Speaker 1: Off the bench.
Speaker 2: We have to Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn.
Speaker 3: Okay, here we go where the.
Speaker 2: Plays get broken down and science gets denied to come
off the bench. Hour two of Off the Bench Live
from the Raising Canes Studio.
Speaker 4: Welcome an Hour number two. You're here on a Thursday
edition of Off the Bench. Tayler Schoffer with the Elonda
villar Real Cassie Spizzelli.
Speaker 3: Sorry about that.
Speaker 4: The reason I was laughing, I just remembered, Uh, my
dad text me yesterday mid shift.
Speaker 3: I guess he had tuned in or something, and he
was like, what what does this mean? Why is somebody
in the YouTube? Jack keep saying rivers all wet? What
does that even mean?
Speaker 4: I was like that of year the Hour two open
it it's the song. It just it made me laugh. Okay,
in this hour we're gonna hit a lot of different
topics here. Bill Bender coming up at eight thirty with
the Sporting News. Yesterday, Bill laid out an entire March
Madness bracket prediction. LSU not in that number. Surprised to
no one, but.
Speaker 3: We'll look at it. Maybe some of the team's LSU
is about to play.
Speaker 4: Coming up here in the Sez schedule, how many teams
will the conference get in, what the one seeds look like.
We'll break it all down a little bit. Talks of
March Madness with our guy Bill Bender. LSU had a
record season ticket sale recently. We'll talk about the Lane
Kiffin effect here in Baton Rouge. Right now, though, I
want to look at the New Orleans Saints and these
free agent possibilities. The name Jeremiah Love is a name
that continues to get more and more attraction. You're an
option for the Saints to take it eight overall. I
wouldn't hate it because I think Jeremiah Love is really good.
I think he's the best running back in this draft.
I don't think I like it. Like if if I
am the GM of the New Orleans Saints, I'm probably
picking a big time receiver to pair next to Chris
Olave because I want to give my young quarterback as
much help as I possibly can. Now, it is a
deep receiver class. It's a deep headdresser class. I mean,
those are the two other positions. Everyone is mentioning that
class is pretty deep. While some may say you don't
need a running back at eight overall, the gap between
Jeremiah Love, and the second guy's probably bigger than the
gap between like Desmond By and David Bailey or Jordan
Tyson Carnell Tate. They're all kind of right there in
that same mold. But let's say they don't take Jeremiah Love,
they still do need a little support in the running
You have an a G and Alvin Kamara. What in
the world are you gonna get from Kendre Miller? I mean,
the guy stays hurt, what's going to happen there? Devin
Neil showed some plashes as a rookie. I would love
for Rod your guestimate, to be back because I think
he was really good at the end of the season.
Speaker 3: But none of those.
Speaker 4: Guys are lead backs, at least not at this point
in their career, and you don't necessarily need that. I mean,
you could do a you could do a committee approach
with the running backs, but I think he would like
in a perfect world to have a lead back. Rolsa
Jackson at louisianasports dot Net put out two possible big
name free agents that the Saints may go after. We'll
get the first one out of the way, because it
looks like all the projections are that Breece Hall will
be franchise tagged by the New York Jets. It has
not happened yet, but that is the prediction. But for
the sake of this conversation, let's say it has not happened.
Let's say Breece Hall does not get franchise tagged. Is
that somebody the Saints could kick the tires on?
Speaker 3: I think yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean, Breeslaw's twenty four years old and he had
that knee injury as a rookie. I know that's a
concern for some people, but when you go back and
look at it, after that knee injury, he's played in
at least sixteen games for three straight seasons now, and
he's been really effective in a bad offense for the
New York Jets. I mean, I'm talking real, real bad.
He just eclipse one thousand yards for the first time
in his professional career on the ground. But he's a
guy that's been productive for a number of years, and
you just look at what he's done again. Rookie year,
he played in four, he played in seven games he
had the knee injury, but twenty twenty three, second year
in the league, nine hundred and ninety four yards five touchdowns,
but he averaged four point five a care However, five
hundred and seventy one yards receiving. That's over thirteen hundred
dollar purpose yards twenty twenty four eight to seventy six
on the ground, but another four eighty three through the air,
again over thirteen hundred yards. Last year he finally eclipsed
one thousand yard mark on the ground, but then you
got to add the three fifty receiving. He's a guy
that is super versatile and it's a good checkdown option
for Tyler Shuck. He's a guy that's twenty four years old.
The injury issue hopefully is behind him. He's been healthy
for three years in a row now, against sixteen games
played in three consecutive seasons. I think Bresee Hall makes
a lot of sense for this team. He's kind of
the size you're looking for. I mean, five eleven, two
hundred and twenty pounds. You ran a four to three
to nine in the forty and you could say, okay, well,
the touchdown numbers got to come up. I understand that,
but look at how much of a difficult time he
had in New York. Look at who his quarterbacks were.
