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Speaker 1: up until six o'clock. Hopefully everybody is having a good day.
Speaker 1: I'm sure there are some that are having really good days,
Speaker 1: days where they're you know, a day where they feel
Speaker 1: like they're you know, in celebratory mode. And then there's
Speaker 1: some that are probably really bummed and probably surprised. I
Speaker 1: guess maybe they didn't they didn't see it playing out
Speaker 1: the way that it did. But yeah, I'm just glad
Speaker 1: that it's over. And clearly there's still going to be
Speaker 1: some lingering things that they take place throughout the process
Speaker 1: when you do, in fact, you know, put a new
Speaker 1: president in office. But I don't know. Am I crazy
Speaker 1: to think that maybe the process will be a little
Speaker 1: quick because this is a guy that you know, has
Speaker 1: been president before, which makes the whole thing kind of weird,
Speaker 1: But yeah, I could as the day went on yesterday,
Speaker 1: not even like even when I'm not around people, I
Speaker 1: could I could just feel tension and just people a
Speaker 1: little bit uneasy. In fact, I know some people who
Speaker 1: just you know, they didn't want to consume any of it,
Speaker 1: so they just tried their best to distract themselves from it.
Speaker 1: And if that's how you know that, if that worked
Speaker 1: for you, then you know, good for you. All right,
Speaker 1: let's bring him in. He is Zach Garnett of FootballScoop
Speaker 1: dot com. He joins us each week to talk some
Speaker 1: some college football before we get into the first look
Speaker 1: at the college football playoff ranking. Zach, So, I was
Speaker 1: a little surprised, and maybe it's just because I'm an idiot,
Speaker 1: but they gave us rankings and then a bracket. However,
Speaker 1: the rankings it isn't the exact bracket because of how
Speaker 1: it's laid out, Like, could they have done that better?
Speaker 1: Would it? Would it have been weird to give us
Speaker 1: the bracket and then rank everybody else after that that's
Speaker 1: still in the top twenty five?
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I think so, to be honest with you,
Speaker 2: I did. I was following via Twitter last night, so I.
Speaker 1: Was there something else going on other than the college
Speaker 1: football playoff rings.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I actually I had nothing to do with that,
Speaker 2: but anyways, Yeah, I don't think you were alone in
Speaker 2: being confused. And how ESPN presented.
Speaker 1: That, Yeah, I mean, I don't know, but I just
Speaker 1: thought it was it could have been like because if
Speaker 1: you were wanting to bring you know, people into college
Speaker 1: football because of a of a new bracket and all
Speaker 1: the suspense, I feel like, you know, it made sense
Speaker 1: once you give it some thought. But I was like,
Speaker 1: wait a second, how could this work because you can't
Speaker 1: have two Big ten teams and you know, the top
Speaker 1: four seeds.
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I think that there's been a lot of
Speaker 2: public education about how this is going to work, and
Speaker 2: they're continuing. There needs to be more, and I'm sure
Speaker 2: on selection Sunday there will be a lot of people
Speaker 2: still confused about how this thing is gonna work. So
Speaker 2: it's a job of all of us really to educate
Speaker 2: the public on how this is gonna work.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm hopeful that the twelve team playoff ends up.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously, if you've got a team that you're
Speaker 1: a big fan of. Obviously, if your team's alive and
Speaker 1: they're in the race, like Obviously, that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: fun thing for you, and it'll be a heartbreaker if
Speaker 1: you don't end up getting in. But I think, just
Speaker 1: from the average college football fan out there, I'm starting
Speaker 1: to wonder if this thing is couldn't meet the hype
Speaker 1: that's there, because I feel like when you think of
Speaker 1: home games in college football that are part of the
Speaker 1: new college football Playoff, you actually have a legitimate bracket now, Like,
Speaker 1: I feel like this is going to be something that
Speaker 1: everybody thinks, Man, they should have done this from the jump.
Speaker 1: Twelve teams makes it so much more exciting. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're hearing the same thing or
Speaker 1: if you feel the same thing, but I think this
Speaker 1: is gonna be awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And I think I think, combined with two other topics
Speaker 2: that are divisive and no one really wants to give
Speaker 2: them credit for, I think the poral in NIL, combined
Speaker 2: with the twelve team playoffs have all kind of hit
Speaker 2: at the perfect time to give us what's looking like
Speaker 2: it's going to be a wide open playoff. Like for
Speaker 2: years and years and years it was, you know, there's
Speaker 2: only really five teams competing for four spots, and then
Speaker 2: when the playoff was announced, it was like, well, we
Speaker 2: know the same teams are gonna win the national championship,
Speaker 2: but at least it'll put more teams in the conversation.
Speaker 2: And now I don't know who's gonna win this thing.
Speaker 2: Ohio State and Georgia are the most talented teams, but
Speaker 2: in a lot of ways, especially in Georgia, they're winning
Speaker 2: in spite of their quarterback, not because of their quarterback.
Speaker 2: And there's not I guess, other than cam Wardon maybe
Speaker 2: Sheder Sanders, there's not a transformational quarterback out there. And
Speaker 2: if the right quarterback on the right team gets hot,
Speaker 2: then that team could come from anywhere to win this thing.
