Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now Here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: Believe it or not, I try to be mindful of
Speaker 2: how repetitive I am, and I know, as much as
Speaker 2: I have tried to not be so repetitive, I have
Speaker 2: been very repetitive as far as telling you guys how
Speaker 2: much I've enjoyed this level of basketball season, what a
Speaker 2: fun ride it has been so far, and the last
Speaker 2: few years I still loved college basketball and kept up
Speaker 2: with it.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: In fact, I learned throughout Louisville's really rough three year
Speaker 2: stretch there that even if I don't have a team
Speaker 2: that is relevant at all, or if my team is
Speaker 2: terrible or they're you know, not terrible, but just you know,
Speaker 2: not not good, I can still enjoy the sport. I
Speaker 2: didn't know if that would be the case, but without
Speaker 2: trying to figure that out, I was able to figure
Speaker 2: that out because I just love college basketball when it
Speaker 2: comes to wagering on it or just keeping up with it.
Speaker 2: So this year I've not been. I mean, I'm keeping
Speaker 2: up with it, but I've not been. I guess as
Speaker 2: on top of things because my focus is more so
Speaker 2: on my team, which is fun. It's the way it
Speaker 2: should be as a college basketball fan, and you want
Speaker 2: to have some skin in the game in Louisville. You know,
Speaker 2: I've made an emotional investment as a Louisville fan to
Speaker 2: where I don't ever need a bet on them. If
Speaker 2: they lose, I feel like, I feel like it feels
Speaker 2: worse than when I lost a bet. If they win,
Speaker 2: it feels better than when I cash a ticket. So
Speaker 2: I didn't realize that we're about to have coming up
Speaker 2: this weekend number one verse number two in college basketball,
Speaker 2: number one Auburn taken on number two Alabama. In fact,
Speaker 2: never mind, it's the other. Yeah, number one Auburn and
Speaker 2: number two Alabama and should be a great game that
Speaker 2: goes without saying two of the best teams in the country.
Speaker 3: But CBS Sports just put together kind of a.
Speaker 2: Breakdown of how often we get number one verse number two,
Speaker 2: and we do get it, but it's just not been
Speaker 2: It's not been as frequent as you might expect, although
Speaker 2: maybe maybe you realize that it's a rare thing in general.
Speaker 2: But what we have here is two teams from the
Speaker 2: same conference playing each other. With both teams being in
Speaker 2: the top two. The last time you had that happen
Speaker 2: was in twenty sixteen, nine years ago, Oklahoma went into
Speaker 2: Allen Field House to take on Kansas, and that was
Speaker 2: a hell of a game. I remember that game just
Speaker 2: because it was I don't remember it being number one
Speaker 2: verse number two. I mean, it makes sense that it was,
Speaker 2: but I just remember this when I saw triple overtime
Speaker 2: and Buddy Healed, I knew. I remembered watching that game
Speaker 2: because it was a thriller. But Kansas ended up winning
Speaker 2: one o nine to one oh six and triple overtime,
Speaker 2: and Buddy Heeld of course ended up becoming the national
Speaker 2: player the U. And that again, that's the last time,
Speaker 2: actually that's that's the last time it happened where you
Speaker 2: had a team from two teams from the same conference.
Speaker 2: So Bama and Auburn this weekend, two schools that typically
Speaker 2: when they meet and it's a big deal, it's the
Speaker 2: Iron Bowl, right, it's football. But now they are number
Speaker 2: one and number two in basketball, which really I've be't
Speaker 2: thought about that. Both have been good in basketball in
Speaker 2: recent years, right, I mean both have been to a
Speaker 2: Final four in like the last five years, so it's
Speaker 2: not like it's unusual for them to be good, but
Speaker 2: to see them both number one and number two, it
Speaker 2: is wild, just because I still when I think of
Speaker 2: those two schools, I'm gonna always think football, and I
Speaker 2: know I'm not alone. But some other previous matchups between
Speaker 2: number one and number two, this was not a conference matchup,
Speaker 2: but the last time we got one in two playing
Speaker 2: each other was when Gonzaga and let's see was it Gonzaga,
Speaker 2: Let's see here, Yeah, Gonzaga and UCLA. That was in
Speaker 2: November of twenty twenty one, and Gonzaga beat number two
Speaker 2: UCLA eighty three to sixty three in Las Vegas. That's
Speaker 2: a pretty easy to forget game for me, probably just
Speaker 2: because it took place in November, whenever, you know, you
Speaker 2: got a bunch of non conference games.
Speaker 3: But yeah, the other some other, some other data here.
Speaker 2: According to CBS Sports, the nine most recent Top two
Speaker 2: games were in the regular season. The number the number
Speaker 2: two team is fourteen and twelve, so that's in the
Speaker 2: last nine, but overall number one leads twenty three to
Speaker 2: twenty one. The most recent instance of number one playing
Speaker 2: number two in the postseason was the two thousand and
Speaker 2: five National Championship game between North Carolina and Illinois. I
Speaker 2: remember that very well because those teams were elite. That
Speaker 2: Illinois team of course, with Darren Williams and Dee Brown.
