10.14: That's Rick - Hour 3

many of those out there. There's a lot of other days that aren't necessarily recognized as you know, a federal holiday. But I feel like they've got a little more, you know, they seem to matter more to people. But today I went to the zoo with my family because my wife works for a bank, she's she didn't work today, my kids out of school in daycare, and everybody, I'm sure it seemed like everybody had the same exact idea, let's go to the zoo, because it's maybe that's maybe that's

how people celebrate Columbus, Stay John. They go to the Zoo's way to celebrate Columbus Day. It'd be random, but I did not expect it to be as crowded as it was. But chili, I mean, it kind of feels like evening now, like today's that day we're with the weather being what it was, Like I know it won't be because we're not there yet, but today felt like a day outside where when we when we leave here at six six fifteen, it it's probably gonna be dark,

you know what I mean? Like, I know it's not, but like today we had our first brisk chill here and it has me excited because I like this time of year and I like nice chili fall weather, and that's that's what we got today. I love it too.

losing streak, which was needed in a major way. They found a way to win on the road at Virginia in a game where you know, let's be real, if they didn't punch that touchdown in late with Jamari Johnson and they lose, it would have been bad. It would have been a three game losing streak. It would have

been a much different postgame show than it was. But you know, can you say you would have been surprised, I mean, even up to that point before they took the lead and held on and closed out the victory again, and that matters. Like, being able to do that was great for them, especially for their confidence. They needed this when more than fans did, I mean, this team needed to remind themselves they can go win football games despite

making mistakes, and they did that, so that's good. But you know, I think it was the same type of performance to where you found yourself in a spot knowing that you probably shouldn't be in set spot. Right I think we can look at Virginia and I know results are all that really matters as far as wins and losses, and right now these two teams have the same record, but like, I think Louisville has a lot better players

than Virginia at certain positions. That's not to say they're terrible, but I still feel like it despite a win, it was still another game where you just should have been a little bit more disciplined. You should have been, you know, Dare I say more ready to play? Like people get triggered by that. Like I don't know if it's because it's they're sensitive to brom criticism or what it is, but I've gotten pushed back like twice this year when when I've mentioned that they didn't come ready to play.

And I guess that can mean a variety of different things, but what I mean when I say that is they came out and they didn't play well. Hence the reason they weren't ready, and sometimes you can come ready and just get steamrolled because you're playing really good teams. That wasn't Virginia. I mean, lowl didn't score point in the first quarter, and on defense, their quarterback was carving us up on the ground with his legs like every other

quarterback seemingly has done this year. So you know, I feel like they came out kind of looking like a mess at times, despite also showing that they have a lot of talent on offense at the skill position players. Tyler Shuck. I think he's really really good and I'm sad we only get him one year. Isaac Brown one of the best freshmen in the country, and he got the bulk of the carries and made the most of it on Saturday. Jacorey Brooks not worried at all about

him being able to perform and make big plays. He's really talented. Colin Lacy, he hasn't proven it as much because of the injuries, but I still think he's a good weapon to have. Jamari Johnson, I wish he got more targets than he did because I think he's got a chance to be special. So you know, those things are worth mentioning, and it does, I think at times

make me go one way or the other. Meaning sometimes I look at that and I'm like, Okay, well, hey, if they can just finally, if they can just somehow figure out a way to lean some things up, not have the silly penalties like the Chris Bell penalties, especially the one where he probably should have been thrown out of the game, a critical hole because you know, your offensive line just is not that good. In fact, at

times they look bad. I mean, like, if you could, if you could fix those things, maybe don't run it up the middle again on fourth and one, like Brom told us he wasn't going to do it anymore, and that he tried it again and it didn't work. Like when I see that the you've you've got some pretty good skill position players and you know, guys that I feel confident in as far as their ability, and then I say, okay, they can just tighten this up. That gives me optimism that that that is viewed as a

