It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
All right, hour number two here on a Monday, getting the week started after a very very eventful weekend. I know you guys only tune in to hear how I do when it comes to uh wagering on sports, So I'll let you know I did have.
A good weekend.
I bet a three leg parlay Saturday in college football and it and it won.
I didn't lose.
And then I did the same thing three leg parlay with NFL game yesterday and I won.
I know.
It's I mean, and it's one of those It's one of those wins where it keeps me humble because I do feel, you know, I'm not like I'm proud of myself, like I'm feeling if I've accomplished something substantial. But you know, I got it right. But one of them ended up playing out in a way that I can know that I had some potential luck on my side. So what I did on Saturday is I did a three leg
parlay for the noon games. And you know, I've had such a rough go at it this year when it comes to college football and really the NFL that anything I bet, Like I'm just you know, internally thinking, well, we'll see, but like I don't have a whole lot of confidence. This is what I'm going to guess is what happens. But like there's not a whole lot of confidence in these picks that I make. And it's not because like you know, I don't follow it. It's because
I just been so bad at it. And usually I have some success in the college side to where it makes it a little more fun and it's still fun. I enjoy it, but like I don't want to go through a drought like I went through the last month or so. But here's what I did on Saturday. And this is what kept me humble because it was luck. I mean, it just was. I had Clemson minus twenty and a half against wake US. That felt good. That was not a sweat because Clemson ended up just dominating
that game. After the second quarter. I had the over. And this isn't the lucky one, but I took the over in an Iowa game.
John, look at you.
That's a smart especially for this your smart pick.
And it's one of those games that were I would take the over and if I lost, no matter what happens, I would look in the mirror and say, yeah, why would you bet the over on Iowa? Well, this year they're a little different and I felt confident and the over was forty one and a half and they had forty themselves. Iowa did, so that came through and then Georgia Tech money line. They were favorites against North Carolina and Georgia Tech was in control and then just completely crumbled.
I was watching the end of that game before the Louisville game started, and Georgia Tech. I mean, I think I can't think of the word that was used by the announcer on the ACC network because that was the game on the network before Louisville Virginia. I think you might have said this Georgia Tech team, Brent Key, they were imploding, and I'm like, yeah, it's the last leg, and sure enough they're gonna screw it, and they gave up a late touchdown to tie it up. So technically,
you know, I had an opportunity in overtime. I'm thinking where Georgia Tech could still hold on and win, and I don't need him to win by any number. I just need him to win, and you know that was possible, but hey, it's in Carolina. All momentum is with Carolina because they just erased like a ten point deficit quickly with just some bone, like they were imploding. Georgia Tech was so then less than a minute left, I think we're talking like maybe thirty six seconds left, they kick
it off. It's tied, and I think Brent Key was just going to try to, you know, run out the clock, goat overtime. Sure enough, he gives it to his running back. He takes to the house on the first play. So
that was a big play by Georgia Tech. And maybe I could try to convince myself, well, you knew that Mac Brown as a bum, You knew that their defense was vulnerable enough to give up a play in that spot, but I didn't, I mean all, but that's true, Like Mike Brown has been insanely underwhelming in his return to Carolina. It's all been about hype and you know, splash as far as him being a former championship coach, but he ain't done anything, and in fact, he's had some good
players too. But like, you know, it was luck, you know, him running for a touchdown whenever everybody else thought the game was going to go to overtime.
So I'll take it.
But you know, it's maybe it's not as much luck as I'm as I'm saying it it is, but you know, it's one of those things you can't bank on happening.
Maybe it's a balancing act between you and I because I did not have a good week. Yeah what was I have good weeks, You have bad weeks and vice versa.
Well that's true because you've actually had you had some momentum there for a while and a couple of weeks in row and I did not. And then so yesterday in the NFL, I had the Chargers minus three, they won by seven against the against the Broncos, I took Atlanta minus six and a half, they demolished the Panthers. And then I had Detroit money line. They won forty seven to nine. So that was really a no sweat and it was what I need to do at least, you know, feel a little better about myself when it
comes to wagering. And I'm going to continue to do it because it's fun. But again, as somebody who just does it for fun, and it's not like I'm ever putting away money from my winnings to like, you know, feed my family. Occasionally I've had one where I'm like, all right, I'm taking a trip or I'm doing this and that. But like I've always had the mindset if I'm just doing this because it enhances the over all
experience of watching sports. It gives you something to really pull for as far as a result, and the money's just you know, an added bonus if it's any money that you know you can actually do something with. So you know, I needed it in a major way, and I got it, and I got greeting last night, and I thought, you know what, John, I'm thinking like, hey, i mean not winning, but I've got some momentum. Let's see if I can keep it going. And sure enough, I took the Bengals minus four and a half. They
won by ten. So three wins for me, and you know, I'm sure it'll be three months before I went another bet, but hey, I'll take I'll take a win when I can get it.
