was certainly a big,
Speaker 1: big deal this year. But I think even though you know,
Speaker 1: you may not have a guy that's viewed as just
Speaker 1: this can't miss NBA prospect like Cooper Flag was the product.
Speaker 1: When I say product, I mean the game like it's competitive,
Speaker 1: you have you know, and there's a lot of parody too.
Speaker 1: I mean that's another factor that I think makes it
Speaker 1: a benefit to college basketball, meaning the new world that
Speaker 1: we are, that we that we're in now with the
Speaker 1: with nil and with with the portal. So I just thought,
Speaker 1: you know, I just thought that number. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: pretty crazy to see only one hundred and six players
Speaker 1: enter the draft when just four years ago, right before
Speaker 1: you get paid to play three hundred and sixty three
Speaker 1: innered And another thing to keep in mind of the
Speaker 1: one hundred and six that have entered this year, there's
Speaker 1: many of them that know they're coming back to school
Speaker 1: or at least probably expect to come back to school
Speaker 1: because they're just going through this process to get the
Speaker 1: experience and maybe get some good feedback from the NBA.
Speaker 1: Like Otaga away at Kentucky, I mean, I think the
Speaker 1: expectation is he's back for Kentucky next year, but he's
Speaker 1: considered in one of those one oh six. And also
Speaker 1: there's also guys from across across the pond in Europe
Speaker 1: and other countries, international players that have entered the draft.
Speaker 2: So again, I don't know if this proof.
Speaker 1: I'm sure some would say, you know, they don't notice
Speaker 1: much of a difference, but for me, like this is
Speaker 1: this is a good thing. And yeah, it's not really
Speaker 1: college basketball anymore. It's professional basketball, just you know, a
Speaker 1: different version of it compared to the NBA. All Right,
Speaker 1: a lot we're going to get into today, so make
Speaker 1: sure you stick around.
Speaker 2: The ACC. Uh, they decided at least they're looking.
Speaker 1: Into doing something that I think would benefit the league
Speaker 1: that I want to get to. Although I do have
Speaker 1: a complaint about the ACC and I know I complain
Speaker 1: about the ACC a lot, But I think if you have,
Speaker 1: if you don't know where I'm going stick around, I
Speaker 1: think you'll agree that there's reason to complain about what
Speaker 1: they're just what they're going to do with some type
Speaker 1: of ACC basketball scheduling change involving Louisville. So we can
Speaker 1: get into that. Also, haven't talked about it much as
Speaker 1: we get closer and closer to Derby, but Pat Kelsey
Speaker 1: has a horse named after him. That's got to be
Speaker 1: one of those things that you don't really think about
Speaker 1: when you take the Louisville job, but you know, then
Speaker 1: it happens and you're like, yeah, I guess this is
Speaker 1: one of the perks at coaching at a place, you know,
Speaker 1: like Louisville where they happen to have Churchill downs at
Speaker 1: the Kentucky Derby. So we can get into all that
Speaker 1: and a lot more. If you guys want to join
Speaker 1: us on the show today, you can give us a
Speaker 1: call five oh two five seven one seventy nine hundred
Speaker 1: again five oh two, five seven one seventy nine hundred
Speaker 1: if you want to call in, and you can text
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Speaker 1: Line five O two four three eight ninety seventy three.
Speaker 1: It's coffee in company feel about Thornton's on Sports Talk
Speaker 1: seventy and seven ninety. That's right, it's coffee and company
Speaker 1: feel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety thanks
Speaker 1: for hanging out with us. And we had somebody text
Speaker 1: in on the text line and mentioned the I said controversial.
Speaker 1: I don't really think it's that I was being, I
Speaker 1: guess a little bit dramatic, but at least some people
Speaker 1: did agree that they need to have, I guess, more
Speaker 1: clarity in the rules as far as how you win
Speaker 1: the bed races, which apparently so it's the sam Tech
Speaker 1: Great Bed Races. And for those just now joining us,
Speaker 1: it came up earlier because I was just talking about
Speaker 1: all the kind of random derby events that we have,
Speaker 1: and they've just some of them have been around a
Speaker 1: long time that I don't often think about if you're
Speaker 1: an outsider and you hear about all these events that
Speaker 1: come with the Kentucky Derby Festival, you know, leading up
Speaker 1: to the actual Kentucky Derby, the most exciting two minutes
Speaker 1: in sports, like getting companies to old bed and race
Speaker 1: one another against other companies like, that's kind of a
Speaker 1: weird thing, but you know, it's interesting. I will say
Speaker 1: this Tony Vinetti, believe it or not, he said something
Speaker 1: earlier this week that I.