Speaker 2: Those guys knocked off Louisville in that final four, and
Speaker 2: then Carolina was just loaded that year. A one two
Speaker 2: game has never included these two teams, which again that
Speaker 2: probably doesn't surprise many people. Bruce Pearl, by the way,
Speaker 2: is the only coach who is now going to be
Speaker 2: playing in two games number one and number two. And
Speaker 2: I remember this game just because I remember it being
Speaker 2: such a big deal in college basketball, and I remember
Speaker 2: where I was when I watched it. I was in
Speaker 2: Lexington at my friend's house who were They were going
Speaker 2: to UK at the time and they lived there. I
Speaker 2: remember being there watching this game. It was number one
Speaker 2: Memphis when Calip Perry was there in Bruce Pearl's number
Speaker 2: two Tennessee balls. That was back in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 2: so that was Chris lofton for Tennessee and I don't
Speaker 2: remember was it. I guess Derrick Rose was probably on
Speaker 2: that Memphis team, I would imagine, So a big game
Speaker 2: coming up, No doubt not a huge game tonight for
Speaker 2: Louisville as they take on NC State. I mean it's
Speaker 2: a big game for Louisville fans because you know, I
Speaker 2: feel like any game is a big game, right going
Speaker 2: through the motions as a Louisville basketball fan this year,
Speaker 2: I feel like it is almost impossible. And what I
Speaker 2: mean by going through the motions is like, you know,
Speaker 2: not to where you feel like it's a chore. But
Speaker 2: it certainly did feel like that the last couple of
Speaker 2: years to now, I feel like they could play anybody
Speaker 2: in fans are going to be excited to watch because
Speaker 2: we enjoy watching this team play. So in C State,
Speaker 2: they've been bad all year, They've lost eight in a row,
Speaker 2: and this really is a game where Louisville should take
Speaker 2: care of business, regardless of the status of Chucky Hepburn.
Speaker 2: But we do have a photo from the U OFL
Speaker 2: men's basketball Instagram account that does show Chucky in uniform
Speaker 2: going through the walkthrough, So again I choose to believe
Speaker 2: that's an encouraging sign. It doesn't really tell us anything.
Speaker 2: He might have done the same thing against Miami, although
Speaker 2: I don't believe he did because they announced before the
Speaker 2: game that he wasn't going to go, so I look
Speaker 2: at that as an encouraging sign. But even if Chucky
Speaker 2: doesn't play, you should still win this game. I think
Speaker 2: that's not asking too much. And if they do lose
Speaker 2: without Chucky, yes, both things can be true. They're not
Speaker 2: as good of a team when they don't have him,
Speaker 2: they are more vulnerable to lose to anybody when they
Speaker 2: don't have him, but they also should still be able
Speaker 2: to win. Doesn't guarantee you that they do. But if
Speaker 2: Chucky does play, I feel even better about the matchup.
Speaker 2: But again, it's when Louis of the lost to Georgia Tech.
Speaker 2: Chucky hepburn played right, and for some reason, I feel
Speaker 2: like they've been without him for months, but it's only
Speaker 2: been a week. It might come down to if he
Speaker 2: plays tonight and he's good to go and he plays
Speaker 2: thirty minutes, they really only were without him for one
Speaker 2: game in total, which again, that would be best case
Speaker 2: scenario given where we are right now. But I kind
Speaker 2: of feel like the toll that this injury has taken
Speaker 2: on me mentally. I'll look back and remember, Oh man,
Speaker 2: I remember being scared to death that we didn't have
Speaker 2: Chucky Hedburn, and I thought, Okay, what do I got
Speaker 2: to do. Somebody take Mike groin, give it to him.
Speaker 2: He wouldn't be the same player with mine growing His
Speaker 2: groin is probably a lot better than mine. But anything
Speaker 2: I can do to help, I'll do because I just
Speaker 2: want him out there playing, because clearly he's the most
Speaker 2: important piece to this team.
Speaker 3: So n C State, I'm.
Speaker 2: Sure you guys are well aware of the storyline Brandon
Speaker 2: Huney Hatfield and Mike James, who were here for the
Speaker 2: disastrous era that was Kenny Payne. They now play for
Speaker 2: ency State, but it doesn't look like either guy is
Speaker 2: expected to play. I mean, maybe that's changed, but Mike
Speaker 2: James hadn't played a second all year, was dealing with
Speaker 2: an injury, and then he was back to practicing and
Speaker 2: has since been dealing with an illness. So if he
Speaker 2: plays tonight, he'd be making his debut this season. Maybe
Speaker 2: he does, but I feel like, if you're Mike James,
Speaker 2: you might as well just hang it up the rest
Speaker 2: of the year, maintain a year of eligibility, and start
Speaker 2: fresh next year, probably with well I was gonna say
Speaker 2: probably with a new coach. But if they get rid
Speaker 2: of Kevin Keats. Now, NC State's gonna have spent a
Speaker 2: lot of money to do that. Brandon hilly Hatfield did
Speaker 2: play early on, was averaging you know, double figures at
Speaker 2: the beginning of the season, and has since not played
Speaker 2: very much due to an injury that he's dealing with,
Speaker 2: and he's all, you know, he just hasn't really been
Speaker 2: much of a factor for them. So we shall see.
Speaker 2: But regardless of really the unknowns meaning Chucky playing or
Speaker 2: those two guys playing, Louisville should still win. I have
Speaker 2: confidence that they will. But I'd be a liar if
Speaker 2: I said I wasn't a little nervous, just because again,
Speaker 2: my nerves about Louisville the rest of the way are
Speaker 2: not going to be about that. I'm scared of these opponents.
Speaker 2: And I don't say that to mock them. I just mean,
Speaker 2: like they're not good. Right, So Louisville, by all accounts,
Speaker 2: is going to be favored and expected to win every
Speaker 2: game the rest of the season for obvious reasons. But
Speaker 2: what has me nervous is just knowing what's at stake
Speaker 2: because a devastating loss.
Speaker 3: I mean, I think.