Especially NFL wins are hard to come by for both of us.
Yes, and this season though, like NFL has always been hard to bet on, I believe and I think you know those who do I mean if if those that sell picks that are really kind of in that space, but not even like on a marketing level, meaning like the people like Jamie Fox pimping out was it bet MGM or whatever it is, like Kevin Hart being big
with DraftKings. Those are guys who they may bet on sports, but like that is a marketing strategy from those big corporations to try to get people to get in on it. They don't even really care about sports, Like they may may be a casual thing to them that's like entertainment and fun, but like they'll see Kevin Hart doing it,
so maybe they'll go bet on it. Like, but there's other people out there that don't work for sports books directly, and they'll you know, they'll sell picks for one hundred bucks a week and they're talking about how you know, my lock of the week, my six pack, this and that.
It's here's what you pay.
Like me, this is really their lifestyle, which is gambling, and hey, shout out to them, But like they don't win as much as they claim they do, or they wouldn't be selling picks. They would just be winning and winning and winning and not like be you know, so it's I don't think anybody is as good as maybe they claim to be. Certainly there are people, many people. In fact, maybe everybody betting on the NFL has been
better than I've been at it this year. But you look at the results out there for some of these games, and like, I don't know anybody can claim that, yeah, they predicted some of these results that we've gotten so far this year. I will say the last couple of weekscifically, it does seem as if it's starting to kind of balance out and you at least have a feel for who each team is. But in the NFL, man, you're
talking about every team having the best players on the planet. Therefore, any given moment, like a terrible team beating a really good team, it's called an upset. I mean, by definition, it is an upset, But like it's not as surprising as Vandy beating Alabama, right, Like that's why you don't see those kind of spreads in the NFL that you see in college. How about this week, we both have good weekends. Let's hope that happens. Here's my early tip.
I'm betting on the Service academies this weekend. Hell yeah, Army and Navy are killer.
Yeah, and how cool is that?
I mean to see those two service academies ranked at the same time, I believe for the first time since like nineteen sixty. I mean, that's that's awesome.
Yeah.
Number twenty three Army and number twenty five Navy are both ranked in the Apeo Pole for the first time since nineteen sixty that's before my parents were born.
Like, that's wow again.
I think we could collectively if you don't have a dog in the I mean, if I'm sure everybody listening, regardless if you're a Louisville fan, of Kentucky fan, an Indiana fan, or maybe you're a transplant. I know there's many of those out there that live here but their home team is Ohio State or Tennessee or something like that. We can all agree that we should root for Army and Navy and Air Force and all the service academies.
So to see them both in a spot where they're good, I mean, it's it's I think it's it's made it fun.
You know.
I won't lie and act like I've watched a whole lot of it, but like, yeah, those are teams I want to see do well, and I think most people you know probably probably agree, at least I hope. So all right, FIBO two fives seven seventy nine hundred is the number. If you guys want to jump in and give us a call. You can also text in on the L and N Federal Credit Union text line FABO two six five three zero seven ninety. We'll get to the AP pole that came out today for college basketball.
Kentucky and Indiana both ranked Louisville. Not not a big surprise there, but I do have some takeaways from our first AP pole of the season, the preseason AP pole, I should say. And also we have talked about the Rick Patino return to Lexington and all wait till the five o'clock hour to kind of reset my thoughts on it, just because I tried my best to really, you know, have a plan as far as which direction I wanted
to go. I mean, my goal every day is to just be honest with you and share my thoughts, and you know, you guys can can do.
What you want with it.
But I really felt like this one was a little bit tricky because I understand why it might have made Louisville fans, some of them like extremely sad to see Rick.
They're in blue and making it clear in one of the videos he did that like it's gonna be blue over red, and he didn't say that word for word, but like that's tough, especially if you've defended Rick Patino when the Kentucky fans are making jokes about Katina Pale and Karen Seifer and all that kind of stuff, and now he's embracing them, and you see it as a disrespectful thing to Louisville and their fans, and.
Like, I get it, it's just for me.
I always knew Rick felt that way, and he couldn't show it because the guy that was coaching there is
an enemy of his, and that's Caliperi. And if you were somebody that didn't get a chance to experience Rick in Lexington, I was very young, but I remember it so like I knew that I was watching Louisville basketball being led by a guy who used to coach Kentucky, and I was so young, like I remember knowing that, hey, we don't like that guy, we don't like Kentucky, but you know I was gonna embrace when he came back because I was a little kid, and that's what my
dad did. Like my dad was like, hell, yeah, this is great, We're gonna be good, and he was right. But if you've never experienced it, and you just the only thing you know about Louisville basketball is Rick Patino being our coach, and the only really good memories you have or moments you can think of as a fan is.