He had Zach Wilson for two years. He had Aaron
Rodgers who had an okay season with the Jets. That
entire team was just all messed up with Robert Sala
getting fired mid season. I mean that all whole offense
was a mess and this year Justin Fields was his quarterback.
I mean, think about how much defense is if keyed
in on Breese Hall and he still had success like that.
If you put him in a Saints offense with Tyler Shuck,
who defenses have to respect, I think Breshall could have
a breakout year for the New Orleans Saints. And a
guy at twenty four years old, depending on what his
contract situation looks like the guy you could give a
two to three year deal to if you wanted to.
He's just now entering his prime. I really like that option.
But again it is worth noting he will likely be
franchise tagged by the New York Jets. That is the
projection right now. At the moment, he has not been.
The guy that looks like he will not be franchise
tagged and will test the free agent market. Is Travis
Etn of the Jacksonville Jaguars I would love this fit
in New Orleans. I think he is exactly the type
of running back they need. I mean five to ten,
two hundred and fifteen pounds. You look at what Travis
Etn's been in the NFL. He hasn't been a super
efficient runner. However, I think that had a lot to
do with the Jacksonville Jaguars offense. Look at Liam Cohen
coming in this year. Trevor Lawrence had a career year.
Travis Etn had a career year. I mean that offensive
line in front of Etn the first two or three
years he was in the league was poor. I thought
their coaching was really poor as well. Look at what
he did a season ago, two hundred and sixty carries,
eleven hundred yards rushing, seven touchdowns, but he really flashed
through the air six receiving touchdowns on the season, so
he had thirteen total and another three hundred.
Speaker 3: He's a guy who's a lot like Brisaul.
Speaker 4: I mean, in four years in the NFL, Travis Etn's
approaching fourteen hundred yards receiving and caught one hundred and
sixty eight passes. He's another guy plays very similar to
haw Alvin Kamara did and Travis Eten's twenty six years old,
a little bit older than Bresaul, But I mean not
the injuries, the number of games he is played seventeen seventeen,
fifteen seventeen, Travis etn has been about as healthy as
you can ask for, and even behind that really poor
offensive line for the Jacksonville Jaguars, three out of his
four years he's eclipsed one thousand yards rushing eleven twenty five.
Is a rookie one thousand and twenty twenty three eleven
hundred last year, and he's averaging over four yards per carry.
Speaker 3: The Saints offensive line.
Speaker 4: Can continue to get better and again pair him with
a Tyler Shuck with a really good play caller like
Kellen Moore. You saw what he did in an offense
with a good play caller like Liam Cohen. I don't
see why he can't have that same success under a
guy like Kellen Moore. I'm not saying he's not a
good running back. He's one of the best running backs
in the league. But look at Sakuon Barkley in that
entire Philadelphia Eagles offense this year without Kellen Moore. To me,
that was the biggest stamp in the Kellen Moore category
as far as in favor of him than anything he
did with the Saints this year was how bad the
offense was in Philadelphia. They fired their offensive coordinator after
a year, so they're on their second coordinator since Kellen Moore,
and he hasn't even been gone. He's been going eighteen
months and they're on offensive coordinator number two. Saquan took
a step back in efficiency, Jalen Hurts was all over
the place, he was erradic at times, all of that
without Kellen Moore. With Kellen Moore, they were dominate. Sakuon
Barkley was the best player in the league, and they
win won the Super Bowl. I'm not saying the Saints
with Super Bowl contenders next year, but Kellen Moore is
going to get the absolute most out of these playmakers.
Travis Etn's a playmaker. He's a guy that's been so
under the radar. I mean, I remember coming into this season,
the talk all off season long. I never figured out
why was Travis Etn is gonna lose his starting job
to Tank Bigsby, Like that's gonna happen. And you turn
on the first preseason game for the Jacksonville Jaguars and
Travis Etn isn't starting running back, No, doesn't matter, is
still gonna be Tank bit be trust me, that's what
everybody said.
Speaker 3: I never really understood why, because.
Speaker 4: Again, Etn did about as good as he could have
on a really bad offense in Jacksonville.
Speaker 3: For three years.
Speaker 4: And what happened before the season started they traded Tank
biggs be out of town and he was the third
string running back for the Philadelphia Eagles this year. And
Travis DN had a career year two hundred and sixty yards,
eleven hundred rushing, seven touchdowns. He's a He's a guy
that has been very productive. I mean, thirty eight hundred
yards rushing in three years in the NFL is really
really good. Twenty five touchdowns. But for whatever reason, he's
just been an under the radar guy, probably because he
played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and people forget their an
NFL franchise half the time. He's just one of those guys.
To me, that makes a lot of sense for New Orleans.
