11.25: Finish Strong - Hour 1

That means you guys got to be ready. I mean, he's already put in really a full shift already, but he's ready to rock and roll with us for the next three hours. And again, I hope that is the same for you guys at Is Coffee and Company. And we are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety short week obviously with the holidays, but man, what a lot to get into. This week has turned into really for the last I don't know decade or so, it's just been a humongous week for a lot of reasons.

But really locally, I mean Louisville of course, they've got their season family coming up to Kentucky. That's that's been I mean, I still that the game is the last game of the year, and I don't think I'll ever be to a point where I'm going to say that I would prefer it here rather than when it was where it was for you a long long time. When they reknew the series, it was the first game of the season for a long time, and then I don't remember how many times it was played as the third

game of the year when it was in Lexington. But then whenever Louisville joined the ACC that's when it moved to the end of the year. And I've just been thinking about it for the last couple of days. Is of course, all attention has shifted on the Louisville side to Kentucky. But I still hate that it's the last

game of the year. I really do. But hey, there's nothing you can do about it that won't be an excuse if Louisville comes up short, but a lot to get into when it comes to that matchup, and we'll certainly do that. But also, you've got the first year of the College Football Playoff expanded to twelve teams. I'm not sure you could have had a weekend that that anybody would have believed was possible unless you witnessed what

happened on Saturday. I mean, that was insane, and I don't think it could have really went worse for the SEC, if I'm being honest with you. Now, what we don't know is will the Committee view it like everybody else views it, or will they continue to just you know, provide evidence that makes it quite clear that they are giving at the SEC program's benefit of the doubt favoritism brand bump really just based off of what has been

done in previous seasons. Now, I can't tell you that I think that the teams that got upset this weekend are trash. But it's not about like what I think they can be. It's about what you do. It's about results.

And there are a handful of SEC teams that were really looking like they were in pretty good shape to potentially have one of these last spots, but it probably would have been based off of some level of a benefit of the doubt eye test, which of course is in the eye of the you know, in the eye

of the beholder. So the way it played out though, like now you lost to some of these teams, lost to bad teams, to where like the we're gonna find out one way they're that what this is done, and we'll get into sort of all of the chaos, because what's what's crazy, but I think is true. David halo vesp bit's out there. There are actually twenty four teams that have somewhat of a shot to find themselves in

the playoff as of today. Now, I think you you know, there's a few that the likelihood of it happening is really just not likely at all, in fact, very unlikely. But still technically there's there's a scenario that could play out to where twenty four different teams could you know, could make it in. So what the Committee's going to have?

What the Committee's going to do here on you know following Well, I guess really it'll be next week, but the chaos just happened this past week, So technically this is what we're really going to see how they view what took place. Are they going to hold teams accountable for losing games that you really can't lose if you want just people to assume, oh yeah, well we're such and such in the SEC so like you know, you can't tell me we're not better than this Big ten

team and that Big ten team. So we're gonna find out if the committee really got put in a tough spot here, because there's really not a lot of wiggle room. They're either going to do what most probably want them to do, which is really take these hold these teams accountable for losing late, or they're going to make it quite clear that they don't view any other league the way they view the SEC. And I think I have an idea what they're gonna do. It's not what I

want them to do, but we shall see. So, I mean, Louisville has no chance of the playoff. I keep seeing people mention, well, the Stanford loss was really really tough because it eliminated I am not the only one that never thought there was any scenario Louisville was in the conversation for the playoff or even the ACC championship. I mean, I tried not to like insult people, and people want to dream big, and when you know there's like somewhat of a chance, you're gonna really get excited about it.

You're not dead yet. But like I couldn't believe how many people reacting to the Stanford loss act as if, well,

there you go, there's your chance at the playoff. Like what I mean, I thought Louisville's best case scenario before the Stanford loss was to win out and probably end up, of course, not making the AEC Championship game, but being able to maybe finish I don't know, top fifteen or something, which I guess would have been really tough because you're right there on the outside looking in and you could go back to the games that you lost and feel like, man,

if we'd have just not done this or not done that. But anyways, you know, they're not in it. And I bring that up to say, I think you can be a college football fan and your team, you know, be terrible this year or maybe just you know, solid, but clearly not in the mix. That's Louisville, to be honest with you. And it's still been really fun to watch all this chaos that has taken place. So we'll find out tomorrow night what the committee makes of the results

we got on Saturday. And it's not just the SEC. Obviously, Indiana took their first loss and that obviously changes them a little bit, but they clearly got all the help they could get. I feel like, I mean, I mean, most people look at Indiana actually as a big winner on Saturday because of everything that happened after they lost. Now, what we don't know is does the committee see it

