All right, let's get it started the five o'clock hour here on a Monday. Yes, it is me. I hope you recognize my voice. If not, my name is Nick Coffee. I'm the host of this show, and this is what I usually sound like. Last week, it's not the voice of the last week. Yeah, last week was not a great I mean, I don't know how great my voice is in general, but I know last week wasn't great. What's nice. Thank you appreciate that. It's take all the compliments I can get. But we're back for a regular
week here. We're getting it started on a Monday. And last week with my illness, with the snow days and NTI, it just felt like we were all out of whack. Austin had to go to the flea market Friday. I ended up taking the day just to get the voice rested, because it never really hit me that with what I do, it's hard for my voice to recover. Whenever I am talking for three hours on a talk show, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, I was talking to my doctor and I said, the voice is my throat doesn't hurt.
I don't feel like I'm ill. But yeah, each day my voice gets worse. And you know, I don't think it was the medical degree, in the years of education to become a doctor that gave this this person the ability to realize something rather obvious that I hadn't really thought about, which is, yeah, your voice is never going to get better if you if you don't really let it rest. So we made the decision to just repurpose some some content from previous shows on Friday, while I
got an extra day to let the voice heal. And we're there and a lot to react to, of course, as always on a Monday, a big weekend to react to, and we'll do exactly that and a lot more before we get out of here at six o'clock. But if you want to join us, you can five oh two five seven one seventy nine hundred is the number if you want to give us a call text line Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line five oh two six five three zero seven ninety. So I haven't talked a
whole lot. In fact, I haven't talked much at all about Louisville's win against Florida State. And look, you had another opportunity to watch this team play. That has been fun as can be. I mean, the revival is happening right before our eyes, and it's just been awesome. I don't want it to end, and I hope it anytime soon.
Hopefully this team goes on a long run. But with Florida State, you know, I look at their personnel, I know who they're coached by, and I find myself thinking, all right, you know, eighty nine eighty one, that's that's better than you know, just win like you know, you were in control, you led for you never trailed at all. It was tied for twenty seconds to the beginning of the game. The lead did get down to like seven, So I found myself doing the balancing act of Okay,
why aren't we about twenty seven? Why haven't we beat this team by you know, a billion, but also realizing, you know, that's a that's a silly ask and really unrealistic because you did win and it was never really in doubt. And as in Florida State's not what they used to be under Leonard Hamilton, they're clearly moving on from him. But they also when you watch him play, like they've got some players like what can can play. They got a big fella who had a phenomenal night
owins that he said number twelve. I mean he had nineteen and nine. So look, Louisle could have been better. They could have been better defensively, trust me, they weren't perfect. But I also think, you know, this is probably what we're gonna get now. Maybe they do end up blowing out some more teams in these next four games to close out the regular season, but I just, you know, I want him to get a good seat so bad. But I think it's really you know that you're only
going to be able to do with the committee. I mean, what it comes down to is, does the committee if Louisville finishes with just a loss to Clemson in the AC seats or yeah, just a loss to Clemson in the ACC Tournament, but they win every game the rest of the way. I feel like they're probably looking at a ceiling of like a five. Maybe if they end up winning out and beat Clemson and Duke, then I think maybe they could potentially get a three. We had a caller earlier that said he thinks they can get
a two. I don't know about that, but maybe they would because they have a really good record. But maybe if they beat Clemson and then lose to Duke Or did I say that already?
Yeah?
I think I said that one already. So the scenario where they went out in the regular season and then lose to Clemson in the semis, at that point you're probably I don't want to say your ceiling is a six, but it wouldn't shock me if that's what it ends up being. So we know what it is. The rest of the way. You're probably gonna get a decent shot from some of these teams because they are now playing a top twenty Louisville team like there's a there's value
on the line. He won't get them in the tournament because that's how bad these teams are. But when I found myself thinking, okay, we won by eight, why didn't we win by twenty, That's where I realized, look, stop, like this team has done phenomenal job thus far, and they've proven that you know, they can beat teams if they're not ready to play by a lot, and they've
done it many times this year. And honestly, finding out right the game that there was a bug going around that made the one that made a lot more sense. Whenever you saw them look not lethargic like, I think this team brought the energy in the effort, but I think early on you could tell some of these guys were just tired right out of the gate, and it's probably because they've been dealing with a bug. I don't know if it was the flu or what it was, but coach Kelsey had to get an IV before practice
on Friday. Rain couldn't practice on Friday. A lot of other guys that practice Friday, it sounds like they'd missed some days of practice during the week because of the illness that was going around. So all things considered, I got nothing to complain about. I mean, Chucky Hepburn continues to be one of the best players in the country. Twenty nine points, broke a record, making seventeen of nineteen free throws. Also ended up with was it six steals that he had? I think it was six, maybe five?
