It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now, here's Nick Coffee.
All right, let's get it started.
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Be good to go. Busy Show has always on a Monday. It is game Day.
Louisll in action tonight, taken on Spaulding an exhibition play, which I think we're going to see something very similar to what we saw last week. But I think there's some potential here for this to get a little uglier than what we saw last week.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm not given Spaulding a whole lot of credit, but you know, their Division three team, these are athletes that are not on scholarship, and look, they may give Louisville a better challenge than what Young Harris did, but young Harris it's Division two' that's the level just below D one and DVD three is far away from that. So no disrespect to Spaulding in their program. I know coach Gray's been there a long time and they've had a lot of success. They've transitioned pretty nicely from the
NAI level to the Division III level. And I know there's a lot of guys in this community the city that grew up here and played at Spaulding and had had good runs. So you know, it's just to see them on the schedule is not something you typically see. But again, it's an exhibition game. It doesn't matter, and I don't mean if you play. We talked about this
earlier because Jerry called in and by the way. You know, a lot of reaction on the text line to Jerry, just because you know, if he ever wanted to like prove that he can be the most pessimistic person out there, he did that today. And it wasn't even like it was him going out of his way. I just think his nature is always glass half MD And he'd tell you the same thing. And sometimes he says things that I think a lot of us don't agree with, or that we do agree with, we just don't really want
to acknowledge it. Maybe, but sometimes you know, he can be a little negative. And he would even tell you that. But he was complaining that Spaulding's on the schedule. How are we not playing? You know, like, how do we benefit from this game? Somebody could get hurt? And to be fair, I guess we'll start with this. You're coming off for two straight years where you couldn't beat exhibition opponents, so like, I don't care who they scheduled this year, Like,
I mean, let's just get past. I mean, do you want to go play a really good in AI school or a really good Division two school like Kentucky's playing a team that I think won the Division two national championship multiple times in the last decade. Like they'll probably still blow them out. But like, if you're going to play a team of that level and it's not a real game, play one of the worst, Now, maybe that
won't benefit you in a hope. And you know it's not gonna benefit you because you're being challenged in a major way. But let's be real, I don't think you really learn much about your team at all in these kind of games. I just don't. That's why I've never been a big fan of them. I've always hated them,
and then we'll start losing them. So now you know, like Spaulding is probably one of outside of Semons College, they're probably the lowest level of college basketball program that I know of Louisville playing in an exhibition in my lifetime. But you know, to me, I don't really care. I'm jealous that you're not able to see Louisville go up against like real, legitimate top twenty five caliber teams like we're seeing with some of these other matchups in these
exhibition charity scrimmages. So but you know, I have no problem with Spalding being here tonight, and in fact, I wish should get rid of these games. And instead of having exhibition games like we've always had like Spaulding and Young Harris and last year was Wesleyan and Simmons and whatnot. I'd rather just do those charity exhibition games and do two of them, or do one of them, because it's
not a real game. You can, you know, get one out of the way if you end up losing to a good team, and you know, you feel like you got a lot to learn, and you'll learn about your team, like the coaching staff will make we'll we'll certainly be able to take more from watching his team play another power for caliber program in a scrimmage than he will watching them play Spalding. And there's also a lot of money raised.
If it's charity. I don't know what I mean.
I'm sure there's different causes, different charities that benefit from these games happening, but like to me, this just seems like the better way to go about it than all aspects for everybody involved. Other than of course, you know, programs like Spaulding who probably are going to get a
pretty big paycheck to come in here tonight. So you know, I've never been a big fan of these games, and you know, you guys heard me complaining about the team's Louisville played to start the year in football, Like, I know why you have those kind of games, but man like they don't. They're They're kind of a waste of time in my opinion. But I found myself not going the direction Jerry was going when I was thinking about it earlier today, because I don't mean Louisville lost these games last year.
And the year before that.