Speaker 1: You just laid out what makes this all as far
Speaker 1: as timing really exciting that I haven't heard many people
Speaker 1: bring up. I don't remember being this late into the
Speaker 1: year where you get your first look at the college
Speaker 1: football playoff rankings and nobody really having a clue who,
Speaker 1: in fact, this national championship is to lose, if you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. And for I feel like for
Speaker 1: well over a decade, like you have a good idea
Speaker 1: at this point in the season who the two best
Speaker 1: teams are. It's gonna come down to these two. It's
Speaker 1: gonna come down to these three or maybe hey, it's
Speaker 1: just this team and if they somehow mess up, you know,
Speaker 1: if they don't mess up, then then they're gonna win it.
Speaker 1: I think it's you're right. I mean, I don't remember
Speaker 1: what it's been this wide open.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think Ohio State and Georgia certainly have the
Speaker 2: highest ceilings. You can maybe throw Texas in there as well,
Speaker 2: although we saw Georgia at their best was much better
Speaker 2: than Texas on that night. Oregon probably has the highest floor.
Speaker 2: Dylan Gabriel is not the most talented quarterback that's going
Speaker 2: to be in this field, but he plays close to
Speaker 2: his best more often, and that offense is kind of
Speaker 2: like starting every inning on second base, so that gives
Speaker 2: them an advantage. But I mean, the most talented quarterbacks
Speaker 2: in this just in terms of raw talent are Nico.
Speaker 2: I mean, if Tennessee gets hot at the right time,
Speaker 2: making when this thing, if Lsu gets hot at the
Speaker 2: right time, making when this thing same. I mean saying
Speaker 2: for Texas, Miami looks like they're gonna be in a
Speaker 2: great spot where they would have to win three games.
Speaker 3: Instead of two.
Speaker 2: To win the national championship. So it is kind of
Speaker 2: the perfect storm.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Indiana, I mean, their schedule is what
Speaker 1: it is. But like if Kurt Signetti just keeps beating
Speaker 1: everybody's ass, can we say we're shocked at the end
Speaker 1: of the year when they've got hardware. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not saying I expect it, but each week it kind
Speaker 1: of feels like maybe they'll have a letdown. They don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, everyone was kind of waiting for that to happen
Speaker 2: this week because you're playing, You're coming off of two
Speaker 2: emotional home games, now you're going on the road.
Speaker 1: It just felt like the leadown game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and for a moment there it did. It was
Speaker 2: ten to nothing, and then it was forty seven to ten.
Speaker 2: And once again I repeat my talking point that if
Speaker 2: Indiana was wearing Michigan's uniforms, they would have been ranked
Speaker 2: number two in the.
Speaker 1: No doubt about it. And I don't know how anybody.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you asked the committee that they would
Speaker 1: say no, but I think every other human being would say, yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no doubt about it. That would be that would
Speaker 1: be the case. Speaking of the committee, if you got
Speaker 1: one one question, you know you only had one team
Speaker 1: you could present to them and say, tell me how
Speaker 1: you did this, tell me what you used upstairs in
Speaker 1: your brain to put this together? Where this team would
Speaker 1: be ranked here, Rather it's somebody who's ranked way too
Speaker 1: low or somebody ranked way too high. Who do you what?
Speaker 1: What did you see last night as it was unveiled
Speaker 1: that you just think, Okay, why the hell the hell
Speaker 1: they come up with that?
Speaker 2: It was pretty frustrating to see Penn State at six.
Speaker 2: That's a program that for years has existed on a
Speaker 2: non existent metric of the quality loss.
Speaker 1: They continue to make you look smart, Zach.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they don't win any games that matter, and yet
Speaker 2: they're ranked number six. They're going to make the playoff
Speaker 2: and quite possibly host a playoff game. Uh, and their
Speaker 2: best win will probably be a Wisconsin that finishes what
Speaker 2: eight and four? At best, they're not going to have
Speaker 2: even they did beat Illinois, but I mean that's gonna
Speaker 2: be their best win. And I know you can make
Speaker 2: the same argument right now about Texas, but at least
Speaker 2: Texas has the opportunity to win their way in at
Speaker 2: Texas A and M and possibly the Big twelve, the
Speaker 2: Big feve the SEC championship. Penn State's not making their
Speaker 2: conference championship game. They're going to win with a pillowsoft
Speaker 2: schedule and be rewarded for it. The other team, I
Speaker 2: think is BYU and Warren Manuel was asked about them
Speaker 2: and he said, the eye test is why they were
Speaker 2: ninth in Miami's fourth Well, the eye test saw me
Speaker 2: saw I. BYU went on the road at SMU, which
Speaker 2: no one else has done. They beat the tar out
Speaker 2: of Kansas State at home, and I know those aren't
Speaker 2: blue blood programs. With their both top twenty teams in
Speaker 2: the committee's own estimation, which is more than like the
Speaker 2: decks five teams have in front of them combined.
Speaker 1: I'll give word Manuel some credit because he actually at
Speaker 1: least he's wrong, but like at least what he provided
Speaker 1: is the reason. Like you can't like you can say
Speaker 1: you disagree, but like he's just our I test. You
Speaker 1: just throw the eye test out there. People. You know,
Speaker 1: there are some times where they give an answer that
Speaker 1: makes no sense when it comes to their you know,
Speaker 1: being questioned about certain certain teams being ranked at certain spots.
Speaker 1: But I'm with you BYU.
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 1: They've they've had a I mean if BYU had a
Speaker 1: different brand, maybe in a different conference, I think it
Speaker 1: would look a little bit different. What do you think
Speaker 1: of SMU. I mean, I don't want to sound like
Speaker 1: an ACC hank here because I think, honestly, like Clemson
Speaker 1: shouldn't be ranked right now. But when it comes to SMU,
Speaker 1: I mean, their only loss is a team that the
Speaker 1: Committee tells us is a top ten team, and they
Speaker 1: lost to them in a close game. They beat Louisville
Speaker 1: at Louisville, a team the committee thinks is a top
Speaker 1: twenty two team. They beat Pitt, who's ranked eighteenth. Like,
Speaker 1: I think SMU again they're at number thirteen, but like,
Speaker 1: how how are they behind Boise?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think this is a complete team.
