I feel like I can trust the loyal listeners of this show. They wouldn't they wouldn't mess with me, they wouldn't mislead me just to see if you know, they can play a prank on the show here Coffee and Company. But I talked about it yesterday, how Louisville going one month over a month actually without a home game can't be normal in Power for Football, and it was because somebody had texted in saying, hey, who's to blame for this? Like how could this happen? And I don't know who
to blame? I mean, maybe just bad luck. I'm not sure. But somebody who texts in this show pretty regularly just sent this in earlier today that said that they looked it up and there's not a single Power for program other than Louisville that went as long as they are going to go without a home game. I'm just going to trust that you did the research. I don't think you need to cite your sources. I'm just gonna believe it.
If somebody sent it in to the Ellen and Federal Credit Union X line, then it has to be true. I mean, think about that. That's not normal. I mean, we all know around here, like, Hey, why does it feel like it's been forever since Lowell had a home game. It's because it has been forever, and usually during a season, you don't go this long. So still not sure who to blame. I guess blame the acc But yeah, I mean, I would not be shocked at all if Louisville is
the only program. So therefore, I'm going to trust that this texter who's been texting the show for many years, and they've you know, they've never given me any indication that they would be one to try to, you know, try to pull a prank. And what I mean, you know, by that is maybe sending in something because some people have tried it and I've not been I've not fallen for it yet where I just get caught reading the text line rapidly and then you know, reading something that
I probably shouldn't have read on air. I've come close, but it's not it's not happened just yet. But yeah, I mean, I feel like there's been a big loll here in the season.
Now.
It's nice to have this downtime. Knowing the most recent performance that you saw from Louisville was the first time they ever beat Clemson. But yeah, just I'm sure basketball emerging getting so much attention last week with the big lead up to the Tennessee game. But yeah, it feels like I've been without Louisville football for far too long. But they are back in action on Saturday, taking on Stanford West Coast matchup, and you know, here's to hoping
that they take care of business. Twenty point favorites right now, so we'll have you covered on game day. We will have our pregame show starting at two thirty, the Louisville Football Pregame Show presented by Pellow Windows and Doors of Central Kentucky and Jefferson Animal Hospital, and then as soon as it ends, we go live for the Louisville Football Postgame Show presented by Alex R. White Lawyers. Sue Distracted
Driver dot Com. All right, so they announced the kickoff time for Louisville and Pittsburgh next week, and it's going to be either three thirty or four. It depends on which of the two ESPN networks that the game is going to be on. So relatively we know the time start just going to be three thirty or four, So that gives Louisville and you know, no night games this
season at home. And Kelly Dicky, of course ul statistical guru, who you're not if you're on Twitter at all, be sure you're following real card game because he's always cranking out really interesting stats facts, trivia and honestly he doesn't know it, but he's helped me a lot with interesting
things for this show, So thank you, Kelly Dicky. But he says Louisville will have no home night games this season for the first time since having none for three straight seasons between nineteen ninety six, ninety seven and ninety eight, which, of course louisll football was in a much different place at that time. They were not on any big television
network or anything like that. So yeah, I mean that that sounds about right, and I can't really you know, I'm sure every fan within the fan base has their own feelings for it, but it does kind of feel like the season has kind of just flown by. It kind of felt like we never really, you know, had a moment. Now, we did on Saturday a couple of weeks ago and they won at Clemson. But usually when I think of previous seasons and the ride, that is
a twelve game season. You know, I think of big moments for home games, and you know, Louisville this year, they just had to really mean, look, if you would have won against SMU at that point, it would have just felt like you were taking care of business, doing what you were supposed to do. To be honest with you, but you want to get tot Miami. It would have been like the ultimate, Hey, we finally broke through and
here we go, big game. Brom comes through again. So maybe that's why it kind of feels like it, but it feels like the season's gone by way too fast because in a way, I kind of feel like, wait,
we haven't really gotten totally started yet. Now again, maybe that's just me, but there's no doubt the home schedule really just being what it was was kind of a letdown, and we knew that going in looking at this schedule on paper, and in fact we looked at a little bit because Miami ended up being a bigger matchup than we thought it would be. I mean, they were top five at the time, and then Pittsburgh they've since lost two in a row, but they're going to better than
what you had anticipated. But other than that, I mean, we didn't know SMU was was good at the time, and they beat you. So, you know, I think it's a variety of things. One no night games, a month off between home games, which is just ridiculous, and you know, the whole flow has just been off. You had two nothing Burgers to start the season. I mean, you did all you could. You blew out Jacksonville State and Austin p But that to me didn't really feel like anything.
