1.22: Record Breakers H3

I mean, I just I overthink everything in life. I'm sure I'm not the only person that has that kind of an issue, but I just couldn't. I couldn't get there as far as really thinking that this Louisville team was going to come out not ready to play and that they wouldn't be able to put together a performance that gives them a win. And I was correct. They came ready to play and they ended the game pretty quickly because they dominated and got a twenty five point

victory on the road. And not only that, they continue to climb in the metrics, with the net rankings and also, I mean this doesn't mean anything as far as your resume and the NSAA tournament, but you're still seeing many of the college basketball talking heads going out of their way to just emphasize how well Pat Kelsey has done in year one here and how this Louisville team is

not just playing well and taking advantage of it. Down acc they look like a pretty damn good team, and I know many of us are enjoying every bit of it. Last night, I started the show with this. Actually I knew at nine o'clock a nine o'clock tip would make it to where when the game's over, even if it's not like a super exciting game, if I'm into it, it's gonna be hard for me to just all right, well, bedtime, let's go to sleep. I'm gonna need a little bit

of time to unwind. And Louisville did, in fact give us a very non competitive game. I mean the game was. I mean, Louisville was up twenty ish plus for the majority of the game. But to see Chucky Hepburn and rain Smith chasing those records and of course breaking those records, it was it was awesome to see and I'm loving every bit of it. It's Coffee and Company five o'clock hour here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate all

of you listening. Appreciate our fine folks over at Thornton's. And if you want to join us on the show, you can. Phone lines are now open five oh two five seven one seventy nine hundred. That's the number to give us a call. You can text in on the ln N Federal Credit Union text line five oh two sixty five to three zero seven ninety. The record of

assists in a game was held by Taekwon. I'm sorry, that was held by Francisco Garcia, which, by the way, I kind of feel like if you weren't, like if you just knew of those guys because you knew they were legends and played on that two thousand and five Final four team. And I mean, I think you can be somebody that's young that like remembers the era, but you don't remember a ton about it because you know,

you were really little. Like for me, I remember the era of Dwan Weed, Alvin Simms, BJ Flynn, those guys, because that's the first team I really had a connection to to where I was just I was. I was a super fan of that group. That's where I was just old enough to kind of really be all in. But I don't remember like every stretch. I don't remember everybody they played or anything like that. It was a

long time ago. I was eight years old. So if you are the same way with Taekwondan and Francisco Garcia, then you probably would have thought it was backwards. And then it was Dean because he was you know, Dean was a hell of a shooter. In fact, both guys were phenomenal shooters, but Dean was also a guy who at times played point guard for you and is more of a guard than Cisco. But it was Cisco who had the record for assists, Dean who had the record

for three pointers made in a game. And now you know, those guys no longer hold those records because Chuck Chucky Hepburn. I mean, you keep here and I can't tell you that I wanted to be able to say, why are not people talking more about Chucky Hepburn being one of the best point guards in the country with the way he's playing, And in fact, people are saying it. You heard it last night on the broadcast. Pat Kelsey of

course is emphasizing it. And I think if you were to ask people who you know, ask those objective folks that cover college hoops, they would include Chucky when talking about the best point guards. And it's pretty evident if you watch him and last night, I mean, he was sensational. He was let's see, thirteen points, which I think he had most of those pretty early, and he had sixteen assists, So I'm sorry, I guess I guess it was fifteen

was the record. Sixteen is now the new record. I think I had it wrong earlier by saying he got seventeen last night, but sixteen, that's the new single game record. And rain Smith made ten three pointers, breaking Taekwondane's record of nine that he made during his time as a Louisville Cardinal. So everything about last night was phenomenal. Right, you won, big records are being broken, You're score in

ninety eight points, and I mean everybody got involved. I mean, Terrence Edwards was one point away from Louisville having six players in double figures. And I want to really applaud Terrence Edwards Junior because it's one of those things where it feels weird giving somebody credit for things that they're

supposed to do. But also I know that like you wouldn't see this probably with many other players he's had, he's had games like that where for some reason, and maybe it's just because he's not quite as good of a shooter as some other guys, but he's had some games where his SHOT's just not falling. He's also had games where a shot was falling, and he's been a

big contributor when it comes to scoring. But last night two at thirteen because Rain couldn't miss, and Hadley was five of eight, James Scott seven of twelve, can I Russ off the bench, made four of his five field goals because everybody else was having no problem kind of just you know, joining in on the on the scoring frenzy. It stood out that Terrence Edwards Junior was not making shots.