With Rick.
And then you see him there, Like, I get why
it probably made you sad, so I can't. I found myself kind of appreciating my perspective on it, because you know, I always knew Rick would choose them over us when it came down to it, and you know, for what it's worth, I do give him a little bit of I mean, I shouldn't say credit, but I believe him, like I believe that what he did this weekend had nothing to do with Louisville's fans or Kentucky's fans, because I don't really think Rick thinks about fans, Like he's
not really, he's not really. Fans can't relate to him, and he can't relate to fans, I think, and this is just my opinion knowing what I do know about Rick and knowing people. I know that you know know him, I guess as good as you can. I just find him to be like somebody that's just completely unrelatable in a variety of ways. But I'm I'm one thousand percent confident, and we'll never be able to know it for sure because we can't prove it. He'd certainly never say it
because he's never one. I mean, he Rick speaks differently, like he can say whatever, and we just know, hey, it's Rick being Rick. But I believe the one person he was thinking about and hoping was watching him on the floor Reparena on Saturday or on Friday night was John Caliperry, Like, hey, you know I'm here, there were there, they're showing me love and I'm now and they're good graces.
My guy's now leading the program and you're gone, and you ruined it, like I you know, people can claim that those guys got friendly with each other, You're you're naive.
Those guys to this day hate each other.
And always will and maybe when they get older we could actually, No, I'm not gonna lie to you. There's no scenario we ever get a Jobey and Denny type thing with Rick and cow there's no scenario. I don't forget. We've got you covered. Coming up this Saturday, it'll be
Louisville and Miami noon kickoff. We'll get the pregame show started at eleven am, presented by Pellow Windows and Doors of Central Kentucky and Jefferson Animal Hospital, and then as soon as it ends, we'll go live right here reacting to whatever it is that happens on the Louisville Football postgame Show, presented by Alex R. White Lawyers, so Distracted
Driver dot Com. It's a big game, there's a big opportunity to get a big time win and maybe catapulture season in the direction that you know you want it to be going. You're still gonna have some losses that could potentially hurt, especially the one to SMU because it's a conference game. However, if you do put together a really good performance and it results in you knocking off a top ten team, Miami, you can then look at the rest of your schedule and feel confident. And maybe
you do right now. Maybe you still feel confident because it's your team. Maybe you saw enough against virgin where you think like, hey, we got everything fixed. I'm just gonna be honest with you, I don't see it that way, but I could be wrong. I just still see a team that does have good individual players that I think have a lot of talent, and they're showing it. Isaac Brown's one of the best freshman running backs in the country, if not the best. He's special. I think Tyler Shuck
when I watch him play. I continue to think, Man, this guy. I'm really glad Jeff brom got him in the mix because he's even better than I thought he would be. Ja Corey Brooks, a really talented player called in Lacey. He's got a lot of ability. Jamari Johnson caught the game winning touchdown'st me. I think he's got a bright future. Defensively, they've been kind of a mess, But I still think from a personnel standpoint, I think stan Kuan Clark's I mean, I think he's going to
be great. And then Corey Thornton, the transfer who came in from Central Forida. He was phenomenal on Saturday. So you know, I've my concerns in frustration about LOUISLL. Football has never really been about this year. Like, oh man, we went to the portal and we got a bunch of duds. I still think the offensive line has a lot of work to do, but you can overcome that. I just want him to play clean football and not
make critical mistakes that can cost you a game. And you're about to play a team that you could make no critical mistakes and play clean and just lose because they're that good.
So that's what we are.
I'm not saying Louisville can't win. I'm I'm hopeful that they they get you know, they give them a game and maybe put themselves in a spot to pull off the upset. I just can't lie to people and act like I'm expecting this team to come out on Saturday and be different than they've been all year as far as just avoiding critical mistakes and just at times playing
sloppy football. I guess you could say that Saturday was a step in the right direction when it comes to that, but I mean I was still watching a team that at times I just felt like, Hey.
What are you doing?
What are you doing that's avoidable? Or let's go to the phone line. Five two, five seven, one seventy nine hundred is the number. Let's bring in Adam. Adam, how are you.
Not too bad. Good to hear from you.
Yeah, yeah, I see they run down the neighborhood. I was like, man, I'm gonna try to call in this week and talk to him. If I can't.
Hell yeah, bully County in the house.
