Speaker 1: All right, hour number three on our annual Monday Marathon
Speaker 1: presented by Carriage Ford. This is one of the best
Speaker 1: days of the year reacting to the bracket, and I
Speaker 1: am happy as can be that Louisville is in the tournament.
Speaker 1: It's nice to be, you know, to be dancing once again.
Speaker 1: Been a long time coming. But I have throughout the
Speaker 1: show today had a hard time not making it clear
Speaker 1: that the disappointment to see Louisville as an eight seed
Speaker 1: was just I mean, it's the most disappointed I've been
Speaker 1: as a Louisville basketball fan in a long long time.
Speaker 1: And I explained myself that it's just because with this
Speaker 1: year's team, even when they did lose, I wasn't happy.
Speaker 1: You know, at times I didn't know how good they
Speaker 1: were going to be. But like the level to have disappointment,
Speaker 1: I think you have to have expectation, and I just
Speaker 1: never felt like this team. When they did lose, it
Speaker 1: was because you know, they were you know, they were
Speaker 1: not trying or they didn't care. So I expected them
Speaker 1: to be a seven at worst, probably a six, maybe
Speaker 1: a five. But to see the eight was was a disaster.
Speaker 1: But anyways, we were going to simulcast once again with
Speaker 1: our partners over there News Radio eight forty WHS. So
Speaker 1: I am going to walk across the hall and join
Speaker 1: the wonderful Terry miners will do this segment here talking
Speaker 1: about the brackets again. It's our annual Monday marath opposite
Speaker 1: about Carriage Ford.
Speaker 2: What reality settled? West Virginia wants to sue they weren't
Speaker 2: in it, West Virginia. They got a lot of people
Speaker 2: lobbying on their behalf.
Speaker 1: Though, what up would North girlin?
Speaker 2: I know? But once the thing is said, that's that
Speaker 2: unless it's the NIIT, which I noted earlier today. South
Speaker 2: Alabama was given an offer and then it was rescinded
Speaker 2: by the NIIT.
Speaker 1: Youch that's like Kevin an ugly girl, go you want
Speaker 1: to go out?
Speaker 2: I'm just kidding. That's tough. Nick Coffee in the studio
Speaker 2: where us Nick, I know we're gonna go spend much
Speaker 2: time on the n I T. But there are several
Speaker 2: ACC teams in there.
Speaker 1: Yep. I did see the story of of what you
Speaker 1: guys were just referencing about the team that got the
Speaker 1: invite only for it to be rescinded. That would be
Speaker 1: really tough. Because that's the kind of program where the
Speaker 1: n I T would meet something of course, and that's
Speaker 1: a bad look. Makes me think that maybe the conspiracy
Speaker 1: theorists aren't that crazy to think that the committee might
Speaker 1: have actually just goofed and put Louisville as an a
Speaker 1: instead of Memphis, because that's something that's making its way
Speaker 1: around the internet. Which, again, not to sound like a
Speaker 1: crazy person, but when you look at what the committee values,
Speaker 1: and you look at the two team profiles, and you
Speaker 1: told me they just switched them around accidentally, maybe it's
Speaker 1: what I want to believe, because I just can't believe
Speaker 1: Loolve was an eight seed. But you know, those kind
Speaker 1: of mistakes happen. I don't know. Maybe maybe that's not
Speaker 1: that crazy.
Speaker 2: You're the least crazy person in the DJ room, I
Speaker 2: can tell you that.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'll take that as a compliment.
Speaker 2: Stanford and Georgia Tack are also in this NIT, but
Speaker 2: SMU's there, and of those three, I'm going to take
Speaker 2: SMU as the team to catapult the farthest from this
Speaker 2: moment to twenty twenty six. Okay, when the brackets come out.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of money in the SMU PA.
Speaker 1: Andianfield was a good high for them. I think he'll
Speaker 1: be able to win there. And the ACC, I mean, heck,
Speaker 1: they did a pretty good job in their first season
Speaker 1: in the league. In fact, just looking at their overall profile,
Speaker 1: their record, it's just crazy to see a team with
Speaker 1: that record in ACC play. Wasn't even really considered for
Speaker 1: the dance in it when we got to selection Sunday,
Speaker 1: But in previous years you'd be safely in. With how
Speaker 1: many game wins they had in league play.
Speaker 2: I just have a feeling that they're in al roster.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they've got money.
Speaker 2: Impressive, no doubt about it. So yeah, we talked about
Speaker 2: the bump in the road for Louisville coming here. Well
Speaker 2: let's talk about the actual meat and potatoes of Louisville
Speaker 2: playing Creighton. How did Louisville do. Let's walk through that again.
Speaker 2: With teams that had an effective big person in the middle.
Speaker 1: They were fortunate to not run into as many as
Speaker 1: I was going to say, as you typically see, but
Speaker 1: college basketball, there's still front court players that have a
Speaker 1: big impact in the game. But you know, the game's
Speaker 1: just played a little bit differently now, Like they haven't
Speaker 1: played a hunter Dickinson, who's a similar, similar kind of
Speaker 1: player as far as a big imposing threat like Ryan
Speaker 1: Kulkbrinner is. So you know, clearly they're going to have
Speaker 1: some issues. They don't have as much size as you
Speaker 1: would like when you're going to play a team that
Speaker 1: really focuses everything around a giant who's really really effective.
Speaker 1: So I think they're going to bring some double teams
Speaker 1: try to keep them away from the rim, and you know,
Speaker 1: this easier seven done. He's humongous. But this will this
Speaker 1: will certainly be a stat that will come up throughout
Speaker 1: the week as we lead up to this game. Because
Speaker 1: it's the first game of the tournament and it's an
Speaker 1: eight nine seed. It is pretty intriguing matchup all things considered.
Speaker 1: But these two guys, Ryan Coulkbrinner and James Scotty, they
Speaker 1: are one and two in the country in total dunks,
Speaker 1: so that Calburn is the only guy that James scott
Speaker 1: is behind as far as total dunks.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And of course obviously we methodically set that up
Speaker 2: with James all throughout the whole season just because we
Speaker 2: took advantage when we could. But a couple of times,
Speaker 2: like in these these past couple of games. You saw
Speaker 2: the teams that had a big guy, Stanford's one of
Speaker 2: them could disrupt what Louisville's plan was with those basic
Speaker 2: James Scott dunks that we've just relished through the whole year.