I would be happy with a Jeremiah Love. I would
be content with it. I would come in here on
a Friday on OTB the morning and after Round one
of the NFL Draft. I don't think anybody in this
room or any of the other shows on this station
would say the Saints absolutely botched it, terrible draft pick.
They should have picked Jeremiah Luve. I think the response
would be, Jeremiah Love is a really good player. I
think he's gonna make a lot of plays for the Saints.
I probably would have went a different direction, but hopefully
it works out. That should be your response if the
Saints draft Jeremiah Love. But if they don't, and I
don't think they should, Travis Etn is a very good
option for again, twenty six years old. You could give
him a multi year deal. He would slide into B
or RB one right away. I like Alvin Kamara. He's
done a lot for this franchise, but let's call it
like it is. I mean, Alvin Kamara is a declining player.
He is in and out of the lineup last year
with injuries and even when he was on the field again,
a lot of it not his fault, but what he's
done the last three years. In twenty twenty three, six
hundred ninety four yard rushing, five touchdowns, three point nine
a carrey in twenty four, it went up a tick
four point two a care this year a career low
three point six yards per carry, scored one rushing touchdown.
Alvin Kamara has done a lot of good for this
team for a number of years, but three.
Speaker 3: Years in a row.
Speaker 4: I mean in twenty twenty four he almost had a
thousand yards rush and it was nine to fifty. The
efficiency wasn't quite there, and then the worst yards per
carrey of his career came this past year.
Speaker 3: I get it. The offensive line was awful.
Speaker 4: And I just said the same thing about Travis Eten
about how when he was put in a better position
to succeed, he was right there. The problem with Alvin
Kamara is he just finished his age thirty season. He's
gonna be thirty one years old at some point next year.
Travis Athens twenty six, Briestalls twenty four.
Speaker 3: Love Kamara. I think he still has a role on
this team.
Speaker 4: But if you want to bring in a productive running
back that you know can get the job done, bring
in one of these guys. Spend your first round pick
on a Jordan Tyson, a Carnell tait Hell, even go
edge rusher if you fall in love with a guy
and he falls to number eight, I would go receiver.
I think you need playmakers on the outside. He's like,
let's say you do add Travis Eta or Argument's sick.
You would then have Etn Kamara, Kendre Miller, provided he's healthy.
We're not sure what his futures are going to look like.
In New Orleans, Devin Neil, who I thought showed flashes
at times, and Audrick Estimate, who had a good end
of the year.
Speaker 3: That's a really good running back room. You would have
a lead back.
Speaker 4: But none of these guys would be required to have
three hundred carries on the year. But you can look
at the numbers, raw numbers and say, oh, well, Bresols
only rush for over one thousand yards one time, and
Travis etn his efficiency's been down at times. In Jacksonville,
the Saints did not have a five hundred yard rusher
this year. They need all the help they can get.
I think the allion's going to be better. I think
you're finally set at the quarterback position, and you're sitting
pretty at number eight over all, because you have your
quarterback of the future. You could go a lot of
different ways Jeremiah Love could be one of the options.
I would go elsewhere and maybe looking free agency for
a running back. All right, we're gonna take a time
out when we get back. L s U a lot
of season ticket sales. The uh raw numbers came out yesterday.
We're looking at all next and uh how the Lane
Kiffin effect is in full swing here in Baton Ridge.
That's coming up next here on off the bench, off
the bench.
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the bench with Jacob Hester and Matt Flynn.
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Speaker 4: All right, welcome back in Thursday edition of Off the Bench.
Taylor Sharp here with the elandravill Rial Cassies, Bazally along
for the ride as well. Thanks for hanging out with
us here this morning, guys. The Lane Kiff in effect
is one hundred percent real, whether you want to believe
it or not. So Matt Moscono on After Further of
You was joined by ViRGE Olsbury on Tuesday, and Verge
said that LSU had forty four thousand people on the
football season ticket waiting list, and apparently before that the
most they had ever had was seventeen thousand. Verge said,
it's Lane Kiffin, it's the team he recruited, the players
he brought in, and the great home schedule we have. Obviously,
LSU opens up at home against Clemson. They'll host A
and M and Alabama. Both of those teams made the
College football Playoff a year ago. Texas and Archie Manning
will make their first visit to Betan Roots since nineteen
fifty three. For years, everybody's been asking for that return
trip from twenty nineteen.
Speaker 3: Well, you got it.
Speaker 4: But when you look at the total number of season tickets,
we have it here. You can read the article on
Louisiana Sports dot Net, and LSU spokespersman told LSN that
season tickets are sold out, with approximately seventy one two
hundred and fifty sold and renewals were near ninety eight percent. Guys,
I appreciate Verge talking about the great home schedule. I'm
excited about the home schedule. This is Lane Kiffen. This
is what you get when you hire a guy who
is a rock star among college football, like this guy
right here at Lane Kiffin.
Speaker 3: You had to expect this.