Speaker 2: And I mean they didn't just beat Pitt. They beat
Speaker 2: the dog at a pit.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they lost that YU game.
Speaker 2: They made a quarterback change since then and are undefeated.
Speaker 2: And on the one hand, the committee's in an impossible
Speaker 2: spot because if you're going to do human rankings, there's
Speaker 2: no way to rank twenty five teams in an entirely
Speaker 2: logically consistent way. On the other hand, they just don't
Speaker 2: think SMU is that good, largely because they're SMU.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but they never say it, but I guarantee that's
Speaker 1: exactly it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean I had SMU in the top
Speaker 2: ten on my own ballot. They weren't, you know, number
Speaker 2: five or anything like that. I think they're eight or
Speaker 2: nine or something like that. But I think from what
Speaker 2: we've seen so far, this is the top ten team.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I hadn't thought about it until earlier this earlier today.
Speaker 1: I was just looking at some of the reaction out
Speaker 1: there and you mentioned it a moment ago. SMU since
Speaker 1: they made a quarterback change, is undefeated and like they look,
Speaker 1: they look, they look pretty complete. You know, we'll see
Speaker 1: if they get humbled at some point throughout. But I
Speaker 1: think the ACC, you know, having what is it, four
Speaker 1: or five teams ranked, I mean again, they're probably only
Speaker 1: going to get one team in the playoff. I would imagine.
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm wrong, But is an ACC fan, meaning my
Speaker 1: team that I'm a fan of is in the ACC
Speaker 1: as of now? Is it safe to say that the
Speaker 1: league did get better this year? Maybe not by much,
Speaker 1: but like it's it's it's improving.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's fair.
Speaker 4: Imagine if Florida State was at least decent oh yeah.
Speaker 2: And then another note on SMU, just because it's it's
Speaker 2: uh topical here is I don't think people are mad
Speaker 2: enough about what RTT lastly did to bench his quarterback
Speaker 2: Preston Stone. That was a a lot of what what
Speaker 2: Teddy Bridgewater meant to Louisville.
Speaker 3: That's that was Preston Stone, at least for a time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he had a lot of hype heading into this
Speaker 1: first year in the ACC.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: He he's a Dallas area kid, and I know Kevin
Speaker 2: Jennings as well, but he's from Dallas proper. He committed
Speaker 2: to SMU as a junior on the Army you know
Speaker 2: the US Army National All American Game broadcast as a junior,
Speaker 2: like he was their franchise quarterback and led them to
Speaker 2: a conference championship and then h RTT Lashley bench them.
Speaker 2: That could not have been easy. That took some real
Speaker 2: Stones to do that. And since then they're undefeated.
Speaker 3: So I think.
Speaker 2: They've certainly helped the ACC's brand. Clemson, Uh, I don't
Speaker 2: think he is a top twenty five team, as you
Speaker 2: as you said, but Louisville's a good team. Miami and
Speaker 2: cam Ward and Mario Cristobal have done a lot of
Speaker 2: good for the ACC. I think Syracuse has played really
Speaker 2: good football so far this year as well. Although that
Speaker 2: pit loss was awful.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was a disaster. That was actually that was
Speaker 1: one of those things you couldn't stop watching. I mean
Speaker 1: it was not competitive, but man, it was like a
Speaker 1: car wreck. You just couldn't you couldn't, couldn't look away.
Speaker 1: All right, I've got some rapid fire questions for you
Speaker 1: before we say goodbye here, Zach thoughts on Kirk kurb
Speaker 1: Street taking his dog everywhere? Are you are you over it?
Speaker 1: Do you think it's adorable?
Speaker 3: Are you?
Speaker 1: Do you not care at all?
Speaker 2: I'm in the middle of not caring, Anthony. It's adorable.
Speaker 2: I have two dogs, two pugs, and they're they're God's
Speaker 2: worst creations. But if they weren't, if I could get
Speaker 2: away of taking them everywhere, I would.
Speaker 1: Okay, that's a good answer. I think it's it's sweet,
Speaker 1: but I think at times it's like a little too proppy,
Speaker 1: if that makes sense, Like we get it, like you know,
Speaker 1: I don't disagree with that, all right? Will we see
Speaker 1: at the end of this year. And I think we've
Speaker 1: already discussed this a little bit earlier in the season.
Speaker 1: But when it comes to coaching turnover, do we see
Speaker 1: do we see an unexpectedly light year with that? And
Speaker 1: what I mean is I feel like before the season started, man,
Speaker 1: there was a handful of coaches that you just thought, Okay,
Speaker 1: they need to be really, really good or they're going
Speaker 1: to lose their job. But as the season's played on,
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't feel like there's there's been a
Speaker 1: coach from a big program, especially that you're like, well,
Speaker 1: it's about to happen in any moment. Obviously Billy and
Speaker 1: Napier it could still happen, but they've been They've been
Speaker 1: rather competitive in some of their games. So do you
Speaker 1: think we'll end up with a pretty active coaching caroussel
Speaker 1: or maybe maybe not as much.
Speaker 3: I've kind of thought that things would be light for
Speaker 3: a few.