They pull it up now. Yeah, Chucky finished with let's see here, twenty nine points to go along with five steals, which I believe he's like the only player in college back basketball ever to have at least twenty nine points to go along with five steals. Also, Javon Hadley, a big game for him eighteen and eleven, one of the more versatile players you'll find. A tough matchup, no doubt. Terrence Edwards a quiet sixteen points on six of eleven from shooting. You got eleven from rain Smith as he
knocked down three more triples. So again, Louisville really was just the same team they've been all year, and at times they led by fourteen to fifteen, but they ended up only winning by eight. But you know, and I'm
glad somebody brought this up on the text line. And I know they're not saying that Florida State's good, but this is just an obvious point, like Florida State is the team that, like, you're probably not going to blow out because despite them having another underwhelming year and Leonard Hamilton's moving on at the end of the season, you know, they're still a sixteen and eleven team, and even though they've lost nine games league play, they haven't really been
blown out that many times. I mean, Clemson got him bad, but right after Leonard Hamilton announced he was stepping down, they did go. They did win two in a row. In fact, they won Yeah, since Leonard Hamilton stepped down, I think this is probably the best way to describe Florida State. Again, this isn't me saying Louisville beat a really good team or that you know that win had
a lot of value. People just don't realize it. But they are three and two since Leonard Hamilton decided to step down at the end of the season, and the only two losses they have are at Louisville and at Clemson. So again, like that that may not mean anything to you, but I think this Florida State team is going to try to play really hard for Leonard Hamilton in his last four games, and I think that I think, you know, I think that makes them dangerous depending on who they play.
Although they have North Carolina tonight, they're at home. You betting on this one? Austin, So Carolina is project to win seventy nine to seventy seven according to Ken Palm. To me, this feels like a Florida State win because again, they're they're playing harder and where is it at It's at Florida State. Okay, I mean I don't know, man, Like, I probably won't bet on it just because I can't trust either of these teams. If it'd say a good emotional win for that because well and also let's keep
in mind and the state isn't good. Yeah, I'm sure not. North Carolina isn't good. Like that's another big factor. So if Florida State's plus three and a half, I'm damn near tended to take to take Florida State money line, Yeah,
that's kind of too close. Not like that, because again, Carolina, the fact that they're still mentioned to be like a potential tournament team is insane to me because again, they're having a really bad year for their standard, but they're also having a bad year in the ACC when we know the ACC is not great. I mean, we're sitting here at Carolina is ten and six in the ACC, seventeen and eleven overall, and their best win in the ACC is against SMU on January the seventh.
Put it to you this way, would anybody else in the nation that had that resume or nother question?
Yes? And look, they played such a challenging schedule in the non conference that and they played these games competitively. They lost to Michigan State in overtime. That you get beat bad by Bama. They got beat by thirteen against Auburn, But again you just play these teams they played. They played Kansas, Auburn, Michigan State, Alabama, Florida in Ucla all
before Christmas. They lost all those games. They lost all those games that I just mentioned to those teams, other than they beat LSU by I'm sorry, Ucla by two. So just because they played a loaded schedule, that's how they can be ten and six in the ACC with no meaningful wins really since I mean they beat SMU at home, so that's a quad two win, and yet they're still sniffing the bubble and they still have a decent number in the Ken Palm and the net. And
it's just because they played a loaded schedule. They're a good example of you play a loaded schedule and you know, you know, you win your games you're supposed to win for the most part, then you'll you'll not be terrible. So I just think nobody's considering when they do beat NC State or they beat Virginia, or they beat Syracuse
or even pitt who's falling apart or Boston College. They needed over time, like they're not like they don't get the benefit of it out in my opinion, and the only benefit of out they would actually be able to get would be the brand, but that doesn't matter. Like this clearly is not like Hubert Davis coaching Carolina is not Roy Williams during his prime or anything like that.