Speaker 4: Whether you wanted Lane Kiffin here or not, you had
to know that if LSU hired him the minute he
stepped foot on campus, this is what you were going
to get, and honestly, it's what LSU needed. Look, I
have loved this LSU football program my entire life. I
fell in love with LSU football at like five years old.
I mean I remember LSU versus North Texas and Tiger Stadium,
first game I ever went to.
Speaker 3: I was hooked.
Speaker 4: I mean I went to every home game during the
two thousand and seven National Championship season. I watched Jake
and Matt play that National Championship in the Superdome and
when I was in the sixth grade. Still my favorite
sporting event that I've ever been to. And I will
admit that the last three or four years, it's just
been kind of stale for me. Guys, and I love
covering the team, but the past couple of years covering
the team it has felt more like a job that
actually being a fan of the university. And that's okay,
because I mean, it kind of is a job, but
I would.
Speaker 3: Like it to be both.
Speaker 4: I have the ability to separate fandom versus Hey, let
me break it down for you. Here's how it is.
I'm not going to cut any corners just because I'm
a fan of this team. But it was a team
that was hard to pull for. We talked about it
last year a little bit. Even when LSU was winning
games late in the season, they weren't fun to watch, Like, yeah,
it was great that LSU beat Clemson, and everybody was
excited about it because it was your first time winning
the season opener since twenty nineteen. I was fired up
as hell watching it from the house, But you didn't
realize that that game wasn't a one off, it was
a sign of things to come. I was in Orlando
a Universal Studios for this second game of the year
when LSU was playing Louisiana Tech, and my gosh, I
was glad I didn't have to watch it and only
had to listen to Chris Blair on the broadcast, because
that was abysmal. You beat up on Southeastern fine, and
then you play Old miss and then you knew you
had a big problem. Even when Lashue was winning games
last year, they were not fun to watch. Did anybody
enjoy watching LSU VERSUS Arkansas this year? I mean I
enjoyed it because they won in the last minute of
the game, But outside of that last drive, it was
kind of a snooze fest. I mean, you could count
on one hand the number of big moments Brian Kelly
had here at LSU. Going for two against Alabama, winning
that game great, that was awesome. Winning the West year
one under Kelly great. You chopped it away at the
end of the season when you got rolled over by
Texas A and M. Somehow the overtime win two years
ago against Ole Miss right here in bedroom, that's it.
I mean outside of that, can you think of a
game win or loss that had a bunch of juice
under Brian Kelly?
Speaker 3: I mean, hand up.
Speaker 4: When LSU moved on from Brian Kelly and there were
so many candidates being talked about, Lane Kiffin was the
one name that so many fans latched on too, Me, Landra, Jake, Matt,
everybody kind of said, hey, at least on this show,
we'd be happy with Lane Kiffin. Lane Kiffin's a good coach,
but there's more than just Lane Kiffen out there. I
was always a big fan of Kenney Dillingham. I saw
him take Arizona State to the College Football Playoffs should
it be Texas if not for a miss targeting call?
And I saw Sam Levin in the portal and I
was like, Hey, your best option to get Sam levit's
probably to hire Kenny Dillingham, bring him over. Little did
I know what Lane kid was about to do. Lane
Kiffen Win got Sam Levitt. He went and got Jordan's Seaton,
the number one left tackle in all of college football.
In the transfer portal, he got Prince Will Luman Miellen.
Heven't got TJ. Dottery, who was a miss As leading
tackler a year ago. This transfer portal class is so stacked.
I feel like we don't even talk about TJ.
Speaker 3: Dottery.
Speaker 4: Tyd Benfield, who was a top three safety in the
transfer portal from Boise State, played a lot of big
time football, played in the College Football Playoff two years ago.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's an LSU Tiger.
Speaker 4: Everything Lane Kiffin has had to do along the way,
he's nailed it. I'm not saying Lane Kiffin is gonna
win a national championship year one, but there's excitement around
this program. There's a buzz that hasn't been here for
me since after LSU beat Texas in twenty nineteen and
I was like, hang on a second, we got a
little something going. This offense is different than what we've
seen in the past. I was on cloud nine after
that Texas game because I was like, Okay, you beat
Georgia Southern, great, what are you gonna do against the Longhorns?
You go perform like that in DKR against that Texas team.
I get it didn't finish the season like everybody thought
they would, but at that point with them, Sam Ellinger,
those receivers, they had a lot of hype around that team,
and you took over that stadium, you could feel there
was something different.
Speaker 3: There's just a different feel in the air. Right now.
Speaker 4: I'm saying Lane Kiffin's gonna win the national title year one,
but he has certainly brought a much needed spark to
this program. Everyone seems to gravitate towards Lane Kiffin.
Speaker 3: The media.
Speaker 4: Think about how big he was covered when when he
decided to leave Ole Miss and go to LSU.