Speaker 2: Years in a row, and I've been proven wrong at
Speaker 2: every turn. But at the same time, we did set
Speaker 2: a record last year. I don't know the number, but
Speaker 2: I do believe we set or tied a record last year,
Speaker 2: So that would tell you that this year has to
Speaker 2: be a little bit lighter. I think it'll be a
Speaker 2: lot quite a bit delayed. I mean it's already been delayed,
Speaker 2: but I think we'll continue to see that, just because
Speaker 2: we're going to have more teams playing in delay to
Speaker 2: sidburn games that matter, more teams playing January games no matter,
Speaker 2: and even into January twentieth.
Speaker 3: I think that's going to slow things down and draw
Speaker 3: them out quite a bit.
Speaker 1: Well, we see any coaches from the Power four level,
Speaker 1: and again this is just a guess, I'm asking you
Speaker 1: to just guess, but you'd be more plugged in to
Speaker 1: make a more educated guests than most of us. Power
Speaker 1: for coaches that just kind of walk away, not because
Speaker 1: their seats super warm, not because they're ancient in age,
Speaker 1: but the job has changed a lot. You're seeing coaches
Speaker 1: not really be able to hide the fact that they're
Speaker 1: miserable and look, a lot of it's because the results
Speaker 1: aren't there, but again, the job has changed. I don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of sympathy for them. They make a
Speaker 1: whole lot of money. They can lose every game and
Speaker 1: still take millions. But do you think we'll see We've
Speaker 1: seen it in basketball more frequently, and obviously Tony Bine
Speaker 1: just did it. But that's something that you don't really
Speaker 1: ever think about happening. But when it does happen this
Speaker 1: day and age, with there being so much change in
Speaker 1: college sports, you think, well, okay, I guess it kind
Speaker 1: of makes sense. You think we see that in the
Speaker 1: power for somebody just kind of unexpectedly saying yeah, I'm out.
Speaker 1: I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 2: I know Oklahoma State is praying that Mike Gundy walks away.
Speaker 2: Interested in twenty twenty four started with admitting that he's
Speaker 2: driven drunk a thousand times.
Speaker 1: I've done it a thousand times.
Speaker 2: And he had to move a press conference to zoom
Speaker 2: because he got, I believe, headbutted by one of his
Speaker 2: cows during his off week, and then this past week
Speaker 2: he said that he or he said that all of
Speaker 2: his critics are poor.
Speaker 1: Yeah, poverty, poverty people. They don't know anything.
Speaker 2: And in the meantime, all he's done is complain about
Speaker 2: the portal and nil, which on the one hand, I get.
Speaker 2: On the other hand, it's your way of life now,
Speaker 2: in your chosen profession that you're paid a lot of
Speaker 2: money to do.
Speaker 3: And he's also lost six.
Speaker 2: Games in a row and staring at its season ending
Speaker 2: nine game losing streaking face.
Speaker 1: Man, they're easily the most disappointing team outside of Florida State, right,
Speaker 1: like they have to be. I forgot that they had
Speaker 1: some real momentum heading into this year with Ali Gordon
Speaker 1: back and everything. They're terrible.
Speaker 2: They played for a conference championship last year and beat Oklahoma,
Speaker 2: and it seems like Mike Gundy spit all of his
Speaker 2: juice that he had left on beating Oklahoma and is
Speaker 2: now just kind of quite quit.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Mark Stoops is somebody around here. I don't see
Speaker 1: it happening, but there are some Kentucky fans that just
Speaker 1: believe that he's he's just burned out and really and
Speaker 1: he's somebody that I can actually I appreciate his honesty
Speaker 1: about the whole thing, Like he didn't even had it
Speaker 1: at SEC media days that he's burned out. I mean
Speaker 1: he flat he flat out said it in a different way.
Speaker 1: And obviously they're having a season that's you know, they've
Speaker 1: had seasons like this before in their in their existence,
Speaker 1: but not with Stoops in this position where they clearly
Speaker 1: just should be better than they are. I mean, you
Speaker 1: think there's any chance that would have I just think
Speaker 1: it's unlikely for somebody, even though it's been difficult and
Speaker 1: they've gone through a rough stretch here, do they just
Speaker 1: you know, they decide to call it quits.
Speaker 2: Well, I know, Bob walked away out of the blue
Speaker 2: when he I don't know the exact age gap between
Speaker 2: Bob and Mark off the top of my head, but
Speaker 2: they were around the same age, and Bob walked away
Speaker 2: because their dad died of a heart attack when he
Speaker 2: was that same age. So obviously they had a profound
Speaker 2: effect on Bob and one would assume it would have
Speaker 2: an effect on Mark. So if he did, it would
Speaker 2: not surprise me. All though at the same time, eleven
Speaker 2: months ago or whatever it was, he was the Texas
Speaker 2: A and M head coach for like two hours.
Speaker 1: I mean, he committed to them, he was on his
Speaker 1: way out, and then you know he got told sorry,
Speaker 1: we're not gonna be able to make it happen. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: he's just a year. We're not even a year removed
Speaker 1: from him committing to a whole new adventure that would
Speaker 1: really be a different world for him compared to where
Speaker 1: he is in Lexington.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I certainly he wouldn't be walking away if
Speaker 2: that were to be the case. But you know, things
Speaker 2: change and if he did walk away, it would not
Speaker 2: it would not stun me.
Speaker 1: Interesting, Zach, you are the man. Appreciate you making time
Speaker 1: for us as always. Keep up the great work and
Speaker 1: we will talk soon. My friend.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Take care. That is Zach Barnett FootballScoop dot Com. Always
Speaker 1: enjoy the conversation. Good stuff, good stuff with our man Zach.