I mean, it was nice to see guys putting them numbers. It was nice, you know, for the season to be here. But those games, I mean those I hate those games. Just me, but I hate them. And then you have your first real game against Georgia Tech. After that, you go on the road to Notre Dame and you know, you lose a frustrating one. And then from from Notre Dame on, it was really about a three to four week timeframe where you're thinking, like, all right, what's going on?
Like are we any good?
We keep playing good teams, closed can't get over the hump, making mistakes that you feel like you should you should avoid, and then you know you had the breakthrough again. But I guess, really the breakthrough for me was second half of Boston College, and then of course it carried over to Clemson, which was great. But yeah, the whole flow
has been just off. But I will say this to say that there's no night home games this year, I kind of feel like that's not the truth, because if the game starts at four, by the end of the second quarter, it's going to be nighttime, right like it's
it might be dark outside right now. I mean, I don't believe that it is because it's four o'clock, four ten, I should say, but I mean it'll be Put it this way, if you tailgate for a long time, then yeah, the majority that's going to be taking place during the day. But even if you tailgate for night games, not a lot of your tailgate is actually done when it's dark outside, I would imagine. So you know, there's a good chance that the majority of your experience at Cardinal Stadium next
Saturday will be when it's dark outside. So it's kind of something. I mean, I like night games like anybody else. They're fine, but you know, I think to know that the second half of next week will be at night, that's something, right. Yeah, maybe I'm reaching I'm not sure. It's gotta be worth something, all right. It's Coffee and Company. Hopefully that's worth something to you. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven to ninety Nick Coffee.
That's me Austin Montgomery alongside. We've got you till six o'clock. We're gonna be joined coming up here about twenty minutes by the one and only C. L. Brown. He is in Atlanta for the Champions Classic. Interested in getting CL's thoughts on really what he took away from the beat down Tennessee handed Louisville on Saturday. Obviously some big matchups tonight that he's going to be covering for the CJ
Kentucky taken on Duke, Michigan State and Kansas. But Seal also wrote an article that I found to be pretty interesting, and I kind of agree with it, at least until you know it happens, and then I complain because it might be something that I don't like as a Louisville fan. But bringing back divisions is going to end up being something that I think a lot of college football fans end up wanting to happen, because what you now know is that because there's so many teams in this league.
Your schedule one year could be super beneficial for you. Your schedule the next year could be completely terrible. You just don't know. So, you know, like last year, Louisville ended up getting a really, really manageable schedule. This year, they've played the toughest schedule in their conference, and it's not quite close now. Going into the season, I don't think anybody would have thought that because you had I mean, you didn't have Florida State on the schedule, and nobody
knew they'd be the worst team in the league. But here we are. Nobody knew SMU was going to be the only undefeated team in the league, but here we are. Miami has lived up to the hype that they were getting preseason. In fact, I think even though they lost last week, I'd say that they've exceeded it, to be honest with you. Obviously, Clemson, they only have one loss in the league play, and that's the one that Louisville
gave them. So when it comes to the best teams in the league, Louisvill's played all of them, so sometimes it you know, and if you have a division, I
guess they could still play out that way. But what you're gonna see is, in the next few years, you'll see teams that are, I don't know, thirteenth fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth in the college Football's final playoff rankings, and they'll realize, well, they they didn't get an opportunity to play the best team in the league that would have given them a
chance to jump up. And or maybe there's a team that's ahead of them and you know they're ahead of you just because the league gave them a more manageable schedule. There's never going to be a perfect scenario. There's never gonna be a perfect way to put twelve teams in, or put four teams in, or put eighteen teams in. There's always gonna be teams right outside that feel like there were some things outside their control that kept them
from getting in. So with that said, no matter what you do, they're gonna always there's always gonna be people saying, well, they should do this, they should do because in the moment, that's a fan thinking well, we got screwed. This wasn't fair to us. But that's that's you know, that's never that's never going away. All right, Well, we'll talk to see you all again coming up here in about fifteen minutes or so. Let's go to the text line five oh two six five three zero seven nineties the number.