They went two and two in exhibition games in the last two seasons, which you know, I'm just happy to know that we don't have to sweat out of potential loss tonight. And yeah, we won't learn a whole lot, but if this team buries a bunch of threes, blows out this opponent, plays hard from start to finish, I'll be entertained and I'll enjoy every second of it. Now, I'm gonna have to remind myself, Hey, Nick, let's let's
get let's let's realize the situation here. But I'm ready to see where they stand against Morehead stayed a week from today, because Morehead's going to be substantially better than anybody they've played in the Bahamas. Or in these exhibition games, and then of course you got Tennessee that following Saturday, where you really get a chance to see where you stand. So exciting stuff. But tonight, as soon as the game ends, we'll go live for the postgame show right here on
Sports Talk seven ninety. I would assume it'll be around nine o'clock, so two in, and we will react to whatever it is that happens tonight. All right, So when it comes to Louisville football, if you are just now joining us, I'll kind of tell you where I'm at with it, because I would imagine I'm probably a little more optimistic than maybe you would have expected, because and I look, I I take it. I understand that like me at times for three you know, I got a
three hour radio show. So like when Louisville loses a game and we're discussing the obvious issues that led you to a loss in reacting to it, like some people just think, well that means you're negative. No, Like I'm just being honest, Like I mean to lie and act like Louisville's not four and three going into the Boston
College game. Like I'm just being honest with you and I've learned to kind of balance that and not you know, if you just get me for five minutes on your drive home, and you know, I'm referencing, you know, a game where Louisville lost and they made a lot of mistakes that seemed avoidable. Like that's not negative, that's just the truth that like sometimes people just don't want to hear.
But throughout the entire year, what's made this season really frustrating is that it's not about who they're losing to, or the fact that, like we've learned that they just happened to really strike out in the portal they would and thought they got a quarterback who's good, and the stings like it's nothing like that. It's just shooting yourself on the foot as many times as they have. Like that's what's made the losses real frustrating. I mean, you
never want to lose. But again, I kind of put this together earlier on the fly, when I was trying to explain myself as to why I feel so much better about a Boston College win than I did, you know, really any other result this year. The result itself with a loss at Notre Dame, at home to Miami and at home to SMU. You never want to lose, but those aren't alarming losses to where you feel like you got to panic, Uh, oh, we're in trouble. This could
be really bad. Like, no, those aren't bad losses. You never want to lose, but it's not as if you did something that's just you know, a catastrophe. But everything that played out in nearly all of those games is what made it so frustrating, because you're still making mistakes
that you feel like are avoidable. I mean, you saw Brahm's face after the first quarter or whenever, that interview he did in the game, the interview he did early in the game at Boston College, like he's beside himself, like he can't hide it on his face, like he's in disbelief. It's some of the mistakes that these teams
make that his team makes at times. So you know, I was just frustrated, really not at a maximum level, but like it was just really awful to be in that position and know that like a mistake here or there that you clean up, like you might have won two of those three games. Like let leave me give you example Tyler Shuck running out of bounds and throwing an interception like instead of just completely throwing it away, like that's avoidable, and that's that's a goof that I
think is quite literally. Something you can say is shooting yourself in the foot Amaro Ugans Bruce catching the ball over the middle, getting popped, fumbling it right after the catch. That's more of a maybe you can say somebody made a good play, but obviously it's your job. Did not fumble it in that situation when you're coming across the middle like that, You could have one of those mistakes happened, one of those two and feel like, damn, hope they
didn't come back to bite us. We should have, We should have and could have avoided that. So like, you can have one and it's still frustrating, But when you have two and sometimes three or four, like the Notre Dame game like that, that's why it's so frustrating. It's not because you lost by a score to three teams that are currently ranked in the top twenty. It's because the things that happened that led to you there should be avoidable. So I think the same thing can be
said about the Boston College win. The result itself not impressive, it's what you were supposed to do. Win at Boston College because they're not as good as you.