So again, Loivill beat Florida State, it was kind of just a take care of business game, and tomorrow night, I feel like it's kind of the same thing because they're taking on a Virginia Tech team, who, we're being honest, is one of the I mean, I don't know, they were one of the worst teams in the league early
on in league play when it started. I don't know if they've I mean to me, there's there's a bottom tier of the ACC that's really really bad, and that is Miami, Boston College, NC State, and then after that you've got another tier that is really bad in Notre Dame, Virginia Cal and Syracuse. And then after that you've got Pittsburgh,
Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech. Those are all teams that are seven and nine in league play, and then you've got Carolina and Stanford that are kind of on their own with a nine and seven and ten and six record, and then after that, I mean, look, it's duke at the top by themselves. Clemson and Louisville still both fourteen and two. Louisville, of course has the tie breaker and that so they'll be the two seed if
that's how it finishes. SMU and Wake Forest are now tied at eleven and five for fourth place, and then there's the drop off again. It's North Carolina, Stanford pitt
and Florida State Georgia Tech. I guess you can put Virginia Tech in there, but to me, I mean, their best win is gosh, Virginia Tech's twelve and five overall, seven and nine in the leaguegue and the best win they have in league play, gosh, they just be at all seven of their wins Louis's opponent tomorrow, Virginia Tech and ACC play have come against like the worst of
the worst. They still finish with Louisville Clemson. I mean, I mean, I feel like they're feel like their schedule has set up very beneficial for them, and yet they're still terrible. So the best win on the season for Virginia Tech is gosh, this is crazy. Their best win on the season is Florida State when they beat them at the end of January. So again tomorrow another game, louisll should just be able to take care of business.
Then they'll come back on Saturday to play pitt And they actually finish the season with three straight home games, so hopefully Louisville can have some good crowds there to round out the irregular season. And look, you got a chance to finish eighteen and two in the ACC. That would make you twenty five and yeah, twenty five and
six to close out the regular season. And you know, we do get caught up in talk in bracketology, seating quad one wins, all that stuff, because it matters, But sometimes it's nice to just look at that record and look at the wins and look at the beatdowns they've given to some of these teams, and you know, again, a lot of things can be true. Don't have to be one specific thing like Louisvill's taking advantage of the ACC being in a in a in a bad way. But they're also a good team that I think is
proven that right now, especially since January. If they're if they come ready to play, which more often than not they do, and then they start making triples, I mean they're gonna be a tough beat for a lot of teams, and that's a good place to be in, especially considering you know where we were the last few years. All right, five x two five seven seventy nine hundred is the number. If you guys want to jump in and give us a call, we'll go back to the phone lines. Now.
Welcome in, Kirk. Captain Kirk, I should say, is with us here on Sports Talk seven ninety. What's happening? Man?
Beat me up, Scottie.
How are you doing? Brother?
I'm doing pretty good. Well. You know this is going to be an off the wall question, but I gotta see where you where you may be on this. But how do you think Louisville would fare this year with a KP coach team with the ACC down as it is?
I mean, I can't help but think it would be an eight and twenty five season again, of course, but you know, I'm sitting around and I'm twiddling my thumbs, and I got all this going on in my head, and I'm like, man, I need to pick Nick's brain a little bit and see see what he would think about that. And I'll just let you talk and comment.
Man.
Thank you appreciate it. Kirk. Yeah, I mean I would, I would say it'll probably. My guess would be it maybe be like a two win bump, like at best, like if they ended up going I don't know if they There's nothing as far as the amount of losses that would surprise me because I just think they're I mean,
like nothing's nothing. I mean when you have a five hundred record against Division two teams in exhibition games, and like, let's be real, the ACC wasn't great last year or the year before, and Louisville was still the worst team by themselves. So I think if it's the same team with that staff one, I don't know how they would ever even have been here, But I think they'd be better because I think they have good, better players and I think these guys have a good head about them,
like they like there's leadership on the floor with these guys. Now,
I think they're all a reflection of the coach. But I mean, I think they'd be better, but still a mess because look, I think when you consider like what has helped Pat Kelsey be able to get off to such a good start in year one, I mean, I think the list is endless as far as things that you could that you could point out, but what we learned the hard way as far as things that are really important that you sometimes just get lost in watching your team and you don't think about it because it's
you know, it's behind the scenes, kind of deep into the weeds. But like your culture, right, like what's the energy like? And I think these guys, I mean, I don't want I've tried to say this conversation until the season ends, whenever that may be, because I have a lot of confidence in Louisville basketball moving forward with Pat Kelsey, how could you not? Right? But I do at times ask myself, all right, how lucky do we actually get
with Chucky Hepburn Because that guy's sensational. I mean, he's one of the best guards that I've ever watched play here. Now it's only been less than a season at this point, but I mean he's special, really special. And I don't know if Pat Kelsey could find another guy like that in the next ten years. Not because it's going to be insanely difficult because Louisville's going to have a tough time selling why players will want to come play here.