Speaker 3: That was national news for three weeks.
Speaker 4: It was kind of made a lot bigger deal and
blown out of proportion than it probably would have if
if it wasn't Lane Kiffin, if it was another coach.
I get they were going to the College Football Playoff
and all that, but a lot of coaches jumped ship
and went to other teams. It's the Lane Kiffin effect.
We've talked about it here. Look at all the players
he retained, Trey des Green, DJ Piggott, You got Barry
and Durham back for the players. It's Lane Kiffin. Blake
Baker looked like he was gonna get the two lane job.
He decided to stay here in Baton Ridge. Charlie Wise
Junior had multiple options. He could have stayed at Old Miss,
he could have went to multiple NFL teams. Pittsburgh Steelers
showed a lot of interest in him. He decided to
stick with Lane Kiffin. Just earlier this week, it looked
like Jake Olsen was going to go and coach for
Washington in the NFL. He decides to come back and
coach under Lane Kiffin. This is exactly what this city
and this program needs. And again it's you still have
to go out there on the field. You still have
to do it. You still have to.
Speaker 3: Win these games.
Speaker 4: But this program's trending in the right direction, and there's
more juice under us now than my I've seen in
quite some time. All Right, we're going to take a
quick time out. When we get back, we'll shift years
to college basketball. Bill Bender of of the Sporty News,
he put out his entire field of sixty eight bracket
where teams fall breaking down a little march madness.
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Speaker 4: Welcome back in Thursday edition of Off the Bench. Taylor
Sharp's sitting in here with you. I want to go
out to the phone lines right now. Welcome in our
guy Bill Bender from the Sporting News. Bill, How are
you this morning?
Speaker 2: Hey Taylor?
Speaker 1: Thanks for having me on. How you doing man?
Speaker 4: Absolutely I am doing well. Bill, I was every time
you put something out that I make sure to read
it because I mean, you know, I was talking to
Jacob Pester not long ago, and you know he's the
one that connected you and I a while back, and
I'm like, you know, Jake, it doesn't really matter the sport.
Bill is the guy to call, like, You're just a
wealth of knowledge. So I wanted to go kind of
kind of a little March Maddness preview here because a
few days back you put out March Maddness bracket prediction
three point zero of Bill Bender, and you know, I
was looking at it a little bit and want to
kind of to highlight a few things. Obviously, when you
look at the field, you got your one seeds Michigan, Duke, Arizona,
and Houston.
Speaker 3: Bill.
Speaker 4: Out of that group, I mean, who do you think
would be like your number one overall seed. Like a
lot of people talk about Arizona. They've dropped a few
games here and there. Michigan's been dominant all year. I
mean right now for you, like, who is the best
number one seed out of that group?
Speaker 1: Oh, Michigan's the best team in the country until Saturday.
You know when they played Duke. They have nine guys
that can put the ball in the basket. They have
a great club one track record. They're going into big
ten venues and you know they've won at Breslan and
beat Michigan State. They went into Doing one and commanded
that game. It's a really good basketball team. But it
doesn't mean they can't lose to Duke on Saturday. And
those Big twelve teams are in the mix, and I
think Florida out of the SEC has just been as
hot as any team in the country. So at Yukon
loses last night, so it's a very fluid number one
seed line. But I think Michigan has stood out a
little bit more than anybody else so far.
Speaker 4: Speaking of the Florida Gators, I'm glad you mentioned them.
You have them at the three seed right now, Like
they're nineteen and six overall, but builder ten and two.
Speaker 3: In the SEZ.
Speaker 4: I mean right now, they kind of look forward away
the best team in that conference. They're on a pretty
impressive run right now. What is the highest like, if
Florida continues on this run that they're on right now,
what is the highest Florida could be seeded? I mean,
right now there are three how much can they improve on.
Speaker 1: That I think they could be a number one. And
I'm not just saying that to like say it. I mean,
the pass is not that difficult. I mean, the Big
twelve teams will sort themselves out. Big ten teams will,
you know, sort themselves without so I think you'll have
one at least one Big twelve one seed, one Big
ten one seed. I do probably that team out of
the ACC unless they get a couple bruises. And so
it comes down to, let's say Florida only lost like
one more games, won the SEC tournament championship, they would
have a very compelling case to be a number one
seed over a Yukon who lost Creyton. But there aren't
a lot of tournament teams out of the Big East.
I'm gonna tell you what, the SEC basketball is solid.
It's a lot of fun. I still I just got
you know, how you get like roped into a game.
Just kept watching Alabama Arkansas last night, kept watching it.
Speaker 6: What a great game that was.