You didn't even cover.
So maybe in the eyes of those who really evaluate things when it comes to point spread, maybe you didn't do what you were supposed to do because you didn't cover. But that's not what it's about. It's about what happened throughout and I think the way this team was able to dig deep, and I gonna give you all the cliche corny stuff. They kept fighting, they dug deep, they locked in whichever one you want to go with, they
did that, and that what you're supposed to do. That's what you're expected to do because you know, you always want to play hard and not get caught up in the score and fight till the end. Again, I'm giving you all the cliche, corny stuff, but like that's impossible at times, and I think most teams will never know.
But I believe most teams in that position down twenty to nothing on the road when you already have had an underwhelming season, that you have to look in the mirror about one of your top playmakers just decided to opt out. He don't want to play with you anymore. There's a lot of talk about him still getting paid despite not playing like I think most teams would have really gone through the motions from then on and it would have been a blowout in Boston College a favor.
This team didn't do that, and coming back from being down twenty to nothing on the road and winning is worth something.
There's value there.
Now.
I don't know the exact value. I can't give you the you know, the dollar amount. But if these guys choose, I think that moment could be where they finally come together, put it all together, and maybe start playing much cleaner football without the sloppy mistakes that they've made all throughout the year. Because look, they still made them against Boston College. It's just they avoided them late and really came from behind. And I think, you know, I think they prove something
to themselves. Now, does that mean they can go and beat I mean they can go beat Clemson. I'm not saying that that. You know, if they lose at Death Valley, then we were wrong and they didn't actually get better against Boston College. But I think we'll know. I mean, obviously I want them to win, and I think they can win. We haven't we haven't even seen this team put together a game where they don't make multiple avoidable mistakes. And again, nobody's asking to be perfect, but it's one
thing to like drop a pass. It's one thing to you know, miss a tackle or even just have a you know, flukey turnover. Hey games in let's be real. Some of the things we've seen from this team, like you got to ask yourself, like what the hell's going on? So I doubt we completely gotten rid of that altogether, but there's something you can really build from with what happened and how it played out in Boston, and I'm
hoping that they do exactly that. And the defense, you know, I think Ron English at times, he's like he's been like the toughest guy to figure out because the results, things you see with your eyeballs tell you this defense is not good enough. And seeing guys just somehow completely run wide open, sometimes out of a timeout, like I'm sure the players are responsible. In fact, I know they are, but like that's that's a really bad look on the coach.
So I think the criticism has been fair. I still think at times Louisvill's biggest issues look like they're disorganized. They don't have an identity. They switch things up too much. I mean, they didn't tackle against Miami like at times it's looked like, really in all systems failure. But on Saturday, I'm sorry, I'm Friday against Boston College. Again. I know the opponent's not great, but thirty one plays for a total of sixty eight yards and no points allowed in
the final six possessions for Boston College. That's got to be the best this defense has played consecutively at any point this year. I mean, also, let's look at and let's look at let's see. Yeah, after the first score for in the first drive of the second half, Boston College scored, which again I thought that was a potential death blow, Like I thought, hey, you did, in fact
generate some momentum. And then they came out and scored right away and that probably quieted things, but they didn't stop. I mean, this game, I said it during the postgame show and it just came to me out of nowhere. But I think a few days later, I think it still fits. That game was a lot like Georgia Tech last year. You come out, you're getting blitzed early by a team you know you're not supposed to be getting beat that badly. It's the first game for Jeff Brown.
People are panicking. It looks like it's going to be really bad. And then it wasn't like two big plays that flipped it all around in a matter of you know, five minutes of game clock.
It was.