He was two of thirteen, which again you know that's that's not a great line when it comes to being efficient as far as scoring, but he still makes impact impacts elsewhere. He made all four of his free throws, had four rebounds to go along with five assists and just one turnover, So you know, he can have a night like that and it really isn't an issue for you because you've got others that are Again, this is

where Louisville can get can get really dangerous here. And I don't mean, you know, maybe win a national championship. I mean just that if they if this identity sustains and they carry it over to the NCAA tournament, I mean, they are going to be somebody that's going to be

a tough out for anybody. I believe. Now, maybe I'm wrong and this is all more so a product of the ACC being down, but I don't believe that to be the case, and I'm sure deep down a lot of people don't believe that to be the case either.

So when you've got guys that are consistently given you this kind of production, that's you're dangerous and yeah, anybody can have an off night, but you've got six guys I feel like that have kind of rounded into giving you a consistent amount of production that makes them pretty good players. I don't know who's elite on this team, If anybody, it's gonna be chucky. And also rain just because when he's shooting like he is as of late. I mean, that's a weapon that many teams don't have.

A lot of teams don't have. So it's not like asking Javon Hadley to go five of eight from the floor and get seven rebounds and sixteen points. I mean, that's a pretty tough stat line to maintain. But he's been doing that. Like, you know, he's had some games where he doesn't score as much, but he's also had

games where he scored thirty two. So what has me so bullish about this Louisville run it's kind of been consistent for the last few weeks, is that what has what has made them much better and you know, much more successful winning nine straight games, has been the fact that they're balanced right and the things that you know, you worry about maybe not being there one game that could hurt you. I mean, they are things you can control. Like, I don't think this team's gonna show up and not

play really good defense. They're gonna play some better teams down the line once they get to the tournament, I would imagine, and maybe you know they're not as effective defensively. But what's really made them this successful in January obviously they're not playing the teams they were playing in November and December that beat them. But other than that, it's

things that you can control. It's not luck. Like sometimes it's just gonna have bad luck in an off night, guys missing shots, but you know, would not be a shocker if they're playing Wake Forest and let's say maybe maybe rain Smith is two of nine from three and Chucky Hepburn is you know, three of ten from the floor.

Well if Terrence Edwards steps up and he's you know, back to scoring more points than than he had last night, and he's you know, let's say he's six of eight from the floor, I mean like that those are things

that are very much are realistic. I mean, it's not even about being realistic, it's about like, like that's likely now, Like I think the result, like in any performance, when it comes to just the balance that that you know, that is much different than what we've had in the last six seven games, like that would be the outlier here. I mean, and yesterday, I guess the reason why I couldn't fully get there to say that, you know, I'm

worried and I'm expecting a letdown. They've just been playing so well, at some point, maybe they're going to hit a wall and come back down to reality. Like I kept thinking that that was gonna be where my mindset was. But no, because because what we're watching, it's not like, oh my god, they can't miss now rain Smith last night that was crazy because he was I mean when he hit or ees like six through nine, it was okay,

you got to be making this up. This is unreal, like it was one of the I mean, ten three pointers at a game is un So that's an exception. But the other things that you're seeing, I mean, it's it's it's not only consistent, it's things that are not at all dependent upon good breaks going your way or luck. And that makes me believe that this level of play that has made them a much better team as they've gotten more and more comfortable, everybody seems to have an

identified role. They clearly have an identity. I mean, I think this is very much sustainable. And again I keep saying this over and over, but like I'm loving it, and I know I am. I'm not alone. I do want to talk really quickly about Kentucky fans because I think it's been weird for them because they and I