Speaker 4: Speaking of the SEC, like, let's just stick there. As
we were just talking Florida, I mean, how many teams
could we realistically see out of that conference to make
the Big Dance?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, they all the way down to Missouri. Basically,
you know, can Missouri get in the tournament? I think
Auburn's gonna be on it. It really depends on Missouri
and Auburn. You know, where does Auburn go there? Their
keen palm and net rankings are really good, but they've
lost a couple of games. You know, Texas, A and
M should get in. I think you could get double
digit teams again, not out of the question. It's just
a matter of which one of those couple teams there
at the bottom dripped off. You know, Georgia and Texas.
It was a little tenuleous for them a couple of
weeks ago, but ten Texas is probably looking a little
bit better now. So you know, it's super competitive, kind
of like the conversations I have with you about football
that there. I don't know how many national championship contenders
are in the conference. There are a ton of teams
that could make the final four.
Speaker 4: Bill transitioning out of the SEC to a team that
everybody seems to be talking about right now. You have
them as a ten seed in this bracket prediction that is,
of course, Miami, Ohio undefeated right now, how good is
this team all?
Speaker 1: They're really good and I you know, look, I'm gonna
be a mac homer here. I went to Ohio that
was the rival for Miami. I don't necessarily like Miami
because of that. But this team's awesome. They remind me
of the Miami team that was they had my freshman
year of college. That's so long it's been when they
have Wally's irbiak and there's a lot big reason why
he's been out there a little bit. This is an
excellent Miami team. Four guys a shoot three pointer, I think,
and I'm biased, even if they lose a game or two,
they should be in the tournament. And you can do
it if they lose in the MAC tournament and you
get a second MAC bid. Right now, they're about a
number ten in seed. I think they keep winning, they
should be higher. So they are a fun story. Travis
Field's done a nice job with them. There's only so
many nice things I can say about a rival school
from my Aleno But you know that last one they
do come to the conbo in Ohio University would be interesting.
If the Bobcats could play spoiler there.
Speaker 4: I'm sure, I'm sure you would you would hate if
the Bobcats played spoiler there.
Speaker 3: On Miami Ohio.
Speaker 4: Bill I, I didn't want to open up old wounds
for you talk about the rival school, but I had
to bring up Miami of Ohio. Of course they have
had an excellent season. Let's stick there kind of the
lower seeds in your projected bracket because I mean, look,
Miami Ohio right now, you have them as a tendc
But every year there's a team. You know, when everyone
wants to fill out their brackets, they always try to
pick one dark horse and they're like, hey, this is
my Cinderella team to go to the Sweet sixteen, the
Elite Aid, whatever it may be. Is there a dark
horse team for you right now that you think could
maybe make a run in March.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure about that. I mean, you know, Saint
Louis is not really a dark horse either. They're having
a fantastic season. The Billikins with Rabbi Abilla, so we'll
get to see him all over again, and they're really good,
you know, in that thirteen to sixteen range. You know,
Belmot's always dangerous, they're always a team. But they got
to get in the tournament first. You know, some of
these teams that are in that thirteen to sixteen range,
I think we're gonna hear a little bit more about
them if they get in the tournament. In particular, Yeah,
North Dakota State, they're having a big year, you know.
They they go up to the FBS in football, and
they've been really good in their conference in basketball. So
the Bison could have a one of these landmark years
for the program. I did chuckle when I saw Lenardi's
bracketology had Michigan playing app State in the first round.
That's just that's just paying attention to your history on
the football side. There's no question I think that would
get a lot a lot of reaction if that game
actually happened, Bill.
Speaker 3: Michigan fans would hate that. I mean they would be nervous.
Speaker 4: They would be nervous, no question, Bill Bender, This Morning News,
our guest right now, Bill, looking at your bracket, the
field of sixty eight. You got four teams that are
on the bubble right now, Missouri, Ohio State, New Mexico
seedon Hall right now. If the season were the end today, like,
which of those teams do you think is most likely
to make that final field?
Speaker 1: I think Missouri as long as they can win a
couple more games and you know, maintain a decent record
in the SEC. Ohio State would be a close second.
It's Ohio State's the team that we're going to debate
all the way through selection Sunday based on those quad
one components, right like that. They haven't beat a Quad
one opponent and they've got an opportunity this weekend against
Michigan State to do that. But this Ohio State team,
I think sometimes I'll watch them, I'm like, yeah, it's
a tournament team, and others other times it's like, no,
they're really not. And that's where when you're in that
spot where Missouri and Ohio State are, the thing you
got to watch for is that scenario. I was just saying, like,
if Saint Louis loses, are they still in the tournament?
If Miami loses, are they still in the tournament? How
many big thieves will there be in the conference tournament
week which is coming up closer than we think, right, So,
I think it'll be a lot of fun to figure
that out. But the long winded way of answering your question,
I'd give a slight edge to Missouri, but that really
is tenueless as well?
Speaker 3: Bill?
Speaker 4: Before we get you out of here, I mean, do
you you mentioned Michigan, you know, best team in the country.