If you guys want a text in the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line. Members get more at Ellenn Federal Credit Union. You can learn more and open your account today at LNFCU dot com. This text says, Nick, you mentioned Kenny pain and I gotta say it. Noah Waterman keeping the price tag on his shoes while playing in a game bothered me more than I wanted it to, and it reminded me of something Kenny Payne's teams would do.
What's up with that? I can't tell you what's up with that, but I can tell you that I saw that, and I mean I didn't I didn't care for it. I'm trying to understand that. Like, I'm not young anymore. So if that's like just a young thing, like wearing two different color shoes in a game, like to me, I feel like a boomer, Like this just shows you're not taking the job serious, you're not focused. Well maybe it's just like kids being kids and they're not really
kids though. To be honest, these two because Cason wears two different shoes and somebody texts it about that on the postgame show. Why is he wearing two of the same shoes in different color. I mean, I guess it's the style, it's the look look good, play good. I mean I would never do that. I would never own I mean, I guess I do actually own some shoes that are the same, just different color, but like, I would never think to do it. So it's kind of like,
let me give you an example. In the locker room. Over the summer, Kentucky's basketball players kept doing like really cringe level like dancing TikTok videos. I don't know if you saw any of those, Austin, but like there were. I mean, you know, I had a tough time, you know. But again, I can't relate, like I would never do that. I don't. It's just not my generation, which is weird to say because usually I feel like I am the younger generation,
but not anymore. I'm kind of in the middle. But like dancing on TikTok and looking kind of silly and kind of like wimpy, like that's just what people of that age do now doesn't mean that they're not taking it serious. So like they're just being being kids. I guess yeah, And it doesn't mean that like if you lose a game, that's why because they were dancing in the locker room because somebody left the price tag on
their shoe. But it does give it, you know, it doesn't give the the look or the feel that you're you're really focused and locked in. To be honest, it probably has nothing to do with anything as far as what happens on the floor, but it is an easy thing for people to point to and say, what are you doing, you knucklehead while you goofing off. Let's take it serious. Let's let's tie our shoes and let's you know, not leave the price tag on them. Did you happen to see that at all, Austin?
I didn't.
Usually there there is like sort of fashion statement to deal with that, but it's more or less like on the Nike side, like if you've ever seen like some of their their off white branding, it's what it's called. They usually have like the tickers and the pull the stickers and the pool tag on them still and but not in this case. I would like to think other than just kind of being like at Doufist and just
leaving it on and thinking that's cool. Like I would like to think that they probably get fresh shoes every game for Medida's right, and that's just kind of something that you kind of missing because you're pulling out like the inside stuffings or tying the shoe. Maybe the small, little generic tag was something he forgot to pull off.
I'm going to try to give him the benefit of the doubt here and again, even if he did leave it there because he thought it looked cool whatever, Like you know, that's if that's a cool thing to do. Who am I to say it's cool or uncool, because you know, I'm not the police when it comes to that stuff, and in fact, I'm not qualified to know what's cool and what's not for kids that are in college this day and age. But I used to work at a shoe store. One of my first jobs was
I worked at finish line. Where that tag is is not normal. So I'm I mean, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that like maybe he didn't even know that it was there and he started tying his shoes and he pulled the tongue up and there it was. But like that's not typically where that would be like if that shoe was going to be on like display somewhere like that would never be where it was almost like it was placed there to just say, hey, look here's the price tag, which again I don't know what
the benefit of doing that would be. But you know, I'm not surprised that somebody has texted about it. I thought about bringing it up on the postgame show, but I didn't want to sound like a boomer. But here I am again. I'd be a liar if I said. It really boiled my blood and I was angry and feel like that's a factor in why Louisville lost.
But like.
I don't even like when guys are out there playing with their shirts untucked. And I don't know if it's because I'm an old crotchety man. Now that's like, you know, you should be more presentable, but like to me, it just gives off the look that you're not locked in it. Probably, I mean, it probably doesn't have any factor in anything like that, but just just you know, just the way I see it.