Man, that's it. Well, man, what do you think about the spread? I just said two things. What do you think about the spread being so close? Four points? I know we're at home, but I mean, give or take these past few games at louis I'm not too sold on their performance. And then did you hear anything about Ron English being pulled out of the box and being placed down on the field next to bron because of our defense? And then I'll let you answer that, brother, Thank you all.
Thanks Adam, appreciate it. Brother.
Yeah, I'll say when it comes to the spread, you know, I think Louisville has has been given. You know, well, they were they were touchdown favored against SMU and obviously they DIDN'TY didn't win, they lost, And at Notre Dame it was you know, I don't I don't remember what
it went off at. I can actually pull it up really quickly here they were dogs there, and I'm just assuming that it's it's because they're you know, they're on the road in that game, they're at home against Miami, And I think those that are setting these lines are aware that Louisville, despite being foreign to and really no longer looking like a team that people need to be worried about when it comes to maybe making the playoff
because they win the ACC. I mean, I think you can still look at what they do and look at what Jeff Brom does in games like this against these type of teams in these moments and feel pretty good
about them. Like this is going to sound like I'm just completely gushing over Brom whenever I think, honestly, you know, at the end of the day, he's the head coach here, and I still think he's a great coach, and I think, you know, he's gonna be the guy here for a long time, and I believe that the louis football will
have a lot of success under Jeff. But this year some of the issues, like I can't necessarily claim that he's the guy that is responsible for these these guys making silly mistakes like Chris Bell getting nonsense penalties at certain times, like but at the end of the day, he's the coach, so like it's on him. So you know, I don't want to act like I'm not going to be critical at all of Jeff. I think I have been.
I think I think he would even understand if people are critical of how the season has gone at times this year. But nobody from a big picture perspective that watches college football is going to be surprised if they win this game, and one of those big reasons is because that's what Jeff has done. So I think that's a.
Factor in the spread.
Adam also, I would say that Miami, you know, they they could easily be coming off of two straight losses. Now they didn't. They found ways to win, and I think you've got to give teams credit when they do that. But you know, Miami was down big and the third quarter against Cal came back to win it. The Virginia Tech game, had you know, they not reversed that touchdown
at the end, they lose. So you know, I think despite them still being a team, I mean, look, they were double digit favorites against Virginia Tech and against Cal and they you could make the case they should have lost both those games. So I think that's also a factor in why you've got a top ten team here coming to town that has a Heisman candidate in km Ward and Louisville, you know, has kind of lost a lot of the momentum they had earlier this year, but
yet it's still that close of a spread. I am curious to see what kind of movement we get though throughout the week. I think this is going to move a little bit. I don't know which one I think it. You know, wouldn't shock me one way or the other. If this thing is, you know, right now, it's at four, maybe it's at two and a half, maybe it's at five and a half. Maybe there'll be people that, you know,
maybe they'll be big movement on either side. And I guess that wouldn't be considered big movement, but I would say that's the reason why the spread is what it is. And as far as Ron English, they did move him from the you know, the press box to the to the I guess not the press box, but from upstairs to down on the on the field, and communication seemed
to be better. I mean, I still, I mean, I'll be honest with you, I still think at times they looked as if the other team was you know, Virginia was making big plays, and I can't sit here and tell you that. I think it's because what are you gonna do? They just lined up and ran it down our throat or what are you gonna do? Man, that's just Virginia having a guy that can go make a
play and we didn't have anybody to stop it. Like I mean, not no disrespect to Virginia, but I still feel like we were a little bit out of sorts defensively, but communication clearly better and they made timely plays, which was needed in a major way. So you know, I I guess it helped a little bit, but how much
I don't really know. But Ashton Julyie talked after the game on Saturday or maybe yeah, I think it was after the game Saturday in the press conference, and you know, he's somebody I think we can understand, you know, is able to speak for the defense given the fact that he's a veteran, he's played here a long time and this year it's not been anything close to what he
probably anticipated would be his senior season. But we all know he's a guy that's capable of any moment to taken over a game because he's that talented and he didn't make an impact against Virginia, but he was complimentary of well not complimentary, but he did say that one of the biggest reasons why the defense you know, was improved on Saturday against Virginia was because of communication. I mean,
they only gave up twenty points. And yes, Virginia did have a lot more yard well, Virginia had about forty more yards than Louisville did and a lot more first downs, but they also had the ball for you know, roughly ten minutes longer than Louisville did. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Get back to your phone calls. If you are on hold, we'll get
to you when we come back. And also we'll take a look at the college basketball pre season a p pole some obvious takeaways, at least from my side of it. So stick with us right here, it's Coffee and Company field. But Thorton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. We're about halfway through here on a Monday afternoon. Certainly Mondays are the big day to react to a weekend, and certainly it was a big weekend here in the area. And we'll we'll let you do that today. So if you want
to join the show, you can. We'll get back to the Texa on in just a moment. But the number to give us a call is five two, five to seven, one seventy nine hundred and we'll go back at the phone lines and welcome in, Dave. Dave, how you doing this afternoon?