But I just think Chucky's that good. I mean, I think he's one of the best players in the country, and I think it's numbers kind of prove that. You know, Jamon Hadley, he's kind of the perfect guy to have in this situation, a fifth year guy taking advance of the extra year of mature grown up who has really not only been the perfect guy as far as culture locker room, a guy who works his ass off, but he's also somebody that man with case and pryor going
out so early, I'm really lucky. We're really lucky we had a guy like I mean like Javon who can clearly take on a bigger role and he's done it since Cason went out. He's a mismatched problem, right. He can take a smaller guy that wants to try to guard him on the perimeter, uses size and get to his spot in the paint. If you're a bigger guy, he'll step outside and knock down a jump shot or go around you and get fouled. So I think, again,
it's really been kind of like the perfect storm. And I say that knowing that, yeah, they're actually missing two guys that would have played a lot. I think other guys got better and they were able to identify bigger roles that they needed to take on because of the injuries. But make no mistake about it, Like you don't have a guy like Cason Pryor who if shots are if three point shots are falling, And by the way, I wish he wouldn't have shot as many threes as he did.
But like, let's say he's just a guy that's an energy, run the floor, block shots. I mean, like that's a weapon that you don't have, and yet you're still having a phenomenal season. Corn Johnson was the sixth Man of the Year in the PAC twelve. He's a different guard than you have on than you have right now. I mean he's a really good shooter, not Rayin Smith, because nobody is, but like he's a dynamic playmaker that could
have made this team even more dangerous. But I sometimes, again just forget that you're missing guys that were supposed to be playing because of how good this team has been. So to answer your question, Kirk, they probably would have been better if it's the same team. But I really think it's been the perfect storm of a lot of different factors that has led to Louville being able to not only win, to safely feel in the tournament to be in the top twenty right now with just with
four games left. But the way in which these guys go about it that's helped. I think fans not only get excited about louisvill basketball again, how could you not be excited you get a top twenty team. But man like, this group's gonna be remembered for a long time, and I just hope they finish strong. That's out of our control, of course, but I guess I need to take my own advice and just enjoy the ride until we get there, because if they win by forty or fifty tomorrow, I'm
gonna love every second of it. Don't know what it's gonna mean. I mean, that'd be impressive, and that's an exaggeration, but yeah, I love this team. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side, talk a little Governor's Cup, because it certainly looks like the SEC may go to nine, and if that's the case, I don't
know if the Governor's Cup's gonna survive much longer. Also, we'll take a look at Kentucky the rest of the way here, because I still get some pushback from Kentucky fans who say, hey, I don't know, if we slip up and lose to some of these teams left, maybe we would be a bubble team. I just don't see how it could happen. All right, quick break, we'll roll along here. Five o'clock hour. Coffee and company. Feel about Thorne. He's on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
That's right, coffee and company, wrapping up the five o'clock hour here. Well, we got thirty minutes left. I'm all over the place as far as time. For some reason, I keep thinking it's later than it is. But we got thirty minutes left and we will use that time wisely. This will be something that takes very little time to talk about. But I just found it to be kind of funny. And I'm also dying to know, like what
kind of money they get for this. But Adrian Rojenarowski, of course, woj he surprisingly do a lot of us. Left his position as the NBA insider for ESPN, and he left for another job, not to go to a competitor, but to become the GM for Saint Bonaventure men's basketball, helping them raise nil money. He's a Saint Bonaventure alum, and in order to raise money, you know, they got to pay players like everybody else. Having WOJ makes them
look cool, but they need money. So WOJ is auctioning off the iPhones that he's used when he was working for ESPN breaking NBA stories, right, the WOJ bombs, So the iPhones that produced the WOJ bombs he is auctioning off. He's also auctioning off his credentials that he has, like his badges, his press pass from ESPN during his time covering the NBA. And let's see here the iPhone used when he broke the Paul George Kawhi Leonard trade to the Clippers. I don't really remember that. I remember Kawhi
going to the Clippers. But anyways, three hundred and fifty is the current highest offer you can get his NBA Draft credential in twenty twenty three, the Wimby Draft two hundred dollars. The iPhone that he used to break NBA suspending the season because of COVID, that's currently going for five hundred and twenty five dollars. So if that's the highest bid, that tells me the amount of money they're making. The other question I have that I'll never know the
answer to is who would buy that? Who would want that? Like, that's what I was the same. I don't. I don't get it, Like, is it's still.