Speaker 1: Quick break, We'll come back on the other side. Keep
Speaker 1: this thing rolling along. It's coffee and Company. Feel about
Speaker 1: Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right,
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Speaker 1: All right, So Louisville, Tennessee at noon on Saturday. I
Speaker 1: said this earlier in the show, and I'll reset it
Speaker 1: later because I didn't want to get a little bit
Speaker 1: and I want to get into a little more later
Speaker 1: on the five o'clock hour. But I was expecting to
Speaker 1: do a not deep dive, but I was expecting to
Speaker 1: look at Tennessee and realize, Okay, look this Tennessee team.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be favorites for obvious reason. I hope Louisville's competitive.
Speaker 1: Maybe they do win, but if not, if they just
Speaker 1: they play hard, and if they you know, they look
Speaker 1: the part just come up short. That'll be you know,
Speaker 1: disappointing because you never went your team to lose, But
Speaker 1: you know, overall, that'll be a that'll be okay, because
Speaker 1: you know Tennessee's good. They're they're they're just that good,
Speaker 1: and you're still putting it together. And and after looking
Speaker 1: at them, and I don't even mean like the one
Speaker 1: game they played, because they they were pretty you know,
Speaker 1: pretty unimpressive in their loss to Indiana. It sounds like
Speaker 1: and then they you know, they won the first half
Speaker 1: by I think twelve against Gardner Webb and they won
Speaker 1: the second half by four, So they won by sixteen.
Speaker 1: But the kin Pom projection, which probably doesn't mean much
Speaker 1: of anything when you've never played a game. Until these
Speaker 1: two teams played, it was expected to be a bigger victory.
Speaker 1: But when I look at their players, I just, you know,
Speaker 1: I think the best way to describe it is, I
Speaker 1: think this Tennessee team is the best example you'll find
Speaker 1: when it comes to teams that just get slotted in
Speaker 1: the preseason rankings where they're slotted based off of where
Speaker 1: they finished last year, because look, their roster it's pretty
Speaker 1: mid I mean, and I don't think that's like a
Speaker 1: hot take, that's not a homer thing like for Louisville.
Speaker 1: I just I was expecting to look at Tennessee and
Speaker 1: just think, Okay, look if they play well meaning Louisville
Speaker 1: and they're competitive, and that's still you know, a potential
Speaker 1: positive because you know, Tennessee's a top twelve team. Most
Speaker 1: teams who are putting a brand new team together from
Speaker 1: scratch don't start off with their second real game being
Speaker 1: against the top twelve team. But I don't think the
Speaker 1: case can be made that Tennessee is a top twelve team.
Speaker 1: Here's what I think, and I'll kind of give you
Speaker 1: the reason as to why I believe this about Tennessee.
Speaker 1: One of these two things is going to happen. They're
Speaker 1: going to take a rather big step back this year
Speaker 1: and not be a tournament caliber team, or they end
Speaker 1: up being like borderline top twenty five because they fit
Speaker 1: what Rick Barnes really wants to do. And when I
Speaker 1: think of Rick Barnes, he's never made it, He's never
Speaker 1: made well, he hasn't. He made an Elite eight last
Speaker 1: year and lost to to Purdue with Dalton Connect and
Speaker 1: then he did make a Final Four with TJ. Ford
Speaker 1: at Texas. So he's made deep runs, but some of
Speaker 1: his best teams have never made deep runs. But he
Speaker 1: also was really good in the regular season more often
Speaker 1: than not. I think he's a really good coach. I
Speaker 1: think what Pat Kelsey said the other day is true.
Speaker 1: Like I think he can absolutely be a Hall of
Speaker 1: Famer and probably will be a Hall of Famer. But
Speaker 1: I feel like some of his best teams weren't filled
Speaker 1: with like NBA talent or a Dalton Connect who's NBA
Speaker 1: player and also you know, an All American. You know,
Speaker 1: some of his best teams, I feel like they're just
Speaker 1: guys that really fit his style. They're tough defensively, they
Speaker 1: play well within his system and it works out. I
Speaker 1: mean the team that had had Schofield and Grant Williams.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know Grant Williams is still hanging out
Speaker 1: in the NBA and probably won't be for long, to
Speaker 1: be honest with you, but like that was just a
Speaker 1: really good Rick Barnes type team. I think that's the
Speaker 1: ceiling for this group because I don't really know like
Speaker 1: where their great players are. I mean, I'll start with
Speaker 1: their their top transfer as a guy named Chas Lanier,
Speaker 1: and he is somebody that if you remember, Kentucky was
Speaker 1: interested in him, and I'm pretty sure they wanted him,
Speaker 1: but I feel like Kentucky ended up getting better guards
Speaker 1: to where they don't they're not going to miss this guy,
Speaker 1: and you never know, Man, he's played one game at
Speaker 1: this level and he had eighteen points against Gardner Webb.
Speaker 1: But at North Florida for three straight seasons, he never
Speaker 1: averaged more than four points. And then last year he
Speaker 1: had a huge year out of nowhere and average under twenty,
Speaker 1: just under twenty. So you know, if he's their best player,
Speaker 1: I mean, he was North Florida's best player and they
Speaker 1: weren't very good. And then I'm thinking, Okay, well, maybe
Speaker 1: they've got a guy back that's you know, that's that's
Speaker 1: really coming off of a special season. No, not really.
Speaker 1: I mean Zekai Ziggler is the one guy that they
Speaker 1: bring back who has been good for them for a while.