Speaker 1: Well said, because Reynard from Stanford is one of the
Speaker 1: better bigs in the country. Stanford, of course wasn't a
Speaker 1: great team, but they got better and I could see
Speaker 1: them having some success to their coaches, and it just
Speaker 1: finished up his first season, and I think they did
Speaker 1: a pretty good job where at times they would let
Speaker 1: him have a night. You know, it's gonna be tough
Speaker 1: to completely shut him down, but they were able to
Speaker 1: to kind of let him go off, but yeah, control
Speaker 1: everybody else, and that was a pretty effective way, especially
Speaker 1: when they played Stanford the first time around. But I mean,
Speaker 1: James Scott is somebody that I and we were just
Speaker 1: talking about this earlier. Somebody called and referenced him, and
Speaker 1: I love everything about him. Play so hard, we'll get
Speaker 1: on the floor, gives you so much effort, rarely ever
Speaker 1: tries to kind of step outside of his game, and
Speaker 1: that's a good thing. That's an underrated value in a
Speaker 1: player that you know who you are. You know, you
Speaker 1: don't steer away from it. But when when he's got
Speaker 1: to do anything other anything other anything, when he's got
Speaker 1: to do anything offensively other than just being near the
Speaker 1: rim and dunking it, I worry a little bit. He's
Speaker 1: he's not as polished in the front court as far
Speaker 1: as just offensively, and clearly that's where Creighton's gonna have
Speaker 1: an advantage because Ryan Colchberner is one of the best
Speaker 1: players that you'll see in college basketball.
Speaker 2: We know that Chucky and Terrence Fat have been just
Speaker 2: incredible in so many ways, and and they're they're consistent.
Speaker 2: And then having Hadley playing D the way he does
Speaker 2: as well, because Chucky's obviously the you know, a D superstar.
Speaker 2: We've got some components in play here to beat Caren
Speaker 2: for sure. And what about intangibles, someone like Noah Is
Speaker 2: he going to be needed? And because you know, we
Speaker 2: know Rain's coming back, we don't know if he's going
Speaker 2: to be rushing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, and I mean, and this is maybe
Speaker 1: just the homer in me. I think Louisville is one
Speaker 1: of the Louisville has one of the better back courts
Speaker 1: you're going to see in this tournament, which Chucky Hepburn
Speaker 1: and Terry said Wards, especially the way Terrence Edwards has
Speaker 1: been playing. So you know against Creighton, I give Louislle
Speaker 1: the edge there. As far as how the back court
Speaker 1: stacks up against Auburn, it'll be tough. But I think
Speaker 1: that's an area where they they Louisville would be looked
Speaker 1: at as a team and there aren't many that could
Speaker 1: match up well with that back court of Auburn out
Speaker 1: They don't have the depth that Auburn has and that
Speaker 1: could be the issue. But I think Noah Waterman's a
Speaker 1: guy that won if he doesn't get that bucket to
Speaker 1: help you avoid the loss to Eku who knows what
Speaker 1: we're talking about today. And also, I mean without his
Speaker 1: eight nine points in the first half against Stanford in
Speaker 1: the ACC tournament, you might have had a bigger deficit
Speaker 1: to climb out of and it may not have happened
Speaker 1: for you. So this group all year, next man up
Speaker 1: when when somebody gets hurt, guys have have have gotten
Speaker 1: comfortable at absorbing whatever whatever they got to take on.
Speaker 1: Maybe if it's just a bigger role, if it's producing
Speaker 1: more on the backboard or scoring more points. So you know,
Speaker 1: I was. It was nice to see that Noah Waterman,
Speaker 1: who'd kind of been just you sparingly, hasn't really been
Speaker 1: fully healthy. He kind of anything you got from him,
Speaker 1: it felt like it was just an added bonus. Well,
Speaker 1: then he's gonna have to do more. It's gonna start
Speaker 1: now because rain Smith's out. So I'm happy to see
Speaker 1: that he at least got a little more comfortable as
Speaker 1: the last few games rolled on. But look, Louisville is
Speaker 1: it's not just as we discussed earlier. It's not just
Speaker 1: about having a guy who can change a game in
Speaker 1: a moment's notice. Because rain Smith can get hot and
Speaker 1: take you from being, you know, down three to up
Speaker 1: six in a few possessions. That's how lethal he is
Speaker 1: as a shooter. But everybody's got to be accounting for
Speaker 1: where he is at all times. He's constantly moving. So
Speaker 1: I feel like John Hadley is much more of a
Speaker 1: of a threat to the other team if there's so
Speaker 1: much more so worried about about rain Smith and with Chucky,
Speaker 1: I mean, he clearly knows where to find rain Smith.
Speaker 1: So I think Louisville's strength is clearly backcourt play, front
Speaker 1: court play. I wouldn't say it's a huge issue when
Speaker 1: it comes to certain matchups. But if there's there's one
Speaker 1: big guy that every coach is looking at this bracket
Speaker 1: and saying when it comes to you know, let's say
Speaker 1: you are maybe worried about how you stack up with
Speaker 1: against good teams, with a good big guy crighton would
Speaker 1: be the one team you'd want to stay away from.
Speaker 2: And you did reference Rain Smith being out. You mean
Speaker 2: that in the past ten.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, he's he's been out and he's not started,
Speaker 1: which is why I Noah's had to come in. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, Rain said he's good to go. I
Speaker 1: was so encouraged to see that he was. You know,
Speaker 1: maybe it's just maybe there was some gamesmanship there, but
Speaker 1: I feel like if he was going through the the
Speaker 1: you know, pregame stuff just to kind of get you know,
Speaker 1: maybe just to get more repetition at that is he's
Speaker 1: getting closer to come back, that's a good sign. And honestly,
Speaker 1: you know, it'd be nice if he plays and he's
Speaker 1: healthy and he makes shots, that'd be great. But him
Speaker 1: just being on the floor is a real added bonus
Speaker 1: for Louisville considering they haven't had him for two weeks.