know you can. You can get deep into the weeds, and you can get deep into the toxic world that is social media, specifically Twitter and x and you know the anonymous accounts that just you know, spew hate and you know that's that's I mean, they're out there and you know it exists. But I think level headed Kentucky fans, even those that you know, really embrace the rivalry and can be nasty at times. I think this is where

they are. They know that to criticize Louisville for being happy and really excited about Pat Kelcey and enjoying this success, I think as much as they want to make fun of us because like, wow, imagine remember the last time I beat a non ranked team on the road, Like, but they also like they also know, like they realized that Louisville fans understandably are loving this because of what

the program's gone through recently. So like, I'm sure you'll find people making fun of Loisll fans for being excited, but I think some are hesitoned to do that because like they get it. Also, I think they're not scared of Louisville, but they also realize, hey, I'm watching basketball I'm a ball knower. I think this team's actually playing pretty well. Like I think they're kind of good. I'm sure they realized that. I'm sure they realized that they're better.

They did beat louisvilleadad I mean, but and who knows, maybe if they played again it would be a different result. I don't know, it doesn't matter. But I think you're not seeing them make fun of Louisville fans for being happy quite as much, because again, I think they understand. I also think they realize that this team is playing pretty good basketball, and they think Pat Kelsey as much as they don't want it, he's likable and they probably

think he's a pretty good coach. And again, I realize there are many of you listening right now that you're Kentucky fins that probably are like, no, this guy's a bum. You guys stink you're only winning because the ACC sucks and you all are embarrassing yourself. When did Louisville start celebrating this kind of stuff? So I'm sure you could find that out there. But what I've noticed is that those that are sort of in the lane I'm describing here right like, they get it when it comes to

the excitement. They actually think Louisville's pretty good. They think Pat Kelsey is doing a really good job. So what do they have to yell about. I'll tell you this is like, this is I think them telling on themselves that they really don't like Louisville being good and winning because you know, it's the rival. I'm the same way with them. All they do is just yell about how the ACC stinks. They're throwing all these numbers out there that highlight how down the ACC is and how loaded

their league is. That is their passive way to, you know, deal with it. Now. Maybe again, I'm sure some aren't as passive in summery in your face and you know, telling you you stink, you suck Loserville, l's down, all that kind of stuff. But I've noticed it, like even Kentucky fans that I'm friends with, that i'm close with, that we don't really do the rivalry thing back and forth because I'm never going to change their mind, They're never going to change mine. I'm gonna be a Louisville fan,

They're gonna be Kentucky fans. And that's the way it should be, you know, instead of like, oh, Wow, Louis's playing really good. They're just like, man, you guys notice like how bad the acc is? Yeah, clearly, And that's why I that is exactly why I find myself overdoing it.

As far as that disclaimer that, yes, Louisville's success here lately, part of the part of the reason they've been to win nine in a row is because they're now playing teams that aren't elite, aren't great, and earlier this year they were playing really, really good teams. And that's why I think when it comes to the resume, like Louisville didn't beat any of the big, big teams on the schedule, and in fact, they got blown out by a couple of them, but they still played a challenging schedule. So

that's gonna help them, Right. There's other teams out there that have a record similar to Louisville and maybe even like a better win or two, but they also didn't play such a challenging schedule. And in the end, that's that's always the way to go. Now again, it can hurt you because you end up with a record, like because if you play all these good teams and you don't beat any of them, but you played competitively at the end of the day, like you're still losing, but

you get rewarded from the committee. The proof is there. If you have a strong schedule, you'll be rewarded for it. And this isn't even about the resume, but also playing a strong schedule early on, it's gonna benefit you down the line because you've been battle tested. And I think that's that's why Louisville has been able to kind of get past these other ACC teams that are fighting for the tournament, because yeah, I mean they needed they needed some big plays late to beat Pitt at Pitt. I

guess they did kind of. They did pull away from Carolina and Clemson, who are both teams that are, you know, fighting for the tournament. Clemson's in right now, Carolina probably would be in. But you know, I think it's safe to say teams like Tennessee, Ole, miss Duke, Kentucky. I mean, those teams are are better than all those teams I just mentioned the ACC, outside of course Duke, who is in the ACC. So I hope pat Kelsey didn't just

inherit this schedule and it is what it is. I hope that he plans to schedule really tough in the non conference every year, because well that's the way Denny used to do it, and because of the reasons I just mentioned, I just think that that that's clearly the better, the better route to go than than playing a big week schedule and maybe adding a bunch of wins. But your resume is not going to be great, right, Your net's not going to be where you want it to be.