So you remember there as a fad and this is something I fell in two years ago. You said you used to work at a like a shoe store. That's why I usually like the foot locker and like the dicks and stuff and what foot action. That's where I used to I went through the tall tee phase where everyone wore like the really tall T shirts and they still had the sticker that said tall Te's on them.
I would a rocket with the stickers still on, or like with the hat, the new era hats where they still have like all the price tags.
And all that boy on it. That used to be me, brother.
That was a wild time. I remember that time well, remember it well.
I don't know if that's still the thing though, But like I said, I know, I know that the price tag and the poll tag on the shoes is more like a like a Nike thing. But I would to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe just sort of forgot about it because it wasn't a weird place. Wasn't that Like the front, like where the laces.
Are, and that's what I'm saying, like that wouldn't even be there. It would be on like the it would be on one of those holes where the laces go in or end right, or it would be like tucked underneath or something like that. Or honestly, This is what makes it even more unusual. These those shoes were not
sent from a store. I mean they were manufactured by Adidas and sent to an Adida's partner school, which is U of L the where you wouldn't even think that they would need to put a price tag on them, just very And it might not even have been a price It might have just been something that just had the Adida's brand on it or something. I'm not sure, but it does remind me how bad I was working in retail from being an employee at Hollister for a very brief Oh. In fact, I think I only worked.
I worked half a shift and then left and never went back. I think they still owe me a paycheck. By the way, whatever I was, whatever minimum wage was in an employee discount, that was my rate. But I worked two hours of a four hour shift and I got my break, and I called my mom and asked if I could leave, and I don't remember if she don't.
So you were just done with it half the shift, Oh dude.
I just had to fold an unfold close and then if people walked by, I had to say, have you heard how good our jeens fit? And that's just not something I was comfortable doing. Luckily, nobody ever actually took me up on it, like, well, actually, now that you say, I don't know, can you tell me, because I don't know what would have said. They didn't give me that part. They just wanted me to say, if you heard our gread our genes fit And it was really uncomfortable. I
felt like a real d bag. So I went on my break and I got tumbleweed at the food court in the Saint Matthew's Mall, and I called my mom and I asked if I could get a different job, and she said yes, So I ended up going to UH. I went to finish line after that, and I actually worked there for you know, about six seven months, and I didn't mind the job because I you know, as far as retail, that wasn't fun. But you know, I worked with some friends, and you know, I was really
into shoes at that time. And then I had a long break where I didn't care about shoes. I was like Fred Flunstone, I didn't care if I wore shoes. And now I'm kind of back on my on my shoe kick. Yes, but but I wasn't good at that job because you really can get incentivized by selling the extras, which you know, as somebody who buys shoes, I've never actually purchased what they're trying to hustle, the shoe cleaner,
the laces, the insoles, like all that. They really, they really tell you when you sell a pair of shoes, if you can, if I remember correctly at the time, if you sold those extra add ons, you'd get like a you know, you get a commission of that, which you know always you know it always would go a long way. But two things that I was bad at. One time, I showed up wearing a pair of Nike Air Maxes that were probably my favorite shoes at the time, but I didn't know that they were Afoot Action Exclusive.
So I'm on I'm on the floor at finish line and my boss comes over and was like giving me crap about my shoes, and I'm like, I thought these were Like thought, I'm trying to compete with you guys. You guys worked here a long time. You all got really really awesome shoes, some rare ones, expensive ones. I thought this was the best I had to offer. I'm getting crap about it. And then he told me, well, you're not allowed to wear shoes that are exclusively only
available at a different store in the mall. And I'm like, well, how the hell was I supposed to know that?
So?
And then also had a really bad stretch there during Christmas season where I kept getting stuff stolen from me, like somebody would would want to come in and try on. I just was just gullible. I was seventeen years old. I remember like a kid would come in, like and I was a kid myself, but we're talking like an eleven twelve year old, like, hey, can I try these on? And he would come out and he got me once, and I thought I learned my lesson, but he basically said,
you know, can I try these on? He tried them on, and he told me, yeah, I think these are a little bit small. Can you get a bigger size? Well he just left with the shoes on and left his old pair in the box, and you know, I realized, oh, yeah, I guess people are thieves, and like you heat, you need to be mindful of people stealing stuff. And then it happened again like a week later, and uh, I
got I got. I don't know if I got written up, if that was the thing, but like they were trying to find something for me to do other than like, you know, being responsible for selling shoes. I think I then ended up folding stuff stock in the stock in the uh the.