Speaker 2: Now we're gonna need some minutes though out of triory
Speaker 2: and roots. You know, these guys add some you know,
Speaker 2: they're they're fast, and they can be disruptive as well,
Speaker 2: but we're gonna need some them to just help these
Speaker 2: other guys get a blow yep.
Speaker 1: I mean, if they can come in and rebound, not
Speaker 1: you know, not give up a bucket defensively, and I
Speaker 1: think they're capable of doing that. I think against Duke
Speaker 1: it really stood out in that one to where they've
Speaker 1: got guys that are that you know, regardless if they're
Speaker 1: eighteen or twenty two, they're gonna play the NBA. And
Speaker 1: it just seemed as if some of those guys for
Speaker 1: louis that are more role players. You know, they didn't
Speaker 1: have good nights again, and maybe if they played Duke again,
Speaker 1: maybe it'd be a different scenario. But to beat a
Speaker 1: team that good, you need really everybody to kind of
Speaker 1: be doing their part. Maybe if it's you know, Terrence Edwards,
Speaker 1: he needed to score nearly thirty for Louisville to be
Speaker 1: in the game, and you know, you need everybody to
Speaker 1: kind of be at their best to play a team
Speaker 1: like that. So you know it's Creton, it's not Duke,
Speaker 1: and you know, Auburn, but Auburn if you get if
Speaker 1: you can get there. You know, maybe I'm getting ahead
Speaker 1: of myself, but you're going to need everybody to play
Speaker 1: well in order to beat a team of that caliber.
Speaker 2: Ropperena is a great environment. We all know that, we're
Speaker 2: all so familiar with it, and there's so much talk
Speaker 2: back and forth back, well, what exactly is the composition
Speaker 2: of the crowd. Well, you and I were there a
Speaker 2: decade ago, a little over decade ago. That was pretty awesome.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, but this time you have Kentucky on a
Speaker 2: staggered day plan on Friday. People who live around here
Speaker 2: who didn't travel may want to take their blue and
Speaker 2: yell for Creighton. Now I've seen people online saying, hey, hey,
Speaker 2: Kentucky fans.
Speaker 1: I saw that too. I just saw it a moment ago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you mind wearing blue and showing up and cheering on
Speaker 1: our team because it's your rival that's facing them. I mean,
Speaker 1: as silly as it sounds, you know, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: Kentucky fans. There were in uk Gear.
Speaker 2: I mean there's Kentucky fans at u of L's graduation.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean that's just how that goes. They
Speaker 2: wear If I.
Speaker 1: Ever landed on the moon, I guarantee you i'd se
Speaker 1: a Kentucky fan wearing a UK gear. They're everywhere. You
Speaker 1: can't escape them. Went to my honeymoon in Mexico saw
Speaker 1: two of them. Maybe, just like you can't make this
Speaker 1: stuff up.
Speaker 2: What kind of crowd though, I mean it seems like
Speaker 2: it would be dominated by Louisville and Tennessee fans.
Speaker 1: Yes, I think Louisville will have a good contention there,
Speaker 1: no doubt. But I think the noon at Thursday makes
Speaker 1: that a little bit harder. I mean, you're you know
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to for sure take off work, I
Speaker 1: would imagine, and maybe you could be maybe you could
Speaker 1: somehow not actually take off work, but somehow find a
Speaker 1: way to get there. I don't know, but Thursday at
Speaker 1: new to me, it kind of takes a little bit
Speaker 1: away from the home court advantage in the first round. Now,
Speaker 1: if you get to Saturday, that's a build up to
Speaker 1: where you're gonna be probably taken on. I mean, you
Speaker 1: will be taking on the number one overall seed. If
Speaker 1: you get past Creighton, that means that you would have
Speaker 1: played well and that would have been a huge win
Speaker 1: for you. So that's where it could really become an
Speaker 1: issue for Auburn, which as much as Louisville fans I
Speaker 1: think have understandably been complaining, Bruce Pearl can't be happy
Speaker 1: with this. I mean, honestly, Doug McDermott can't be happy
Speaker 1: with this.
Speaker 2: No, Auburn fans I think are like, what, we're the
Speaker 2: number one overall seed and you're shelving us right in
Speaker 2: there like that.
Speaker 1: Louisville is the second closest team to their first round site.
Speaker 1: Duke is the closest because they're in Raleigh. Because they're Duke,
Speaker 1: and they're the number one. They're a number one seed.
Speaker 1: But to see an eight seed get preferential location, it
Speaker 1: could just be, you know, maybe they were asleep at
Speaker 1: the wheel, or maybe they said, yeah, now that the
Speaker 1: brackets together, this eight doesn't make a whole lot of sense,
Speaker 1: let's put them in Lexington to make up for. Maybe
Speaker 1: they did that.
Speaker 2: I think there had to be something about jiggering the
Speaker 2: numbers in order to just get Louisville there. It's about it, and.
Speaker 1: That's what's been so That's what's been so frustrating about
Speaker 1: this whole thing is that when it comes to when
Speaker 1: it comes to how you want to put this whole
Speaker 1: thing together, you can make a decision about a team
Speaker 1: and then do things elsewhere to justify why you put
Speaker 1: them there. Right Like, you can put a team here
Speaker 1: and say, well, look, they beat this team, We're claiming
Speaker 1: that opponent that they beat. There's value there because they
Speaker 1: were a three seed. They didn't even really try to
Speaker 1: do that with Louiville and the ACC because they showed
Speaker 1: that they did actually respect the ACC. With Clemson getting
Speaker 1: a five, with Carolina getting in, but Louisville getting an
Speaker 1: AD just it doesn't quite doesn't quite add up compared
Speaker 1: and I could live with it. They just said, look,
Speaker 1: the ACC had a really down year. There wasn't as
Speaker 1: much opportunity for valuable wins, and there were a lot
Speaker 1: of teams out there that really, you did a great
Speaker 1: job at building a better resume. If they'd have done
Speaker 1: it consistently, it would have been a little bit different.
Speaker 1: But for Louisville, I just don't know how they could
Speaker 1: be three spots away from a Clemson team that, yes
Speaker 1: had a couple of really good wins that Louisville did
Speaker 1: not have, but louisvill swept them.