It was gradual, but slowly but surely you came back and not only one you dominated that game. You got down twenty was it twenty to Yeah, you were done twenty to nothing in that game. And you came back and after you spotted them twenty points, you beat them thirty one to seven. So again after that first score in the third quarter for Boston College, from then on for Boston College, they had four points and turned it over twice on downs. Again, that's what they did in
the last six possessions. So really a good job of the defense and in the offense. You know, I've never really worried. I mean that they've been good enough this year. Let's be honest. They've made mistakes, there have been some turnovers. The old line has not been consistent when it comes to pass protection. Like you can nitpick and find areas, find specific parts of games where you can be critical of the offense, but to be honest.
With you, they've.
Really done enough, and at times they've done more than enough. I think that's why the numbers love Louisville. And again I'm not somebody that's telling we should trust what the computers say and not what results say. But you're seeing Louisville in like the top twenty in some of these metrics, because you know, Louisville has played pretty good football this year.
They just have made some killer mistakes that have put them in a position to have the record that they have right now, I mean going into last week's game, and I don't know if it's still the same now I can look it up. Nine power for offenses are in the top twenty five of passing and rushing, meaning you've got a really good offense and it's balanced because you're good at both Texas, Oregon, Ole, miss Ohio State, Miami, Alabama, Indiana, Louisville.
What's different about Louisville than all those other teams. Louisville's lost way more games than them, Like, you have been good offensively and you've been good defensively at times, Like that's sounds crazy, and the numbers may not back it up here and there. But like, it sounds so foolish because you know, it sounds like what a loser would say. It sounds like somebody who's trying to find a way to tell you, yeah, my team loses a lot, but no, we're good.
We're not a bad Like.
I know it sounds like that, but I still actually think Louisville could be a really good team. That's what it could have should. At this point, you've already lost enough games to where the thought of you getting in the ACC Championship game is just a dream. But you can still finish strong, and I look, there's still a lot of value there the rest of the way. I mean, you play two top twenty teams in your next two games. Then you've got Pitt, I'm sorry, Then you've got Stanford, maybe Stanford.
Stanford's in between them.
So you've got Clemson, Stanford, Pitt, and Kentucky. Two of those teams are in the top twenty right now, and Pitt looks really good. You got them at home Clemson. We all know what the challenge is there. So again I'm not telling you, hey, everything's fine now, they're gonna win out. You're gonna go nine and three and we're
gonna feel great. Like I hope that happens. I can't tell you that I believe it's gonna happen, but the way in which they pulled it out at Boston gives me more belief to think that they could have found a moment to really kind of come together, put it all together. But also, I know that a win against Clemson would be awesome because we've never done it. I know a win against Kentucky, even if they're terrible, is needed now more than it's ever been in the history
of this Leva football program. So not only could you finish strong, but two, I mean, honestly, three of these wins will likely give you a better feeling than what you have when you beat Virginia and you beat who else Georgia Tech and Boston College. These are wins that would give you a little more, I guess, feel as
if you actually did something. And who knows, maybe they don't end up doing that, but they still have opportunities to go out and finish this thing strong in a way to where you won't look back and say, well, we only beat the teams on our schedule that work Again, if you end up going if you end up finishing the season with I mean, heck, let's be real, what are they four? Are they five and three?
Now?
I mean they're going to They're gonna be they should become Bowl eligible with their game at Stanford, because Stanford's really bad, I think. But you know, there's a lot on the table that could happen. You could end up going six and six, or you could end up going nine and three, or you could end up, you know, going eight and four, and how it looks, you know, will be a big factor I think in how fans,
I guess reflect on year two of BROM. It's been underwhelming at this point, but they could still finish strong to where we don't look back and say, man, they really, you know, underwhelm, because again, six and six would be a big disappointment, seven and five would be a big disappointment. But eight and four, I think it depends on who
those eight wins are against. And I think at nine and three, you know, you got to run the table to do that, but that would be I think it'd be hard for people to say that they didn't have a really good year at that point. And I would hate though, to be a seven and five or six and six, because one that it's not what you strive for.