silver lining per se. But then there's also, you know, the other side of it, where it is me being more real with myself and saying, yeah, all these things are true as far as the all those players I just mentioned and and me feeling pretty good about what you have there. But at six games in, you're four and two and still making avoidable mistakes and playing at

times sloppy football. That's who are Like, that's that's not a fluke, that's not like, hey, we came out, it was a it was a once in a lifetime bad day for us. No, like, that's just that's your identity. And yes, it's fixable, but it isn't as easy to fix as as I thought, because they would have probably already fixed it. So again, the opportunity against Miami's massive. Maybe by the time we get closer to kick off, I'll feel a little more optimistic about them actually going out,

going out and winning. I'm not saying that I don't think they can, but I mean, I'm I'm I'm going to I'm gonna call it like it is if this team comes out and they, you know, not play mistake free, because that's not realistic and I'm not asking them to be perfect. But if you watch this team and you're real with yourself, you know they're making mistakes and the coaches are making decisions at times that like, like, what are you doing like, you can't do that and expect

to be good teams. And I think Notre Dame is a good team. I think has some music. Good team. Miami's better than them as far as talent. I mean, yes, they could have easily had two losses at this point because they were lucky to get out of the Virginia Tech game with that victory. And yes, you know, the potential targeting call that wasn't called helped them. You know,

a no call essentially helped them survive at Cal. But I also looked at what they did to come back against Cal, and I know Cal's not great, but like erasing a deficit like they did that quickly kind of proves that, you know, maybe they had an off quarter and off an off half, but like they still got

some really good players. And Miami has had years where they look like, Okay, maybe the U's not back, because I think when people say the U being back, I think that means that they're relevant every year and they're looking like they're going to be consistently in the mix to win a championship. That's not realistic. But when they've had moments here and there where they look like, okay, this could be Miami's best teams since win, they've usually underwhelmed.

They they won year under Mark Rick, where they won I think nine games and they won the and they played in the ACC Championship, but that was like a one time thing. But other than that, anytime you felt like either it was going to be their year and they came out and just proved us wrong right away, or you felt like they're four games in and they looked like they could really be good and then they crap the best. Like you know, that's happened a lot.

If it doesn't happen this year, here's the reason why cam Ward he's that special. He's a Heisman candidate. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the country. And you can go back and do a deep dive on Miami if you want. One of the reasons why they've always had talent and you always look at their roster, you look at recruiting rankings and you think, like, man, they should be good. When's the last time they had a

really good quarterback. When's the less time Miami had a quarterback that you felt like was a surefire NFL Player's been a long time, right, they have that guy now? In cam Ward, and that's the kind of player that can take you from being a talented team that underachieves, maybe substantially or maybe slightly. But if you've got an elite quarterback that can, you know, make special plays like he can, that's where Miami could potentially be a championship

caliber team. I don't think they're going to win the whole thing, but like I've seen enough of them to know that if they do play well and beat anybody left on their schedule, I'm certainly not going to be surprised. So it's a tall task on Saturday, but it also presents a huge opportunity, you know, for Louisville, even if they don't come out looking like they have fixed a lot of these issues they have with just being undisciplined at times and committing some penalties that you feel like

are easy to avoid. Let's say they minimize that by sixty percent and yet they're still in a close game and they find a way to win. That's huge. I mean, look, if you find a way to win regardless of how many mistakes you make, I mean, that's what you want is to get a win. So I'm not necessarily confident

that that's what ends up happening. But they're only a four point dog right now, and I don't want to put pressure on him because I'm somebody that truly doesn't think what happened in previous seasons with different teams and sometimes different coaches and teams that are now in different conferences. Like trends are brought up all the time in sports, and I just am somebody that has never really thought

that they matter. But if you are somebody that does value those in a major way, Jeff thrives in these moments. Unfortunately for Jeff, right after these kind of moments, he usually lays an egg and loses to a bad team. That's just and he knows it too. I mean, the reason he brought it up last year, we all knew it, but he's the one who said it before I asked a question at his press conference after they beat Notre Dame.