that way, and we'll find out tomorrow. Also when it comes to basketball, I mean, there's already some great basketball going on. I know I've been saying this for a long time, for the past month, really, it seems. So I'll continue to be a broken record. If you're not watching college basketball just because you've not gotten into college

basketball mode yet, you're missing out. There have been some phenomenal matchups in November and December, or not December, but there are gonna be some really good non conference games in December as well. And I don't know if I'm just noticing it more so. Maybe it's because I'm no longer a lifeless college basketball fan when it comes to my team, but I feel like that I was going to say, well, maybe I'm just noticing it, and it's actually been this way as far as scheduling in November

for the last couple of years. But I've just been dead inside because of my team was you know, we we were lifeless as a fan base. But actually, no, when that happened, I should I mean, I was all in on you know, I was focusing on college basketball overall more so than my team because my team didn't matter.

I mean, we knew pretty early last year that it was going to be a rough year, so I feel like we've been spoiled, and I just want people to know that if you are somebody that loves college basketball, like I think a lot of you do, if you go looking for games, and maybe that's what you don't want to do, Maybe you just want to see it on your guide, on your YouTube, TV or your spectrum, whatever it may be. But like if you've got ESPN Plus,

if you've got Peacock, heck, the CBS Sports Network. I mean, they're the ones who had that tournament in the Bahamas that just I guess wrapped up over the weekend. So enjoy it. And Louisville, of course, will be part of it, as they are going to play their first game in the Battle for Atlantis on Wednesday at noon, so they're gonna take on Indiana and the next game will be against either Gonzaga or West Virginia. I would say if Louisville's able to win, there's a really really good chance

they're going to play Gonzaga. If they end up losing, which certainly they could, they're gonna be underdogs, then they'll probably play West Virginia, which, to be fair, is still going to be a bigger challenge than everybody you've played outside of outside of Tennessee. But to be honest with you, they've looked more beatable than the majority of the teams that I've watched in the field so far this year.

And I've not watched a lot of these teams super close because you know, I just haven't had you know, I really wanted to and have honestly haven't bet on them to where I would need to go watch them in if I do that, It's not like I'm watching the entire game. I'm just kind of keeping up with it, getting a feel for if my wager is alive or not. So, you know, exciting week. Obviously, the Governor's Cup game is

a big deal. We'll talk a lot about that today and of course throughout the week, and then with Louisville basketball, we'll have our show Wednesday, which essentially our show will be the postgame show because we'll go live. At least the plan is to go live as soon as the game ends, which we of course will probably be before three o'clock unless there's some kind of crazy overtime scenario. But it's the first game of the day, therefore that you have to worry about being behind schedule when it

comes to tip off. So we'll go on a little bit early, and then we'll do our show and react and react to whatever happens in the hoops game, and of course continue to get you set for the Governor's Cup matchup, and then we're out of here for Thanksgiving and of course the day after and the long holiday weekend, so we're gonna have to squeeze in a lot in these next few days, which you know, we've got a busy, busy week and only really three shows to kind of

get into it. So we're gonna we're gonna make it work. If you guys want to join us on the show today, you can five O two five to seven one seventy nine hundred is the number again, five O two five to seven and one seventy nine hundred. If you want to give us a call, we'll open up phone lines here once we go to our first break coming up in about six or seven minutes. Text line, it's always

an option as well. Five O two sixty five three zero seven ninety The L and N Federal Credit Union Text line again five O two sixty five to three zero seven ninety questions, complaints, compliments, insults, whatever you've got, send them my way again on the Llenn Federal Credit Union text line. Members get more at Ellen NFCU. You can learn more and open your account today at lnfcu dot com. Big shout out to h to Chris Brown at LLENNFCU because I went to the game on Saturday.

It was the third game this year that I got to go with the family, and we were in We were in some phenomenal seats courtesy of Llenn Federal Credit Union. So my wife, myself, the moose Man, and my nephew Luke. We we were cold, we made it work and we

had a great time. And what a game, What a performance from lois we'll certainly get into that coming up here in just a moment, But yeah, I don't think you could have asked for a better response than what we saw Saturday, given the embarrassment in Stanford a week prior. I mean again, I didn't really I wasn't really shocked by the result or really any specific play that was made for Louisville, whether it be offense or defense, because for a while Now, I've never really questioned Louisville when

it comes to their ability. I just question are they going to be able to put a full game together or at least something close to it. And they've done it a couple of times this year, and man, is there no more of an important time to do it than this Saturday in Lexington. But the experience that was the first time I've ever gone to a Louisville game like that. Like I've gone with tickets a bunch of times, especially when I was grown up, but the majority of