Speaker 2: Most of these games, if you lose would be a
Speaker 2: devastating loss and it could really change your resume in
Speaker 2: a big way. And some of you have challenged me
Speaker 2: on that, and I get it, you know, Like I'm
Speaker 2: not on the committee. I don't know exactly how they
Speaker 2: view Louisville as we speak today, and I don't really
Speaker 2: know what type of record they need for Louisville to
Speaker 2: get a seed that's a five or a six or seven, Like,
Speaker 2: I don't know. We're all speculating that's what this is.
Speaker 2: But if you looked at Louisville's resume from top to
Speaker 2: bottom right now, I think the best thing on it
Speaker 2: is the number the net. But the net isn't the
Speaker 2: end all be all. Because top thirty in the net
Speaker 2: with the record of eighteen and six and four quad
Speaker 2: one wins, only one loss outside of the quad one,
Speaker 2: I mean, that's a solid resume, and I think that's
Speaker 2: why you're seeing Louisville on like the seven line by
Speaker 2: just about everybody else right now. So four quad one
Speaker 2: wins saying that sounds pretty impressive, but those quad one
Speaker 2: wins are not all created equally, right. Indiana beating Michigan
Speaker 2: State last night was wild because I didn't expect it,
Speaker 2: but that helped Indiana because now Indiana they've jumped up
Speaker 2: to number fifty six from sixty one, so maybe they
Speaker 2: can find themselves in the top fifty. That's not even
Speaker 2: in quad one, but it'll stay quad one, but it
Speaker 2: could be quad one if they if they jump up
Speaker 2: five to six more spots before the season comes to an.
Speaker 3: End, so that's a quad two. That could be a
Speaker 3: quad one.
Speaker 2: But another example, I mean, you look at Louisville's current
Speaker 2: quad ones are at SMU at Pitt and I don't
Speaker 2: think you have any real worry about those going away.
Speaker 2: West Virginia needs to be in the top fifty. They're
Speaker 2: forty three, so not a whole lot of room for
Speaker 2: error there. Who else would be? Who else is considered
Speaker 2: a quad one for Louisville. Now I'm curious. I should
Speaker 2: have known this ahead of time. I thought I would
Speaker 2: just be able to riff it and know exactly which
Speaker 2: ones they are, because it's clear which wins have value
Speaker 2: in which ones don't. So West Virginia is one. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: Clemson beating them at home because they're now in the
Speaker 2: top thirty. So those are your four quad one wins.
Speaker 2: Two of them could easily go away, right, So here's
Speaker 2: something that could make them go away. If Louisville loses
Speaker 2: to a bad NC State team or like a bad
Speaker 2: Virginia Tech team or Stanford or cal or one of
Speaker 2: those teams. What that's going to do is that's going
Speaker 2: to drop Louisville's number probably more than a few spots.
Speaker 3: And you know what that would do.
Speaker 2: It would make the teams that are borderline quad one
Speaker 2: now even worse. If Louisville loses to one of these
Speaker 2: bad teams, that's going to impact in Oklahoma. I'm sorry
Speaker 2: at West Virginia because they're loss to Louisville doesn't look
Speaker 2: as good if Louisville takes a hit. So these things
Speaker 2: all matter. Now again, it's not the end all be all.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of factors that go into it. But
Speaker 2: my point is this, if Louisville starts to slide in
Speaker 2: these metrics, NET and kin palm, that's going to also
Speaker 2: hurt the teams that they have any real value with
Speaker 2: those wins. So like that, it's not like a loss
Speaker 2: here is devastating. I mean, you'd still be eighteen and seven,
Speaker 2: you'd still have four quad one wins, but I think
Speaker 2: you get to the point where you're just becomes a
Speaker 2: lot different with with with a loss to one of
Speaker 2: these teams the rest of the way, because of all
Speaker 2: the other effects that.
Speaker 3: Come with that.
Speaker 2: So I try to tell myself, let's not worry about
Speaker 2: that until you know what happens. But it could easily happen,
Speaker 2: and I just think there's so much to lose and
Speaker 2: very little to gain, and you can't control it.
Speaker 3: Right, it is what it is.
Speaker 2: Just come ready to play one game at a time
Speaker 2: and if they do that, they should be able to
Speaker 2: win out. But you know, it's easier said than done, all.
Speaker 3: Right, Austome.
Speaker 2: When you think of NC State, is there a game
Speaker 2: between n C State and Louisville or something about NC
Speaker 2: State basketball that comes to mind for you.
Speaker 3: When it comes to bat, Well, there's two things, one
Speaker 3: basketball and one football. I guess. I guess the football
Speaker 3: one is after all the FBI stuff came down and
Speaker 3: their fans or chanting FBI to it was mar Jackson. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and did we lose that game? Oh yeah, yeah, they
Speaker 3: got they got us good. Yeah, that was pretty nice
Speaker 3: Thursday night.
Speaker 2: It was routy, and I think so the game I
Speaker 2: think of is the sweet sixteen game where same where
Speaker 2: Louisville ended up holding on and beating n C State
Speaker 2: in that it was yeah.
Speaker 3: Sweet sixteen, right, it's Anton Gill game two thousand, Yeah,
Speaker 3: twenty fifteen. By the way, that was ten years ago.
Speaker 2: That was the last time that Louisville made it to
Speaker 2: the second weekend. In fact, they lost in the Elite
Speaker 2: A to Michigan State that year. But yes, it was
Speaker 2: the Anton Gill game and n C State if I
Speaker 2: remember correctly. Yeah, they were in eight seeds, so they
Speaker 2: ended up upsetting somebody to get to the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 2: This was the first year these two teams were in
Speaker 2: the same conference together. This was Louisville's first year in
Speaker 2: the ACC. And you had a hot NC State team
Speaker 2: that had Trevor Lacy.