Pretty good? I'm want to talk to you about the game Saturday. Once again, Tyler Schuck was he was running for his life. The guy. I agree with you, he's he's better than I thought he'd be. But he just skipped so little help from.
The imagine if he had a consistent clean pocket right exactly.
And another thing is Isaac Brown. Why isn't he getting the ball more?
I mean, well did he did on Saturday? And you know his numbers were, I mean, he was impressive. He was actually named ACC Freshman of the Week, and when it comes to how they grade out and evaluate true freshman each week in college football, he was a top five performer overall. So you know, he had twenty carries and one hundred and forty six yards two touchdowns. He was sensational. But Jeff did say in the press conference today that because of how much they utilized him towards
the end of the game. He was you know, I don't know he was banged up, he was you know, he was beat up essentially because he got beat up. He's an eighteen year old true freshman out there. So I think what it comes down to is they now know, hey, we've got to utilize this guy more because he's special. I mean, he averaged seven point three yards per carry.
But I do think they're trying to not overdo it to where they don't have him laid in games and where they don't have him later in the year because he's I mean, rarely do you need to depend on a true freshman this much, but this guy's that good. And you know, I thought Saturday was a good step in the right direction as far as making sure he gets the bulk of the carries. He had twenty carries, whereas you know, Donald Cheney had won and Duke Watson
had seven. So I think they're still trying to balance it with him being an eighteen year old freshman. But I know, selfishly, as a Louisville fan, if they give him the ball every time, I'm not going to complain.
Yeah, well, you know, and other freshman Duke Watson. He's pretty good too.
Yep, futures right at that position.
I'd say, yeah, well, you know, I agree with what you said after the game Saturday mat poor coaching. I mean that some of the stuff that Jeff Brohm does. You know, the defense did play a little bit better, but gosh, some of the penalties, it just it blows my mind. It seemed to me like they're a little bit undisciplined.
Yeah, they're sloppy, I mean, discipline sloppy. I mean, I think we're kind of saying the same thing here with different words. But and it's just, and it's not to say that they can't fix it. It's just I think when you've done it this long, it's hard to just snap your fingers and no longer have those mistakes. And
you know, that's one thing I just did. It's look, this happens coaches who have way better resumes than Brahm, that have done way moral have a team that just for some reason, they just aren't as as well put together, they're not as sharp. And you know, I think that's happened here. I can't you know, I just didn't expect us to be here. Halfway through, and when we discuss the losses, it's not because we're like, wow, we just played a really good team, or we you know, somebody
got hurt. It's I think they're four and two right now because they've been sloppy. I mean, not to say that the other teams don't deserve some credit as some U came in here and gave it to us, But yeah, I just didn't think we'd be mid season, Dave, and feel as if one of the biggest weaknesses would be that this team just hurts themselves so much.
Yeah who man, who? I agree? Okay, thank you, thanks Dave.
I appreciate the call.
Yeah, And you know, I I'm trying not to make it awkward or you know, sound like I'm toeing a line because I just again, I know how, I know how we are as fans this day and age, and it's not just like Louisville fans. It's just it's just fans, and you know, the toxicity that you get from social
media and whatnot. But like me claiming that Louisville should be a better disciplined team and more sharp to say, you know, first of all, I think we all agree with that, but for me to say that that that the Jeff Brahms the coach and he needs to fix that and that's on him. I don't think anybody, you know, they really think about it, would say that that's like
wrong or that I'm like picking on him. But I know that it'll turn into like, wow, he's really been railing on Brahm and like no, like I mean again, I want to be past the point of where we can just criticize coaches and it be because that's what you do, right. It's not personal. It doesn't mean we want a new coach. It doesn't mean you're calling for anybody's head. And I think most people do realize that,
but I don't know. I guess for me, it's just a me thing, like I need to be a little more comfortable on my end as far as just knowing, like, yeah, we can point out some issues and understand that it does in fact fall on the head coach because at the end of the day, everything falls on the head coach. Before being honest, but you know, it doesn't mean that I feel less confident about him being the guy here.
And you know, who knows, maybe they do, you know, at times and seasons rather it be football, basketball, really any sport, there can be moments where you you really just kind of come together and you get on a roll and it hadn't happened yet, but maybe it happens against Miami. Who knows, Maybe it happens the next game or the game after that. I don't know, But I still try to find, you know, positivity and optimism knowing that, like from a personnel standpoint, I really like a lot
of these players, but it also works. That also makes it almost more maddening and frustrating to know that, yeah, you're in this spot. But man, let's hope we're not wasting away a really good quarterback season from Tyler Shuck. Let's hope that Louisville can have a lot of momentum or at least some momentum when this season ends, so you can make sure and keep some of these guys around.