You should be better than that. But like that would give you one of those years where you get to the end of the season and because there's only twelve games in a football season in college, like you really don't know where you stand. Yeah, we beat the teams who are supposed to beat and we lost to the teams that, like you know, were expected to beat us. Like, I guess that means we're what average. Look, all you can do is players in your schedule, which actually I
want to get to that. On the other side, because with Indiana, they're clearly the most one of the most talked about teams in college football right now. I mean they've kind of been that, but now here they are eight, no, And it'd be a shocker if they get to the Ohio State game and you know, aren't undefeated, right, I.
Mean, yeah, that's fair to say. I mean, it'd be.
A shocker if they finish I think eleven, and if they finish worse than eleven in one Like maybe I'm getting a little too carried away here, but like everybody else they play outside of Ohio State, from what I've seen from both sides, meaning Indiana and these other teams, they should finish the season eleven and one at worse, which is a crazy thing to say out loud and not have people think you need to be committed to
a mental institution. But that's where we are. Signette's got it rolling, and I'm gonna slightly defend Indiana on the other side, but also give you an example of something you hear me say a lot, not just one thing has to be the truth, like multiple things can be true and you don't have to Like Indiana has had a schedule that has been very weak compared to what you typically get in the Big Ten, but that doesn't prove anything.
At this point.
All they've done is played who is on the schedule, and they've demolished them. Literally all they can do. Our quick break, don't go anwhere, keep it locked right here. On Sports Talk seven ninety. When college football fans go back and forth with their rival or other fan bases, I mean, it's oftentimes a bitching session about well, your
league stinks, you know, you ain't play nobody. And I was thinking to myself, why don't we get that as much in college basketball, you do every now and then, right, like you know, you'll hear people mention, you know, Gonzaga, right, they clear beef up their non conference schedule because they have to because of the league they currently play in. So I think with college football, you only have twelve games, and it feels like unfortunately politics and perception matter way more.
And some say, well, no, it doesn't matter. You go out there, you play the games. Well, you know, I think it's been proven year in and year out that how you are viewed, because again this is not a I mean, I guess in basketball, if you get in the tournament, like the selection committee puts you in as one of sixty eight teams, then you know, you know you got in and you can go prove of how good you are.
Right But in.
Football, like four and four teams in the Big ten in the ACC are not going to be treated the same way as four and four teams in the ACC, like they're just not like, well, let me back up the SEC.
I think I said that backwards.
The SEC will have a four and four team that people will try to tell you that team's great because they're in the SEC and they lost to other really good SEC teams. You could be four and four in the Big Ten or four and four in the ACC, and you're not gonna get any sniff of respect because well, I mean, and I'm not even here to tell you
that the SEC is not the best league. But it's quite clear when you see not only the A people, which I know doesn't matter, but in the college football playoff rankings, which we're gonna get our first look at them is that next week or this week.
Next Tuesday, next Tuesday.
So you'll see teams that really the only reason they would be where they are is because of the league they plan and they're not getting as much. They're not held accountable the same way other teams that lose league games. Like there is nothing, and I mean not a thing that would indicate that Missouri football is a good team this year. I mean nothing. I mean, I mean I talked about that. I think that wasn't one of my picks that I put out there.
Yeah, yeah, Like I mean.
The fact that Bama was only favored by like fourteen and a half or something like it made no sense. There was nothing, and I mean not a thing on Missouri's resume that would indicate to you that they're even a decent team. In fact, the best way to just be honest about assessing a six and two Missouri team right now would be undefined. We don't know what they are, but AP voters and probably the playoff committee would put
them in the top twenty five. You know why because they're in the SEC and they're getting a benefit of the doubt. So, like, perception does matter, Like I know the ape pole doesn't, but it creates a perception that the same you know, not the same people because it's different. But like humans who vote on the A people, they create a narrative, they create the perception, and then you have other humans that sit on a committee that decide how these teams are going to be ranked. And to
think that that doesn't matter, I just I don't. I don't see how you could make the argument that it doesn't. Yeah, they're not the same rankings, but we talk about who's ranked unranked all the time, like it's there's value whenever you discuss it. It may not be the same number that you're seeing what the AP pole has.