Speaker 3: I forgot about that guy.
Speaker 2: Wow, he had eighteen points. And they also had one
Speaker 2: of the Martin twins. Caleb Martin played on that team,
Speaker 2: big bj Anya.
Speaker 3: And uh oh yeah it was a huge dude, right, yeah,
Speaker 3: big thick guy.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 2: So for Louisville it was Trez who had twenty four.
Speaker 2: Big night for him, Roseier seventeen. I mean, those guys
Speaker 2: really led this team. Quentin Snyder ended up having fourteen,
Speaker 2: but it was Anton Gill who went three for three
Speaker 2: and scored seven points off the bench that really helped
Speaker 2: Louisville go on a run to win. In fact, I
Speaker 2: forgot that went to overtime. Yeah, they went to an
Speaker 2: overtime period there and held on to win.
Speaker 3: So that was big because Louisville.
Speaker 2: Of course, you know at that point you're one game
Speaker 2: away from the Final four, and that's sweet. The Sweet
Speaker 2: sixteen games are always and I feel like Louisville has
Speaker 2: a pretty good record in Sweet sixteen games in my lifetime.
Speaker 2: Of course, the one that they lost most recently in
Speaker 2: the Sweet sixteen is one that still breaks my heart,
Speaker 2: and that was that lost to Kentucky in twenty fourteen,
Speaker 2: which just the thought of it makes me want to vomit.
Speaker 3: But yeah, so I think of that game specifically.
Speaker 2: I also think of Cat Barber just because he was
Speaker 2: a former Louisville recruit, big time guy, a big time guard,
Speaker 2: remember him, and he two things won.
Speaker 3: He was seemingly like a done deal to Louisville.
Speaker 2: Then then it was revealed that he was the burglar
Speaker 2: Cat bart Cat Barbara the burglar stole something from a
Speaker 2: Louisville player. I think it might have been Tres or
Speaker 2: maybe I'm thinking of the other. I don't know who
Speaker 2: it was, but he stole something and got caught like
Speaker 2: stealing from one of the players, and that ended all
Speaker 2: scenarios where he'd ever end up at Louisville. And then
Speaker 2: also he got caught wiping a booger on Montrez Heralin
Speaker 2: a game. I remember that. Yeah, so I think of that,
Speaker 2: and then this is just rant. This isn't I mean,
Speaker 2: this isn't. This isn't a specific game between the two.
Speaker 2: But there was a recruit that I feel like if
Speaker 2: you were to ever go back, and I don't know
Speaker 2: why anybody would do this, this is useless information, but
Speaker 2: if somebody did decide to go dig up data to
Speaker 2: to you know, to put this together. The recruits that
Speaker 2: Louisville fans talked about the most that never ended up
Speaker 2: playing here and really never ended up being any good
Speaker 2: wherever they went. Maverick Rowan is on that list. Maverick Rowan,
Speaker 2: I mean he was like on the fence, kind of committed,
Speaker 2: but wouldn't commit to Louisville for I feel like months
Speaker 2: and then sure enough, in the end, he ends up
Speaker 2: committing to n C State, played there for I think
Speaker 2: two three years maybe and was a fine player, but
Speaker 2: like wasn't great. But I just remember his recruitment seemed
Speaker 2: to last like forever. I mean, clearly he was somebody
Speaker 2: on their radar, but there was about a two and
Speaker 2: a half three month period where I feel like, any
Speaker 2: day now we were waiting is this guy gonna actually
Speaker 2: commit or not? And he ended up going to n
Speaker 2: C State. But yeah, he didn't. He didn't have a
Speaker 2: real great career in the end. So not a whole
Speaker 2: lot of history between these two. But again, tonight you'll
Speaker 2: hear about the storyline. I'm sure even if those guys
Speaker 2: don't play, the announcers will mention that that Mike James
Speaker 2: and Brandon Hilley Hatfield were both Louisville Cardinals last year.
Speaker 2: But and I'm not, like I get I get it.
Speaker 2: This is a very whatever game just because of you know,
Speaker 2: how bad NC State is for the most part, and Louisville.
Speaker 2: You know, they're a fine team, they're a good story
Speaker 2: for college basketball, but they're not ranked anymore. And of
Speaker 2: all games this week, this is certainly not a marquee one.
Speaker 2: So you're gonna mention on the broadcast certain storylines, certain
Speaker 2: certain things, and that is certainly something to mention, but
Speaker 2: it kind of stops and ends there, because as I
Speaker 2: mentioned earlier, there's really no connection like these two. The
Speaker 2: two guys that are currently at Louisville, they don't know
Speaker 2: anybody on the Louisville sideline, not a one, No players,
Speaker 2: no coaches, So same thing for Louisville's roster.
Speaker 3: They don't in the coaches. They don't know any of
Speaker 3: these guys.
Speaker 2: They don't know Mike James or Braydon huntly had Field,
Speaker 2: and if they do it, it's maybe because they cross
Speaker 2: pass in aau or something like that. So currently an
Speaker 2: update here at DraftKings Louisville. Let's see, we have Louisville
Speaker 2: now up a point. I think, wasn't it six and
Speaker 2: a half When you asked me earlier it was at
Speaker 2: five and then you said no with six. Well now
Speaker 2: it's at seven and a half. So cards favored about
Speaker 2: seven and a half in this game. It must they
Speaker 2: must be either feeling like Chuck's gonna play or they're
Speaker 2: just really.