And if you're not challenging yourself consistently in November and December, I mean you're missing out, all right. It's coffee and company. Feel about Thorton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out with us as we've been talking a lot of Louisville basketball, as you could expect, and believe it or not, this may shock some of you that are just now joining us. I said something incorrect earlier.

I hope you can understand and pick up the sarcasm, because I'm sure I've said many things that were incorrect, even you know, within this segment. But when I was talking about the Quad one and Quad two, and just currently Louisville's resume has four and it could every day, every day, it could change. I did have it incorrect. I was mentioning Oklahoma as the team that Louisville needed to stay in the top fifty for it to be a Quad one win, and in fact, they needed to

stay in the top one fifty. But it's because of a Quad one loss. They lost Oklahoma. I had it mixed up for some reason. I had. I mean, I knew, I mean, I just said it incorrectly. I knew that West Virginia is who they actually beat. So the good news is West Virginia, and in fact, I think they I feel like they might have taken a loss last night if I'm not mistaken, but or maybe they I don't know. The reason I'm thinking West Virginia might have loss last night is because Austin was texting me about

his parlay and how they screwed him. So anyways, right now in the net, Oklahoma is borderline. I mean, they're forty ninth in the net, and if they drop out of the top fifty, that becomes a Quad two loss. One of the current strengths of a Louisville's resume is the fact that they only have losses in the Quad one tier. If Oklahoma slips out of the top fifty. Then that's a quad two loss, which isn't terrible, but you know, you want all your losses to be quad one.

So West Virginia is a win for Louisville, and they would need to fall out of the top fifty for that to no longer be a quad one victory. That looks unlikely because they're thirteen and five and they're sitting at thirty six in the net. And now that I'm looking here, they dropped six spots last night, so I would assume they would have had to have lost lost to whoever they whoever they played. Yeah, last night West Virginia, they took an l to Arizona State, which is a

bad loss for them at home. Yeah, that's that explains why they dropped as many spots as they did, because that's I mean Arizona State. I guess, Well, Arizona State's not terrible, but they're eleven and seven and had lost. It looks like they'd lost six of eight before last night. So look, they're still in the top fifty. There's still a tournament team, which is good. But yeah, that was uh And by the way, what a weird resume for

West Virginia. West Virginia, as mentioned now has a lost to Arizona State, which is not a good loss, and they also have well, I guess this is really their

only loss. They lost to Pittsburgh early this year, and I thought that would that would be a bad loss for him, and I guess it's to be determined what that loss looks like down the line, because pitt had a good start to the season and Louisville beat him and might have broke them because Pittsburgh has now lost four straight and they'll play They'll play Syracuse on the road on set. I would imagine they'll get back to the winning ways in that one because Syracuse, as we know,

is really down. So West Virginia. They're thirteen and five, only one loss. That's kind of a head scratcher. They did get blown out by Arizona, which if you remember at the time, that looked like maybe a bad loss because Arizona was struggling, But now they're playing well. But West Virginia has wins against Gonzaga. They did beat Arizona once, which is crazy. They played Arizona in the non conference on a neutral court, something that was previously scheduled, but

because Arizona joined the Big Twelve this year. They also played them in In fact, are they going to play them three times? No, looks like they're going to play them. Yeah, so they'll play. Yeah, they split with arizonas they beat them once and lost them once. But then they also have a win against Houston. I'm sorry, not Houston, but Iowa State, who is number four currently in the Ken Palm.