Speaker 2: That's Nick Coffee. I'm Terry Minors, Dave Jennings. Also here
Speaker 2: is North Carolina kind of the NEPO baby of this
Speaker 2: whole thing. Oh yeah, just it was a ridiculous thing
Speaker 2: because the dumb guys allowed to go to medical school
Speaker 2: because his dad is on the board of trustees.
Speaker 1: I tell you what. The the West West Virginia I
Speaker 1: thought was safely in. And a lot of times what
Speaker 1: we forget when we talk about bubble and and and
Speaker 1: and teams getting left out first four in, last four
Speaker 1: out all that you rarely think that, Okay, you got
Speaker 1: to compare him to somebody. It's not just about okay,
Speaker 1: here's the metric they hit this, it's all. It's all
Speaker 1: how you compare to compete for those final few spots.
Speaker 1: Carolina getting in in West Virginia not is one of
Speaker 1: the craziest things I've ever seen. And and you know,
Speaker 1: when you have the the the guy who's in charge
Speaker 1: of this committee being the ad at North Carolina, I mean, yeah,
Speaker 1: he can leave the room when they talk about Carolina,
Speaker 1: like he tells us. But you know, these these other
Speaker 1: ads on the on this on on the committee, they're at,
Speaker 1: they're they're they're peers, right, they're probably friendly, and I
Speaker 1: just I don't know to assume that the human element
Speaker 1: is not a powerful enough thing to when he leaves
Speaker 1: the room. They don't want to disappoint him when he
Speaker 1: comes back and say, sorry, Bubba, we left your team
Speaker 1: out and now you're not going to be going. Now
Speaker 1: you're not going dancing, and you know you don't get
Speaker 1: your incentive if that's really a thing or not. Did
Speaker 1: you see that Apparently he gets a financial incentive if
Speaker 1: Carolina makes the tournament. That can't be real, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: I never know what I mean that.
Speaker 2: That just means that that you they'd be straight in court.
Speaker 1: I mean that that. Yeah, I mean that's something that's
Speaker 1: thrown out there that people are running with out of
Speaker 1: no clue if there's any truth to it or not.
Speaker 1: But yeah, Carolina, I would be willing to bet that
Speaker 1: every single one of the players and coaches who set
Speaker 1: to watch the selection show they could not have felt
Speaker 1: good about getting in.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Louisville slapped them around, and by the way, all
Speaker 2: the seating and things aside. Let's just kenly for a
Speaker 2: moment reflect on where we are one year later. I mean,
Speaker 2: dumpster fire. Nobody knows what's going to happen. We have
Speaker 2: no idea what'll be. You know. That's why I think
Speaker 2: so many people are just like, dude, we're in and
Speaker 2: we're in the show, and we were dead. We were
Speaker 2: da sure the corner declared us dead, Ding dong.
Speaker 1: Tag body bag. It was. It was over with, and.
Speaker 2: Now the market value of the Louisville Cardinals is back
Speaker 2: into that upward lift that it's like, here's the stock
Speaker 2: to bet.
Speaker 1: On and take away the seating. Just the ride these
Speaker 1: guys gave us to where they didn't just win a
Speaker 1: bunch of games, more so than we expected in the
Speaker 1: year in the first year of the Pat Kelsey era,
Speaker 1: they were so fun to watch. You could tell they
Speaker 1: they could see us coming back to life from being
Speaker 1: dead and they really I think that was infectious and
Speaker 1: you could tell they appreciated what they were doing for
Speaker 1: us as a fan base to where you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: the results are great, going eighteen and doing the acc
Speaker 1: getting to play Duke in the AEC Championship game, that's awesome,
Speaker 1: But it's been more enjoyable than I even remembered what
Speaker 1: this was like to watch a team that you know,
Speaker 1: you know. I think they're a great reflection of their
Speaker 1: head coach, and these guys make you proud to watch them.
Speaker 1: So I'm sure we'll continue to belly ach here and
Speaker 1: there about the seating, but I'm also just looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing them play on Thursday.
Speaker 2: But the reverberations from it also help and recruit.
Speaker 1: Oh of course, yes, proof of concept. Pat Kelsey in
Speaker 1: year one has shown with him just having you know,
Speaker 1: resources within IL, but I mean he had to build
Speaker 1: a roster from scratch. He's selling to players in the
Speaker 1: portal from higher level schools and they've never they've never
Speaker 1: seen him have success at this level. Here he is
Speaker 1: in year one ACC Coach of the Year, so not
Speaker 1: only for recruiting high school players, but recruiting other players
Speaker 1: in the portal. I mean this, this first season is
Speaker 1: a sign that, hey, this guy's building something that should
Speaker 1: be pretty successful. I don't know why others wouldn't want
Speaker 1: to come be a part of it. And also it
Speaker 1: all works together. I mean the fans making the UM
Speaker 1: Center look like a great atmosphere again, and it clearly
Speaker 1: sounding like one of the best venues in college basketball.
Speaker 1: Like all that stuff helps you quicker, helps you to
Speaker 1: be able to helps you to be able to quickly
Speaker 1: get things back to where we'll forget we even had
Speaker 1: the previous three four years, right, We're going to be
Speaker 1: back to just realizing, Hey, this is this is pretty special.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it's phenomenal to just you know, draw a
Speaker 2: line right here and just say this feels a heck
Speaker 2: of it.
Speaker 1: It almost doesn't even seem real.
Speaker 2: Remember before, I mean, loyal fans were like they wouldn't
Speaker 2: even watch the broadcast show what's on the other channel?
Speaker 2: I watched fishing.
Speaker 1: Would just remind you of like what used to be
Speaker 1: and how much you miss not having a team in it,
Speaker 1: and you miss having a program that you were, you know,
Speaker 1: certainly proud of. And I mean it's still as I mean,
Speaker 1: it feels as if the years where we went through
Speaker 1: being dead right if you seems like it was a
Speaker 1: decade ago.
Speaker 2: We know, Kentucky, say, for the first two games, I
Speaker 2: feel that wait, anyway, they should be last thing for
Speaker 2: you here, Nick Coffee, Cali, Perry versus Patino, the egos,
Speaker 2: the clash, the whole thing. If big Z and DJ
Speaker 2: Wegner put this thing together. Carl Knox is that his name?