the games that I've gone to really gosh. In the last I'm probably the last eight years or so have been with the Credential and it's awesome to be able to be indoors when it's really hot outside and they've got ac and obviously the heat I'm sure in the press box was phenomenal for the guys up there, the guys in gals I should say, up there on Saturday

when it was really really cold, you know. But when I would go to games with you know, with tickets when I was younger, with my family or just with friends like we had, we would get decent seats at times. But I was probably like seven eight rows up section one thirty five, and it was I mean, it is a different experience. Not to say you can't have a great experience and enjoy yourself if you're there and you're not sitting as close, but it was. It was awesome.

And uh, there are I don't know how many cameras on the field that they're not on the game at any point, and I've never I've never really noticed these these folks because again I've never I've never set for an entire game where I was on Saturday, and even when I'm sitting elsewhere, I'm not close enough to where I can see them, or if I'm in the press box,

I'm way far away and can't see them. But there are a handful of people that are running a camera, but the camera is just in the crowd the whole time, like they're just there's probably four or five of them, I guess around the whole stadium, field level, and you know, whenever they want to show people bringing the vibes and getting into it, you know, putting somebody up there that's going to hopefully enhance the atmosphere, They're going to find people.

And once my son realized that they were on a kid like three or four rows ahead of us that was really really close, and he was dancing, He was you know, he was entertaining in hopes of getting the camera on him, and the kid did a great job. And I don't know if Moose felt at his competition orf he was just jealous, Probably a little bit of both, but he started really hamming it up, trying to get on the big screen, and he made it, and it's, you know, it's all he's been thinking about and talking

about since it happened. I think he feels like he's part of the team now. I think he feels like his his his. He was doing the Isaac Brown go to sleep thing for people. Think some people thought it was Steph Curry, which I didn't even know Steph Curry does that, but I have seen the pictures and the jiffs that show that, you know, that's a Steph Curry thing. I guess after making big shots. He just does it

because of Isaac Brown doing it at Clemson. So he just felt like that would be the you know, the one way to potentially get him up there. And I don't know if anybody knew what he was doing for sure, but you know, that was his movie. He was ready and he's feeling like a million bucks. It was pretty cool to see, just because you know, that's not something I've ever experienced before as a fan, to be that close and you know, to you know, to be that

close to the action. So it was it was really awesome, and it men real quick with Louis Football, I just before we get into Kentucky, because we're gonna certainly do that on the other side, and there's some things obviously that we can discuss from Saturday that can probably make you feel should make you feel confident in the game on Saturday. But we've been there before, right, I mean, this is probably not a good tease to throw out there fifteen minutes into the show, but it's just the

honest opinion. I'm now to the point where I with

this game. It's happened enough to where like I really don't care about any result from any team because the cliches or cliches for a reason, and this one, I don't know if in other rivalries it is true, but I feel like in this one between these two teams, in football specifically, you really can throw everything out of the window, like whatever you have believed about your team or the other and whatever you you know, whatever you've looked at to try to maybe be optimistic or pessimistic

about the matchup. Like where a certain team has a strength strength of schedule for each team, Well we played them and we beat them bad and then they lost to a team that you know then that then beat Kentucky. Like you can do those kind of things, but like it's I mean, if you want to do that kind of stuff, knock yourself out. And there's certainly some things like that we can reference, but like, I don't think it has any any factor in the game at all

on Saturday. I really don't. So anyways, real quick, before we take a time out, let you guys react and just start, you know, getting into this matchup on Saturday Louisville football. I wish I could put it in words that don't make me sound as dumb. And I don't know if this is a dumb thing to say, but I just wish there was a better way to say it. But it's just it's just how I feel. It's been a weird year. This football season has been weird in a variety of ways. And I don't mean that like

because of any specific result. I mean, it just kind of feels like the season never got started. I slept walk through the first two games, not because you know, I was down on the team, but like I get nothing out of watching them play Austin p and Jacksonville State. I mean, you had to schedule that because of Indiana buying out of the game, and it would have been a much different world had you played Indiana rather than

playing Jacksonville State. But like you know, Louisville is not the only team that has those two type of games to start your season. It's actually pretty common. We were pretty spoiled, to be honest with you. And I say spoiled, I guess just from my perspective because I like when you play, at least in the first couple of weeks a team with the pulse that you've heard of. Well, you had two games against really nobody's and you know, then you beat Georgia Tech. Then you had was it

a buye? And then it was Notre Dame and you played really bad, to be honest with you, yet you still could have won, probably should have won. Then you had Miami again. That was another setback, and I know the SMU losses in between there, but then you went like a whole month, in fact, you went over a month without having a home game. Like It's just been a weird year. And what makes it weird to me more than anything is that I believe this team is

really good. I believe that. Now, that's just my belief. I know I'm not alone, but I'm only speaking for myself. I believe they're really good. Yet the results this year don't back that up. And unfortunately, you can believe whatever you want if you've got facts that tell you otherwise. That's what matters. Right, there's a win, there's there's a win and loss record for Louisville that does not confirm that they are as good as I think they are.