So West Virginia could probably lose a few more games to teams that are in that tier of Arizona State and maybe still be in just because they've got some really really strong wins as of right now. So that's a good win for Louisville, and you know that you need as many of those as you can get. All right,

let's see where do we want to go here? I guess we should say this because I want to make sure I don't make the same mistake that I made in the four o'clock hour by going way too long in the first segment and then just completely messing up the clock. You guys know my clock management at times is not great. So let's get to a break. We'll

come back on the other side. John Caliperry got some really bad news yesterday Boogie Fland is out for the year, which I thought Matt's comment earlier today about that on KSR was very telling because instead of just mentioning the Boogie Flanned injury and about how that's going to be, really you know, I mean, Arkansas is struggling in a major way, and then of course you know they I mean they're already bad and now they lose Boogie Flan,

probably their best player this year. And instead of just acknowledging that it's gonna be tough for them, the instant comment from Matt, which again I get it, I'd be doing the same thing, was we definitely can't lose to them now, which you can, Like you could lose to cal and it would not impact you in any way as far as your season. It won't change anything about

your ceiling, It won't change anything about pope. But man, that's when sports really is fun, when it's so personal and it actually is what makes us crazy about this stuff. But like, you have nothing to truly like again, it probably would drop you down in the seed line maybe, so I guess there is some potential real harm in losing, and you're clearly gonna lose more games in the SEC

because your leagu's loaded. But overall, like it won't keep Kentucky from being able to have a really good season, So it's not like it kills you, but it does kill you just because you don't want to lose to that guy. Given the situation, given the circumstances, col coming in to Rup on the first and winning, I think it's damn impossible. But like, if they did, that would be and I understand it. It would be a really tough one for Kentucky fans to deal with. But I

don't know who they'd be mad at. I'm sure they'd be mad at Pope in the moment, but like it wouldn't mean that he's not going to be successful there. But I can just tell I can feel it that game. That's one that there the fans are a little tight about. I would imagine the players probably won't be, because again, none of these guys even know Caliperry. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Keep it rolling along, Talk a little about the talk a little bit about

the NFL playoffs before we get out of here. I know we're gonna well, we have more time to do that. The rest of the week, but uh, big weekend coming up where we figure out who's gonna be playing in the Super Bowl. So stick around again, it's coffee and company. Feel about Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. You know, if I didn't have a friend that was currently in Destin, Florida that was sending pictures of snow

on the beach, I wouldn't believe it. I would see all the video that's all over social media of in fact they're being snow on the beach in Florida, and I mean, hey, New Orleans Bourbon Street, I mean, it's frozen, there's snow everywhere. There's people ice skating on Bourbon Street. Again with AI and how insane it is that they can take something that, you know, they can make something

look real when it's not. I don't know if I would, I think I would have just assumed it's all stuff on the internet that you have to now just assume it's probably not real. But it is. I mean, it's just it's the visual of seeing snow on the beach, especially a beach that I go to every year that is beautiful. And you know, I just I said yesterday, I can't even visualize it. Well now I have because I've seen it, and it's just it's crazy and we're

not getting any snow right now. But man, it is cold as can be outside, just I mean brutal, brutal, and I think we're gonna get some warmer weather, but like, hey, you could give me the twenties and that would be a big upgrade. As far as how cold it's been really in the last few days. I said this yesterday. I think with the first snow wave that we got taking place on the sixth or I guess it was

the fifth of January. Here we are on the twenty second, and I mean, like my driveway, the area that is not shaded, I mean it's been frozen really ever since then, and it's had some type of snow, ice, sleet something on it for a long time. And this is in a year where we've had our biggest win. I mean, I feel like the last few years it has been

very mild when it comes to winter weather. Not only has it not been as cold as long as it has been here in the last month, but we didn't get any kind of snow compared to what we got so far here in January, so as somebody who does usually like the winter. I still like a lot of things that come with winter, you know, like the holidays and of course basketball season. But I am like a lot of you now in wanting the warm weather to get here, to get her pretty soon. All right, it's

coffee and company. We are feel about Thornton's about thirty minutes left here before we get out of here and wrap it up. This is a good text that came in earlier, and this is the second or third time in the last couple of weeks that somebody's asked this question, and that is essentially who's eligible after this year? Meaning in the last text puts it best. He says, look,