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Carter Knock Carter Knocks excuse me?
Speaker 2: Put this thing together and it's like, O MG, well.
Speaker 1: Boogie Flann the're best freshman who did not play for
Speaker 1: a good chunk of the year. When they played Kentucky,
Speaker 1: he wasn't available. Apparently he's coming back for the tournaments.
Speaker 1: Is a dude, I haven't heard. I know he didn't
Speaker 1: play in the SEC tournament. He's certainly he's certainly a
Speaker 1: big factor, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: But Cali Perry can pull this one off. It'll just
Speaker 2: be one last.
Speaker 1: Time he wins those kind of games, doesn't he Look
Speaker 1: what he did in Lexington last month. I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 2: Patina can act like he's nervous about his opening round,
Speaker 2: but he's really looking at that all.
Speaker 1: You know, he is.
Speaker 2: Nick Coffin great talking to you. Thanks fell us back
Speaker 2: in a minute on news radio eight forty WHA is now.
Speaker 3: Back to coffee and company. Fueled by Thornton's on Sports
Speaker 3: Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 1: It has felt better. I do feel better, I should say,
Speaker 1: now that I've gotten out of my system a little
Speaker 1: bit just to complain, and you know, it's not gonna
Speaker 1: do anything. And I'm not even sure if it's made
Speaker 1: for even decent radio today. But I can't believe, can't
Speaker 1: believe it's still But as we get closer to wrapping
Speaker 1: up the show, we got about thirty minutes left, we'll
Speaker 1: finished strong. But I'm starting to, you know, just try
Speaker 1: not to think about it as much, and you know,
Speaker 1: embrace the fact that, hey, we are dancing again, and
Speaker 1: that's that's a lot better than you know, what we've
Speaker 1: gone through the last few years. And it could be worse.
Speaker 1: You could be West Virginia. I mean, let's be honest.
Speaker 1: Louisville as a team that I thought had clearly created some
Speaker 1: separation from teams like West Virginia and you know, other
Speaker 1: teams that were on the bubble because you know, they
Speaker 1: struggled and didn't have a great finish to their season
Speaker 1: in league play, where Louisville again went eighteen and two
Speaker 1: in their conference in one eighteen of their last nineteen
Speaker 1: games and got all the way to the championship game
Speaker 1: of their conference tournament. So West Virginia, I do believe
Speaker 1: you could make the case that they are in fact
Speaker 1: the biggest snub you've ever seen. Because again, when you
Speaker 1: talk about building out those last spots, last four in
Speaker 1: the playing games, obviously you're looking at a team's resume,
Speaker 1: but it's not just that you have to compare it
Speaker 1: to others to see who gets in. So like there's
Speaker 1: years where six the last six teams that get in,
Speaker 1: you know you're not really strongly making the case for
Speaker 1: any of them because you think, yeah, this isn't worthy.
Speaker 1: But then you realize, oh, well, these are the best
Speaker 1: six out of the guys that you know that that
Speaker 1: aren't already in the tournament. So you know, West Virginia
Speaker 1: not getting in and Carolina among other teams, but mostly
Speaker 1: Carolina getting in. Really is I mean, I don't think
Speaker 1: it's it's recency biased. I don't think it's hyperbole to
Speaker 1: say that it is one of the worst. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it is insane, to be honest with you. So
Speaker 1: they decided to take action today in West Virginia. And
Speaker 1: this is one of those things that I see the headline,
Speaker 1: I see it popping up on Twitter this morning, and
Speaker 1: I'm thinking, well, that's not real, right, that's just somebody,
Speaker 1: you know, making a joke and it's a not even
Speaker 1: a great joke, but this isn't a joke, and it
Speaker 1: is real. They had a real press conference as the
Speaker 1: West Virginia governor he's planning legal action against NC double
Speaker 1: A because West Virginia did not get in, and they
Speaker 1: had a press conference, full on, you know, government type
Speaker 1: press conference with a podium, and the podium says n
Speaker 1: C double A on it, but it says National Corrupt
Speaker 1: Athletic Association and they're clearly hot and bothered about not
Speaker 1: being included when I didn't even think they were a
Speaker 1: bubble team, right, And that's got to be the worst
Speaker 1: to not even know that you're on the bubble. And
Speaker 1: I kind of feel like Louisville. That happened with Louisville. Well,
Speaker 1: so whatever, Louisville was the first team left out, we
Speaker 1: didn't know until the bracket show started. When you saw
Speaker 1: certain teams get in and where they got in, you
Speaker 1: knew that wasn't good for you. And you didn't know
Speaker 1: for sure until that last region that you did not
Speaker 1: make it. And I kind of agree with somebody who
Speaker 1: called earlier we were talking about how like that was
Speaker 1: that was actually that sucked, But I kind of think yesterday,
Speaker 1: even though you made the tournament, like to get get
Speaker 1: hit with that right away ruined all the joy that
Speaker 1: comes with the selection show, right. I mean, you're still
Speaker 1: happy to be there, and you know that's that's that's
Speaker 1: where you want to be compared to, you know, on
Speaker 1: the outside looking in. But to be hit right away
Speaker 1: that you you you know you were at eight was
Speaker 1: was brutal. But with West Virginia, like that's what it
Speaker 1: was when Louisville went. When Louisvill went to the n
Speaker 1: i T with David Paget, I think we thought we
Speaker 1: were on the bubble, but knew we didn't have a
Speaker 1: great argument against other bubble teams. And if you remember
Speaker 1: when they did the n i T selection show, we
Speaker 1: weren't even on the bubble. We weren't close to getting in,
Speaker 1: which you know, sucked West Virginia. They were close to
Speaker 1: getting in, but like they should have safely been in.
Speaker 1: And here's a little bit from that press conference. How
Speaker 1: about this governor talking ball? How about this guy breaking
Speaker 1: down resumes.