So therefore, you know, you got to go win. Winning and losing is how you can determine if you are in fact really good or you're really not. So more than anything, I guess it's just that they're capable. So, you know, there's been a part of me that has feared, really since the SMU loss, that this could end up being one of those years where you think, man, what could have been? What could have been? Because maybe j Cory Brooks is like an NFL star. Wouldn't shock me.

He's good. Maybe Tyler Shuck ends up finding a home in the NFL and has a decent career, wouldn't shock me. God, I hope Duke Watson and Isaac Brown stick around here for a long long time. But you know, nothing would shock me because those guys are elite. Ashton Julyattie probably going to be drafted on Day two of the NFL Draft, maybe even as high as a second round. Quincy Riley He's going to be drafted as well. Stan Kuon Clark,

that guy's super talented. I mean, I think this team is really good, but it just hasn't worked out to where they've had. They have a record that proves that it's what it could have should have, so that I think they'll they'll always be for me, especially if they finish strong, and that's that's what you want. That's what we all want them to finish really strong. So if they finish strong and they get to ten, and would it be ten and three, I guess they got four

losses now, so no, they couldn't be the case. They couldn't be ten and three. They could be nine and four. At best if they win on Saturday to win a bowl game, you know, I will always know that they could have been better. But if a what could have been year where you have games that you know you probably could have played just a little bit better against really good teams, and it would have changed everything if

you just would have avoided the upset to Stanford. I mean, I'm not ready to go there and say that that would have put Louisville in a potential path to the playoff, but I honestly have been so scared to have that realization. I'm not looking to find out because that would be the worst thing ever, is that Stanford lost being something. I mean again, I don't I don't think it would

have been. Hey, they're in it. I mean maybe they would have been alive in some form or fashion, but like you know, it'll always be what could have been year? I think I just do because I believe the team's good, the players are good. Jeff Bram I think is a good coach. They just haven't been able to put it all together. And that's I think, not one person's fault.

It's collectively everybody's fault, to be honest with you, But if the what could have been year instead of a oh man, we could have been really good, but we were lousy. We went four and eight. If what could have been year ends up in a nine and three or a nine and four season where you beat Clemson for the first time ever, you in this streak to Kentucky, not only will I be able to live with it, I'll be able to say, all right, that was good, Because to say I'll live with it, it almost sounds like,

you know, I'll not, you know, lose my mind. No, I mean I'll be satisfied. Now, everybody's satisfaction levels are probably a little bit different, but there's still something to play for in a big way here to finish strong and give you some momentum heading into the offseason. We all know how it felt last year when you had no momentum heading into the off season. You lost your

last three games really all an embarrassing fashion. So I don't know if anybody would sit back and say that because of the difference and finishes, that this year would be better than last year, because you played in the ACC Championship and that has a lot of value. But man, there's a lot to be said about finishing strong rather

than starting strong and finishing poorly. So they've got a chance to do that on Saturday, and we'll talk a lot about it throughout the week, including on the other side of you guys want to join us, you can give us a call five oh two five seven one seventy nine hundred again five oh two, five to seven to one seventy nine hundred. Keep it locked right here. It's coffee and company, feel by Thorton's on Sports Talk

seven ninety. That's right, coffee and company here on a Monday, fueled by Thornton's Happy Thanksgiving Week everybody, as mentioned, fuel by Thornton's make sure you keep them in mind when it comes to breakfast. Well, run a little bit late this morning to get the kids up and out of bed. Both of them were exhausted this morning, more so than usual, so we didn't have enough time to stop in at Thornton's.

Which I mean, it's been okay, the day's been fine, but it kind of when that happens with me, it's kind of like I know, well, hey, i'll start I'll start the day over tomorrow and hopefully do better because without a trip to Thornton's to get the day started for me, it's just it feels incomplete. So we'll be better tomorrow. We'll be more on time to make sure we get our we get our morning stopping at Thornton's.