Speaker 2: Totally agreed with.
Speaker 1: The bed race is kind of awkward, and I would
Speaker 1: have never thought, I mean it's I mean it's I
Speaker 1: think it's kind of not just awkward, kind of weird.
Speaker 1: And I wouldn't have said that had I not attended
Speaker 1: the event years ago. So my wife, where she works,
Speaker 1: they I don't know if they still participate in it,
Speaker 1: but they did at one point, and she was a
Speaker 1: part of it, and I think she was like the
Speaker 1: one driving the bed and a bunch of her colleagues
Speaker 1: were on the team and they were the ones pushing
Speaker 1: it around. And just to see a lot of people
Speaker 1: that you normally you know, are working with. I guess
Speaker 1: it depends on what kind of work you do. Maybe
Speaker 1: it's an office setting, maybe it's at a warehouse, maybe
Speaker 1: it's at a a factory, or maybe even at like
Speaker 1: a restaurant. Maybe it's hospitality, like you usually see your
Speaker 1: colleagues in a work setting, and then.
Speaker 2: You've got you know, just.
Speaker 1: Put it this way, you get a visual of some
Speaker 1: people in awkward poses, and maybe poses isn't even the
Speaker 1: right word to use, because I'm not sure they're posing,
Speaker 1: they're just, you know, like I'm looking at pictures that
Speaker 1: somebody got from from the from the uh the race
Speaker 1: that took place on Monday, and you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: you guy, it's I don't know, it's just kind of weird.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Is there's something about seeing somebody you see you've seen
Speaker 1: every day at work for ten years, and then you
Speaker 1: see them, you know, moving around, and I don't know,
Speaker 1: just just just trust me. It's if you've never been
Speaker 1: to it, I'm sure you know it's fun. It's uh,
Speaker 1: it's it's lovely, but you know, just my opinion, I'll
Speaker 1: put it that way, all right. So the ACC yesterday,
Speaker 1: uh well it kind of officially announced it, but it
Speaker 1: came out yesterday from a variety of different reporters that
Speaker 1: we're discussing something that the ACC is looking to do
Speaker 1: to to help the basketball side of things. So CBS
Speaker 1: Sports Brandon Marcello is the first that I saw that
Speaker 1: put it out there, and uh, I'll just read directly
Speaker 1: from his write up, it says the ACC is strongly
Speaker 1: considering shrinking its conference basketball schedule to help boost the
Speaker 1: leaguess inn CAA tournament profile, and the increasing expectation is
Speaker 1: it'll be done, per sources. So, uh, I see this
Speaker 1: yesterday and I'm thinking, okay, this is this is this
Speaker 1: is good? Meaning, you know, last last year, right before
Speaker 1: the season started, I was in Charlotte for the ACC
Speaker 1: basketball media days they call it Operation Basketball, and I
Speaker 1: was there for the first time in a couple of years,
Speaker 1: and I remember kind of, you know, on my way
Speaker 1: there on the flight, thinking, Okay, I wonder what the
Speaker 1: the real you know, vibe is going to be given
Speaker 1: the fact that the league has taken, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: significant steps back as a basketball conference in recent years,
Speaker 1: and the expectation this year wasn't that the ACC was
Speaker 1: gonna be that good. And sure enough, that's exactly how
Speaker 1: things played out. And if I'm being real, the ACC
Speaker 1: can get better next year. But how much better I
Speaker 1: don't know. So I thought maybe they would challenge other teams. Hey,
Speaker 1: we gotta we got to collectively get better and improve
Speaker 1: to to start, you know, getting some respect back. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's not as if it's the worst league in the country,
Speaker 1: but it's fallen quite a bit in the last decade,
Speaker 1: and other leagues have gotten better. So instead of hearing
Speaker 1: the commissioner and maybe other coaches during their you know,
Speaker 1: their entire experience at the AEC Basketball Media Day is
Speaker 1: kind of talking about, Hey, let's get better, let's let's
Speaker 1: get back, let's let's get this thing back on track.