But like.
Missouri top twenty five team right now, their best win is Vandy, I mean it is their best win's Vandy, they beat Murray State, they beat Buffalo, They beat Boston College barely, who we know isn't very good. They beat Vandy in double overtime, they got killed by anm They beat UMass, who sucks. They barely beat Auburn, who didn't get their first win in league play until Saturday against Kentucky, and then they got beat thirty four to nothing to Alabama.
What in the world will make anybody think that team is top fifty? Like it's embarrassing. So, you know, the SEC is still getting just the benefit of the doubt that nobody else gets.
And maybe I.
Just am maybe I'm biased and I'm not realizing that they're actually deserving of that. I don't know how you would ever know. But like again, Missouri was preseason top ten and they've not beaten the team we're talking about, and they played two good teams and got bent over, Like what would make you think they're they're a ranked team? So another issue that I have with with the with the A people is like the brand like brand bumps always going to exist to an extent, but like Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is what number eight in the A people? Yes, they'll probably be right around there in the playoff rankings too, I would assume, I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if they are. Now if they end up a little bit further down, because you know, the playoff committee is going to really factor in. Yes, they only have one loss,
but man, that loss, you know was bad. But like right now with AP voters, and this is what I think is stupid, And I'm gonna use my own team for as an example here, Like Notre Dame beat A and M, and that win has value. Now, like that win looks pretty good. Like A and M's rolling really valuable win, probably as good of a win as anybody has. I mean, I'm sure there's others. I mean obviously Oregon
beat Ohio State was lost twice. Yeah, I mean Tennessee beat them, beat beat So like there's other good valuable wins out there. But like that's a really that's a win that is aged really really well. That's a top twenty five team when you played them, and they've only gotten better. But Notre Dame got credit for beating Louisville and Louisville what do they do after that lost.
Two more games?
I still think Louisville has a chance to be good, and I think they can be good this year. But I think they're actually a good example. Notre Dame is still sitting in the top ten because people are viewing their win against Louisville as if it was a win against the fifteenth best team in the country. Like you should reset if your voter, if you're voting in the apeopole, if you're somebody that has to say so with the playoff committee, you can't evaluate a win win it happened.
You have to evaluate it week by week. I mean, I'm trying to think of an example of this sea where somebody beat somebody early on. Oh yeah, I mean, like Boston College was ranked when they played Missouri. They were ranked number twenty four. You know why because they just beat the hell out of Florida State and nobody knew Florida State was this bad. So like that should always be considered when I'm doing an ap you know.
And I mean, again, maybe they're rules I don't know about, but like if your rule is that it doesn't matter it only is this week, like then that's a stupid way to have any poll. But like the app pole, if you're a voter, you should know. Okay, Yes, two weeks ago I had this team as the eighteenth best team in the country, and yes they've not lost, but man, I had them at eighteen because they had two ranked wins in two weeks. Times those wins have very little value.
Now I'm not going to drop them out, but like, I don't what I thought two weeks ago when I put them there, I ended up being wrong. Like, I just don't know why there's not.
More of a.
Overall check in of where you are throughout this season. And again, John, you said it best earlier. They people really doesn't matter when it comes to life. You don't have to look at where you are there and worry. But also, let's not act like it doesn't create a perception week to week until we get the college football playoff rankings in Indiana where they at in the top twenty five thirteen. Yeah, I mean Indiana's undefeated. I mean again,
their schedule has not been challenging. We all know that. But here's what gets me about the about the schedule talk. And I was trying to get to this earlier and I just got sidetracked. But I guess in football, like Indiana could let's say, win every game, but they lose to Ohio State, and then what would be the scenario where they play in the they play in the Big Ten Championship, Like, who would their opponent be if if they end up getting in with that one loss?