He knew that, like that Pittsburgh loss was one that you know, has happened before, and he was trying to avoid it and unfortunately he couldn't. So I I mean, I'm I'm excited to see what Louisville can do in this big opportunity that they have. It's just I'm not there yet as far as feeling like, yeah, they're going to come out and just you know, play a great game of football, because they haven't done that yet. I mean,

and again I'm not asking for perfection. I just want him to be a little bit more polished, a little bit more in sync. And the communication defensively was better that Ron English was no longer upstairs, he was down on the sideline. But I still at times, you know, they've got guys making good plays. They you know, they only gave up. Was it twenty points to Virginia? I thought, I thought, is it Corey Thornton that I know he's

a transfer from UCF. And I found myself now, yeah, it's Corey Thornton who transferred to Louisville from uc HAVE. He played a great game. It was nice to see Quincy Riley out there again. And he's one of those guys that even if he's not making a huge play, he's somebody that the opposing offense is going to be well aware of and it's going to change how they play and what they do because they know how good

he is. Ashton was active, so the defense I think took steps forward, but I still feel as if there's plays and maybe this is where I am nitpicking. Maybe this is me maybe expecting perfection. I don't think that I am. But sometimes I see the other team make a play and I don't think like, well, what are you gonna do? That guy's just good. It's usually like, well, hey, why were you Why did you take that angle? Why were you out of position? Oh you got a third down? Stop, No,

you committed a silly penalty. Now they get a reset, they get a fresh set of downs. Like those things. I still want to see those tightened up. And there's no better time to get those things fixed than now, because again, a win here would be monumental. A win here didn't guarantee anything, but it should definitely make this team collectively have some belief in themselves that they may not have right now. I mean, the human element is real.

These guys know that. Like, they just needed to get out of there with a win against Virginia because they'd gone two straight games where you know, they shot themselves in the foot and that resulted in losses. So we'll see what happens. But maybe as we get closer, I'll get more confident. But right now, I'm just not there yet.

We haven't talked a whole lot about it, but it was certainly needed on Saturday, meaning Louisville fans myself included, I needed it, and that was to see Kentucky lose Tovandy. And yes, Bandy's not what they once were, but like they're still Vandy and they didn't even play great. Like I did listen to a little bit OFKSR this morning and I heard Matt mention that when Bama lost to Vandy, Bandy was going blow for blow with them, like trading shots and matching them, and just like never Bama could

never swing that game in their direction. And that's a big credit to Vandy. That wasn't what happened on Saturday. Like Kentucky just you know, they looked like a sloppy football team that was undisciplined with penalties and made crucial mistakes. Their defense is really really good, but you know, there's a really bad performance for Mark Stoops and his team

and like they're right. I mean again, maybe it's just recency, maybe because it's Vandy, but I feel like they're right back to where they were post South Carolina as far as like just wondering what are we doing here with Mark Stoops? You're not going to fire and me you can't afford it. It's too much money. And I'm not

even sure they're fans. Won and fired. But for Stoops to come off of a bye and once again have his team not ready to play and it results in a loss to Vandy at home, I mean, that's like worst case scenario for him, and that's exactly what played out. We had some people earlier on the text line sort of you know, asking because there's some level of desperation

between a few people. It's really just, you know, I don't say it's two different people in the text line that when they do text in ninety nine percent of the time they're going to ask about the uku L game? What do I think is going to happen? And I wish I could tell you that, Oh yeah, this gives me way more confidence in Louis's ability to beat Kentucky

because Vandy did it at Commonwealth. I mean, yeah, it's another sign that they are in fact a team that if they don't play well, they can lose to teams even Vandy. But like I'd be a liar if I told you that I think Kentucky lost to Vandy because they don't have any good players. I wish I could tell you I think Kentucky stinks and that they got a bunch of bombs on their roster, but I don't.