Is is that your favorite right now to win it
all in March or you think? I mean, look, obviously
there's there's craziness in March Mata and it's that that's
why we call it that writers. I mean, is this
Michigan still lose right now?
Speaker 1: Well, I mean they've had good teams in the past,
and you know, this Big Ten when we get into March,
the Big Ten's national championship drought's going to come into
focus again. I mean, I'm forty six years old. I
was in sophomore in college the last time the Big
Ten won a national championship in basketball. It's crazy to me.
You know, Michigan State in two thousand, So there would
be a lot of pressure on Michigan from that standpoint.
I do think if I was filling out of bracket today,
I would probably put some combination of Michigan, Duke or
Houston in the in the championship game. I still like
Houston a lot because that defense, and of course they're
playing Arizona this weekend. It's like a mini Final four
on Saturday, by the way, So but yeah, I would
answer I would pick Michigan with the understanding that I've
watched Michigan national championship caliber teams not win the national
title with the Fab five and with Trey Burke and
you know, with John Beeline. So there'd be a lot
of pressure on those Wolverines. But man, they have an
extra year. They are very very good. Under Dustin May.
Speaker 3: All right, Well, just one more for you here, Bill.
Speaker 4: You mentioned kind of a mini final four here, obviously
Houston Arizona matching up Michigan with the Big Game as well.
Speaker 3: Who do you like in those two matchups?
Speaker 1: Well, I think, you know, obviously I'm gonna take Houston
in the first one, and then that second one. It's
tough one to call because it's gonna bring up you know,
I growing up in Big ten country. One of the
most memorable regular season games I ever watched was the
five to five versus Duke in the regular season at
Chrystlaer Arena. It was an unbelievable game. Michigan lost to
Christian Lightner in overtime, and I'm wondering if this will
be that kind of memorable game. I'm gonna pick Michigan
to win, but man Duke is with Boozer and the
amount of talent they have, anything goes. I'm wondering, you
know what, I'm wondering, Taylor, what the TV ratings on
that will be? Oh's I wonder how many people are
tuning into that game. I think they're gonna be surprising.
Maybe it's just me. I think the radiance of that
Duke Michigan game, we're gonna be off the charts.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm gonna I'm gonna be tuned in's. That's
that's the game that everybody's kind of circled for a
few weeks now once they realized it was coming up. Bill,
you have been a wealth of information as always. Look, guys,
if you want to see more of Bill's stuff, go
to the Sportynews dot com.
Speaker 3: You can see his.
Speaker 4: Full breakdown, detailed breakdown, field to sixty eight projected, and
a whole lot more from Bill.
Speaker 3: Bill, thanks for hopping on with.
Speaker 1: Me today anytime. Thanks for having me. I'll talk to
you soon.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it absolutely.
Speaker 4: That was Bill Bender of the Sporty News. We will
take a quick time out coming back. We're closing out
hour number two, you're all off the bench.
Speaker 3: Off the bench, all right.
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Hey baby, won't.
Speaker 7: You loose way?
Speaker 2: I can be your new dishes any baby.
Speaker 6: What you gotta say, all you'll give is me is big.
Speaker 2: Two thousand and seven Shams Purple and Goal to the Core.
This is Off the Bench with Hester and Flynn Baton,
Rouge's go to for all things Louisiana sports.
Speaker 4: Welcome back in final segment here in an hour two
of a Thursday edition of Off the Bench, Taylor Sharp
here with you, Londra Villa, Reale, Cassie's Bazzally.
Speaker 3: Cassie, I'm struggling. You'll be fun.
Speaker 4: Guys went those different things to different people. I explained
the other day that it's a good thing. I'm not Catholic.
I couldn't. I couldn't do Lynt, I couldn't do it. Cassie,
I'm someone who knows my limitations. Like I explained to you,
I explained to a landro I was like, I use
that as an excuse because like she made the point, like, well,
even though you're not cal like you could still give
up for Lynt.
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, that's my built in excuse.
Speaker 6: I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't want to.
Speaker 4: I don't want a reason to do difficult things like that.
That's I'm just I'm a weak minded individual and I
know my limitations.
Speaker 3: That's fine, It's it's no big deal. But like, I
wish you luck. You're one day in. I did it.
Speaker 7: I did it last year.
Speaker 3: I know I survived. I would I would have chose
something else, but.
Speaker 7: Uh, however, last year I did cheat and I got
canes instead, which is not very a good Like you're good.
My goal is to like not replace it with something else,
like just I get you. I can't cheat and just
oh I'm not gonna get your place. I'm gonna be Keane.
Speaker 3: Oh how the ashes go? Yesterday you got yours? Cassie,
Did you get your ashes?
Speaker 7: I did, but for the first time ever, they didn't
draw like across my forehead. They just like sprinkled it
on top of my head.
Speaker 3: Wait what I sprinkled?