And you should too, because not only if you're a member of the Refreshment Awards program, you'll save money at the gas pump. But they've got some delicious breakfast items. The sausage, egg and cheese croissant. Still it's still very very popular and it's still delicious. But man, I did have last week the new breakfast sandwich they have. It is sausage cheese with a waffle as a bun. It's

so delicious, so check it out if you haven't. And again, we certainly appreciate our friends over there at at Thornton's. All right, So currently, I know Louisville has been a small favorite in this matchup against Kentucky. I think really all year. I feel like when we've had early lines that you disappear and then they reappear after a couple of different weeks of results, they kind of give these sports books a better feel for where to set it.

Louisvill's kind of always been I think a slight favorite and as of right now, that is still the case. According to DraftKings here, Louisville is currently favored by Where's it out here? Yeah, lowill favored by three and a half, which I thought last time I checked it was at three. But either way, three or three and a half, I feel like what it's been at for since these two teams finished up their games on Saturday evenings, So I'm not surprised that Louisville is a favorite, but that doesn't

do anything for me. It just, I mean, I don't feel better about this matchup because Louis's favorite. I wouldn't feel worse about it if they were three and a half point underdogs. And this is again probably not a great way to, you know, really encourage people to stick around. We're gonna get you set for this kickoff. The rest of the week it's Governor's Cup week, It's Rivalry week, baby like, because I just you know we're gonna do that.

But I like, there's all kinds of things you get through out there, But for me, I just don't think it's gonna tell you any real way of which which way this game is gonna go. I mean, I know Kentucky Kentucky right now, Like, and I'm seeing Louisville fans throwing certain stats out there in facts about how bad they were this year, and they're like they're preventing, like they're presenting like real numbers like facts, And I'm not saying that that means nothing, but it doesn't change how

I feel about the game. Like, Kentucky only has one win against the team with a winning record, and that is that is All Miss, And then their other wins came against Murray's Date, Southern Miss and Ohio, and the record, the combined record of those teams, even like for who they are, like is really really bad. So yeah, that probably makes Kentucky look even worse than you thought they were. But again, for me, I know that Kentucky has good

enough players to beat Louisville. I know that they have good enough players to beat a lot of the teams on their schedule that they lost to, some of them in which they got embarrassed by. So for Louisville, I know that they are good enough to go in there and beat Kentucky. And if Kentucky's the same team they've been at home this year against you know, comparable competition, like Louisville, Louisville. If they take care of business, they should win this game, and it probably wouldn't be close.

But these games never play out like that, man, never ever. And Louisville, you know, to be honest with you, they've been super inconsistent. Kentucky's been the more consistent team. But I also know that they're not sitting here potentially with a four and eight season. They already fin one in seven in the SEC. You know you are what your record says you are, but they're not one in seven in the SEC because they just don't have players good

enough to go win. And if Stanford's good enough to beat Louisville at home, Kentucky's good enough to beat Louisville at home despite how bad Stanford is. So you know, I'm gonna try to find my footing before we get to I guess the pregame show on Saturday, because I have no clue what's gonna happen in this game, not even like a gut feeling. I got nothing, which again, not a great way to start the week. Let's get

excited about the Governor's Cup game. I got nothing to say, like that's that's probably not the good way to do it. But I'm just being honest with you. I have no clue what's gonna happen here. If you take the average type of performance that you've seen from these two teams, like every result, how they played, you get the average of that. You put those two teams together, Louisvill's better and Louisville wins, but they get and that's never how

this has ever worked ever. So again, I'm sure as we get closer, I'll start to, I guess, you know, try to predict the future like everybody else is doing or is going to do. But I don't think any of us have a clue. And if you really give it some thought, take away just the history, recent history, I should say, of this rivalry series. Obviously, Kentucky's been on the winning side of it for far too long. LEISLLL the had won this game since twenty seventeen, as

last year Lamar Jackson was here. So you know that is certainly on the minds of everybody Kentucky. They feel like, hey, as bad as we are, we know we can still go beat them. Let's go do that. For Louisville, I mean, I can only speak for myself, but I'm a Louisville fan, and I'm sitting here thinking, Man, I'm just gonna say it. This has kind of built up to maybe being the worst potential loss to them ever, just given how bad

they've been this year. So you know, the history, the recent history of the series is a factor when a lot of people are putting you know, I guess in their heads what they think is can happen, or if they're making a bet, whatever it is, but it really won't matter on Saturday, at least it shouldn't. If it does, I would say it's Kentucky coming out and not showing that they're a team that just went one and seven in their league and finished alone in fifteenth place out