I think they've got some good players. Defensively, they're loaded a receiver, They've got two studs that you know, make big plays at times but also make bone headed plays at times. I don't know how good vandergriff is, but he's not terrible. You know. Their offensive line has been you know, solid for him. Despite looking terrible against South Carolina. Since that game, they've actually played well. So you know, I don't know what it means for the Louisville Kentucky matchup.

I'm not even really thinking about it just yet, but Kentucky could have two more losses than they have right now, and at that point, you know you are who you are. But I still know that when Louisville goes to Lexington at the end of the year to play them, they're going to be going up against a team that like

has really good players. That it's gonna be there's gonna be there's going to be some matchups that Louisville is at a disadvantage at especially upfront, and that's been hard to overcome for many, many years, and maybe this is the year they can't overcome it. But we got a long way before we get there. And when I say it needed to happen, and it was great to see them lose to Vandy, it's because it was not fun to see Rick Patino in Lexington on Friday night, and

we should have known. I mean, I kind of find myself going back to last Wednesday when I just got to Charlotte talking about Rick, because he confirmed at that point he was going to be in for the football game. And then I'm thinking, Okay, well, yeah, there's no scenario that he wouldn't be at Big Blue Madness. And then I thought, but yeah, he'll probably just be like, you know, in the background. And then I'm like, wait a second.

You're talking about Rick Patino, a guy who has never missed when it comes to taking advantage of an opportunity to make something all about him, and that's exactly what he did. So I think because I started to realize it before it happened, you know, and I've always known, and I'll reset my thoughts because I did talk about this at the very beginning of the show. But I know we've got a new audience here now. But I've

always known Rick like Kentucky better than Louisville. I've always known that he cherished his time there more so than he did when he was here, even before he got fired here, Like he loved his time at Kentucky because it was a magical ride that he had there. He was on top of the world, and he left for the Celtics job, and clearly he I mean, he wishes he didn't. He wishes he probably was still coaching at Kentucky.

So because I'm old enough to have experienced Patino at both places, despite being really young when he was at Kentucky. But I remember it like I knew he was the coach of the rival, and I knew it was kind of weird when he came here to Louisville, but I knew he was a great coach, and clearly it worked out for Louisville. I mean, so I it was the visual, like the I remember. I mean, this is gonna sound dramatic,

but I'm just being honest with you. Is I'm scrolling through Twitter on Friday night and I saw the first video is from the guy from WHS eleven. I can't think of his name, but he was the first person I saw that posted a video of Patino there. And I'm sure there were already pictures elsehere, but like, I'm not consuming people covering big Blue madness. I mean, that's I mean, there's no way in hell I would do that, as most louisvill fans wouldn't. But it was Mason Herodesky.

I'm sure I'm not saying that correctly, and I apologize Mason, but he's with WHS eleven. I'll get with Kent when he comes on this week and get the proper pronunciation because you know, he works hard and I see his content and I just don't know how to pronounce his last name. It's h O r O d y s k I Horadesky. I'm just guessing here. But anyways, he's the one who posted the video that showed Rick in his Kentucky blue

quarter zip. And the visual of that did kind of like take me back a little bit, because you know, first thing I thought of was like, wow, I'm not sure I ever thought about seeing that, you know, because to be fair, I have no problem with him going by and you know, knowing Rick like we know Rick and knowing how he is, That's what makes this different.

If this was a coach that we just like, it's just hard for me to believe this was all of about him honoring his former player, which I think there's some of it that is that, but it's also Rick wanting to make it all about Rick. He's always done that since he's been at both places. That's just his nature. So like, I don't give him the benefit of the doubt that this is just some wholesome experience where he's

going back with his former player. I think he does love Mark Pope, and I think it is a special thing to him, but I'm also not willing to acknowledge it that like that that's really what it was all about. Like most coaches would not have done that. Most coaches would have let Mark Pope have his moment, and Rick didn't. And that's just Rick being Rick. It's not like he's anti Pope. It's just that's how he is. He's always

been that way. So you know, seeing it was kind of like, oh wow, like here it is, like now it's real. I can I've seen the visual. But then I realized, you know what, like that's that's that's Rick, you know, like I've always known that he loved his time at Kentucky, and now that Cal has gone, he can you know, he can do this. I'm surprised in a way that like Kentucky was as open to it.