Speaker 3: In a couple other groin watchers over.
Speaker 2: There realizing how bad NC State is again. They haven't
Speaker 2: won a game in a while, they've lost eight in
Speaker 2: a row. All right, real quick, before we get to
Speaker 2: our next break, I do want to talk about what
Speaker 2: happened last night at Roperena. Mark Pope continues to win
Speaker 2: games that he probably shouldn't win. But then again, if
Speaker 2: he keeps doing it, can we still say that he
Speaker 2: probably should win? Like if Kentucky finds themselves once again
Speaker 2: with a matchup like last night, a top ten team, which,
Speaker 2: by the way, they're going to play some of these teams.
Speaker 2: They still have to play Alabama again, they play Auburn,
Speaker 2: so they'll be in this situation and it sounds insane.
Speaker 2: But you know, if you ask me what I think
Speaker 2: the chances are of Kentucky beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa or
Speaker 2: beating Auburn at home, I may need to ask, well, hey,
Speaker 2: are they going to be at full strength? Because I
Speaker 2: feel better about them winning if they're not at full strength,
Speaker 2: because that's what they've been able to do. It doesn't
Speaker 2: make any sense. I tried to make sense of it earlier.
Speaker 2: I just think it's a well coached team. These guys
Speaker 2: never get too high too low, and when guys can't play,
Speaker 2: they're relying clearly on some other guys that maybe don't
Speaker 2: have the same role when the team's fully healthy, and
Speaker 2: those guys have delivered in those games. Last night, you
Speaker 2: had really a collective effort. But not only did Lamont
Speaker 2: Butler played twenty minutes and had an impact defensively before
Speaker 2: he got hurt again, But you didn't have Jackson Robinson.
Speaker 2: Andrew Carr played twenty minutes, but you wouldn't have noticed him.
Speaker 2: He didn't do anything yet two points. Amari Williams not
Speaker 2: really a huge factor, So it was a little bit
Speaker 2: of everybody contributing. But the guys that did in fact
Speaker 2: need to do more because players were out, they stepped up.
Speaker 2: You got good production off the bench from the Kentucky
Speaker 2: freshman the kids you know, when I say freshmen, I
Speaker 2: mean the kids who you know are from Kentucky, Travis
Speaker 2: Perry and Trenton Noah. Those guys made some big shots,
Speaker 2: big moment for them, no doubt. And then also Kobe Brea.
Speaker 2: He clearly has a bigger amount of work to do
Speaker 2: and he's relied upon more so whenever you don't have
Speaker 2: Jackson Robinson and last night he made some big shots,
Speaker 2: some timely shots. Otiga Oway, who's been their leading scorer
Speaker 2: all year, he did what he typically does, had double figures.
Speaker 2: In fact, I think he scored in double figures in
Speaker 2: every game. So Mark Pope has done a phenomenal job.
Speaker 2: Still don't have a clue of Kentucky's going to be
Speaker 2: a great team in the tournament.
Speaker 3: Who knows what I mean.
Speaker 2: I don't think you really know what to expect the
Speaker 2: rest of the way with this team, because you know,
Speaker 2: for those who say, man, this is a really tough
Speaker 2: Kentucky team to figure out, I don't see it that
Speaker 2: way at all, because I think they're pretty easy to
Speaker 2: figure out. Their losses have been to either really good
Speaker 2: teams or teams that know, hey, if we're going to
Speaker 2: beat them, we need to slow it down. And really
Speaker 2: the game against Clemson earlier this year, that's a good example.
Speaker 2: That's how you beat them, Georgia. Like if you have
Speaker 2: if you go out there with a real intention of
Speaker 2: making sure they don't get into the style of play
Speaker 2: that they want to play, you still may lose, but
Speaker 2: that's your best bet because if you try to run
Speaker 2: with them, it's going to be tough to beat them.
Speaker 2: The only teams that have been able to do that,
Speaker 2: I feel like are Arkansas, who played out of their mind,
Speaker 2: and then of course Floor I'm sorry Alabama, who's one
Speaker 2: of the best teams in the country. So I mean,
Speaker 2: I think they're actually pretty easy to figure out. They
Speaker 2: can get beat by anybody if the game's played at
Speaker 2: a certain style and they're not hitting shots. But they
Speaker 2: also can be not even at full strength and still
Speaker 2: find a way to beat really good teams. So their
Speaker 2: resume is it's a little bit of a head scratcher,
Speaker 2: because again, you feel like if they can beat Tennessee
Speaker 2: twice and sweep them, then they shouldn't have losses to
Speaker 2: you know, Georgia, Ohio State, that kind of stuff. But again,
Speaker 2: I think if you I think the explanation I provided,
Speaker 2: you know, maybe it doesn't make a ton of sense
Speaker 2: to you, but I think that's what's happened whenever you
Speaker 2: have the mindset of like like, for example, Tennessee should
Speaker 2: never shoot more threes, or at least you shouldn't even
Speaker 2: shoot close to as many threes as Kentucky, but they've
Speaker 2: done it twice. And Rick Barnes is cool with it
Speaker 2: and that's how he loses. That's not to take credit
Speaker 2: away from Kentucky, but I mean they shot eighteen threes
Speaker 2: last night. They made three of them, meaning Tennessee, they
Speaker 2: shot way more than Kentucky did when they played in Knoxville.