Backer area Jordan shirts.
Yeah. So anyways, retail was not, uh was not was not good to me, But shout out to people who work in retail, because clearly it's a it's an important thing.
I always thought that would have been the coolest first job because when I was in high school, I was the first to have a car, so I always wanted to be the first to have a job too. And me and the friends are the the goonies. Would always go to like the places with the snapbacks and then the hats with all the goofy stuff on the wall, like the like the foot actions, like the finish lines, and always thought that would have been the coolest job ever.
But I never got that opportunity.
And as I just kind of understand it's retail now and here some of the people's retail nightmares, I'm sort of glad I didn't.
Yeah, retail was not was not lot of fun, But yes, at that age when you're young and you're looking for a first job, Like, that's the kind of thing you want. I never wanted to do like fast food or anything. So the finish line gig was I mean, for you know, it was work, but it was better than you know, some other alternatives. My buddy, I thought, had the coolest job first job. He's a little bit older than me, so he started working before any of my close friends did.
But he ended up becoming the assistant manager of a Blockbuster. Oh and I just thought that was the coolest thing ever, because like I, you know, when I was young, I wanted to live in Blockbusters. I just thought that place was cool as hell. And then he got fired because he probably wasn't old enough to be an assistant manager. But he was working by himself, and there was like a big, a big party that like a lot of our friends were going to in the area where we
grew up. It was kind of a big deal, and he had to work, and he was the only one working that night, and he just decided, I'm going to close up the store at six o'clock and just closed it early as if nobody would notice. And they noticed, and he got fired. But he had a hell of a time with the party. So it might have been worth that's all right, all right, quick break. CeAl Brown's going to join us, coming up here on the other side,
so stick around. It's coffee and Company fuel Beth Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
All right, So Mayor Greenberg just had a live update on probably all of the local news stations I was watching on WLKY in regards to the explosion that took place around three o'clock here in the Clifton area of Louisville. It sounds like they still there's thirteen I'm not sorry, not thirteen. Two people were I guess trapped after the
explosion somewhere. They've been, they've been rescued, and there are a total of eleven people that were all I guess employees at this factory that have been transported to the hospital. It sounds like things were going on as normal at
this at this factory whenever the explosion happened. So he did reiterate throughout the entire update, at least that I was listening to, that there aren't a whole lot of details yet but as far as those that were unaccounted for initially, they have been accounted for and they've sent some folks to the hospital. So scary, scary situation, no doubt. As there was a massive explosion. If you are just now jumping in your car, you're just now joining us.
It happened right around three o'clock in the Clifton area, and it blew out windows of nearby businesses and homes. So scary situation, no doubt, he did say. Mary Greenberg did that. There'll be another update later on this evening as they get more information and gather more facts. All right, it's coffee and company. We are feel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out with us. We are now joined by the one and only Cel
Brown or the Courier Journal, Cel. Before we get to tonight's matchup some big time college basketball games, I certainly want to discuss with you your takeaways from the Louisville, Tennessee game. Louisville really a wake up call, humbled, but you know it was going to happen at some point. I would assume Pat Kelsey and his guys are happy that they had it happen earlier rather than later.
Yeah, I thought.
It was a good game just to see where you're at early on in the season. It was certainly probably the final margin was was was bigger than I thought it would be. But you could see you could take some positives. You can see some of the things that they did well in that game, certainly getting twenty turnovers from from a team Tennessee led the SEC last year with the lowest turnover percentage, So.
There there were some things you can.
Take from that game as as yes, this can be built on, but you also look at it like there's there's just more work to be done. I thought. For me, I thought one of the things that I think Louisville is lacking is just kind of that that player who you give the ball to and you say, go get a bucket and and that helped stop a run or you know, just kind of give gives the team a confidence that that we're still in this and we can
do this. And I felt like everybody is kind of on the same level on this team, and there's no real kind of alpha dog, so to speak. But that can develop too as the season goes on and as these games are played, but I just think right now they're still in this let's feel each other out and kind of see who emerges stage.