Like it's one thing to have Pope wanting him around, but like Pope and I could be wrong here, but I think that the Cal relationship at UK, like it wasn't good when it ended at all. I mean, he still tried to kind of finagle his way to stay there and they told him no. So maybe I'm maybe I'm jaded here and maybe this is me just seeing

this the way I want to see it. But I think to see the official UK basketball Twitter account, to see all the staffers that work for Kentucky like they're sid people, and the official UK the university account all just going above and beyond sharing all the love for Rick. I swear I think that was a shot at Cal, Like I think they all wanted call to see it because Cal thought he was bigger than the program at Kentucky.

Cal thought it was Cal basketball, not Kentucky basketball, which is really why it started to kind of, you know, sour. So you know, it wasn't that big of a shocker to see it in the grand same with things. But you know, I'm sure there's many people that thought they'd never see it, because you know, I'm not. I'm there are people that are, you know, six seven years younger than me that would that have no memory of Rick

being in Kentucky. And those people, you know, can be thirty years old with kids, and like, I mean, these aren't These aren't young young people. Like they didn't make me feel old, but I did realize when I saw so many Louisville fans that were a little emotional about it, I think it reminded me that, yeah, if you've never if you didn't know this thing for what it was. I mean, I'm sure even though they were young and they didn't experience it, they know he used to coach

at Kentucky. But like I think, if your only memories of Louisville basketball because of your age, are with Rick here and throughout his entire time here, man, the rivalry was pretty heated, right him and cal or personal rivals you throw in the fan bases that hate each other like it's it was intense as it's ever going to be. So if that's all you know, and then you saw that, like I bet it did break your heart because you've you've never really had to like acknowledge that. Yeah, uh,

like he's always probably loved Kentucky more. You may you may have liked. I mean, it just wouldn't It never come up, will probably never come up in your mind. But because I am old enough to have known Rick before he was here and knowing he was at Kentucky and they were on top of the world, like it still wasn't I'm still not happy or thrilled, but like he's now going to be wearing all blue and may never come back here wearing red, Like that's not you know,

that's unfortunate. But like I get it. Don't mean I think it's great or that I've you know, you know, it's just, you know, I found myself realizing why to some people it was such a tough thing to see, And in a weird way, I also get why him going on KSR with Matt on Saturday. Like I've talked to many people who who who I you know, know well that are friends of mine or people that you know, work in in in this industry, if you can call it an industry, that like that's the one thing that

stood out to them more than anything. It's not that he was there, not that he said what he said about Louisville or anything, but that he went on KSR. And I kind of get that too, Like that's what's surprised me more than anything. And it's just because like Rick's been pretty insulated throughout his life, like you know, but I have a hard time thinking he's not aware of like how KSR blew up to be what it is today. I mean, nobody don't. I don't think there's

really a comparison as far as what they do. I mean, it's an empire as far as you know, the website that's been purchased and now owned by on three Sports, the radio show that is all across this state, super successful. So you know, like I don't want to act like they've never done anything else other than this, but they would tell you. And Matt may have even talked about

it today on the show. I'm not sure. One of the biggest things that led to their explosive growth, Like their biggest boom in growth was when they were covering Rick Petina when making fun of him relentlessly. Matt covered the trial with Karen Cipher. I mean, obviously he brought Katina Pale on the radio, and we know how that worked out. For somebody to not tell Rick that, or if they did and he didn't care, that's what blows me away. If I'm Matt, it's a win for him.