Speaker 2: And if you are playing them at their game, look,
Speaker 2: you may still win, but if you end up losing,
Speaker 2: I don't know. Maybe it's a pride thing. I don't
Speaker 2: think coaches are gonna ever want to reinvent themselves for
Speaker 2: one specific game. But man, it's gamesmanship, it's strategizing, and
Speaker 2: I don't think you have to feel like you're weak
Speaker 2: and you are inferior if you just know, hey, we're
Speaker 2: going to go out here and not try to play
Speaker 2: them at their game, because why would we want to
Speaker 2: do something that's going to put them in their comfort
Speaker 2: zone where they're at their best. And it kind of
Speaker 2: felt like last night and stretches Tennessee. I mean, they
Speaker 2: didn't take a lot of bad shots, but like if
Speaker 2: they just slowed it down and really tried to grind
Speaker 2: it out, they'd had a better chance of winning. All right,
Speaker 2: quick break, We'll come back on the other side. Keep
Speaker 2: it rolling along. It's coffee and Company. Feel about Thornton's
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety Now back to coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven nine.
Speaker 2: Day, the Tyler Shuck fanclub continues to grow when it
Speaker 2: comes to not just louisll fans, but those that cover
Speaker 2: the NFL Draft. He did a really good job of
Speaker 2: making an impression, a good impression, I should say, on
Speaker 2: folks at the Senior Bowl. And now you've got big
Speaker 2: names out there that you know again, I think the
Speaker 2: NFL Draft lead up, in the NFL draft coverage is
Speaker 2: one of the really, like the most delusional things that
Speaker 2: we really lock in on because these guys have access,
Speaker 2: they have resources, but like nobody ever just thinks to themselves,
Speaker 2: why would anybody agent or personnel from an organization give
Speaker 2: these guys info only to use them as puppets to
Speaker 2: like put something out there that is exactly not what
Speaker 2: they're going to do, right, I mean, I just to me,
Speaker 2: that's pretty obvious, and I mean more often not when
Speaker 2: you think of somebody in previous drafts, as far as
Speaker 2: one of the analysts, one of the talking heads, when
Speaker 2: you think of their NFL Draft predictions, you more often
Speaker 2: than not think about how wrong they were about things
Speaker 2: like no offense to my boy Brian, But like, was
Speaker 2: it mcsha or Kuiper who said that that Brian Brohm
Speaker 2: was the future of the Packers and not Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 2: Like that's a very memorable thing that like clearly was wrong. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so again it's more buzz i. Guess can be a
Speaker 2: good thing. But I've never really believed that these guys
Speaker 2: are being told by anybody what what's going to happen,
Speaker 2: And a lot of it comes from agents. But again agents,
Speaker 2: quite literally, that is their job to manipulate and try
Speaker 2: to just build up their client NonStop.
Speaker 3: And if it's lie and do a.
Speaker 2: Media member or an analyst about something, because they'll put
Speaker 2: it out there, then everybody's gonna believe it and then
Speaker 2: it'll get more hype for your player. Like again that's
Speaker 2: kind of I think, quite literally, not kind of that
Speaker 2: is that is their job. That is sort of what
Speaker 2: they're supposed to do. But the list is growing because
Speaker 2: it was let me see which which I can't think
Speaker 2: of which an Austin mentioned that Colin Coward was talking
Speaker 2: about Tyler Schuck on his show today, which again that alone,
Speaker 2: is that that tells you that he is and he
Speaker 2: is absolutely getting some more buzzs. And then it was
Speaker 2: Todd McShay who put it out there last night on
Speaker 2: Twitter with some clips of Shuck playing and says there
Speaker 2: aren't four quarterbacks in this draft class more gifted with
Speaker 2: NFL tools than Louisville QB Tyler Shuck. There, I said
Speaker 2: it good night, So I would love for him to
Speaker 2: end up having a really good run in the NFL
Speaker 2: and saying to know where, I mean, I don't even
Speaker 2: know what his draft stock actually is. He's getting some
Speaker 2: love and that's great, but as far as what round
Speaker 2: he's like projected to go in, I don't.
Speaker 3: Last I saw was like sixth.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's maybe that's since changed because he's continuing to
Speaker 2: get more praise and there's more there's more work being
Speaker 2: done in the film room to see all these tools
Speaker 2: that he has. But yeah, the buzz continues to grow
Speaker 2: for Tyler Schuck, which is which is a good thing.
Speaker 3: All right, So last night, and I mentioned this.
Speaker 2: Game yesterday for some reason, I was thinking of it
Speaker 2: was this weekend, but I was wrong. So Yukon of course,
Speaker 2: the defending national champs twice. They've won two consecutive national championships,
Speaker 2: which you know, been a long time since we've.
Speaker 3: Had anybody do that. They I don't think of.
Speaker 2: Them necessarily as like a contender to win it this year,
Speaker 2: but I'm foolish not to right. I mean, they're still
Speaker 2: seventeen and seven, nine and four in the Big East,
Speaker 2: and they're not going to win their league it doesn't
Speaker 2: look like.
Speaker 3: But they're still a good team.
Speaker 2: And they won last night seventy to sixty six on
Speaker 2: the road at Creighton, a Creighton team that was red hot,
Speaker 2: and there was a dollar beers being served at Creighton
Speaker 2: last night to really have a rowdy atmosphere.
Speaker 3: And I think Hurley is really good for.
Speaker 2: College basketball as the guy who is unable to not
Speaker 2: be emotional and fiery on the sideline.
Speaker 3: So I have no issue last night with.
Speaker 2: Him walking off the court looking at the remaining Creighton
Speaker 2: fans that were there, pointing to his ring finger and
Speaker 2: saying he's got two of them, Like, I got no
Speaker 2: issue with that. But what you can't do is then
Speaker 2: cry when you act like that and you lose, because
Speaker 2: you are on top right now. You are the two
Speaker 2: time defending national champion, and you're pretty easy to dislike
Speaker 2: if your team. And I don't mean that in like
Speaker 2: a personal way, but he's he's always yelling at the refs.
