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So this is the third straight day that we have got the party started here at three o'clock, and the weather's beautiful, and we've got college basketball on it. It's gotten better each day, meaning I think the weather has actually gotten better each day. Although I thought we were supposed to get rained today, but no, it's just it's warm. It's beautiful. Doesn't get much better than today, a little warmer than yesterday, but it's okay. I mean, nobody's gonna complain.
And in the basketball games, as we get later into these conference tournaments, and of course you know the bigger conference tournaments have now gotten underway, you have better action and it's a beautiful, beautiful thing. So welcome in. Happy Thursday, Happy game Day Coffee and Company. Philbuth Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. Game Day for Louisville tonight, Pat Kelsey's first postseason game in his time here at Louisville,
the first postseason game of the Pat Kelsey era. Louisville taken on Stanford for the second consecutive game. And I'm sure I haven't even looked yet, but I would be willing to bet that if I go to at real card game on x slash Twitter, there'll be some kind of a factor stat about Louisville either playing an opponent for the second consecutive time previously, or that this is the first time that's ever happened, because it is kind
of weird. In fact, no matter who won last night, it would have been a recent opponent, as Cal was also the team Louisville played round up regular season, So it is Stanford. And I mean, I'm feeling good. I feel confident in this team. I think there's something I guess a little tricky about playing a team back to back. I mean, you feel good because you know you beat them, you twenty pieced them at home. There's certainly gonna be no home court advantage for Stanford in Charlotte, North Carolina.
I mean, they are quite literally on the opposite side of the United States, so doubt there's gonna be many Stanford In fact, I don't know a Stanford fan. Maybe it's because you know, we live very far away, but like they're gonna have no home court advantage. But there's something to be said about They've gotten one out of the way, right they played last night.
They're loose.
Now you could also say, well, they're winded. They you know, Louis has been resting, and again Louis will just beat them by twenty points. Well, we'll get into it. I don't want to act like this is some kind of a big game to where, you know, I mean it's a big game because you lose, and you leave Charlotte and then you enter the NAA tournament with really a bad taste in your mouth, really no moment in them. So tonight cards and the cardinal, and I'm feeling good and it's just nice again to.
Be here where you've got all the all the.
Everything lining up, right, we're getting we're getting into late in the week, close to the weekend conference tournaments, and then of course selection Sundays just days away, and to be alive and to be a part of it as a fan, it's it's it's something I feel like right now, I'll probably in the moment, I can tell you that I'll never take it for granted again.
But I don't know.
Maybe if Pat Kelsey's here for a long time and like making the tournament becomes just, you know, an expectation because you never not make it under Pat Kelsey, that would be really not even like if he just makes the tournament every year in Louisville loses early, then that wouldn't be a great thing. But I'm just saying, like, maybe once we get rolling here for the next I don't know, five six years, it will become routine once again. Because what was awful the last few years.
I mean that that that.
Was real outlier, right Like for the vast majority of all of all our lives as Louisville basketball fans, there was never anything close to what we had recently. So maybe one day it'll be routine and I won't take it and I will take it for granted. But I can tell you right now, I'm not taking it for granted. It's been awesome a big night of hoops all around. Though, to be honest with you've got Mark Pope coaching his first postseason game in his Kentucky tenure. They're taking on Oklahoma,
who survived last night against Georgia. And I don't know if it's just because I know that there are a billion big Blue fans. I was gonna say big Blue bozos, but I don't want to. We don't need a name call. It's three h four and you know, as much as I am on the other side of this rivalry and always will be, it's hard to not at least you know, acknowledge that they have a billion fans and they show up like nobody else when it comes to this event,
when it's in Nashville. I mean they've been, they've been really. I mean again this trust me. This is not like rivalry banter, rivalry smack talk, because look, Louisville, I mean, this will be if Louisville makes the second weekend this year easier said than done, this will be the I mean, this will be the first time in ten years they've done that. So again, this isn't about like taking a shot at Kentucky. In fact, it's not even a backhanded compliment,
but it's actually a legitimate compliment. Like I mean this genuinely. You may take it any way you want, but they show up to Nashville one because it's a party, it's close to Kentucky, there's many fans, and Nashville's a good place to be right. It's also not super cheap. And I feel like if I was in the position where Louisville was in a conference where every year it was there, I mean, I try my best to get there, but man,
I know how expensive Nashville can be. But anyways, what I'm getting at is they're probably going to have more fans there than any other fan base, and it probably won't be close. I guess Tennessee because again it is in Nashville, but I don't know. I mean, Tennessee's a football school, and to be fair, though they do have I mean, Tennessee has a big fan base that when basketball is good, they care. But they have been so bad in recent years, not only in this SEC tournament