do that. But hey, maybe that was like him. Maybe that was him showing Kentucky fans that he is quite sincere when he says, no, I do love you guys, and It'll always be Kentucky Blue, especially now that I'm not at Louisville. I mean, that's what he said. So maybe that was like, yeah, I know what these guys did. I know they made all the jokes about fifteen seconds of intercourse on a table at a restaurant, and they brought aatina pal on to talk about to the ceiling

and all that. But I will to put it behind me because I want you guys to know how much I love Kentucky and I want you to love me. Like maybe that's where his mind was. But then again, like I don't like it's Rick Like I have a hard time thinking he would he would ever approach it that way. All right, quick break, we'll come back, keep

it rolling along. It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Thorn's right here on sports Stalk seven ninetyf you want to join us five way two five seven one seventy nine hundred. We'll get to your calls on the other side. It's right, Coffee and Company. About thirty minutes, well a lot about twenty five minutes left here before we get out of here. We'll get back to the phone lines in just one second.

But Dennis rites in and says that he he just assumed I was overdoing Louisville's strong schedule in Pat Kelsey's first year. First of all, what do you mean, Dennis, Like I've just like I was just making it up. But he then goes on to say that after looking at how many teams Louisville plays in the non conference that are ranked, that it's a loaded schedule. I mean, I think Pat Kelsey was was he felt a little

a little more justified in saying it. Last week at the ACC tip off one, he was doing other interviews. I know, he went on with Goodman and those guys with the field of sixty eight, and he actually did an interview with the Carolina station a little bit after that. I had him on, and you know, that is one of the observations is and it's an easy observation to make when you look at Pat Kelsey in his first year with a brand new team that he's got. I mean,

the schedule's loaded. I mean, I guess it could end up not being as challenging as it looks, depending upon how it plays out in the Bahamas. That's a big factor in it. But even if you if you even if you eliminate the battle, the battle for Atlantis, I mean, they still have Tennessee With the second game of the year, they play Ole miss, who is a top twenty team and or a top twenty five team. I'm not sure

where they are, but I know they're ranked. And then you also have you know, you have these aren't conference games or these are non conference games, but like you played Duke in December, who you know probably is going to have the best player in the country. So it's it's a challenging schedule, no doubt. And you know, I would say it's gonna be tough for them to beat some of those really good teams, but you never know,

and who knows. I mean, even if you get one out of let's say you end up playing three top fifteen teams, just with the Battle for Atlantis and with Tennessee and whatnot, and you win one of those and you're competitive in the other two, like you'll still have to say you you know, you went one and two. But I'm just gonna be honest with you, and I think it may make some people uncomfortable, those who are willing, those who were able to just eliminate the Kenny Payne

era from their brain. I mean, I'm trying to do that as well. But like I'm gonna probably find myself being a little more happy than I've ever been about things that used to just be the norm things that used to take for granted. So here I am realizing how it sounds. Well, if you win one out of three, usually Louisville basketball, and you know, in most instances of my life, you would say, you know, we can win all three. Unrealistic to do that when you're playing teams

that are that good. But like, been a while since we've been good. Let's be real. So I'm curious to see if I get labeled a you know, a fanboy for Pat Kelsey or you know, I quickly become somebody who people who assume is out to get a coach or something, which is ridiculous. And I know that's we don't need to go down there. But I knew right away, and I think a lot of other people did. They just don't want to admit it, and I get it. But like it was pretty clear from the beginning with

the Kenny paaneair that that that was gonna be bad. Now, nobody thought it'd be as bad as it was. But regardless of what happens, we got to call it like it is. So that's what we'll do, all right. If I go too, if I've seven one seventy nine hundred is the number if you want to give us a call. Let's go to the phone lines, and now we will welcome in. Will Will, how are you this afternoon?