of sixteen teams. Everybody else in the league had two wins other than Kentucky and Mississippi State. Missisipstate didn't win a single game in league play. Kentucky only won one. So you know, if Louisville comes out and they look you know, offensively tight and you know, just uncomfortable, I can't say that if they're making mistakes and turning it over and just making boneheaded plays, I can't sit her and say, well, it's because they're overthinking the rivalry. They're

in their own head. They know that this is the one year they can't lose to Kentucky because we've seen the world do that against anybody this year. But I know some will here we go again, always Crapp in the bed against Kentucky because you can look at I mean, look, Kentucky can live in the world where they're not as bad as they are. But I think they know this year like they had a DISASTERUS year. But again I think they probably agree with me that it's not really

about talent. Like Mark Stoups at his press conference talking about how they've got they've got the resources better than they have ever been to be able to go to the portal and get players, I assume he's talking nil and go fix this roster. Dude. You get paid nine million dollars. You didn't need a roster to be fixed. Dude, you just had a bad year, Like your roster was not why you went one and seven, And he knows that.

So you know right now the teams that Louisville did mess up and make mistakes against that sometimes those mistakes were you got to give the other team credit. They had a factor in that, right, like a couple of the turnovers against Notre Dame. You know, well, in fact, I think everything that went wrong against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Louisville was their fault. Like I don't want to give Notre Dame any credit. That sounds awful and

that's sound like such a sore loser. But if you go back and watch that game the way Louisville lost, like the things they did, like if they snapped the ball over the punter's head, Tyler Schuck take it off for the longest run of his life probably and just coughing up the ball to Corey Brooks, just bobbling a ball, they take it go the other way and have a short field. The pass interference double pass interference call where

they called offensive end defensive pass interference. So I mean lois made some mistakes, but you could also say, well, hey, those are the kind of mistakes that probably happen when you play a really good team like Notre Dame, Miami and as Si mute three of the teams that beat you. I still think Louisville had a big factor in those losses.

But either way, I could be wrong, and those teams are really good and at least, you know, pretty good with Kentucky if you'd make those kind of mistakes, I mean, can we sit back and say, well, hey, what are you gonna do? It's Kentucky. No, not this year. They're terrible. So people will say, well, hey, here we go again. Crap in the Bedicans, Kentucky, no excuse to come out and have this happen. With so much on the line, this is your chance to get the cut back and

restore bragging rights on this side of the rivalry. So you know, probably not a great thing to keep emphasizing, but just being honest with you, I have no clue what we're going to see on Saturday, but what I do know, and it's only my opinion. I can't speak for anybody but myself, the way this thing has played out all around As of now, I'm ready to say it. A loss here would be the worst loss ever for

Louisville in this rivalry series. I mean that, I know others will say when you lost to Kentucky in two thousand and seven in Lexington in the third game of the year, the Stevie got loose game, and you may be you may be right when it comes to like the gut punch of that, because Kentucky had been had been little brother in football at Louisville for a little

while there and Brian Brohm came back. I mean that was Crackdores' first year, we all, I think, because that team ended up actually underwhelming not I mean, what was it. A week later Louisville was thirty something point favorites against Syracusan lost So like that point, I kind of knew, hey, yeah, we lost to Kentucky and that's stunk, but like not so surprised now that we lost to them, because they ended up actually being pretty good that year in Louisville stunk.

So for me, like the way this thing is played out to where you have no reason not to go beat them at their place. The only teams that beat the only teams that Kentucky beat at CommonWell Stadium this year are the bums they paid to come in and bend over the bye games. Murray State, Southern miss who didn't even get to finish the game. Who else, Ohio, like everybody else that they hosted beat them. So you know, I just this is a game that Louisville should win.

I certainly know they can. It's not like we got a question do they have the ability to do it? No, they do, but like will they none of us know, and we'll find that on Saturday. But the reason I think it's now really not even not even a second thought for me as far as saying that this would be one of the most demoralizing losses for Louisville football in this series is because of year. It was the year to just get it out of the way, just

break the streak, end it. Even if you get out of their ugly you at least can just say that, hey, brom he's ended it. And it was more of a crackthorpe thing than anything. As to how they've built this big of a lead in this big of a streak in the series. Well then you you know, they didn't

even have any confidence about themselves. Now, they were worse this year than last year, but they limped in that game last year after getting their butts kicked at South Carolina against a bad South Carolina team, and you know, they were down on their coach, not to the level they are now, but like they didn't really have a whole lot of confidence. I don't think they were scared of Louisville, but they didn't feel great about their team. Well now they feel even worse. They want their coach

gone again. They didn't beat anybody at home that they didn't pay to come take a butt wompan. They're alone in fifteenth place out of sixteen teams in the SEC. You know, Louisville went in and beat Clemson at their place, which, by the way, still is a win that has a lot of value. So like, if you don't do it this year, I don't even know what the hell I'm going to say on the postgame show, other than maybe just cry, which I wouldn't do that because you know

I'll be more professional than that. But I don't know maybe I will, because I can't tell you for sure what kind of reaction, what kind of emotion I would have if Louisville loses this game, and I know they could. I know that there's probably some on the Kentucky side that feel confident in it, and I get it. But Mark Steve's announcing earlier today that he's going with his freshman quarterback Cutter Bowley as the starter. It made it again.