A fully functioning phone or is this something that they just keep just for Hey? You see that up there, that's Woj's phone.
Yeah, Like I don't. I Yeah, again, I always sound like I'm being judgmental, and I guess I am, and I don't want to sound that way. But what would that phone do for you? Sitting in a case like he did? Maybe some clout with some NBA nerds that think, oh he's got Woj's iPhone, But like I forgot about Woj honestly. Yeah, And it's one of those things that like, I don't understand what value does it have in order
for you to pay that much money? If you just if the only value you get, the only thing you get out of it is just knowing you have it, Like you can't do anything with it. Yeah, if you're gonna use it as a phone, go get a different phone for cheaper. You can get a used iPhone for cheaper than that that was an iPhone for four years. Yeah, Like I just again, I know it's the iPhone ten memorabilia and items. It's it's always been a big thing to some and I really always say the same exact
thing any time it comes up. But I just can't help but like get distracted by like who who like what what's who would like use your money on something that you actually can you know, utilize, Like that's just you know, now.
If it came with like all like a bunch of his notes and like all the contact information, which is probably just gonna be system rebooted anyway, then maybe I can see everything else just kind of corny. What woes is all those guys are pretty corny, like woes what's a.
New guy shams? Like they're all they're just cornballs and I and I, you know, I they do a great job, but it's like it's sure I'll never know what it's like to be someone like woge right, somebody who's top dog among many in an industry of covering the NBA. But like I would feel like a like who, like who do I think I am? Like who would pay that for? You know what I mean? Like it's probably
something that he didn't have in mind. But like somebody's just trying, like we're trying to utilize and really maximize everything we can get out of having Woje as our GM. He's the most famous person on our in our program from top to bottom. He's Woje. Maybe he can auction off some stuff, but I just feel like it would feel real like self serving and like like, for example, if I auctioned off anything of mine for a dollar, thinking somebody would want it because I had it, I
would feel like the biggest douche. But again, I'm not Woje and I never will be, so like maybe I can't, like, for example, cameo. You know what cameo is.
Yes, it's where you pay people to say, like happy birthday to you.
I don't have a cameo. I don't eat a cameo. There would not be a high demand for cameo. But there was a girl who wrote me on Instagram a few weeks ago, and I'll read to you what she said. We see if I can pull it up here. And why, by the way, why does why does one thing? I don't understand Why are there different in boxes within Instagram?
You know what I'm saying, yeah, like there's your primary, Yeah, there's a general one and then private.
I don't get that either. Yeah. But there was this girl who wrote me and she said that her boyfriend was a let's see if I can find it here. She said that her boyfriend was a big, a big fan of the show and a fan of me. And his birthday she asked, I have had a cameo. She said his birthday was coming up, and she wanted to get him a video of me, you know, with you know, saying happy birthday to him and saying go cards. And she was like, if you don't have a cameo, I'll
pay you. And I was like, appreciate the support, thanks for listening. I'll do it. You don't have to pay me. And she was like, but I don't mind, like I you know, and I'm like, no, I don't, you know, Like she could have been offering me anything and I would even if it was Again, I don't think she felt like she needed to do that. She just probably assume that's how it works, I guess, because there are
other people. I guess. In fact, we have colleagues that have a cameo and if they're hustling making money good for them, And if I was able to do it and make money, then I would, but there'd be no demand for it, and I would one feel like a real loser having a page that nobody was interested in and just seeing that like I'm promoting Hey, if you give me twenty bucks, I'll record a video with a custom message and it's worth twenty bucks because I'm me like,
I don't know. It just feels very pretentious, but hey, people make money on it and I did it for free, and that's you know, that's it would just feel really weird taking money from people because that's not like, again, what are they getting at that? I mean, they're listeners
of the show, and it makes me feel good. That helps my ego to know that her boyfriend listens to the show and he's a big Louisal fan and he likes the show like that the that's the uh, that's the payment to me is just being told that he
likes the show and listens. I always tell people this all the time when it comes to like anybody coming up to you and saying, hey, listen to your show a lot, or you know, just saying hey, you know you do a good job or whatever it may be, or people say, hey, listen, I heard what you said