Yeah, one thing that I knew going in that as far as the way Rick Barnes teams play and his style as a coach, what he wants to put on the floor, I mean, it really is the exact kind of team that can take away and expose you. Like what we saw, and I still thought Louisville had a good chance to win. I mean, they were favored when that thing tipped off, and I think it's because Louisville does have some pretty good personnel. But Tennessee they look really,
really good. I think they've made some really tough shots that Louisville defended pretty well. Obviously there were some other stretches of play where maybe the defense wasn't as good as you need it to be. But I was very, very impressed with Tennessee. And I couldn't agree with you more as far as just who's the guy that's gonna go get a bucket for Louisville? Who would two questions here? Who would you guess would end up being that guy
down the line? If you can even again, it would be strictly a guess, but also I feel like Pat Kelsey's style offensively, it kind of makes it to where, you know, you know, they don't want to be in that situation, right, they want to They want to you know, five in, five out and spread it around to where it's not based so much off of what each individual player can do from a talent standpoint. It's really just about fitting a specific piece within what they want to do.
But eventually you're gonna you're gonna play teams where they're gonna take you out of what you want to do, and you got to have a guy that can can create, can initiate something for either himself or others. And it looked right, you know, to me, it stood out really really it was obvious that they've they've never really been in a situation where they've even had to consider, Okay, who do we give the ball to and let them go to work?
Yeah?
Yeah, I think ideally, as you mentioned, I think ideally in pat system, they won't be dependent on one player. But I also think you got to have that guy, just one dude, at least one dude, you know who when things just aren't going well, when people are off, you have one guy who can get you what you need. I think, and I shouldn't even say just about being who gets you a basket. It's somebody who will make something happen. Because I thought for Tennessee, the kay Zegler
was the guy who fit that role. He made some shots, but he also delivered the ball where it needed to get on a few posessions where you know, there are a few times in that game where it looked like Louisville was gonna crawl back into it and you know, make it interest and it's like every time that happened, Tennessee made a basket to you know, kind of deflate the crowd that was getting the noise, that was getting
louder and everything like that. So I think with this Louisville team, I mean, I think Chucky Hepburn kind of has the resume to do it. Now. He's not, you know, what you would define as a shooter or necessarily a bucket getter, because you know, he's kind of cut his teeth on defense and just distributing the ball. But I think he has that in him to just make the play that needs to be played, to make the play that needs to be made to get Louisville over a hump, and right now I see a lot of kind of
and it's just an unselfish team right now. Like I think there's a lot of deferring and a lot of guys who want to make the right play without thinking they're making a selfish play, if that makes sense. Like, I just think everybody is trying to trying to feel together and there's no one person who's like, you know, I have to take this on my shoulders.
Yeah, I don't think you could have said it better. I think what happened right for everybody's eyes on Saturday was that they'd never been in any type of a situation where somebody was able to sew effectively really from start to finish, take them away from what they wanted to do. It was actually, I guess a good signed for Pat that man. He's installed that offense and they've got a style and they were trying to stick with it. It just it didn't work. Tennessee did a great job
of taking them away from that. And you know, I think Chucky to me, he can run your team, he can initiate. He's not a guy that's just gonna, you know, be able to consistently put up a ton of points. Maybe he does every now and then, But who would
you say? And again, I'm just asking you to guess here, man, I know it's tough to say with what we've seen and how we've seen these guys play at this point, but let's just say, regardless of style, you just know, Okay, what five guy line what five player lineup do you feel like would be considered Louisville's best case scenario most talented lineup, regardless of what style the game is being played.
I know that's kind of a tough question, but I found myself asking myself that, Like, man, because we've only seen these guys kind of just fit roles that are specific to what the style is with what Pat wants to do. I mean, it's kind of like, you know, it could be many guys. I don't have a clue if there's much separation between like eight nine guys on this team.
Yeah. Yeah, it's hard to tell right now. I feel like, but I would roll out Hepburn had lee Edwards prior, and I might even go Waterman because he's making threes that can open things up, you know, especially if it's a mismatch against a team who's playing kind of a traditional big at four, as someone who's not used to defending on the perimeter, that that could kind of tip the scale. And U of L's favorite because they're like Waterman is you know, gonna be one of their more
consistent three point shooters. So I probably you know after two games that that's it.
You know, check me later.