And that's not I mean, I think it used to when you would talk about a kid or anybody like transferring years ago, it would almost be unfair to the kid because it was rare and you would just like, it's almost like calling the kid a quitter, right like it would.
It would almost be somewhat of a of a of a of a shot.
At a player's case character. I mean that sounds a little dramatic, but I think you guys know what I mean. Like if a guy wouldn't get in a lot of playing time and you could tell that he probably expected to have more playing time and as a sophomore, he's still not a key piece to the team, like we would all say, yeah, I guy's probably gonna transfer, and you kind of, you know, at least I would feel bad, like, you know, saying that maybe he's happy here, maybe he's
going to break through. Well, now you can have guys that are happy and in great spots, that are playing a lot, and you just have to know that at any moment they could transfer. So it's not like I'm saying Isaac Brown, you know, or any of the any of the young talent like Jamar Johnson he's special too, he's a young guy. I mean, Duke Watson, he's really talented. He's also a true freshman out there at running back.
So it's just a new world now where I do find myself At times when you lose momentum as a program, and you you know, you suffer a loss. You know that other schools are going to think, like, hey, we should probably get in the ear of somebody who knows Isaac Brown because we could probably give him more money than Louisville will give him, and he would play for a bigger program if it's you know, one of the
big dogs out there. I mean, again, just saying it out loud, I feel gross, like I'm saying, this kid's just gonna up and lead, but like nobody can be surprised if that happens, because look, Louisville could win out and lose players in the portal because that's where we are in college athletics. So you know, again, I know Louisville has the personnel to where they should be able to go out there and compete against some really good teams. And they've done that this year against against Notre Dame,
even against SMU. I mean, still should have beat them, but you didn't. You know, now you live with it, but you know, it also makes me even more frustrated knowing like, hey, if we end up going seven and five or something this year, I'm gonna probably feel like that was insanely underwhelming because I feel like you had players that you could have done a lot better than that. All or let's talk basketball. So the AP pole came out earlier today, and I did not expect Louil to
be ranked. I thought that they would get some votes.
They did.
I think they got four votes. So I'm not sure if it's accurate to say that they're like right outside the top twenty five, because I think they're one of many teams that got votes, and there are many teams that are not ranked that got a lot more votes
than them. But you know, at least there's some level, at least there's some people out there that are not afraid to say they think Louisville, despite coming off of two terrible seasons, they think Pat Kelsey's got a roster and he's good enough coach to where this team could actually.
End up being pretty good.
And I wouldn't, you know, I've yet to see many out there claiming Louisville is going to be terrible and they shouldn't be, and if they are, we got problems. But you know, I was not someone expecting them to be ranked, and I was you know, you never know what to really take from what you see on social media here and there, but I did kind of get the sense that there were some Louisville fans that thought the Louisville would be ranked, and I guess it wouldn't
have been the craziest thing. They did get some votes, but you know, I didn't expect them to be ranked at all, because here's the thing, Louisville is not on anybody's mind when they're filling out a top twenty five pole anymore. And by the way, everybody who does this, who has a vote, I'm sure some really do take
it serious. But I'm sure a lot of people probably just you know, reference this year's rankings and then kind of, you know, piece together with teams they think are going to take a big step forward, that kind of stuff. But like, Louisville has not been relevant in any way in a while, and when they have been relevant as far as you know, being talked about when it comes to college basketball nationally, it's honestly because it's like, oh wow, I guess this is one of the many storylines this year.
What the hell happened to Louisville? How do they get so bad? So you know, we're just not on anybody's mind. And I get that, and Louisville's going to have to come out win games and then potentially, you know, take advantage of these early opportunities against really good teams, and that's easier said than done. So I'm not bothered that they're not ranked, and I didn't expect them to be,
but I think some people, some people did. As far as the local teams, Kentucky came in at number twenty three, which you know, I'll say this and maybe you know, Kentucky fans will hear this is me like taking a shot at them, and I'm not at all because they put together a good roster on paper, just like pet Kelsey did. In fact, you know, depending on where you look, some people think that their roster as far as the transfers they brought in is, you know, is better. And
that's not a hot take or anything like that. But I think Kentucky still gets the brand benefit, they still get the bump because despite their embarrassing losses in the tournament, they're Kentucky and Calipari clearly it needed to come to an end, and he had two embarrassing losses in the tournament in what two out of three years, but you know,
they were relevant. They were good enough to get good seeds in those years, so you know they're gonna get that brand bump on benefit of the doubt, where Louisville you know, wouldn't. So Indiana is at number seventeen. What do you think of that, John, Because, like I, I.