Speaker 1: But he, you know, he's always been kind of a
Speaker 1: role player, a good role player. I mean, in fact,
Speaker 1: he averaged you know, he averaged you know, eleven points
Speaker 1: and six assists last year. He's a good point guard.
Speaker 1: So he's somebody that I should you know, he is
Speaker 1: somebody that is back after proving for really his whole
Speaker 1: career that he's a good player. But like, is he
Speaker 1: good enough to where you feel like they're going to
Speaker 1: be a top fifteen team. I mean, maybe I'm under
Speaker 1: selling him a little bit, but I feel like his
Speaker 1: value is mostly on defense and you know, assists. But
Speaker 1: I don't think he's got a Dalton connect to, you know,
Speaker 1: to to lean on when it comes to really carrying
Speaker 1: the load when it comes to scoring. They've got a
Speaker 1: guy named Jordan Gainey who is a senior who's starting,
Speaker 1: and he played two years at USC Upstate, transferred to
Speaker 1: Tennessee last year and was a role player, played, you know,
Speaker 1: average about six points a game. So they've got a
Speaker 1: guy named Jemi Mushak And these are starters. By the way,
Speaker 1: this is a six to four guard. He's also a senior,
Speaker 1: an older guy. He's been at Tennessee his whole career,
Speaker 1: never averaged more than four points a game, never played
Speaker 1: a whole lot either. Well, now he's a starter. So
Speaker 1: again I'm not trying to present this as this Tennessee's
Speaker 1: the most overrated team in the country and they're going
Speaker 1: to be terrible this year. I mean they might be,
Speaker 1: but like they're a new team, just like Louisville. They're
Speaker 1: putting things together. And Louisville's roster, you know, of those
Speaker 1: guys I just mentioned, I'm sure there are some that
Speaker 1: are going to take Zachai Ziggler over any guard on
Speaker 1: both teams. And if you do make that decision, I
Speaker 1: get it. But you know what, Chucky Heburn's pretty good too,
Speaker 1: Korin Johnson's pretty good, Terrence Edwards, Chucky Hepburn, Koran Johnson.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that trio is better than any
Speaker 1: trio you could put together with the guards that Rick
Speaker 1: Barnes has, And that doesn't mean you're gonna win. But
Speaker 1: like I'm not worried about louis Like the number twelve
Speaker 1: team in the country is what's kind of like, Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go, man, a top twelve matchup in game two.
Speaker 1: We better buckle up. Pat Kelsey, he's getting challenged big
Speaker 1: time early on. But when you look at who it
Speaker 1: is and how they're put together, like I'm not I mean,
Speaker 1: in clearly big step up from everybody you've played, but
Speaker 1: I'm not. I mean, I don't think it could be
Speaker 1: any team that's of like the Power five level. And
Speaker 1: I wouldn't look at Tennessee and feel like that there's
Speaker 1: certain to be anybody, because you just don't know. And again,
Speaker 1: they've got guys back playing much bigger roles that were
Speaker 1: there a year ago and even two years ago, and
Speaker 1: they were you know, there's a reason they weren't playing
Speaker 1: a whole lot. They weren't good enough. And yeah they've
Speaker 1: lost Dalton connect but it's not as if they were
Speaker 1: sitting behind a bunch of future NBA players. I mean,
Speaker 1: same thing. Cason Pryor, I mean I think you know,
Speaker 1: he probably wouldn't be taken over the big for Igor Millichick.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is a guy who he's not done
Speaker 1: it at Tennessee. He just transferred in from Charlotte. He
Speaker 1: averaged twelve points a game at Charlotte last year. Well
Speaker 1: now he's their starting big. He was a six to
Speaker 1: ten big at Charlotte seven points two years ago, twelve points,
Speaker 1: thirteen points last year, and now he's a starter at Tennessee.
Speaker 1: I think if you look at what Caseon Pryor did
Speaker 1: at a higher level South Florida last year, a team
Speaker 1: that won their league. Like, again, I'm not saying these
Speaker 1: numbers prove it that Louisville's got better players, but like,
Speaker 1: I think, if Loisvill plays well, they win, and I
Speaker 1: wouldn't shock if they know if they win the game,
Speaker 1: you know, by seven eight points, like I'll think they're
Speaker 1: gonna need some kind of a miracle. And look, what
Speaker 1: this ultimately did is remind me that it's impossible to
Speaker 1: rank college basketball teams in the preseason. Right now, you
Speaker 1: can base it off of like I think you could
Speaker 1: give us a top ten and I would think, Okay,
Speaker 1: I see how you came there. But after that, man,
Speaker 1: it's just anybody's guess how you pieced together eleven through
Speaker 1: twenty five, because there's no way you're not basing it
Speaker 1: off of just well, they're typically good. And that used
Speaker 1: to matter because there used to be teams that you
Speaker 1: just knew, and there still are teams that, like, if
Speaker 1: they're not good, it's a real surprise. But moving forward,
Speaker 1: there's going to be teams that do really fluctuate from
Speaker 1: one year to the other. Because of the new world
Speaker 1: that is college athletics. The portal and I al that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff. So I've been excited for Saturday, but
Speaker 1: I'm even more excited now because I if they end
Speaker 1: up losing and it's a close scan, like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell you what my reaction is