the other day. You're a dumbass, you know, as long as they're doing it in fun, like I appreciate that stuff too, like I don't want to be insulted, which I guess it's part of the job, but you know what I mean, Like even if people are interacting because they listen and it's not because they just want to say they like the show, or maybe they want to disagree with something I said or just asked the question about it, like that, that goes a long way, and
it always feels good because in what we do, we never know how many people are listening. I mean, we know how many people are streaming, we know many people are downloading podcasts. We don't know how many people are listen the on terrestrial radio at any given moment. And I never even think about it, which I feel like has helped me be able to, you know, continue to
do this. Not to say that I'm better than anybody else at it, but I'm just saying like, if there was a real time number at all times that we referenced, I would obsess over that, and I think not knowing and just kind of, you know, not really thinking much
about it. It's made me comfortable. And also it's what I tell people when they ask me about like public speaking, because I had to give that speech at the Hall of Fame of It a few weeks ago, a couple of weeks ago, and I was I was genuinely nervous about that one, just because of what it was. But it was probably the most people I've ever talked to in front of a crowd in person, and that probably surprised some people. But I talk in a room by myself every day, and I never think about, Hey, Nick,
don't say something stupid. Hey Nick, you better not you know, make a fool of yourself. You better get it right because you got you know, X amount of people listening. Like I never think about that. Maybe I should more so than I do. But knowing like my paranoia, I'm better off just you know, letting it rip, just preparing myself getting in here, turning on the microphone and doing
whatever it is you call this. But yes, Woj is bidding out, he's auctioning off his iPhones and his credentials, and anything helps when it comes to Nile money, anything helps all right, let's see what do we want to transition to here. I guess we'll go ahead and get this out of the way. We'll have more time to talk about it once they come to a decision. But right now, the SEC is about to decide what they're going to do with their schedule, meaning eight game league
schedule like it's been for a long time. Are they going to go to nine? And Heather Dinners of ESPN, let's see what the latest report, because it sounds like everybody in the league wants to go to nine, or at least a lot of people want to go to nine. But this is from ESPN says scheduling is at the heart of the at the heart of several issues right now because the SEC is still playing eight conference games
when others are playing nine. Why does it matter? Because the selection committee used to strength to schedule as one of its factors when ranking teams in already subjective measure considering the scheduling inequities from league, league and within their own conferences. Indiana, for example, didn't play Oregon. Yeahda yetta,
We don't need to get to that. But here's a quote from an anonymous college football playoff source to Heather Dinnish at ESPN quote, if we're going to try and have some uniformity and standardization, everybody's got to move to non conference games because you're never going to get strength of schedule right if some are playing eight and some
are playing nine. While there is a sense among sources that the SEC is closer than ever to moving to nine conference games, Sankee first wants to know what playoff format will look like and how the selection committee weighs strength of schedule. So look, who knows what they're gonna end up doing, but going to nine is the right thing to do, and the ACC should go to nine as well. Every power league should play nine. It's best
for everybody. I think. Now what that would likely end up in is Kentucky backing out of the Governor's Cup game, And I guess we won't know for sure until they're
forced with that decision. But what I think is the not so much talked about factor that wasn't a factor until recently is the new settlement with the NCAA and the revenue sharing that has to go on moving forward, because what you're doing, like if you have a non game conference schedule, you're probably not gonna see many home and homes with non conference opponents because you've got nine games that are gonna be in your league. If you play in a good league, I'd say the majority, certainly
more than half will likely be against good teams. And then the other three days you're just gonna have guaranteed home games against bums that you pay to come in. And yeah, that won't give you a good strength schedule, but if your leagues could, it won't matter. And also you're gonna need that date to open up to make money.