I should know this. I can look and see that somebody's a red shirt senior and assume that they're not going to have any eligibility left, but honestly don't know now. I mean, here's so right now, let's look at the roster. So I could be wrong here because it is really hard to keep up with because you think, you know, okay, what the rule is, what the standard as far as eligibility, and then somebody challenges it and they win, and then

the NCAA makes a rule change. So that's actually what has happened recently with the Diego Pavia, the quarterback at Vandy, who challenged the NCUBLEA, claiming that cannot you cannot count two years of junior college football against me when it comes to eligibility because the NJC double A is not the same thing as the nc double A. I should still be allowed to have four years of eligibility like everybody else. And it's a wild strategy that that you know,

sounded crazy, but he won. He successfully beat the NC DOUBLEA in court. So the NCAA decided, well, okay, I mean, because he won, until we figure this out and and get a and get more clarity on what we're going to do long term, because he's been able to win.

Not everybody. This basically what they did the day that he won his lawsuit, they put out a statement saying that you also will be able to get one year of you'll be eligible in twenty twenty five, twenty six if you are currently playing college sports in one of your years of eligibility in the four year window was JUCO. So basically what they did was told everybody, look, don't hire attorneys and take us to court. We we know

we've lost. We lose these lawsuits. So just if you've got to if you're a JUCO guy that was exhausting eligibility this calendar school year, you will have another year of eligibility. So what that means is Case and Pryor he could be eligible for two more years. I mean, hard to imagine that he would play two more years of college basketball, but I believe he could. And also I think the same thing can be said about Javon Hadley. So Case and Pryor was a fifth year guy. I believe.

Let me pull it up here, Case and Pryor he ended up coming out of yeah, coming out of high school, and yeah, Case and Pryor was a He's been playing college basketball JUCO or D one since twenty twenty one. So he played two years at Boise State, not a whole lot. Then he played a year of JUCO at Northwestern Florida State. He played one season there, so then he transferred to where was it? He transferred to South Florida. That's where he played. So last year at South Florida

he was on his last year. But because like everybody else, if you played college basketball, if your four year eligibility window. One of those years was the twenty twenty one season where we played college basketball kind of meeting where we had a season, but there were very few fans allowed to go. A bunch of games canceled the year where we tried to play sports during a pandemic. If you were in school at that time, that year does not count. You get an extra year. So Cason was able to

come back to Louisville this year because of that. He was getting his fifth year because one of his years of college basketball was in fact during that window. So he got hurt this year early enough to where he will not he will play. I think they base it off of percentage he's going to play in such a small percentage of Louisville's games that he will be able to qualify for a medical red shirt. So that is

how he could come back another year. But also the JUCO thing, so technically, because one of his seasons of eligibility was utilized in the JUCO ranks and not the nc DOULA because of the recent change they've made until they get it figured out, he's now being granted an extra year. So that's how theoretically he could play two more years of college basketball if he wanted to same thing with Javon Hadley. Javon Hadley started his career at

Where did he start at? I think at Northeastern maybe that's where Javon Hadley first played college basketball at Northeastern, which is the Division one school, very small school. And after that he was there for a season and then he ended up transferring to He transferred to a junior college, Indian Hills, and I don't know if he played there one year two years. I think it was one season. So yeah, he played in thirteen games as a true freshman.

Then he went JUCO for a year. Then he played at Colorado for two years and was a good player Colorado. So he had another year, a fifth year because again he started his college career during the COVID year, so he got a fifth year. And now the JUCO thing, so Hadley could have another year because the year he played at Indian Hills was not counted against him towards his eligibility. So technically you could get case In Pryor and and and Javon Hadley back if they want to

come back, because they will have eligibility. Now it's a new world where it's going to come down to money, and you know, some of these guys may decide, Look, I could maybe make some money, but I'm ready to just start the next chapter of my life and move on from college basketball. So I have no clue what the roster is going to look like next year. But those guys could be eligible, now what I what. I believe one of you that asked this question in regards

to eligibility, who could be back? I think the confusion for one of you was that that you didn't know if, if, if the COVID thing had come and gone. I'm pretty sure we are currently in the season to where there's nobody playing college basketball that is not on that extra year, Meaning from here on out, you're no longer going to get a fifth year because it's been so long since that season happened to where you wouldn't qualify. But yeah, I mean so chucky Hepburn, He's been a four year guy.