Speaker 1: going to be for a result that hasn't happened yet,
Speaker 1: but like I expect them to win. Maybe I'll learn
Speaker 1: the hard way that I got my hopes up and
Speaker 1: I really, you know, lifted my belief up for this
Speaker 1: team based off of a fifty point beat down to
Speaker 1: a morehead state team. But if you go look at
Speaker 1: Tennessee's personnel, I mean, the twelve ranking is because of
Speaker 1: what they've done really for the last I don't know,
Speaker 1: however many years under Rick Barnes, they're more often the
Speaker 1: top twenty team than they're not under Barnes, it seems,
Speaker 1: but this person like, I don't think that you could
Speaker 1: look at their roster and say that they were winners
Speaker 1: in the portal. And I also don't look at I
Speaker 1: don't think you can look at the guys that they
Speaker 1: brought back and feel like they should just be walking
Speaker 1: Like I wouldn't be shocked if they're not in the
Speaker 1: top six of the SEC or even worse than that. Now, again,
Speaker 1: I realize everything I just said in the last ten
Speaker 1: minutes or so can be completely, you know, used as
Speaker 1: as material to make fun of me, because maybe Tennessee
Speaker 1: kicks the Louisvel's ass on Saturday and they end up
Speaker 1: being really, really good this year. And it was one
Speaker 1: of the worst takes I've ever had. And if that's
Speaker 1: the case, I'll live with it. I've been wrong many times,
Speaker 1: but I'm just telling you what I think. I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't look at this Tennessee team and think that
Speaker 1: they're they're anything anybody should really be scared of. And again,
Speaker 1: Louisville's got good players, now, I mean they've they've got
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what their ceiling is. But
Speaker 1: I'll say what I've said really since the roster was
Speaker 1: put together before we saw these guys play, and that
Speaker 1: is that Pat Kelsey has a roster on paper that
Speaker 1: we are not out of line to expect this to
Speaker 1: be a tournament team. Now, if they don't get there,
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that there's some epic failure, but like there's
Speaker 1: a tournament team when it comes to personnel and now
Speaker 1: we've seen them play mostly exhibitions in one regular season game.
Speaker 1: But I since the roster came together, I've just been
Speaker 1: more and more confident that this is a tournament caliber team.
Speaker 1: So that's what the expectation should be at minimum in
Speaker 1: my opinion, So exciting times, no doubt, quick break will
Speaker 1: come back on the other side. Wrap up the four
Speaker 1: o'clock hour. I do need to share a story about
Speaker 1: something that happened with me earlier today. That isn't like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not mean. It's not like it's some
Speaker 1: crazy story you're.
Speaker 4: Gonna God blessed Nana caliber. No, but it is kind
Speaker 4: of related to that. Oh okay, it made me feel old,
Speaker 4: but it also was I don't know, just stick around.
Speaker 4: That's a way to really leave you hanging and suspense.
Speaker 1: Oh what could it be? Well, you'll find out. On
Speaker 1: the other side, you'll probably be underwhelmed, but hey, stick
Speaker 1: around and find out for yourself right here on Sports
Speaker 1: Talk seven ninety So earlier today, I was out, just
Speaker 1: dropped both kids, both of my kids off. One went
Speaker 1: to went to school, one went to daycare, and then
Speaker 1: a light went off in my car like a warning,
Speaker 1: and I thought, oh, my god, because if you don't
Speaker 1: know the story, I'm not going to get into it.
Speaker 1: I've had some really bad car issues, one real big
Speaker 1: car issue that wasn't my fault or my car'spault. Took
Speaker 1: my car to AutoZone to get a battery swapped out,
Speaker 1: and they broke it and left me without my vehicle
Speaker 1: for about a month. So, you know, I'm a little
Speaker 1: bit sensitive to just any little problem with my car
Speaker 1: because I'll, you know, it'll it'll if I have something
Speaker 1: else wrong with it, like big, like a big problem,
Speaker 1: I'll probably just put it up for sale and just
Speaker 1: try to get rid of the bad energy that that
Speaker 1: that has been caused not by the vehicle but by AutoZone.
Speaker 1: So the light that went off was was was minor.
Speaker 1: It was that I need to replace the battery in
Speaker 1: my key. That makes sense. When I saw battery on there,
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my god. And then it was
Speaker 1: it was just a warning that like the battery you
Speaker 1: know that that that the auto Yeah, yeah, yeah, so
Speaker 1: I needed to replace it, and I think I've already yeah,
Speaker 1: I had done that once before. And here's what happened.
Speaker 1: We got two keys when we bought the car. When
Speaker 1: the battery started giving me trouble last time, I just
Speaker 1: used the backup key, and now I don't know where
Speaker 1: that one is. But anyways, I remember when I was
Speaker 1: at AutoZone for five and a half hours over two
Speaker 1: days time, while they couldn't figure out that they were
Speaker 1: putting my battery on backwards, that there was like a
Speaker 1: little section of little batteries that were for that, Like
Speaker 1: it's a known thing. I guess at auto part stores
Speaker 1: like that people sometimes need to replace those. But do
Speaker 1: you think I'm going back to autos? I'm hell no.
Speaker 1: So there's an O'Reilly's that is not that far away.