Speaker 7: Yes, Like I've been Catholic my whole life and that
that's never happened.
Speaker 6: Ever.
Speaker 3: Did you go to a different place or is this
I went to.
Speaker 7: The church on Elish's camp as Christ the King, which
I've there was there a bunch of people. Maybe they
were just like, yeah, here eight o'clock at night. So
I don't know if they were just like, just get
out of here. Concern Well weird, Yeah, that is weird.
I've never in my life had ashes sprinkled off. Yeah,
And like I I am very close with my priests,
like at the church at home and so, like I
texted him. He hasn't responded yet, but I was like,
why did.
Speaker 3: They do this?
Speaker 7: Because I've literally been casting my whole life and I've
never seen this before.
Speaker 4: It was probably one of those things where, like Landra said,
just like grab and go, like I mentioned, uh uh.
We we talked about this the other day. My dad
growing up in Alexander. He said they had a drive
through funeral home where they would prop up the casket
at the window you could pull up if you couldn't
stop in and pay your respects and go. Maybe it's
maybe it's something like that. Ludre, you played softball in
high school. What would you consider a lot of ron
scored in a softball game?
Speaker 8: Well, are we talking about Oklahoma?
Speaker 4: Yeah, you said this the other day and it literally
did not register, and I went back and looked at
it yesterday.
Speaker 8: Okay, I'm curious though, tell the people to score.
Speaker 3: It was like thirty six.
Speaker 4: It was thirty four to four, zero, thirty four to nothing.
They beat the poor U in five innings.
Speaker 8: By the right, did you find how long that game lasted?
Because that's what I'm curious about, Like, how long was
that game?
Speaker 4: That's got to be the longest five inning game, like
I would imagine.
Speaker 8: It doesn't tell you on the box score.
Speaker 3: Let's see, I got the box score right here.
Speaker 8: Sometimes it might or like on the stats.
Speaker 4: Yeah, let me get a stat I can't find it
right now, but anyways, let me I can find it.
Scoring by inning, Oklahoma put up an eight spot in
the first.
Speaker 3: UTEP was great.
Speaker 4: In the second inning, London, Oklahoma did the scoredy runs
in the second inning.
Speaker 3: No big deal.
Speaker 4: They followed that up with twelve and the third and
none in the fourth. Okay, fourteen runs in the fifth inning.
Fourteen runs in the fifth inning.
Speaker 8: In that thing, they had like two grand slams.
Speaker 4: I think, yeah, they had a lot of hits. My
question would be four twenty four.
Speaker 8: I think that's how many hits they had.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was a lot, twenty five, twenty five hits
and yeah, thirty four RBI. Obviously they only struck out
one time. So twenty five hits, thirty four runs they
struck out once. That's pretty good. And they had ten walks,
so the majority of them were hits. I mean, twenty
five hits to just ten walks. My question is, is
Oklahoma softball program actually underrated?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 8: I mean, I mean they've been like on the top
of the thing the entire like for years since Patty
Gasso has been right.
Speaker 4: I just feel like nationally, we don't like because you
called women's basketball when they won four straight under Geno Arema,
like that was everywhere. I mean, Oklahoma won four straight
national titles twenty one to twenty four, and I feel
like people just kind of forgot about it.
Speaker 8: I don't know. Maybe I'm like two in it to
like see it from a sure of you. But I
don't feel like Oklahoma's underrated. But maybe I'm like, I
don't know, I just they're like a historically good program.
Speaker 3: They're insane.
Speaker 4: They have eight national titles from twenty to twenty twenty four,
including four straight and.
Speaker 8: It was like and then the in between it was like.
Speaker 4: Every other Yes, so it was thirteen, sixteen, seventeen. Yeah,
so they went sixteen and seventeen back to back, skip
three years, four straight. I mean, that's one of the
best modern dynasties we've seen in college across any sport.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that might be the best.
Speaker 4: Like, yeah, I get a Juniorrema and Yukon, but Oklahoma obviously.
Speaker 3: Still really on the softball yes, yeah, And I mean
like it's it's not even closed, and like they're not
ranked No. Number One right now.
Speaker 4: I'm like Oklahoma's they've lost two games already this year,
but they went that period of time where they had
lost like one game total in two years. Like I didn't,
I didn't realize just how dominant they were. I mean
I knew they were. And like, so your point, like
you're you're somebody you played softball, You're locked into softball.
Speaker 3: But like what the.
Speaker 4: Average sports fan, it's kind of been glossed over. I've
kind of glossed over it. Like I knew they won
a few championships here and there. I went back and
looked yesterday I was literally scrolling through our group text
saw the graphic you had sin and was like, that's incredible,
So shout out Oklahoma Softball. Thirty four runs all right.
On the other side, we got our three of OTB.
We got a big dealer, no big deal coming up
Speaker 2: Next off the bench,