Speaker 2: He's clearly said some things that we now know what
Speaker 2: he said to the refs, which really shows how arrogant
Speaker 2: he is.
Speaker 3: But hey, he's got to be right to be ergan.
Speaker 3: He's a winner.
Speaker 2: He's got two national championships in two straight years. So
Speaker 2: don't be a baby and play victim whenever you're acting
Speaker 2: the same way and your energy is the same, but
Speaker 2: you lose, that makes it mean, that makes you lame
Speaker 2: in my opinion. And again I'm sure he doesn't care
Speaker 2: about my opinion of him, but big he's good for
Speaker 2: college basketball when he's that way, good or bad, and
Speaker 2: he should be more into it and wave goodbye to
Speaker 2: the fans and Creighton last night as he walked off
Speaker 2: the court like that. I think that's fun. That's what
Speaker 2: makes this fun. But also when you lose, you know,
Speaker 2: just to eat it. Don't don't play victim in the
Speaker 2: press conferences as if they're picking on you. I wish
Speaker 2: they'd go watch other coaches this closely what you run
Speaker 2: it from the attention. For you said it yourself to
Speaker 2: a referee that you're the best coach in college basketball.
Speaker 2: There's going to be more tension on somebody that is,
Speaker 2: in fact that good at what they do. But here's
Speaker 2: what he said last night about the Creighton fans. And again,
Speaker 2: I'm sure if you're a creaton fan, you wouldn't like this.
Speaker 2: And I get why people are like, no, I don't
Speaker 2: like that guy. He's too arrogant. Like I understand it,
Speaker 2: but sports is entertainment and I found this to be entertaining.
Speaker 3: And here's what he had to say. What was that
Speaker 3: moment when you, of course it's doing the stupid ass thing.
Speaker 2: And by the way, I now have figured out not
Speaker 2: necessarily and I'll get it fixed in a second, because
Speaker 2: this is worth hearing.
Speaker 3: But I now know where. I don't know how it happens.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you use your phone or like,
Speaker 2: you know, a cinematype camera, then it's one thing. But
Speaker 2: news report like people who work for news stations that
Speaker 2: are there getting you know, footage for their newscast. And
Speaker 2: by the way, shout out to those people.
Speaker 3: They're great. We bring many of them on the show.
Speaker 2: Shout out to our guy Kent Spencer, WHS eleven, Kendrick Haskins, like,
Speaker 2: I love these guys, but it's it's those accounts that
Speaker 2: have the video that only plays out of one side,
Speaker 2: one channel, and it's an issue for us because for
Speaker 2: some reason whenever it's only playing out of one channel
Speaker 2: and not both channels or mono, which if you know audio,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm talking about. It it's it's it
Speaker 2: only plays for the streamers, like the people who are
Speaker 2: listening on the out radio. If you're listening on the radio,
Speaker 2: if you're listening on the tresshel radio like in your car,
Speaker 2: and we play that sound, we can hear it. People
Speaker 2: streaming on hour can hear it, but it's just silence
Speaker 2: on the radio. So when that happens, I got to
Speaker 2: rip the sound and make it, make a change to it,
Speaker 2: which I've done here.
Speaker 4: When you well, I just wish there was more people
Speaker 4: still here, you know, that was the only thing because
Speaker 4: when I've gotten my butt kicked in here, minus the
Speaker 4: COVID year, which we would all like to forget, where
Speaker 4: I think this was the only place we came to
Speaker 4: that actually had fans that year, you know. But I've
Speaker 4: obviously had to walk off unceremoniously, uh, you know, just
Speaker 4: crushed by the crowd, and you know, curse that, and
Speaker 4: and you know and and but I don't really as
Speaker 4: long as they're not leaning over the rail and getting
Speaker 4: in my face. I mean, I I think it's what
Speaker 4: makes college sports so much better, a college basketball so
Speaker 4: much better than any other type of basketball is you know,
Speaker 4: you got your Uh although the you know, the home
Speaker 4: fans here didn't get the win that they wanted, uh,
Speaker 4: but they got a show. I mean, they got uh
Speaker 4: intense game with you know, with so much passion and
Speaker 4: a life or death struggle. You know, I'm not gonna
Speaker 4: lie to you. I mean I was very gratifying. I
Speaker 4: wait that some people, but I just wish that there
Speaker 4: was more of them still left. There's been a lot
Speaker 4: more left when I've lost and.
Speaker 3: Did a good job of stopping.
Speaker 2: So I think everything he said is true, and I
Speaker 2: wish more coaches would be And I think we are
Speaker 2: getting to a point where it is now more of
Speaker 2: a win for you if you're relatable and you are
Speaker 2: human and you are down to earth. I don't think
Speaker 2: he's really a guy that is like that. I think
Speaker 2: he's I mean, I think he's different just because he's
Speaker 2: a Hurley and he's from a basketball family, and like,
Speaker 2: I don't think he's I don't. I don't think you
Speaker 2: would hang out with Hurley and feel like he's just
Speaker 2: one of the boys. Which I don't mean that as
Speaker 2: an insult, but like, the more you're relatable, the more
Speaker 2: you're down to earth, the more you're humble, rather than
Speaker 2: this larger than life, arrogant figure that that you know
Speaker 2: everybody's beneath him.
Speaker 3: It's just different now.