Speaker 4: Six Quad one wins and that was combined with an
Speaker 4: undefeated record against Quad three and Quad four opponents, three
Speaker 4: wins against top ten teams and the twenty fourth toughest
Speaker 4: schedule in America. West Virginia deserved to be in the
Speaker 4: NCAA tournament. This was a miscarriage of justice and robbery
Speaker 4: at the highest levels. Now, who is the last team
Speaker 4: to get into the tournament ahead of the Mountaineers. That
Speaker 4: would be the University of North Carolina. Now let's see
Speaker 4: how their resume stacks up. The tar Heels went one
Speaker 4: to twelve in quad one games and even had a
Speaker 4: Quad three loss. And we keep hearing about the importance
Speaker 4: of these quad one wins, but UNC couldn't even get six.
Speaker 1: So you and c had one one win, and that's
Speaker 1: I mean, I mean, this is one of those things
Speaker 1: where Bubba Cunningham, even if he had no say so
Speaker 1: on what you do with Carolina, he had to leave
Speaker 1: the room, like he told us, which I assume that's true.
Speaker 1: He still can't like this result because he looks awful, right,
Speaker 1: even though people realize he technically, you know, isn't supposed
Speaker 1: to have a say. So we also know that, you know,
Speaker 1: human beings are you know, they have emotions, and they
Speaker 1: can tell themselves that they're gonna be one thousand percent
Speaker 1: objective and fair, but like that's hard to do at times,
Speaker 1: especially if you're overthinking it. So I mean, I'm still
Speaker 1: kind of stunned that, you know, a governor went this far,
Speaker 1: But then again, I'm also kind of not because here's
Speaker 1: where the NCAA has really has quickly let people know
Speaker 1: in the last few years just how useless they are
Speaker 1: because obviously they couldn't get they couldn't get their house
Speaker 1: in order right, they couldn't figure out amateurism. They tried
Speaker 1: to run with this amateurism model that's or KaiC, and
Speaker 1: you know, basically Congress gets involved and tells them, yeah,
Speaker 1: what you've been doing is illegal. You can't do that.
Speaker 1: So like they have no they have no authority, they're
Speaker 1: they're they're useless. And we've really kind of always felt
Speaker 1: that and it's been shown, i think in recent years
Speaker 1: with so much changing in college athletics. But to go
Speaker 1: back to to what you just heard the governor of
Speaker 1: West Virginia say, as well as a column I read
Speaker 1: earlier today about Eric Crawford, a WDRB, I thought it
Speaker 1: was really well done, and you know, he's kind of
Speaker 1: laying out somehow, some way what led to them putting
Speaker 1: Louisville as an aid and in the end, not to
Speaker 1: spoil his column, which is great, it was a great piece.
Speaker 1: It's because they can. They can do whatever they want.
Speaker 1: They I mean, they don't have any they don't have
Speaker 1: to answer to anybody. They can they can egregiously make
Speaker 1: errors and like just justify by saying, because that's what
Speaker 1: we decided to do. So you know that that's the
Speaker 1: system in place. And I'm not sure if you're ever
Speaker 1: going to get around that. They're never going to not have,
Speaker 1: you know, a group of people have some levels say so,
Speaker 1: it's not just going to be simply done by numbers.
Speaker 1: Maybe it will at some point, I don't know, but
Speaker 1: you could at least lie to us. You can decide
Speaker 1: certain things and justify it based off of other teams
Speaker 1: where they're slotted. If that makes sense. I know what
Speaker 1: sounds confusing. What I'm saying is you could put Louisville
Speaker 1: as an eight and we could say, what the hell,
Speaker 1: and then if we saw Carolina didn't sniff the bubble,
Speaker 1: Clemson's a seventh seed, Duke's the last fourth seed. That
Speaker 1: would at least make it make a little sense. They
Speaker 1: did not make anything, make any sense for Louisville. And
Speaker 1: that's just what's led to this being just a different
Speaker 1: feeling that I'm used to on the Monday after selection
Speaker 1: Sunday again, it is our Monday Marathon percent about carriage board.
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Speaker 1: your teams at seven ninety Louisville dot com. So again
Speaker 1: we'll talk more about the matchups in the in the
Speaker 1: entire bracket as well as as well as Louisvill's matchup
Speaker 1: with Creighton and whatnot. We got all week to do that.
Speaker 1: But again, today's the day where you were react to
Speaker 1: what the committee decided to do. And unfortunately, Louisville was
Speaker 1: a big talking point and didn't make me feel any better,
Speaker 1: and in fact, it kind of makes me feel worse
Speaker 1: just because it gives you, it makes you feel that
Speaker 1: it's that you're you're you know, you feeling like you
Speaker 1: got screwed over? Is it's a justified feeling when you
Speaker 1: realize that Louisville is one of those talked about teams
Speaker 1: on Selection Sunday because nobody can understand how they got
Speaker 1: an eight. I guess it's really more so just how
Speaker 1: you're wired as an individual. Like for me, that just
Speaker 1: makes me feel even more so like I should be mad,
Speaker 1: you know, but it's I don't think anybody again that
Speaker 1: that's what really just sucks for these guys, because the
Speaker 1: only people that mattered are the ones who viewed Louisville
Speaker 1: as an eight. Nobody else would have objectively said Louisville
Speaker 1: is an eight seed after that season, and that they
Speaker 1: need to be playing the number two team in the
Speaker 1: Big East in the first round just to get a
Speaker 1: chance to then play the number one overall seed. And
Speaker 1: that's what you got to get through to make the
Speaker 1: second weekend. And yes, you're playing in Lexington, and clearly
Speaker 1: that's that's a real bonus considering the circumstances. But Austin,
Speaker 1: I want to get your thoughts on this. I mean,
Speaker 1: we'll see. I think there's going to be clearly more
Speaker 1: red there than anything else, but sure nude on Thursday
Speaker 1: is not is not exactly a convenient wait, convenient time
Speaker 1: for fans to ray Lexington, right like, yeah on weeks on,
Speaker 1: you know, for four days? Notice, can people get off
Speaker 1: work and be in Lexington by noon?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 5: No, that's a that's great and it's something that honestly
Speaker 5: I haven't thought of until you brought it up with Terry.
Speaker 1: Saturday can be phenomenal Saturday. Saturday will be a damn
Speaker 1: home game if they win.
Speaker 5: But I think Louisville fans will find a way they're
Speaker 5: gonna find. I am a little bit more. I wasn't
Speaker 5: as concerned about it yesterday when it happened. When I
Speaker 5: especially as I heard you two talking about will will
Speaker 5: Kentucky fans get in there just to spite U of
Speaker 5: l I totally see that.