Could it be Organ? I guess it would, Yeah, more than likely to be Organ. So let's stay unbeaten.
Let's say it's Oregon in Ohio State. I'm sorry, Oregon in Indiana in the Big Ten Championship and Indiana loses again and they lose by seven to Ohio State, lose by thirteen to Oregon. There will be people that claimed that means Indiana wasn't any good this year. And that's a battle you'll never win with people who just shout about strength to schedule and they shout about your league sucks, and they probably are people who do it from the sec To be honest with you, like that's probably where
where the majority that noise would be coming from. And you can't like you're never gonna end that. But that's what irritates me is that people feel like they were they were proven right when a team takes advantage of a schedule and only really gets one or two opportunities against really really good teams, and like, if they lose close games, then that proves that that everything else they
did didn't matter. And again, like, I think the reason you don't see that as much in basketball is because we know that with the tournament, that's all that matters. You know what I mean, Like, everything you did in the regular season is a factor in where you start and where you know if you get to the tournament. But we all all collectively know what march madness is all about, Like, you better do something here and doesn't matter. Great regular season, but an early exit. Man, that's tough
to take. Mediocre regular season, but you found a way to make the tournament and you go win big. Nobody cares about the regular season, and football's different, and football you can get to the end of the year and not really know where you stand and it can trigger fans who like no, Like, if Indiana's season plays out the exact way I just described, that would be a phenomenal,
phenomenal season. But on this ride Indiana fans have been on, and I don't know, you can tell me if I'm wrong here, John, Like, I think it would be infuriating again, you can't control it, but like you know, people would have that reaction and it would make you want to, you know, rip your hair out right.
Yeah.
And I think in the scenario that you mentioned, if you make the Big Ten title game and you end up having that second loss, you'd still be in the College Football Playoff because you are technically the Big Ten runner up.
You'd have to be in.
If they put anybody else in the Big Ten in, you know, like that would be the biggest that would be the first controversy they.
Ever had, because if they did do that, they would just say, well.
You know what, Indiana had got there, but they didn't play you know, Penn State, they didn't play Illinois and Iowa or whatever, and that would be you know, that'd be a fraud. Like that would be you know, I'm not saying you all are for sure better than those teams, but like you WI, you'd be getting screwed more than Florida State got screwed last year.
I feel like I and that would be.
The true nightmare scenario. It's not make the Big Ten title game and somebody who doesn't. Let's just say that that does happen. And in Ohio State who's right behind you in the big ten standings does get in. I feel like though that wouldn't happen, but imagine that happens.
Yeah, But I feel like the fact that you get to play them so late it helps because if you beat them, like there would be no scenario you could claim that they belong. Yeah, because they've had close law. I mean, they should have lost the Nebraska. Well maybe that's a stretch, but like that was a they could have lost it. Yeah, they could have lost the Nebraska and Nebraska lost Indiana. I got forty five points the week before, So I mean that kind of stuff matters.