this man keeps himself in shape. He's gonna be I know, seventies, but he's he's in pretty good shape based the best I know. He's still gonna coach. He's gonna come back and redeem. I'm saying he's gonna do all that winning. But Patino is gonna be the next coach because Pope. They're gonna bounce Pope once he starts losing. All this love fest that's over and all this nostalgia. You can't go back, man, you can't go back. But they will

go back to Patino. That's my prediction. In three years, Pope's gonna do a pain a Kenny Payne and they're gonna bounce him so quick out of there and they're gonna be crying. Look at him now, dude, they're dying. They hated like you said, Uh, Matt Jones hated this man. Oh he's grabbling back, grobbling.

really shock us with Rick. I don't know how what I worry about with Rick is I think Rick is one of the I mean, Rick's one of the best coaches of all time in college basketball, and I don't really think that's a debate. He's great when it comes to coaching basketball. He's a legend and everybody knows that. I think if he Kentucky fans when they hated him, the would acknowledge that they hated him. But you know, I think those who despise him couldn't with a straight

face tell you that he's not an elite coach. But I do think Rick, it's really going to be interesting to see what he does this year at Saint John's because you know, Rick still commands a presence. He still has a presence about him to where he commands so much respect that despite these guys now getting paid to play, they're still going to fall in line and probably deal with his way of coaching because they realize they're being coached by a legend. But you know, how long does

that last? Right? Like, Rick hasn't really been in the limelight as a coach that's doing something special in college basketball at the highest level since when like twenty seventeen he had a really good team that was a two seed and they lost in the second round. But like, people know who he is, But how long does that

does that work? And I'm not going to say that he can't coach, like kids aren't going to give him the effort level and the dedication and the buy in because you know, they now get paid and they they

you know. I mean, I'm I don't think he's going to fail at Saint John's, but I'm also not going to be surprised, like the way he goes about things, just to being so demanding, like the game has changed a little bit, Not to say you can't be demanding with your players, but you also have to be a player's coach in a way that like I don't know

if Rick ever could be. Rick was a player's coach because his players respected the hell out of him and they would play their ass off for him, but they did it out of fear, and I don't really think you can you can not to say they were fearful of him hurting them. But like you know, like Rick operate, I mean, Bobby Patrino the same way. Like there are all the coaches who are like that, and in some of them, like Tom Izzo, he is somebody that I

think is a great example. Since the game has changed and the portals here and kids get money, he's not getting the same results. And it really doesn't mean that there's something wrong with these coaches. It's just you have to adapt and adjusted. It's a new world. And I don't know if Rick, you know, if Rick's going to be able to cause if that was to ever happen, And I feel silly even talking about it this much. No offense will, but I just that's a far fetched thing.

But again I don't know. I guess crazier things have happened. But like Rick would have to be really good at Saint John's and Pope would have to be really bad at Kentucky for any scenario like that to line up. And I just don't know what the chances are of both those things happening, meaning Pope being that bad and Rick being that good at Saint John's. I kind of feel like this year with his roster, because he's put

together a really good roster. I mean, God never gets talked about for reasons I don't really know, but there are some people that think Kadari Richmond, who transferred from a Seaton Hall to Saint John's. I mean, I know you've seen this John. Some people have him as the number one player in the portal, and like nobody talks about him. So like Rick landed three top thirty guys in the portal and he's a hell of a coach.

So maybe Saint John's is really good this year. But like if they're not, I think it would be not a sign that he's washed up and should retire. But like, you know, I just have if you ask me, you know, gun to my head in the next seven years, which, by the way, he'd be really old if he coaches seven more years, gun to my head? Does Rick Betino go to another final for it? Is he not? I would say that he doesn't. And it's not because he's

I think he's a bad coach. It's just I just don't know how effective he's going to be this day and age. He'll still win, and to be fair, he's really good at, you know, preparing for the tournament game. So like maybe if he gets there, that's all that matters. Because it's a new world, it's a new season, it's a fresh star. He's gonna have his guys prepared because that's what he does. So like, maybe he can get there as a four or five seed and find a run.