That's what I was getting to and I got sidetracks, almost blocked out, thinking about the scenario of Louisville losing this game and like how to process it. But what this does is by starting a true freshman, I mean, it's another thing you can add to the long list of things that Kentucky can claim. We still beat you and this we still beat you, and we sucked, we hate our team. We still beat you, and we know we're terrible. We still beat you and we actually think

you're pretty good. I don't know if they'd say that, but you'd throw that in the list. Throw that, add that to the list. We still beat you. We put out a freshman quarterback in his first career start. I mean, and I don't blame Stoops at all, because what this does is this absolutely gives them a spark. They played better. It sounds like when he came in the game against Texas, it sounds like he's got a lot of talent, a lot of upside, and there's no there's no risk in

doing this right. I mean, you try it out, brought Vandergriff and he gives you the same thing he's been given you all year, and you end up losing Louisville then, like I mean that you kind of know what you have there. You put the young kid out there, see what happens, and it does kind of give you a chance to cleanse a little bit when it comes to the awful stinch that you have from the season for being a four and seven team that's one in seven in sec play. Like again, I think they all know

that that. Let me give you the best, let me describe it the best, the best way I can give me a second here, because one of the things I talked about for weeks now about this the one thing that would make me feel really confident in this game. And I don't know if that's I just lie to you. I'm not sure if I ever would feel really confident in this game, given what's happened in the last five

or six meetings. But if Kentucky, you know, finished the season the way they did, which they did, and Louisville didn't have the slip up to Stanford and they looked good and Kentucky was maybe even more beaten up than they've already been, and like maybe their losses were even worse than they were, then then I think the best case scenario for Louisville would be to just get off to a decent start, and they'll they'll be hit by the human element. They're gonna know, wey, We're we're gonna

we're gonna just we're gonna turn it on. New season, rivalry game, Let's finish strong, let's get the let's keep the Governor's Cup. Like you can say that, But once you have any level of adversity hit you, when you've already played a full season and you've been this bad, like, it's it's it's not possible. It's almost not possible to just flip the switch and turn it around. But it's more possible to do it, I think when you've got a new a fresh start on offense, right, I mean,

it's almost like they have new life now. And who knows, maybe this kid ends up being terrible in this game and he's a factor in the loss. None of us know. But I think it was a wise move for Stoops to do that because you've got nothing to lose, and it gives you a better chance to maybe be able to just kind of, you know, approach this game like the previous eleven games didn't happen. But again, I also think it makes more it adds even more pressure, I

think for Louisville. All right, quick break, We'll talk some basketball coming up here before too long, because obviously there's been a lot of college hoops going on. Louisville did play on Friday. We haven't talked about it yet, but I think what happened against Winthrop a close, closer game early on than maybe a lot of people expect it. But still they won without a whole lot of trouble

didn't cover. But I still saw some things that you know, I'm aware that if you see Winthrop doing it, you're thinking, oh, man, what's Indiana gonna do? What's good Zaga going to do? If we play them? And I get it, But I actually think in these last two games, it's tough to really know, but I feel like they took at least some small steps forward as far as just kind of getting a better feel for who they're going to be as a team, like their identity. So again, we'll talk

some hoops coming up here and a lot more. It's a Monday, it's coffee and company, and we are feel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. It's right coffee and company rolling along here on a Monday afternoon. Thanks for hanging out with us here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Take us wherever you go. Listen live on the iHeart Radio Appless iHeart Radio app. Listen live at seven ninety Louisville dot com. On Mondays. There are moments

where I kind of just struggle to speak. I don't know if it's because you know, I go from just yapping for three hours straight Monday through Friday, and then you know, I guess I'm a little rusty when we

come back on Monday. But anyways, there's always no excuse for you to not be listening, because again, you can listen live on your phone with the iHeart Radio app, or listen live online, listen live on your Roku if you've got one of those a smart TV, you can find the iHeart Radio app and listen along all right. Text line five O two six five three zero seven ninety This says Nick. I know you said it jokingly on Saturday night, but I totally agree. Had Louisville not lost,