Think that's pretty right on the money. I remember exactly what I said back when we were discussing where we thought each team would land a few months ago. But that's whenever I thought about what Indiana did in the transfer portal, the good pieces that they have back, I think seventeen is very fair for a preseason ranking.
I agree, I think that, you know, I find myself thinking they should be closer to fourteen and seventeen, But I also will remind my you know, I got to remind myself same thing about you know, other teams Louisville included. There's good pieces they've added, but you know, you haven't seen them all play yet together.
And this is really the season where I think, and you've said this before too, this is where we find out how good of a coach Mike Wilson really is.
There's no there's not going to be any kind of pivoting or excuses as far as well, they would have been good, but this now, if you have like terrible injury luck, that's one thing. But he really has done himself. I mean he's literally built a roster that on paper should be really good, and that's that's a credit to him. But he's also put himself in a spot where there's no wriggle room not saying he's got to be you know, he's not saying he's got to win the Big ten
or he's got to go to the Elite Aid. But like, if they're like bubbleish this year, it'll be a really bad.
Look for him.
Problem, Yeah, because they shouldn't be. They have and I love their personnel. I've said it since he started loading up on the transfer portal. They brought back everybody you would want to bring back, including Malik Renew who's a really good player, and then every other piece they added. I think, you know, you'll have to see how it all works together, just like every team's going to But there's a lot to like about their roster. Like I
think it's crazy to have Arkansas head of Indiana. I was thinking the same, and I'm not making it like a cow thing.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean again, they did add some good pieces and John L. Davis, you know, he was great at FAU and the other guys they've added are fine, But like, are we supposed to believe that a freshman group that is now with him in Arkansas that is nowhere near as good as Reed Shepherd and Rob Dillingham and those guys Wagner and Bradshaw, Like he's going to need freshman to produce because that's what his roster's mostly built off of.
And I have a hard time seeing those guys being remotely as good as the guys he had last year a Kentucky. So I thought they were a little bit over ranked, a team that it sounds crazy to say is over ranked when they're ranked number eight, But I think they actually might have one of the best rosters, if not the best roster is Baylor, Like I think Scott Drew. I mean, he went out and got the guard from Duke whose name I'm forgetting that is that has been a good player for many years. Edgecombe, the
kid that is a five star top three player. Like I think if you didn't have Cooper Flag this year in this class, I think the kid at Baylor Edgecomb would be maybe the most talked about freshman that's out there, So you know, again they're not It's not like wow, you know they're they're disrespected again in the ranked number eight. But still I think Baylor's got a chance to be really, really good this year. Oh oh, they also brought in the big man from Miami who's already been to a
Final four. Yeah, yeah, I mere Nord. Yes, I mean I don't really have any huge, you know, takeaways. Iowa State was biasly. I mean, thy being number five, I don't know.
I mean, they could be really good, but that just seems weird seeing them that high preseason.
Yeah, I liked their coach a lot. But they were the biggest example that you can use in the last two years as far as manipulating analytics, manipulating the Ken Pom, manipulating the net to where you'd look at their record and you look at them, you'd look at the formulas the rankings out there and think, like, damn, they're good, and then you would really go look at it and do a deep dive and no, like they they really didn't. They would go out and play the really bad teams
beat them by forty get a really good record. I mean, the Big twelfth did it last year. They went out in the non conference and only one or two of their schools were really competitive, like really played a challenging schedule, Kansas being one of them, but the others didn't, and they beat up on each other and they you know, they got the I mean Formuly gave him the benefit of the doubt. And again, I maybe they have made adjustments and we'll see how these numbers fluctuate once you
have results wins and losses for teams. But for years now it's been the same issue. They don't factor winning enough. You can play in a really good league and play a really good non conference schedule and have a losing record, but if you're competitive, you'll you could be like top twenty. Like that's like that alone tells you you got to go back and retool that thing because it just doesn't
make it doesn't make any sense. So Kansas was number one, Bama two, Yukon three, Houston four, has mentioned Iowa State, five, Gonzaga six, Duke, Baylor, Carolina and Arizona around out the top ten. And you know, I get that Kansas got
a great roster bill selves hell of a coach. But I mean it's I'm scared for college basketball collectively knowing that Danny Hurley can can can come off of back to back titles and actually feel disrespected that, you know, because what Danny Hurley's doing at Yukon isn't about once in a lifetime players. It's about him as a coach, the style they play, and he does have really good players, but like somebody takes them out, they should be number one,
but voters didn't see it that way. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Wrap up the four o'clock hour. It's coffee and company. We are fueled by Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We'll get back to the phone calls coming up here in the five o'clock hour. But one of the questions that came in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line is that, and it's a question.