Speaker 1: It was more of a hey, what can we do
Speaker 1: to to convince the committee that they're wrong? What can
Speaker 1: we do, uh, to you know, get more teams in
Speaker 1: the tournament? But not because like we need to get better,
Speaker 1: but like we need to just sell ourselves that And
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, okay, you got, you gotta, you gotta. The
Speaker 1: first issue here is you got to address the fact
Speaker 1: that you're the league is not what it once was.
Speaker 1: To me, it was like they were in denial and
Speaker 1: didn't want to acknowledge that the league had taken big
Speaker 1: steps back. They just wanted to act like it was
Speaker 1: all the committees fauled And in fact, they were having
Speaker 1: Lonardi Like I mean, if you remember the whole thing, Liken,
Speaker 1: they they were they had Lonardi come and talk to
Speaker 1: the AC. It wasn't at basketball media days. It might
Speaker 1: have been one of the spring or fall meetings for
Speaker 1: the league where like Leonardi was talking to coaches telling
Speaker 1: them what they can do to better improve their resume.
Speaker 1: Am thinking, first of all, Leonardi doesn't have anything to
Speaker 1: do with the tournament, and you know him having three
Speaker 1: four teams in in his bracketology in late February, like,
Speaker 1: I mean, that wasn't that far off. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: I was bummed to know that instead of acknowledging that
Speaker 1: the league has fallen a little bit, they were just
Speaker 1: in denial, acting as if they were being picked on. Well,
Speaker 1: then you then you hear that they're going to make
Speaker 1: a change to the ACC basketball schedule as far as
Speaker 1: how many games you're going to play against conference opponents.
Speaker 1: That's that's I mean, maybe they won't say it out loud,
Speaker 1: but that's full on proof that you're well aware that
Speaker 1: when you play twenty league games, I mean, that's going
Speaker 1: to leave you having a huge you know, I guess
Speaker 1: that's I think it's four more than some conferences. I
Speaker 1: know some do eighteen, some do sixteen, but the ACC
Speaker 1: does twenty, and they added to it was eighteen and
Speaker 1: then they went to twenty when the ACC Network launched
Speaker 1: just because they needed the inventory, but because the ACC
Speaker 1: has fallen so much. I mean Louisville was a perfect example.
Speaker 1: They went all through January winning games and it wasn't
Speaker 1: their fault, but like they got nothing out of winning
Speaker 1: those games because the league was down week actually, and
Speaker 1: again you can't control that, but I guess they realize
Speaker 1: now that you could have another situation where and I
Speaker 1: still think Louisville was incorrectly seeded this year, and in fact,
Speaker 1: I still would be convinced you could convinced me that
Speaker 1: the committee just flipped Louisville and Memphis and put them
Speaker 1: in the wrong spot. I mean, that's like the first
Speaker 1: conspiracy theory that I'm getting closer and closer to just
Speaker 1: believing and not even thinking it's a conspiracy theory.
Speaker 2: That's just what happened.
Speaker 1: But anyways, if you are like just just next year's expectation,
Speaker 1: right like Carolina, maybe they'll be a lot better, or
Speaker 1: maybe they'll be a bubble team again, because you know
Speaker 1: that wouldn't shock me. Duke is gonna be Duke, They're
Speaker 1: gonna have talent. Louisville, I mean, Louisll went eighteen and
Speaker 1: two in the league and got a two seed or
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, got an eight seed. Clemson, there's no scenario
Speaker 1: they're able to sustain what they've done the last couple
Speaker 1: of years because I mean, they had a special group
Speaker 1: that had a good run for Clemson and now they're
Speaker 1: kind of starting over. Miami certainly can get better because
Speaker 1: they were awful. Will Wade at NC State, I guess
Speaker 1: it really depends on what kind of roster he has
Speaker 1: when it's all said and done, but they'll get better
Speaker 1: with him.
Speaker 2: He's a good hire.