but in really the I mean, look at this. The last time they made a second weekend was in two thousand and was it twenty nineteen? I think it was, which again, like that that's a long time ago for them. I mean, this is this is This is from Chris Fisher, who covers Kentucky for twenty four seven Sports. Kentucky's lost five of their last six SEC tournament games and nine
of their last eleven postseason games overall. So again, I only bring that up because I think that'll surprise a lot of folks, even though you're aware that it didn't end well with cal like that was a terrible way for him to go out when it comes to, you know, games that matter in the postseason, right winter go home in the Big Dance, And he never cared about the SEC Tournament and wanted his fans to know that throughout that Hey, you guys may travel here, pay a lot
of money, you make it a big deal. I'm gonna make it a point to let you know that I don't get a damn about this tournament. I mean that it's kind of great if you think about the entertainment value that you could sit back and get when it comes to Cali Perry trolling his own fan base. But anyways, they're they're there. They're always there, regardless of the losses
they've taken in this event. The SEC Tournament, and I just kind of feel like they're going to roll, not necessarily to win the whole thing, but I think they roll tonight, and I think they're gonna beat Alabama tomorrow. I mean, I I you know, tough to say that that's gonna happen with a certainty, because you know, Obama's really good and if Kentucky you know, I mean, they could lose tonight. Trust me, They're a team like most that's vulnerable and Oklahoma nearly got them when they played
in Norman. But there won't be any Oklahoma fans there tonight. I would imagine at lea it's not many in Kentucky's gonna have a home home court advantage. And there's also something to be said about the crowd that goes to this event. And I think that's why it was such a such a bitter thing with their fan base, is that Cala Perry again wanted you to know he did not care despite how much you cared. But like, it's a different type of Kentucky fan that goes to Nashville
and parties and gets hammered and loses. I mean, and you know, I don't mean to say that, like I'm not insulting them, but like the the Blues sweater vest, you know, businessman in his sixties that you know doesn't stand up ever at a game. And I'm not acting like that's all the Lower Bowl, but you know what I mean, that's stereotype. Like those aren't the people going and getting drunk in Nashville, you know what I mean?
Those, So it's a difference.
I actually think if they play well, which I mean, nobody's gonna be nobody's gonna be shocked if they do, I kind of feel like it'll turn into where they can really utilize some home court. I mean, it's crazy to say it, but let's be real, they're gonna have home court advantage in this tournament, in this tournament, regardless
of who they play other than maybe Tennessee. So again, big night tonight here when it comes to to college basketball, and we've already had a busy day thus far, and we'll talk about Cooper fly for those who missed it, he suffered an ankle injury X rays word negative. It is an ankle sprain and it really just comes down to, I mean, monitoring his pain level and I guess the swelling and we'll talk about it. But if you haven't
seen the video, it looks really really bad. I mean, X rays being negative is kind of a surprise for me. Now I know nothing about like I can't look at an injury and tell you the severity of it or really even what it is. But you know, he's a large man, seven foot tall, and he falls, he hits the ground, and it's a complete role. I mean, if you'd have told me, after looking at the replay that he broke his ankle, I would have believed you. That's
how bad it looked. I mean, they take him to the wheel they take him to the back in a wheelchair. He comes back, he's got It seemed to be a to me, it seemed to be a really really major a real major sign of like overcompensating, Like I think they there seem to be a real force to make it look like he's fine.
And I don't really know why you need to do that.
It doesn't matter. I mean, he rolled his ankle. My guess is probably what a lot of people are guessing.
They're not going to play on the rest of this tournament, because it'd be hard to imagine that he's gonna be fully healthy, and obviously you need him when it really matters, which is the NCAA Tournament, and having him out there with it like he was dressed out like he could play and he wasn't going to play, and he was walking to the the locker room after the game because he didn't come back to the bench fully dressed as if they were going to put him back in, and
they weren't, and they did announce that he was out. But like when I watched him walk back, and trust me, it wasn't like I was going on in my way as you could expect. All cameras are on Cooper Flag. I mean all cameras are going to be on him if he plays or doesn't play in the NAA Tournament because that's just kind of a season he's had. He's the star of the sport, and he's marketable because of
the NBA. Jeni Broom is getting just as much praise when it comes to the imp when it comes to being one of the best players in college basketball, and he may win the National Player of the Year. I still think it's going to go to Flag. But Flag has something that you rarely see anymore in college basketball, where he is the face of the of the sport. The hype is there, and he's also going to be the first pick in the NBA draft, right, like it's it's it's both things, right, So clearly he plays it
du he's great for the sport. But when you can, when you when you know that, I mean, basically, this is a p. This is three PR for the NBA, right, because he could have gone the G League if that was still a thing back then and we weren't in the NIL world, still would have been the number one pick, still would have been so many people know a lot about But when you're playing at Duke, you're on TV, national TV every night.