That's a good question.
I don't have the answer to it, and I really wouldn't be that surprised, But again, I'm just gonna be honest with you and tell you I don't have a clue. The question was, is this the most consecutive years that Louisville basketball has gone without being ranked in the preseason poll. And you know, without knowing for sure, my guess and I feel like I'm right, but I could be wrong.
I'm wrong a lot.
That the last time they were ranked was was the year going into the COVID season, like when they were preseason like top five with Wara coming back in Max's second year, and you know, they were number one in the country for a few weeks there. So after that, I don't think they were ranked in the preseason, and I know they ended up I think being ranked at some point after that, and they haven't been.
I mean, yeah, So my guess would.
Be that this is the longest streak, but I don't know, maybe there were some times during Denny's run to where well, it's probably not the longest in history, but it's probably the longest in a long I would guess that it's the longest in quite some time. I mean even in the nineties, you know, Denny occasionally in fact, early nineties,
Denny had a few teams that were really good. I mean the team that I fell in love with, and you know, I still will probably tell you it's my favorite team just because you know, when you're watching as a young kid, like I love those guys. I was sad when they lost, but like you know, it's different when you're a little kid and you're you know, eight, nine, ten years old. But that ninety seventeen with Dwan Weed, I mean, they were ranked for a good chunk of
that season, and I'm sure they were ranked preseason. But you know, maybe that's a question for Kelly Dickey. Maybe I'll ask him if he couldell it's because I'm sure he if anybody would have that information, he would have it. Kentucky's ranking at number twenty three in the preseason eight people is their lowest preseason ranking since since the I guess the Billy Gillespie era, right, I mean would have to be.
Yeah.
Rick Bozice put it out earlier that.
This Kentucky team is Maybe it was somebody else, I'm sorry, it's it was Eric Crawford who put out in his article just kind of breaking down the eight peopole and the local teams that are involved that are that are ranked, Kentucky and Indiana being both of them, that it's their lowest ranking since two thousand and eight, which of course was when Billy Gillespie was, uh was the coach there.
So yeah, I mean, I don't you know, I don't look at this as a an opportunity as a Louisville fan to tell Kentucky that, hey, you know, you guys have fallen way down and you know you're gonna miss
Cal because maybe you won't. I mean, maybe you won't, but you know, Pope is somebody that has a lot of It seems like a lot of the college basketball world respects Pope, and I think they respect Pat Kelsey too, But we don't have coaches that are that are gonna be worthy of getting the benefit of the doubt like we once did.
I mean for Louisville.
It's been a while, but even Mack, like when Mac got to Louisville and then his second year, they were that good. At that point, people were saying, yeah, you know, this was a no brainer, like you could see this coming. And then of course it all fell apart pretty quickly whenever a global pandemic hit. But you know, since then, it's been, you know, really a mess, and you know, you got to actually go out and get results. And even though Cal had shown pretty consistently that his preseason
ranking was not justified. He still is somebody that made a lot of final fours and won a national championship. And you know what happens when you have that on your resume, You do get the benefit of the doubt over a lot of other teams and coaches when it comes to preseason expectations. That's why I mean, if Arkansas had the same roster and Eric Musselman coached them, I
don't think they'd be ranked. And maybe I'm under selling Cal's roster at Arkansas, but like I mean, I know they brought in John L. Davis and he's he's supposed to be really good. But other than that, like you know, the other kid they got from from Tennessee that transferred in, I do. I mean, he was viewed as a pretty good get for them in the portal, but you know it wasn't like he was in you know, he was
he average eleven and seven. I mean that's good, But like I think, you know, these preseason rankings when you really have nothing to base it off of them, when you say it out loud, it makes it even more silly that we do these preseason rankings. But we do, and I don't think they should get go. You know, I don't think they shouldn't do them, but you're really just guessing. When you're doing that, you're going to base it off of like what you know about a coach,
what he's proven, what he's done. And you know, Cal's not necessarily in a good spot with momentum, but he's at least proven he can win a championship and go to final fours. And there's not many coaches out there that can say that. All right, let's talk about Jefferson Animal Hospital. There's not many competitors. In fact, I don't think they have any competitors because there's no competition. They are the best at what they do in the Kentuckian area,
and that it's taking care of your pets. I mean, they've been around for forty four years, since nineteen eighty. They've been open every day with a doctor on site in case of an emergency with your pet, not just every day every night around the claw because that's you know, that's what they do, that's the service they provide. They're aware that these things happen, emergencies, scary situations, and you may not know where to turn. But I'm telling you
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