Speaker 2: So if coaches would acknowledge, like yeah, hell yeah, I
Speaker 2: love drawn back and forth with their fans after we
Speaker 2: beat them, you should say that if it's the truth,
Speaker 2: and we shouldn't act like that makes you classless, because look,
Speaker 2: it's entertainment, it's fun. And I think he is right
Speaker 2: in one of the things he said there, that that's
Speaker 2: what makes college basketball different. You don't get that in
Speaker 2: the NBA, and if you do, it's in a meaningless
Speaker 2: game that you forget about the next day. Because they
Speaker 2: play eighty two of them in the regular season, so
Speaker 2: I doubt they win it this year, but can't say
Speaker 2: I'd be stunned if they do, because They're still a
Speaker 2: good team until somebody takes it from them. They are
Speaker 2: the defending champs. All right, let's get to our last break.
Speaker 2: We'll come back on the other side and I'll wrap
Speaker 2: this thing up. A lot more that I want to
Speaker 2: get into today that I don't have time to get into,
Speaker 2: but that's okay. Some of this stuff's not time sensitive,
Speaker 2: and we can certainly get into it tomorrow, including the
Speaker 2: potential spring football that is very valuable to college programs.
Speaker 2: It may be dying, and that's just because of the
Speaker 2: ever changing life landscape of college athletics. It sounds like
Speaker 2: CBS Sports and I haven't read it in full, but
Speaker 2: there's an article from Brandon Marcelo of CBS Sports that
Speaker 2: mentions that college coaches are considering NFL style OTA's as
Speaker 2: a replacement for spring games because of the portal. And really,
Speaker 2: you don't want anybody to see your spring game on
Speaker 2: TV because they might know you've got a player that
Speaker 2: they could easily just go get if they wanted. Changes
Speaker 2: are crazy, if you really think about it. College sports
Speaker 2: has changed so much off the court, off the field,
Speaker 2: like between the lines, when I watched the product, it's
Speaker 2: still the same and I love it, but everything else
Speaker 2: outside of that, Man, it's a different world than it
Speaker 2: was just four years ago.
Speaker 3: Quick break. We'll come back and wrap it up right
Speaker 3: here on Sports Talk seven to ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: If you've been keeping up with our weather updates, I'm
Speaker 2: not weather updates, I'm sorry traffic updates that you hear
Speaker 2: on your afternoon commute. Sounds like sixty four westbound is.
Speaker 3: In a tough spot. I just saw it. Looks like Way.
Speaker 2: Three that that's where I'm seeing it now, that there's
Speaker 2: a truck on fire that's blocking all lanes of I
Speaker 2: sixty four west bound near Third Street in downtown. And
Speaker 2: then somebody sent in a video to Wave three and
Speaker 2: Olivia Russell posted this and you can see, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's it's it's yikes. I mean sounds like there are
Speaker 2: no injuries, which is good. I guess they realized something
Speaker 2: was wrong and they got away from the vehicle. But
Speaker 2: I don't know if I've ever seen a truck just complet,
Speaker 2: you know, right there on the inter state, burning up
Speaker 2: in flames like that. And then the video that that
Speaker 2: somebody's sending while driving. That's the one that I'm looking
Speaker 2: at now. But if you go to the the aerial
Speaker 2: view that I guess they had a news chopper up
Speaker 2: over top of it. I mean, that thing is burnt
Speaker 2: all the way down to the bones essentially.
Speaker 3: Yeah, pretty pretty scary stuff.
Speaker 2: So terrible traffic for everybody, I am sure, however, I
Speaker 2: would imagine that, you know, the good news is that,
Speaker 2: I mean, it is good news that nobody's nobody's nobody's
Speaker 2: there injured, because I mean, I'm not sure I've seen
Speaker 2: a vehicle on fire quite like that, So hopefully everybody
Speaker 2: stay safe out there. I mean, I don't is there
Speaker 2: a sign that you're supposed to, like, know, hey my
Speaker 2: car is having some issues, because if my car started
Speaker 2: smoking a little bit, I don't think that I would
Speaker 2: just assume it's going to catch on fire.
Speaker 3: Radiator. Yeah, I don't know what leads.
Speaker 2: What leads to it, too, And I wonder what the
Speaker 2: most common factor is as far as somebody on the
Speaker 2: interstate driving and then sure enough their car is on
Speaker 2: fire like that. I mean, I'm sure there are a
Speaker 2: variety of things that could cause that, but maybe they
Speaker 2: just said the hell with it. I'm never getting an
Speaker 2: oil change. I doubt that that would actually cause your
Speaker 2: car to catch on fire. But I don't know nothing
Speaker 2: about vehicles, so therefore, you know, I'm just I have
Speaker 2: no clue. But if somebody is aware of something you
Speaker 2: should be mindful of, like, hey, if this happens, run
Speaker 2: please let me know, because I I feel very ignorant
Speaker 2: to the whole thing at this point. All Right, we
Speaker 2: were out of time, and we still don't have any
Speaker 2: big update, any real update at all about Chucky Hepburn.
Speaker 2: But if you caught the show late, we did see
Speaker 2: Chucky Hepburn getting warmed up. And there's actually a video
Speaker 2: that was sent in from one of the affiliates down
Speaker 2: there in Raleigh that works for I believe, the ABC
Speaker 2: affiliate that shows Chucky going through warm ups and going
Speaker 2: through I mean he's stretching, so that's encouraging, but still
Speaker 2: not any real indicator. Still not really sure if he's
Speaker 2: going to be able to go today, but I hope
Speaker 2: he does. All Right, we're out of here and enjoy
Speaker 2: the evening. Back at it tomorrow on Sports Talk seven
Speaker 2: ninety