I'll probably give you a different a different five, well at least a different two, because I think I think Hepburn, had.
Lee and Edwards are kind of the core three that I would say you would build around.
Yeah, I would imagine that if Louisville ends up putting together a pretty pretty good season to where they feel like they're, you know, in the mix for a spot in the field of sixty eight, I would imagine those those guys you mentioned, those three, they're likely going to be a big factor in that if, of course, that's that's how it ends up ends up playing out. All right, Let's switch gears to tonight's big games, the Champions Classic. I You've got Kansas, Michigan State, and then of course
Kentucky and Duke. I love the Champions Classic because it gives us, you know, some big time games early on
in the season. But I think college basketball junkies like ourselves, like we all know that these teams are going to look much different, maybe in a couple weeks, maybe in a month to where you really don't have a clue what to actually expect as far as the result, at least, I don't would what result of these two matchups would maybe shock you the most, if any, right, Like, would it be Kentucky beating this Cooper Flag team with Duke because he's you know, he's believed to be a superstar.
Would it be Michigan State maybe taking down Kansas, who just knocked off North Carolina. Is there a potential result tonight that you would say, Wow, I never would have guessed that.
Yeah, I don't think I see Michigan State winning, just because I feel like they tend to start slow every season anyway. And you know, Kansas already got tested at home against North Carolina coming off of that, and I think that I just think they're better right now at this point. But you know, Michigan State, obviously, Tom Izzo has built a career on making people wrong, of making people's predictions about his team wrong. So that that that would surprise me. I do think Kentucky has a has
a tough hill to climb the night against Duke. I think Duke is coming in. I mean, if I'm raiding teams nationally, I probably have Duke in my top three. I just think they're they're gonna be tough all year. I think the lineups take the different combinations they can throw out on the floor, all with size, all with length and shooting ability.
Uh, they're gonn They're gonn to be a tough out.
But we'll see. I mean, the three point line obviously is a great equalizer, and Kentucky has started off shooting him at well. So so who knows what the result is going to be tonight.
Let me let me rephrase the question, what's more likely Michigan State winning tonight or Michigan State eventually getting replaced in this event? It just kind of feels like they're not They're not, necessarily in recent years the same level of program as the other three. Like if I'm if I'm Yukon and they're a Nike school, Like, what do they gotta do to get in this.
That's a good question. I don't know when when the contract for this series ends, but you.
Know, cal at Arkansas is trying to get back in it too. I don't think that'll happen with you know he wants to say.
I think he was kind of to me, he was kind of the brain shout behind it, or at least the one who pushed for it. So it's kind of like how this event without cal So, I don't know. I mean, Michigan State might be an easy target, but I also think it's still it's still tom though, it's still Michigan State, and they're still going to be respected.
So I don't know how how they get pushed out, but I do think maybe it is time for refresher the same with the CBS Classic, with with Kentucky and Carolina, UCLA and Ohio State, you know, and again I go back to Cali Perry and these neutral site games and stuff. I wouldn't mind seeing these matchups and just return back to campus.
I was literally getting ready to ask you that, because I've always said it would be a better it'd be a better probo for what college basketball can offer and for those who really don't experience it like we do around here or in the other areas of the country that love college hoops. I feel like you could make this still such a big deal, but just have it be rotating home games for teams, and it would still be a great television product. In fact, it'd be better
because I think you'd have insane atmospheres. Like I don't really understand the true benefit of putting these games in these big cities. I mean, I think you could still have all the TV dollars that come with it, and you'd have a better atmosphere if you did them on campus.
Yeah, I mean, I agree with that, and I feel like coaches kind of got away from it because it it's a little obviously it's tougher to win on the road, to take teams those places, and the ultimate argument being the NCAA is not played, you know, in a true
road game. It's these neutral site games, or it's multiple teams and a lot going on, the crowd could go kind of anyway, So you know, I mean, I I see why they do it, But just for me and watching that Carolina and Kansas game and Allenfield House the first time they played there, and I think since nineteen sixty four or some something crazy like that, I mean,
that was that was amazing to watch. And just think if Kentucky was playing this game in Cameron in door Stadium tonight, like and they probably haven't played there and as many years as well.