wevill did lose. Think you misspoke? He said, Louisville not lost to Stanford, the Kentucky loss would actually hurt even more. Here's what I think you mean because when I know what I said, and it wasn't really like a planned thing to bring up and discuss, but it just kind of hit me on Saturday because if you listen to the postgame show, we had some fun. Obviously a great game for Louisville. I mean, you couldn't ask for a better bounce back performance from Jeff Brom and this team

given what happened the week before. But what I'd said, because it quickly shifted to Kentucky right after, you know, the initial thoughts on the game, and we heard from Jeff Brom in the press conference and then it just kind of shifted and started. It just shifted to talking about Kentucky in the matchup. But what I'd said was that if there is a silver lining and losing to Stanford, was that if you do end up losing Kentucky despite their season being where it is, it's still gonna hurt.

It's still gonna suck. But I think you probably don't have much like Louisville went from a team with their three losses to Notre Dame SMU in Miami. In that in that world they were viewed you know, you could you could easily view them as a team that's pretty good. They've just played a tough schedule and the three teams that they've lost to, those teams are actually pretty damn good, and Louisville was competitive and could have won those games.

You know, if you watch loutlever closely that even despite that pre Stanford lost, they still were you know, these still times would just make really crucial mistakes at terrible times and show signs of being undisciplined. But again, the committee said you were a top twenty team. You know, you still had results that you know, were respected by those that ranked these teams and whatnot. But if you lose to Stanford the way you did it kind of makes it to where, yeah, you know, like I put it,

put it as way. I bet those other teams out there that had Louisville as a notable win when Louisville lost to Stanford, I'm sure they weren't happy because it wasn't a good look for Louisville. So the way they lost to Stanford, it's just I guess a refresher, a reminder that like they still can't do things like that even after a big win against Clemson on the road.

So you know, I don't know for sure, and I don't want to find out, but I said it two days ago, forty eight hours ago, roughly, I still stand. I think there won't be any level of like shock or disbelieve if Louisville comes out and does kind of the same things they did against Stanford and the same things they did against these other teams, and it has

a big factor in them being unable to win. Had they rolled Stanford by forty, wouldn't have meant much because Stanford's that bad, and then they did what they did the other night against Pittsburgh, I still would not be feeling like, oh yeah, Louisville's gonna cruise. There's no scenario that they lose this game because of what this game is. But yeah, I think if there is any silver lining, I now am not necessarily you know, like, nothing's off

the table for me when it comes to Saturday. And I mean this, and again, probably not a great way to really build up excitement for the game and get people interested in listening along with us for the next few days as we get you set for the game. But there's not a result out there that would shock me if Louisville lets it get away early or something and they implode, Like I hope that doesn't happen. I don't think it's likely to happen, but I can't say

i'd be stunned. I mean, you saw what they did just the game before the Pittsburgh game. If they start clicking offensively and they've got Cory Brooks making plays, your freshman duo at running back, Brown and Watson, those guys are are getting loose. The defense, you know, is the good defense like what we saw Saturday, and Stan Kuon Clark's out there making plays, Ashton July's getting loose despite being held every play seemingly in Louisville roles. That wouldn't

shock me. I mean, that's obviously what I hope to happen, But like a close win for either side also really wouldn't shock me. I thought about it yesterday and a lot throughout the day today. How can I put an interesting twist on this matchup? How can I provide a perspective that maybe you're not getting elsewhere as everybody's shifted gears to this Governor's Cup matchup, but I got nothing, Like nothing would shock me. I clearly have you know, wishful thinking on my end as far as what happens.

But I really and honestly probably just me being a warrior as a human being. That's just part of my personality. It's an issue I have. I worry way too much about things at times. I try not to. But them starting their freshman quarterback like that made it even more so, Like Wow, I mean, who knows, Maybe Kentucky's a new team because this freshman who's never started a game he's getting his first start. Maybe he's the guy they should have been playing all along, and they'd have a way

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dot com. They're open twenty four hours at eight, three hundred and sixty five days a year, folks, So even on a holiday, there's an emergency, they're there for you. All right. We're here for you too for the next two hours, So stick around. Let's talk to some college hoops coming up on the other side, as Louis's getting set for this battle for Atlantis. How you feeling about those Hoosiers, Johnny, I'm feeling good. Could be feeling better

about them. People probably thought I was talking about football, but I was talking basketball because these two teams play the Hoosiers and the Cards on Wednesday at noon, which I don't feel great about the matchup on my end, but we shall see, We shall see, all right. Stick around, everybody, Two more hours left right here on Sports Talk seven ninety