He's done it here before, He's done it to Kentucky. But you know, I just not to act like he would never be a good coach again. I just I think his best days are clearly way behind him.

with Mark Pope after one year. But if you know, but the thin Kentucky fans are are different because Kentucky's a different program when it comes to basketball, and it it's it really isn't worth a whole lot for a variety of reasons, but it still should be mentioned more than it is when it comes to the Calip Perry Kentucky fallout. Even to the end, he kept you relevant, even to the end. He kept you filled with a roster full of guys that you knew were going to

play in the NBA. Therefore, even if you had a bad stretch of play, even if you felt like you were way underwhelming than what you should be. He always had a talented roster that at any moment, if they mess around and beat anybody, you're not really that surprised, right. They rarely hit their potential. But the ceiling was really high with Cal's teams because of how loaded they were with NBA talent. That's not going to be Mark Pope,

so Cal. Yeah, you can bring up the loss to Oakland and the loss to Saint Peter's and whatnot, and no, that matters a lot. Right, what you do in the tournament is really and it's crazy, It really is insane and kind of stupid, to be honest with you, I wouldn't have it any other way because college basketball. I don't want it to change. I love it. I love the sport. But like we really only evaluate dudes for what they do in the tournaments. Like that, that's like,

that's where you really got to. That's where you really have a chance to kind of show who you are. But the other stuff along the way it matters. It doesn't have a value, and in fact, it's worth like it. It means next to nothing if you continue to have really good teams with really good players and they get good seats, but then they bounce early. Like that's the

worst case scenario for a coach. Cal did it twice, but you always knew you had a coach that could get it done at any moment because he's proven it to you before multiple Final four runs early on in its tenure, and a championship, and I look, it didn't seem as if he was going to get there, and I think the departure needed to happen, and it was a mutual thing, beneficial for both. But I think Kentucky fans may at times this year if they do hit a skid or they just you know, end up being

you know, a bubble team or something like that. And I'm not saying they will be. I have no clue, but like, if they are, I think it'll be pretty telling to see how they react, because it won't mean that Pope's destined to be terrible or be underwhelming, but you don't have what you had for so long there, which is a coach that even during bad times, you knew was never gonna lack talent and you knew that he could in fact win at a really really high level because you watched him do it for many years

at your program. Mark Polp's never known anywhere, so you know, he may he may be phenomenal. But that's gonna be fascinating for me to observe from, you know, from the outside as a Louisville fan. Is like, if this guy's solid, but like it doesn't look like they got a chance to like really do some damage deep in the tournament or they're just you know, consistently like the fifth best team in the SEC. Like that's where I'm curious to see how they react because they expect to be better

than that, because again, they're Kentucky. And I don't say that to mackam. I mean, I'm just being real, all right, quick break, We'll come back on the other side, wrap

this thing up. I felt like a real outsider and Charlotte last week at the ACC tip off whenever one of the big talking points from just about everybody was about how the ACC is a basketball league is disrespected and they deserve more respect and it needs to be said, and I just felt like, you know, or they could be better and not really leave it up for opinion and let like results speak for itself, but you know that was a big talking point and not to say,

you know, hey, I told you so, because hey, preseason rankings really don't mean anything, especially once you get you know, it's a reference point, but you know they're wrong a lot. But to seek the AP poll as far as conference, like, I mean, the ACC has two ranked teams, Carolina and Duke.

SEC has nine, the Big Twelve has six, the Big Ten has four, Big East test three, So I mean that doesn't prove that, you know, the league's going to be the fifth best conference, But like that's not a surprise because again, like the best team in the ACC not ranked as far as others receiving votes as Wake Forest, and then after that you get all the way down to like Miami. I mean, it's I think it's deserving to only have those two rank To be honest with you,

I hope it changes. But like I think instead of being in denial, we should like acknowledge it as a league and get the basketball back on track. Meier said, than done. But I mean I'm not at all surprised that there's that many teams ranked ahead of the ACC. All right, we're out of time. Everybody, enjoy your night