Speaker 1: Oh, there'll be some there for sure. I just hope
Speaker 1: it's not, you know, overwhelming. Yeah, it'll be a point where,
Speaker 1: like they'll they'll probably show a few of them on TV.
Speaker 1: We'll sit back and think like, Wow, what are these
Speaker 1: losers doing? Like do they like, well, you know, why
Speaker 1: are you investing your hard earned money to go watch
Speaker 1: your rival play? Like come on like you get a life.
Speaker 5: I try to give them the benefit of the doubt
Speaker 5: and think that, you know what, they got bigger fish
Speaker 5: to fry, because they're they're probably more excited for this
Speaker 5: run than they have been the last couple of years,
Speaker 5: just because I don't know, maybe they just had the
Speaker 5: threat of all right, here's cal again. We had just
Speaker 5: lost to Saint Peter. Now we're in this game against Oakland.
Speaker 5: There's probably a little bit more nerves. Oh absolutely, I
Speaker 5: think this year is more excitement and they'd be more
Speaker 5: redded up for that. But you alread even know how
Speaker 5: Kentucky fans are when it comes to that.
Speaker 1: And it's not like they don't try to hide it,
Speaker 1: like they show up to Louisville games wearing UK stuff.
Speaker 1: They will be at Ropperina for a Kentucky game against
Speaker 1: a top ten team and have an uncontrollable urge to
Speaker 1: just do L's down, as if they've got a syndrome.
Speaker 1: They can't keep themselves from doing it. Like it's just
Speaker 1: it's just, you know, it's like Tourett's or something like
Speaker 1: That's that's that's what they do. So you know, and
Speaker 1: there's in what I always say about Kentucky fans. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of them that are great, Like I have
Speaker 1: a lot of friends family that I love that are
Speaker 1: Kentucky fans. Same but with Kentucky fans, there's just a
Speaker 1: bazillion of you. Like there's more of you than any
Speaker 1: any species on planet Earth. So you know, they're just
Speaker 1: you know, your you're bad fans, which every program, every
Speaker 1: fan base has bad fans, some of them yours. Just
Speaker 1: there's a lot more bad fans for you all. But
Speaker 1: it's just because there's a billion of you, So don't
Speaker 1: take it the wrong way. And I think they would
Speaker 1: even agree with that, so per capita, Yeah, they'll show
Speaker 1: UK fans there, Louisville fans will see them, but it'll
Speaker 1: just be a bad look for them and it won't
Speaker 1: actually have an impact in the game. So really it's
Speaker 1: a lose lose situation for them. But you know, I
Speaker 1: mean louis was gonna win. You know, I think Creighton's
Speaker 1: a really tough matchup. But let's you brought up Kentucky.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've rent free. All I've said throughout the
Speaker 1: season is that like when it comes to the valuable
Speaker 1: wins that they have in the losses, they have all
Speaker 1: for the most part being quality losses. I just you know,
Speaker 1: I saw them being no worse than a four, and
Speaker 1: even though they got killed by Bamon's on Friday, I
Speaker 1: still felt like they were going to be a three,
Speaker 1: and that's exactly what they got. So I don't know
Speaker 1: if you could put together a better scenario for Kentucky,
Speaker 1: and I think they would even agree, because again, you know,
Speaker 1: your first round matchup, it doesn't matter. You got a
Speaker 1: fourteen seed. You got to take care of business. That's that,
Speaker 1: it is what it is. But the second round, Illinois,
Speaker 1: I mean, if the S sets like Illinois, yeah, the
Speaker 1: s S. I think Illinois is a good team as well.
Speaker 1: But if you're Kentucky and you're looking at other teams
Speaker 1: on the sixth line, I mean Missouri, yeah, you beat them,
Speaker 1: but you know they're in the and by the way
Speaker 1: they you wouldn't be able to play them anyway in
Speaker 1: the second round, I don't think. And then the other
Speaker 1: sixth seed is all missed same situation. In fact, they
Speaker 1: beat you bad, but yet you know you probably wouldn't
Speaker 1: be able to play them, so BYU is the other
Speaker 1: sixth seed. So if you're choosing between BYU and Illinois.
Speaker 1: Maybe you would take BYU. I don't know, they're one
Speaker 1: of the hottest teams in the country, but they all
Speaker 1: Actually that's the committee could have done something there, right
Speaker 1: Pope versus all team. Yes, so I guess they weren't
Speaker 1: going to do that, which again I kind of feel
Speaker 1: like they would given that they typically do that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. But anyways, you know, not going to say
Speaker 1: you should be able to just cake walk over over Illinois,
Speaker 1: but Illinois is that It's the kind of team you
Speaker 1: should expect to be able to if you are truly
Speaker 1: who you think you are and you are a three
Speaker 1: seed team, which by the way, Kentucky's a three seed
Speaker 1: team based off of results that they got with guys
Speaker 1: that are now not playing. I mean, that's just be real,
Speaker 1: Like you can't say that they didn't deserve the seed.
Speaker 1: But like Kentucky now is not the same team when
Speaker 1: they had Jackson Robinson and Lamont Butler. And I'll believe
Speaker 1: Lamont Butler's fully healthy and able to play when I
Speaker 1: see it, not to say when they had when they
Speaker 1: exactly exactly. So with all that said, you know, I
Speaker 1: believe that that if you're Kentucky. You can't look at
Speaker 1: Illinois and say, oh, we got screwed. We got to
Speaker 1: play them. No, that's the kind of team you got
Speaker 1: to get past to show that you're worthy of your
Speaker 1: seed and that you're worthy to be in the second weekend.
Speaker 1: So outside of that, those where it gets it gets.
Speaker 1: I mean, Houston's your one seed. I mean, I wouldn't
Speaker 1: want to play Kelvin Sampson. I wouldn't want to play
Speaker 1: any one seed. But I would imagine they probably take
Speaker 1: playing them over playing Florida or Auburn or Duke. I
Speaker 1: think Houston would be the one that they pick, wouldn't you.