Speaker 1: It's actually across Preston Highway down a little bit. So
Speaker 1: I go in there and I'm walking around and I'm
Speaker 1: actually on the phone at the time, and I found
Speaker 1: the right battery that I needed, and I ended up
Speaker 1: walking up to the register and I could kind of
Speaker 1: feel that the guy that was there knew me or
Speaker 1: recognized me or something. And you know, they the community
Speaker 1: that I live in. It may not be that he
Speaker 1: recognizes me because of anything in regards to like what
Speaker 1: I do, but just because you know, where I grew
Speaker 1: up is where I live and a lot of people
Speaker 1: know a lot of people, right, I'm sure a lot
Speaker 1: of you can relate to that. And it turns out
Speaker 1: he did. This is what the guy told me. First
Speaker 1: of all, he said, I thought that was you, and
Speaker 1: then and then and then he and then I realized
Speaker 1: how insane it is that you're here, probably because of
Speaker 1: the story that I listened to on your show for
Speaker 1: for quite some time. And I was like, oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I said, I wasn't going to go back there. And
Speaker 1: it turns out that he his I think he said
Speaker 1: his brother or his stepbrother went to school with me
Speaker 1: and is relatively close to my age, but he's a
Speaker 1: little bit younger. But the guy I talked to this
Speaker 1: is what made me feel old. He said, he remembers
Speaker 1: listening to me, to my to my podcast, like you know, whenever,
Speaker 1: when I was on a different station many many years ago.
Speaker 1: And now he's like, you know, he said, at that time,
Speaker 1: he was he was just finishing high school. But he's
Speaker 1: like a big Louisville fan or whatever. And he went
Speaker 1: on to tell me that, you know, he's been listening
Speaker 1: to me ever since, and he's like grown with kids,
Speaker 1: and he's married and like he's a manager of a business.
Speaker 1: And this is somebody that, like, you know, was a
Speaker 1: young teenager at the time that they were I guess
Speaker 1: introduced to me, and like it really made me. I
Speaker 1: would have guessed the guy was like close to my age,
Speaker 1: but no, he's probably like you know, John's age, or
Speaker 1: a little bit older than John. It made me feel
Speaker 1: really really old. But then he wanted he wanted to
Speaker 1: play by play like he was trying to. He wanted
Speaker 1: some inside info. He wanted to know how that happened.
Speaker 1: And I explained it to him, and he was like,
Speaker 1: I thought maybe you were embellishing a little bit for
Speaker 1: the story. And I'm like, oh, no, you can't, I said.
Speaker 1: I told him, I said what I said on the
Speaker 1: show many times is what I said every day. You
Speaker 1: can't make this up, Like, how did this happen? How
Speaker 1: did AutoZone go? You know, how did I go give
Speaker 1: them business and pay two hundred plus dollars for a
Speaker 1: battery and they broke my car and left me without
Speaker 1: one for about a month and had no urgency or
Speaker 1: no apology. They did pay to get it fixed, but
Speaker 1: that was a whole hassle on because of them, And
Speaker 1: I was like, well, you know, we'll take your business
Speaker 1: any time. And I'm like, you're gonna get it. I'm
Speaker 1: never walking back. I've never walking back in there again.
Speaker 1: But yeah, made me. It made me feel old. And
Speaker 1: then I saw a story later today that made me
Speaker 1: realize this. Despite how frustrating the auto's owne experience was
Speaker 1: for me, it could be worse. I mean, check check
Speaker 1: this out. There is a let me pull it up here.
Speaker 1: There is a guy who is suing a I guess
Speaker 1: an ambulance company. Let me pull up the story here
Speaker 1: just to get get the specifics. But can you imagine
Speaker 1: riding your bike on the street and getting getting hit
Speaker 1: by a car, in fact, getting run over by an ambulance,
Speaker 1: only for them to then put you in the back
Speaker 1: of the ambulance, take you to the hospital, and then
Speaker 1: give you a bill for the ambulance ride. Like that's
Speaker 1: that That's what happened apparently in Oregon. Yes, so an
Speaker 1: Oregon cyclist I'm reading here from Oregon Live. An organ
Speaker 1: cyclist who was struck by an ambulance that made a
Speaker 1: right turn into him, fracturing his nose, leaving him with
Speaker 1: scrapes and other injuries across his body. Has followed a
Speaker 1: nine hundred and ninety thousand dollars lawsuit against the ambulance
Speaker 1: provider after it scooped him up, drove him to the hospital,
Speaker 1: and then build him for the service. His attorney says
Speaker 1: the ambulance provider sent the client a one thousand and
Speaker 1: eight and sixty two dollars bill for the ambulance ride,
Speaker 1: and it says that's among about forty seven thousand dollars
Speaker 1: in medical expenses that this person has racked up so
Speaker 1: far and another fifty thousand of medical costs he expects
Speaker 1: for the rest of his life. So I mean, that's
Speaker 1: got to be like I mean, if it's a lawsuit,
Speaker 1: I assume that that means who you're suing is sticking
Speaker 1: by that you owe them. I don't know. I guess
Speaker 1: maybe they could have said, oh, we didn't mean to
Speaker 1: bill you for that, but then you could still sue him,
Speaker 1: But I don't know. Man, Like that made me realize, yeah,
Speaker 1: they did get my car fixed and I was without it,
Speaker 1: and that still sucks. It was a frustrating experience, but
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, like that's nowhere near as bad
Speaker 1: as having to need medical, medical healthier. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: here's what I believe. The bill was just a processed
Speaker 1: thing they do without realizing. Yeah, we probably shouldn't build
Speaker 1: this guy because we're the reason he was in the ambulance.
Speaker 1: But either way, if they build him or not, I
Speaker 1: would imagine he'd probably still have a lawsuit here. Just
Speaker 1: my guess. All right, we got one more hour to go.
Speaker 1: I can't believe I've fast the show's gone by today,
Speaker 1: but we're foot a strong here in the five o'clock hours,
Speaker 1: So stick with us. Coffee and company. Feel by Thorton's
Speaker 1: right here on Sports Talk seven ninety