Speaker 1: Ryan Odom at VIRGINI, I mean, he's not Tony Bennett,
Speaker 1: but I think that may actually be a good thing,
Speaker 1: just because they need some new life and I think
Speaker 1: when you've got players that can transfer any time they want,
Speaker 1: it's going to be tough to get guys to stick
Speaker 1: around in Virginia and play the style that Tony Bennett played.
Speaker 1: So again, like maybe the ACEC is a lot better
Speaker 1: next year, but we could certainly be in the same
Speaker 1: situation we were in this past year where you've got
Speaker 1: some teams that have good records and they're out of conference.
Speaker 1: I mean, Louisville actually is the perfect example as to
Speaker 1: why they should do this, because again, Louisville in the
Speaker 1: non conference, they didn't have any losses against teams that
Speaker 1: you would say are bad losses. I mean, in fact,
Speaker 1: every team that beat them in the non conference made
Speaker 1: the tournament, and they actually had you know, a few
Speaker 1: decent wins in the non conference as well. And then
Speaker 1: you get to ACC play and they went eighteen to two.
Speaker 1: So I still think the committee got it wrong. But
Speaker 1: in the real issue with the with how they seeded
Speaker 1: the tournament with the ACC is that they just weren't consistent, right,
Speaker 1: Like Carolina getting in is something that probably shouldn't have happened.
Speaker 1: Clemson getting a five seed was it or a four
Speaker 1: seed one of those two getting a one. It's like
Speaker 1: they didn't see the ACC consistently right. The things that
Speaker 1: got Clemson their seed and that got Carolina in, like
Speaker 1: the things that they got credit for to get where
Speaker 1: they were, Louisville didn't get credit for that. So anyways,
Speaker 1: playing more non conference games giving you a chance to
Speaker 1: go out there and add more valuable opponents, meaning that
Speaker 1: there's something there's something to gain if you win, and
Speaker 1: if you lose, it's not really a real hit, unless,
Speaker 1: of course, you know, you get blown out so they're
Speaker 1: going to go from twenty to eighteen. I wish they
Speaker 1: actually would go from twenty to sixteen, to be honest
Speaker 1: with you. So this is this is full on confirmation
Speaker 1: and it's actually kind of a mean, I'm happy they're
Speaker 1: doing it, but it's also kind of sad because I
Speaker 1: think if you really consider what they're doing here is
Speaker 1: like they know they want they need and want to
Speaker 1: get more teams in the tournament, but if everybody's playing
Speaker 1: twenty games, it's gonna leave you to have a not
Speaker 1: not a real high ceiling as far as your seed line,
Speaker 1: because I mean like the only real valuable win and
Speaker 1: I mean like real value that that you were you
Speaker 1: were getting and I guess everybody's you know, barometers different,
Speaker 1: but like a resume win, a signature win, the only
Speaker 1: one that existed in the ACC this past year was Duke.
Speaker 2: That was it.
Speaker 1: If if you beat Clemson, that's a good win, that's
Speaker 1: that's a solid win, that'll you know, it has quad
Speaker 1: one value. But like outside of that, what other win
Speaker 1: are you getting in league play that that is going
Speaker 1: to help you on selection Sunday. So you know, this
Speaker 1: is the ACC confirming they realize their league is not
Speaker 1: what it once was, and look, it could get back there.
Speaker 1: And you know, I still think the potential is there
Speaker 1: for the league to have seven, eight, maybe nine teams
Speaker 1: in the tournament. I mean that that's not something that's crazy.
Speaker 1: I mean we got to take baby steps, I suppose,
Speaker 1: because you had Carolina as the last place team in
Speaker 1: Louisville as an eight, Clemson as a as a four
Speaker 1: or five, whichever it was, and they lost to McNee state,
Speaker 1: and then of course Duke was a one seed. So
Speaker 1: you know, this is a good thing.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: What I don't like is the latest report from David Teal,
Speaker 1: who does a great job covering the ACC for I
Speaker 1: believe he works for the uh well, I think he
Speaker 1: retired from writing for one of the newspapers in Virginia
Speaker 1: in Newport News, Virginia. But he's as connected as anybody
Speaker 1: I can think of in the ACC. And here is
Speaker 1: what he put out there this morning. I'm sorry last night.