He started for three years at Wisconsin and this is his fourth year. He'll not be entitled to a fifth year because he didn't start his college career early enough and also he didn't play JUCO. But I am to the point now with the NC Double A. Anybody could be given an extra year, and I'm not gonna be surprised for any reason, just because that has absolutely been the trend as of late. You sue the NC Double

A and you challenge them, they're going to lose. And you know, I don't see any I can't think of any scenario where Chucky would be able to play another year of college basketball. But well, yeah, before it, I mean, you kidding me. This guy is, I mean, he's he's only going to be here one year. And I think when you when you consider guys and how they're remembered, you do it based off of two things, well three things. One how good they were, also how successful their team was,

meaning did they go on a deep run. Your probability of being remembered in a major way at Louisville and other programs that love college basketball where it's a big deal and you know you're in that blue bud blue blood territory is if you make deep runs in the tournament, Like there have been some really good players, but their teams weren't as successful, didn't have the big run to where I really don't know if people remember them as

fondly as they should have. So, you know, Chucky, if he goes on a deep run and Louisville makes some kind of miraculous run to the final four, then he'll be remembered forever. And technically, I think right now, if you're a Louisville fan, you always remember him because he's this good, But you know, him only being here one year,

it just changes it a little bit. When I think of players that that get discussed, you know, for generations and will you know and will down the line, it's it's because they played here a long time, and that's just what's gonna make it weird for programs like Louisville and Kentucky for that matter, because of the portal, you know, you're just not as likely to get guys for as long.

But maybe, but maybe I'm actually maybe maybe I'm wrong there, because you know, if you're if you're Kentucky, I guess recently you're used to just having guys stay short, stay for a short amount of time because they're going to the NBA. And I guess Mark Pope could technically keep bringing in and he's got an elite class coming in, so maybe that'll be the case moving forward, that Kentucky starts bringing in a bunch of five stars that only stay a year and and and you know, they just

don't stick around very long. Or maybe Mark Pope brings in some five stars that do have the one and dune potential, but he also brings in guys that are, you know, really good college players, but maybe they don't tran to the NBA right away. Well, if you're at a place like Kentucky, why would you leave because you've got I mean, you would think if you're a Kentucky you're having success, they're gonna be able to compensate you when it comes to nil as good as anybody else.

So yeah, I'm just I'm thinking CHUCKI Hepburn. I hope people realize like how good this guy is, and I think people do right now. He's one of the best point guards in the country. I think he's up there with I mean, to me, he's the best player Louisville's had since Donovan Mitchell. And honestly, this is gonna sound crazy because Donovan one of those guys that is going to be a legend, absolutely, especially with how much he loves Louisville and makes it clear. But Donovan was a

good player at Louisville, He's a way better pro. Like anybody who claimed they saw Donovan being this kind of a star in the NBA, I think you're a liar or you just it was wishful thinking because you're a fan. Like he was good, he had a lot of potential, a lot of upside. I thought he could be a pro. Donovan's one of the best guards in the NBA and has been that for many years now. So that's why he's viewed and remember the way he is more so because of that than what he did at Louisville. He

didn't even play. I mean, he played one tournament game or one one tournament game. And I'm here, I am sound like I'm discrediting Gono him and I'm just I'm trying to point out that, like with Chucky, even if they don't go on a deep run in the tournament, I don't know if people ever will ever remember him for being quite as good as he as he is, because I mean, outside after Russ, I mean, honestly, I'll

say it. I think Chuckie Hepburn is a better college player this year than Donovan was here at Louisville, who knows if he ever plays in the NBA, meaning Chucky, but I think you can make the case that that that this is the best player Louis has had since

Russ Smith. I mean, am I wrong? I mean Damian Lee was really good for one year, So maybe I'm actually doing with doing to Damian Lee what I'm worried people are going to do with Chucky because that team didn't play in the tournament because they kept themselves out.