I don't know, I think it was early Tubby days when they played at Cameron last time. Yeah, I mean, it would just enhance the environment so much. And yeah,
I mean again, you're right. I mean, and I always gave Kyle some credit for this because you know, he knew when he was at Kentucky that you know, he could avoid road games because you know, he when they play in the tournament, they typically they typically are are the home team no matter where they are because their fan base is just everywhere, and when you get to the games that matter, you're you're rarely ever going to
be in like a road environment. Little did he know that in the early pods, when you've got a bunch of fan bases there, they're going to be really pulling for the little guy, right Saint Peter's and Oakland, those guys become the home teams because everybody there is rooting for a massive upset. But with this Kentucky team, if they were to like let me rephrase it, if Kentucky's giving Duke some problems tonight, and it looks like Kentucky's and you know, a pretty good spot to maybe win
the game late, which certainly could happen. Is it because maybe they've been able to expose Duke's defense. I just feel like Kentucky is gonna win. It's certainly gonna be by just letting this game be a shootout, and maybe they just end up on top. I have a hard time because I don't even you know, I don't act like they don't emphasize defense for Mark Pope. They clearly do, but it's not their strength.
Yeah, I definitely get what you're saying.
And I do think Kentucky, at least at this point of the season, would be a team that has to outscore Duke to win, as opposed to shutting down Duke and muck, you know, muddying up the game defensively, because I mean Tennessee could do that, you know, physically speaking, the way they play defense.
Kentucky, the way this roster is built, I don't see them being.
Able to do that.
But I do see them being able to shoot well enough to stay in this game, and you know, to compete from that respect. So so yeah, I'm just I'm excited to see Cooper Flag in person for myself to see if he matches what I think his hype should be. And yeah, we'll have some answers by the end.
Of this night.
Last question, these games have kind of become you know, well, as I started the conversation, everybody knows a loss here really doesn't do a whole lot to hurt you and young teams they usually get better by the end of the year. But with that said, if Mark Pope in his first big game against Duke, when they've got a superstar freshman in Cooper Flag more hype than anybody I
can remember in recent years. I mean, in your line of work, those who cover college basketball, like that would be a huge statement from him, even if you know Duke's probably going to be better at the end of the year because of their ceiling. Like, I feel like this is an opportunity for Pope that really sets up if he can get it done, of course, I can think it'd be massive for him.
Yeah, I mean, when you think of coaches who have taken over some of the Bluepoog programs recently, no one that I can think of, John Shire when he took over at Duke, not Hubert at Carolina, not Red Autry at Syracuse. No one had kind of this marquee, a big marquee win early on like this, You know that that could kind of.
I don't know, can I give you my best example, and this isn't a great example, but it's the closest thing I can think of. And he didn't take over for a guy that was a legend. But if you remember Juwan Howard went to the Battle for Atlantis in his first year unranked, won the whole thing, came back. I think he took out on for bee Line. That's closest thing I could think of, which again proves your point that you know that really hasn't been a guy that steps in this early that has that kind of
a statement. But you remember when Howard looked like he was about to take over college basketball.
Yeah, yeah, seems like so long ago.
It does things change.
But yeah, this would be huge for for Mark Pope and UK just you know, for for guys to all be essentially be a team full of transfers who just got you.
Who are just learning to play together and just learning to play under that Kentucky spotlight that that would you know, who knows how much of a boost they would get off of that, just mentally and from a confidence perspective moving forward on this season.
So yeah, I don't see it happen.
But it would be big.
Same here, same here.
See.
I appreciate the town, brother, enjoy the games. We'll talk sooner, right man, all right, take care of Nick. All right that Cel Brown of the Courier Journal. We got to get out of here, quick break. We'll come back for a really quick segment five o'clock hour, is well, it's coming up soon. Stick with us.
When it comes to UK sports talk in this town. He's the man. He knows the players and coaches, the strategies and game plans and stadium.
Restrooms with the shortest locks.
Kentucky Sports Radio with Matt Jones tomorrow at ten on Sports Talk seven to nine days Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Super short segment here all my fault for again poor clock management there. I will say that I did hesitate to bring c all right in because I was addressing the scary situation going on here in Louisville. So it's not you know sometimes I mean, you probably have a little more sympathy for me if, in fact it wasn't a consistent thing, meaning you know my issues with managing the clock. But I'll try to get better at it.
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