Speaker 1: He says, if indeed ACC Men's basketball reduces the league
Speaker 1: schedule from twenty to eighteen games where you play just
Speaker 1: where you're going to play just one rival twice a season.
Speaker 1: Here's so I guess you'll play every team once and
Speaker 1: then one team twice. Would that add up to make sense?
Speaker 1: So who is Louisville's rival in the ACC, you may ask,
Speaker 1: I don't think we really have one, and I'm not
Speaker 1: real big on creating rivalries, but I can tell you
Speaker 1: what this is the school that there's like.
Speaker 2: Zero connection with.
Speaker 1: Like that makes no sense if you were you know,
Speaker 1: there's no right and we over use the word rivalry
Speaker 1: in sports way too much as it is. But if
Speaker 1: you don't have a rival, what would you do? You
Speaker 1: would pick a team where you have history with. Louisville
Speaker 1: apparently would be paired with SMU and I just one.
Speaker 1: I would rather play one of the really good teams
Speaker 1: in the league, which you know, I know there haven't
Speaker 1: been many lately, but like Duke and Carolina are clearly
Speaker 1: going to play each other twice. N C State and
Speaker 1: Wake Forest, FSU, Miami, Clemson, Georgetown, Cal, Stanford, Boston College,
Speaker 1: Notre Dame, pitt and Syracuse, SMU and U of L.
Speaker 1: So that is that is how they have it laid
Speaker 1: out here. According to David Teal, so like SMU and
Speaker 1: U of L put together just because of like being
Speaker 1: you know, being outsiders, I mean, Louisvill's been in the
Speaker 1: ACC for a decade. SMU's brand new. I think you
Speaker 1: could put Louisville in Notre Dame together and it would
Speaker 1: make better sense. I think you could put louis and
Speaker 1: in Syracuse together because these are good basketball programs, like
Speaker 1: basketball schools, and you could take Pittsburgh and SMU and
Speaker 1: who would care? And you know, Boston College Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: I g I guess there's some history there just as
Speaker 1: far as the two teams to an extent, but I
Speaker 1: just wish it would be somebody different than SMU. But
Speaker 1: either way, getting rid of the twenty game league schedule
Speaker 1: what it's going to do. And I'm sure they'll have
Speaker 1: this conversation with each member of the league. You know,
Speaker 1: we're doing this, and that means you can't go add
Speaker 1: Popcorn State to take these two games. You've got to
Speaker 1: go at you know, try to find somebody that will
Speaker 1: play you to where you have a really really you know,
Speaker 1: competitive game where there's not a whole lot to lose
Speaker 1: if you do slip up, and sometimes just playing good
Speaker 1: teams and you lose, as we've learned, it can actually
Speaker 1: benefit you. Like you could beat a team by thirty
Speaker 1: or lose by five to a really good team, and
Speaker 1: your resume is better from the loss against a good
Speaker 1: team than a win against a nobody. So I'm you know,
Speaker 1: there's no better. And I really hammered on this when
Speaker 1: Louisville played them, because it was just it was all
Speaker 1: they're doing. But when Louisville ended up playing wake Forest,
Speaker 1: and wake Forest had a good record and they had
Speaker 1: you know, I mean that that should have been a
Speaker 1: game where there was some value there if you get
Speaker 1: to win. And yet because wake Forest decided to schedule
Speaker 1: a bunch of non conference games against teams in the
Speaker 1: three hundreds, and they barely won some of those games,
Speaker 1: like Louisville got Louisville did Louisville beat a team that
Speaker 1: honestly had a better Like they had a better win
Speaker 1: at the time than Louisville did. And I thought wake
Speaker 1: Forest had some good players, but like they were ranked
Speaker 1: in the seven late of the high seventies in the net,
Speaker 1: which made it a quad two game.
Speaker 2: So like some of this is just like you got
Speaker 2: to be smart about how you schedule.
Speaker 1: So again, I think this is good news, And uh,
Speaker 1: I'm curious if this takes place next year or the
Speaker 1: year after, because if it's next year, I mean that
Speaker 1: could give you some create. You know, we could see
Speaker 1: some non conference matchups for Louisville on the schedule that
Speaker 1: could really exciting. All right, stick around, it's coffee and company.
Speaker 1: We're fuel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven
Speaker 1: ninety