Speaker 1: I mean there's no one that you're like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: give me them. But if you got to have one
Speaker 1: of those four in your bracket, I would imagine they'd
Speaker 1: probably take Houston. Maybe they take Florida since they beat
Speaker 1: him earlier this year. Maybe they think they could beat
Speaker 1: Duke because maybe you know, Cooper Flag isn't gonna play.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but Tennessee, being you're two a team
Speaker 1: that you've already beat twice, you know you can beat them, sure,
Speaker 1: and you know Clemson is a five. I'm sorry, I
Speaker 1: don't think I mean Clemson, I know they beat them,
Speaker 1: and look Clemson and the Clemson probably won't meet Kentucky
Speaker 1: because it won't get that far. But my point is
Speaker 1: all in all, and by the way, Perdue being your
Speaker 1: four seat house, Prdue even get a force sea to
Speaker 1: be honest with you, So you know, question who knows
Speaker 1: what happens with them? But I think they you know,
Speaker 1: and what I've heard, I do believe they're they're kind
Speaker 1: of echoing what I'm saying that they really can't be
Speaker 1: too unhappy with what the committee gave them, and that's
Speaker 1: a good place to be. Now what you said about
Speaker 1: their previous tournament trips, I mean, I mean, let's be real,
Speaker 1: like the butthole was super tight when Cal lost to
Speaker 1: Saint Peter's and then they lost to the second round
Speaker 1: or lost in the sagraut of Kansas State, like they
Speaker 1: were going to be tight against Oakland, and Oakland took
Speaker 1: advantage of that. Now, what I don't know is like
Speaker 1: Pope's gone, Like it's a completely different thing. But like
Speaker 1: I know their fans don't expect to lose to Troy,
Speaker 1: but I know they've also had at least some thought
Speaker 1: of like, oh my God, Like, what if we lose
Speaker 1: that game, because that would be like the ultimate, Like,
Speaker 1: I mean, that would be Pope wouldn't take the heat
Speaker 1: that Cal took for doing it the last couple of years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but man, they would. I mean, it would be talk
Speaker 1: about a rough offseason for them. You know, we got
Speaker 1: to we went about it a different way. We built
Speaker 1: a really good team and you know, we did it
Speaker 1: with older guys and we went the mature route and
Speaker 1: we we got all these quad one wins to get
Speaker 1: a three seed. But yet the results still potentially be
Speaker 1: the same. Again, I'm not predicting they lose to Troy
Speaker 1: at all, but you know, as a fan base, when
Speaker 1: your last two of your last three trips to the
Speaker 1: Dance have included that exits to Saint Peter's in Oakland,
Speaker 1: you kind of want to get past those three fourteen
Speaker 1: games to where you can you know, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: it's really it's not that you're worried about Troy as
Speaker 1: an opponent, but I just think in the back of
Speaker 1: your mind, you just realize, like how bad it would
Speaker 1: be if that were to happen again, although it's insanely unlikely.
Speaker 1: Just clearly knowing that it's possible because of what's happened
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, last few years. That's got
Speaker 1: to be an eerie feeling. And look for Louisville if
Speaker 1: they lose to Creighton, it's gonna suck and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be mad about the seed. But you know, wrong music
Speaker 1: unless we got to do two breaks, do we? Oh no,
Speaker 1: I just hit the wrong music. Okay, Well that's a
Speaker 1: good reminder because they did need to get out on
Speaker 1: way to late for a break. We'll take a quick right,
Speaker 1: come back on the other side and wrap this thing
Speaker 1: up right here on Sports Talk seven ninety won't even
Speaker 1: play music.
Speaker 3: Now back to coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 3: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 1: All we can really do here is tell you hi
Speaker 1: and goodbye because we are out of But that was
Speaker 1: a quick three hours, a lot of uh, a lot
Speaker 1: of frustration shared with the selection committee, a lot of
Speaker 1: bitching really and uh, you know, I apologize. I'm sure
Speaker 1: that wasn't great radio, but I know a lot of
Speaker 1: you probably agree. And this was the first time. I mean, clearly,
Speaker 1: you can find some trolls on the internet having fun
Speaker 1: with it, and I get it. It's a rivalry, but
Speaker 1: I felt a level of not necessarily like sympathy because
Speaker 1: I don't feel sorry for us, but I felt a
Speaker 1: lot of Kentucky fans genuinely being like yeah, like that's insane, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the same thing. And you know what it reminded me
Speaker 1: of is that we can tell when it's genuine when
Speaker 1: it's not, you know what I mean, right, like the
Speaker 1: whole port you know, I'm happy you could. Louis was, uh,
Speaker 1: we're making the robbery respectable again, you know, like that's
Speaker 1: all that. Like, you know, y'all got a pretty cute
Speaker 1: team over there, I mean honestly like it. It's it
Speaker 1: sucks for y'all when y'all for us, when y'all suck,
Speaker 1: like you know that that's not really genuine grinds my gears. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I think they are genuinely like, huh, how was that?
Speaker 1: Like how was that team at eight? Like I feel
Speaker 1: like they were, you know, not sympathetic, but at least
Speaker 1: like they know we're not just I mean, we are complaining,
Speaker 1: but they know we have a complaint. And you know,
Speaker 1: didn't make me feel any better again hearing your rival
Speaker 1: know that you got screwed and having a difficult time
Speaker 1: acknowledging that you're you're you know that you're not wrong,
Speaker 1: and that everybody nationally realizes Louisville is probably the most
Speaker 1: probably the worst seeded team that Again, it's obvious, I mean,
Speaker 1: you would you'd like to have support, I suppose, but
Speaker 1: just makes me realize how bad of a decision it
Speaker 1: was for the committee. But again, you can't do anything
Speaker 1: about it other than you know, proven, prove, prove that
Speaker 1: they were wrong about you as an eight seed, and
Speaker 1: certainly you'll have a chance to do it if you
Speaker 1: can get past creating Easier said than done. We're out
Speaker 1: of time, you guys. Enjoy your evening. We're back at
Speaker 1: it tomorrow, getting closer and closer to h the best
Speaker 1: two days of the year, but I know both days
Speaker 1: are going to be really, really enjoyable. Are not enjoyable
Speaker 1: for me if Louisville is the first team out. Have
Speaker 1: a good night.