That team was good and Damien was good. So maybe maybe maybe that's actually the example of how if you don't make a deep tournament run and you don't stay longer than a year or two, then you're just, you know, you're a little easier to forget when it comes to talking about guys that are remembered around here forever. Yeah, yeah, Chucky, hepburn. I mean this was brought up yesterday I think, or maybe no, it was late last week I think when

we had Kent Spencer on from WHS eleven. And he's right, I mean, Chucky is not just you know, bringing over what he brought from Wisconsin. He's statistically a lot better, but just visually, I watch a lot of college basketball because you know, I don't have a life I watched I was very familiar with Chucky's game at Wisconsin and he was a good player. But this Chucky Hepburn, is different. And I know some are gonna make the comment, well,

it's because he's playing in the ACC and it stinks. Well, Chucky, I feel like, has played at a high, high level against anybody Louisvill's played this year. Like he's been able to impact the game in a major way, regardless of who they've played. For the most part, he's had nights where he was off as far as shooting. But I mean, he's looked everybody on this team right now that has a role and that he's playing a lot of minutes.

They're playing good basketball. But Chucky is the guy that I think is just you know, put it this way. When it comes to Louisville being talked about as a team that people might want to look out for in March, and then they bring up a player, he's the first guy they're bringing up for good reason. All right, let's take our last break. We'll come back here on the

other side, wrap things up. It's coffee and company. Feel about Thorntons right here on Sports Talk seven ninety, so we now know how many people watched the National Championship on Monday night between Notre Dame and Ohio State. According to On three Sports, It says here that twenty two

point one million viewers. That was the average for the game, and it was down from last year's game between Michigan and Washington State, which the average then, or Michigan and Washington I should say, which the average then was twenty five just over twenty five million. So I guess it kind of depends on the way you look at it, because I'm also looking at another report here. This is from Ben Portnoy, who covers college for the Sports Business Journal.

He framed it a little bit differently. ESPN announces the college football title game between Notre Dame and Ohio State drew twenty two point one million viewers. The game peaked at twenty six point one million viewers between eight thirty and eight forty five, and it's the most watched non NFL sporting event in the past year. So as far

as where it peaked, it did really well exceeded last year. However, the average from a year ago was higher than what we saw the other night, which is I mean, I guess you could make the claim that two humongous brands with humongous followings, really national programs within the sport of college football, Notre Dame in Ohio state, that should dominate every number. I mean, that should have it. I mean, again,

I'm not being critical. I guess though, I guess what I mean is that if you're somebody that wanted to make the claim that the championship game going this laid into the you know, I guess it's early in the calendar year, but the college football see lasting as long as it did in the national Championship game being this laid into the NFL playoffs, it just kind of felt

off and maybe that would impact viewership. You could make the case that it did, because again the average was down, although it peaked at a higher at a higher level, you still feel like with all what I mean, as much as people make fun of the SCC and claim that they I'm sorry, as much as people make the case that the that ESPN wants their partners, you know, the SEC, to get multiple playoff spots that maybe they don't deserve because they're in bed together, and again, I

think there's some truth to that they are business partners, and the College Football Playoff is an ESPN owned event, So I think the comments about you know, it's there's

a conflict of interest, I think that's legit. However, even if there's not an SEC team in it and they want more of their you know, their family members in it, if you will, you know, those who really value and understand that you need a ton of viewership when they see teams like note or Dame in Ohio State are going to be playing in the National championship Game, they probably think, well, you really can't get much better than that. And again, the number was still good, but I think

the issue. If you wanted to just say, yeah, viewership was down and it's an issue, I would chalk it up to it just was weird. It was awkward for the game to be played this late in January. But maybe by next year we'll be more used to it because we've had one season, and maybe it won't feel as weird. But it just something was off with the playoff. And I'm not complaining. I'm glad we have it, and it was exciting and it definitely enhanced the overall product

of college football. But I feel like I was just kind of over it towards the end. All Right, we're out of time. Thank you guys for sticking around here to the end. We'll be back at it tomorrow at three o'clock, and I hope you'll join us right here on Sports Talk seven ninety