And look Indiana, I mean it's insane to look at these numbers. They're the first team in FBS to start eight to zer without trailing at any point in a game, and at least the last twenty years. That's per ESPN
Stats and Info. Now with that said, they also are on pace to according to Sports Reference, they're on pace to play their easiest modern day schedule in you know, the common era of football, which I think is like twenty twelve on so, and apparently it's the easiest strength to schedule of any power for team since twenty twelve. Those are numbers that don't really tell you anything. Yeah, it's I mean, you know, they've been able to pull
off victories with teams that aren't elite. But like the way in which people use that what I just said, And it's not like it's everywhere, but you know, there's certain people that feel that way right, Like, they won't even entertain Indiana being a decent team. They're just gonna know that their schedules lighter and more manageable and that they just suck. And you know, again, idiots on the internet don't control gets in the playoff. But like the more,
the louder that that kind of noise gets. Like I just in college football specifically, I think perception matters way more than people think. In basketball it doesn't because everybody gets into the tournament and everybody is on the same page knowing that what you do there is how you are, how you evaluated. That is where you have a chance to cash in and truly like do something that or
you have a chance to fail miserably. Like Kentucky. I mean, they had two phenomenal regular seasons for the most part. I mean, maybe not phenomenal. That's probably a stretch. But when they lost in the first round to Saint Peter's and Oakland, they got really good seats because they were really good in the regular season, but they did nothing
in the tournament, got upset and doesn't matter. In football, we don't really have like it's such a different way in which we determine a champion and you get much fewer games like it. You know, perception matters more than it should in college football, and unfortunately, I don't think that's going away because if anything, these these you know, the Super League that is the SEC every you know, every few weeks they're doing something to kind of remind everybody,
oh yeah, we could you know, we control everything. And I just don't think that's ever ending. But I'm hoping Indiana can shut everybody up and just keep winning because at that point, I mean, and again to be fair, they're getting a lot of love, more so than they.
Ever gotten because this is this is rare.
But I guess I'm a little triggered about the schedule stuff because that was Louisville last year, right, Like, you know, they were actually able to end up beating some decent teams along the way, but like what like they said, hey, acc in our first year of Jeff brom Let's just give us the most manageable conference schedule.
Like it just worked out that way. Same thing for Indiana.
You know, they didn't know Michigan was going to be the national champion one one year and then be pretty mediocre the next. But that's how it played out. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Wrap this thing up right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Don't forget tonight we will have the Louisville basketball postgame show starting as soon as it ends between the Cards and the Eagles, Louisville and Spaulding tipping off at seven o'clock.
Same thing as last week. As far as how you watch it, it's gonna be on watch ESPN, And if you just go to the ESPN app on your device or your smart TV or your Roku then or your laptop for that matter, you will be prompted to provide your television provider. And if you have a provider that allows you to watch ESPN, then you will be able
to watch this. The only people I feel like they would have a difficult time is somebody that doesn't have a smartphone or somebody that I guess still only relies on like standard cable like Spectrum, you know what I mean, like where you don't have any type.
Of like a no streaming service.
Yeah, yeah, I mean, but I guess technically you could have like no, that's the thing. I mean, you could have Spectrum. But if you do have like a smart TV that allows you to have apps, or a Roku or a fire stick, you know, that would really be I mean, it's it's rare. It's one thing to put in the effort, which I don't think is much effort at all. And it you know, if people who genuinely don't have the ability to watch this like, it'd be pretty it'd be pretty rare, I would say. But I'm
sure there'll be plenty of people ven o'clock. Well, the hell's a game. You know that's gonna happen, right, it will? Yeah, I mean, so just just just prepare for it if you're somebody. I mean, that's why I try to give everybody heads up. But tonight's crowd, can we please not talk about it on the postgame show?
Please? I mean we can.
I mean, you're you're all's opportunity to sound off and react to whatever you want. But like, I don't think there's gonna be a crazy, big crowd, and I understand why, and I'm not gonna think anything of it. I'm gonna watch this team play, hopefully dominate, and get set for the real game that starts next week. All right, let's
talk about Jeffersonnimal Hospital before we say goodbye. Keep them in mind when it comes to your pets, doesn't have to be an emergency, but if there is an emergency, and I mean anytime, any day, they're going to have a doctor on site that'll be there for you in case of emergency. And emergencies happen, they're not playing right, But you're plan following an emergency should be to reach
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and your pets their family. So let's make this a moment where you think, okay, you know what, I haven't gotten my dog or my cat checked up in a while let me reach out to Jefferson Animal Hospital, get that thing started, that process started, So reach out at five h two nine hundred pets or visit Jefferson Vets dot com. Again, we're at a time, have a good evening, enjoy the game if you're going, and come back right here around nine o'clock and we'll talk about it on Sports Talk seven ninety