Right Like, if you've got a non game SEC schedule and it works out to where you've got five on the road and four at home, and then you've got a neutral site game against somebody in your non conference, and then you play your rival at their place, that would put you at I guess five six home games potentially, and you won as many home games as possible because in college football, when you open up your gate, whether you're playing Popcorn State or LSU, it's a payday that
you need, and you need it now more than ever because now you've got to share revenue. You're gonna have a twenty million dollar bill to pay out the college athletes every year, So like making sure you have as many home games as possible is the financial decision that a lot of these schools are gonna make. So you know, I don't think Kentucky's scared of Louisville, but it's going to be impossible for them to do this and not make it look like they're scared. And I don't think
they're scared now. Clearly the programs seem to be going in a much different direction. I think when this thing finishes up, if it does, we'll look back and see the game where they got us here at LNN in twenty twenty three as a fluke kind of thing, because I think I expect Bram right now with the momentum they have in where Kentucky as I expect, and you know, you never know, maybe you lose to them, but I expect Louisville to be able to kind of hold up
there in now. I think the Governor's Cup should stay with Louisville, not only because you know, you want to be chr rival, but like Kentucky, I don't see them being any better this year than they were last year, and you've got them at home, so I just know their fans would not want that game to go away. And I think if your Stoops, you're already in a tough spot with your fans as it is, just after
the way last year played out. If they announced that the nine game schedules happening, and let's say Stoops has another year where he's you know, mediocre, maybe he's six and six, and then they announced they're getting rid of it, like maybe maybe Barnhard will fall on the sword because technically, you know he's the ad, but Stull everybody will know that it's Stoops having to say so as well, and your fans wont it. Like I just think big picture.
I get it from a financial standpoint, and you need to make sure you're winning as much as possible. But there would be no way to spin it as if you're not scared, like if you don't play Louisville, because again, you're gonna split that every year. One game is gonna be at home, the next year is gonna be on the road, so you're not having Like what the SEC is gonna do if they go to nine is they're gonna make sure they have three non conference games against
teams that are all coming to their place. To play, and they'll probably schedule as lightly as possible because they want to just make sure they got they have automatically have three wins before they get to league play. And again I get that, but like rivalries are what makes
sports great. And if Stoops really wanted and if he's going to be their long term, which I don't see why he won't because I don't think they're ever going to fire him, but if Stoops wants to be their long term and he like, he has to understand, Yeah, I could beat two mac teams in an ek you every year and that gives me, It gets me halfway to Bowl eligibility. The bar's not too high Kentucky for football,
It just isn't. But you know, like by playing Louisville and beating them, you have a much better chance of going six and six with a win against Louisville and being viewed as a guy they want to keep around.
But if you go six and six and it's and you didn't even play Louisville, like I just you know, there's a lot of value in beating your rival in this state in football, we know that and getting rid of it having fans not have the chance to watch their team play their rival anymore stinks, But you're also taking away a very valuable win. If you can get it, it can change your life. You can be mediocre or
downright not very good you beat your rival. Nobody's gonna rewrite the story, but they're gonna They're gonna the people who really you know, who matter, your fans, your customers, They're gonna feel a different way if your struggles also include beating your rival. And that's just something I think people need to keep in mind. All right, quick break, we'll come back and wrap it up on the other side.
Now back to coffee and company. Fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Probably talked more resume net ranking, Ken Palm Quad one, Quad three. We've probably talked more about that than we really ever should this season, but sometimes I nerd out a little too much on it. But real quick, just to give you an update. Indiana winning on Sunday yesterday against Purdue helped Louisville potentially turn their win against the Hoosiers to a Quad one win because it's a neutral site. Indiana's got to be in the top fifty for that to be a Quad one and currently they're now up
to number fifty six. So Oklahoma, that's a loss, but it's now Quad two because Oklahoma is not in the top fifty. Now Oklahoma is at fifty one. They beat somebody on Saturday. I think it might have been was at A and M or Mississippi State, I don't remember who it was. But they gotta they got a needed win. Oklahoma was free falling in a major way and they
gotta they gotta win that that. You know, again, these things are how meaningful, how valuable it actually is, I'm not sure, but you know you're talking about two games that I mean those two teams Indiana in Oklahoma. If they end up both finishing in the top fifty, which again Oklahoma's one spot away, Indiana six spots away, that that those aren't going to be like, wow, we can't hold that Oklahoma loss against Louisville because it's a Quad one. I mean, they're gonna look and see that it's it
was two spots away potentially from being Quad two. And then with Indiana, same thing. The win is not going to be looked at like you beat Duke, but you would be able to have a loss removed from the Quad two category, which you already have one and that's Georgia Tech and that's not changing. And then also you would have another Quad one win because you beat Indiana. And I mean, all I'm saying is that can't hurt you, can only help you. All Right, we're out of time,
you guys, enjoy your evening. We're back at it tomorrow right here on Sports Talk seven ninety