The spotlights on you.
So regardless of what happens with his health, he's gonna still be talked about. And I just when they showed him walking to the locker room, I felt like he was trying to And again, maybe it's just the competitor in him. I don't know, he's an eighteen year old kid, but he's walking to the locker room and it's like every few steps he's he's he looks like he's okay, but kind of like maybe lightly lightly showing that he's in pain.
And then then he has.
To kind of like stop for a mint, stop for a millisecond and kind of regroup and then walk again. It's like he just has to put some again, which makes total sense.
He's hurt.
You saw the injury. If you haven't go look at it, he is hurt. But I don't know why. What's what's the harm in Duke just saying hey, you know doubt? I mean, I get I guess saying anything is really probably too early because you just don't know. But I'd be shocked because Duke has nothing to gain by playing him.
They don't.
I mean, maybe they really want to stick it to Pat Kelsey and Louisville and in that potential hypothetical matchup in the championship game because they feel so disrespected that Chuck he took home the Defensive Player of the Year
and Pat Kelsey was coach of the Year. But like they don't they would gain in all honesty, they can't jump ahead of Auburn for number one overall seed if they win the ACC Tournament, and a loss today by double digits to Georgia Tech would have probably it wouldn't if it would have not knocked them off the one line, so they have nothing to gain or lose in this event, and that makes me think they're probably not going to play him, unless, of course, like he's this freak where
he could have that kind of an ankle injury and wake up tomorrow and be one thousand percent healthy. Doubt that's the case, but we shall see. But they did it down in that game. I mean, it was a deficit that I felt like, all right, I mean, they're probably not going to get killed, but man, this is too big of a hole and Flag's hurt. They were down twenty six to twelve, and it kind of lets you know where Duke is this year and lets you know what Cooper Flag is to the sport if you
didn't already know that. It became like one of those big stories in sports where I feel like anybody talking about anything is bringing up you see what happened Duke. They're down, Cooper, Flag's hurt, wheel chair, locker room, like became a big deal and looks some people were already making the comparison, which it is premature, but if you're going to do the hypothetical, I think there is a real comparison. And if you're around my age, or a
little younger. You probably don't remember this. If you're a little bit older than me, I'm sure you do. And for me, if you're somebody that is my age or at least close to it, it just depends on how much you loved college basketball when you were a little kid. But I remember this, I remember where I was finding
out it happened. But Kenyon Martin, Kenyan Martin was the face of college basketball for Bob Huggins and Cincinnati in the nineties, and in fact, I'm sorry he was in two thousand and they were scary, and I don't think even Duke this year is as scary as that Cincinnati team was. Now, again, that was twenty five years ago. I was twelve, so therefore, I you know, it's not like I can give you the full starting lineup for that team that Bob Huggins had. But Kenyan Martin was
a monster, a bully of college basketball. He actually played as if he knew everybody was afraid of him, and he embraced that. And I don't mean like afraid that he was going to beat him and score twenty. They were afraid he was going to hurt him. Like Kenyon Martin was that guy. And I kind of feel like Austin's age difference here with me is to where you probably don't remember that at all, do you, Like you know Keny Martin is.
Yeah, Yeah, I remember, and I probably.
In Cincinnati though, like because again you probably I was gonna say, you probably just too because I was. I was eleven going on twelve, which would have made you what like five or six.
Yes, yeah, and I obviously wasn't paying much attention, but you know, you hear the lore of it and how Kenya Martin was because I remember monster dude. Oh dude, I remember, like, let's just say, for reference, like when Anthony Davis was doing his thing at Kentucky, there were a lot of people that were drawing parallels to how he was probably the most dominant player since Kenya Martin was. So that's how I kind of really understood it.
And Kenyon Martin was one of those guys that even if you were not into college basketball in a big way and they're not a they were in Conference USA, he was such a I mean he was appointment viewing because he was again, he was a bully out there, and I mean he dunked on everybody I mean, he was really fun to watch, but also kind of you know, Louivill had to go up against him a couple of times a year because obviously the Conference USA connection. But
he got hurt in the first game. In fact, let me pull it up here, because yeah, they played on a Thursday afternoon, and I'd gotten out of school and my father picked me up and he's the one who told me, and that's this conference tournament or Conference two
thousand first round or first game. I think they got a buy, of course, but in two thousand they played on a Thursday afternoon and he got hurt and was out for the rest of the season, and you know, there wasn't much left and it, you know, it changed
everything for Cincinnati. I mean that that I kind of we'll never know, it's twenty five years ago, but it just seemed as if that Cincinnati team was just viewed as like, yeah, they're gonna have to really screw up to not win the whole thing because they're just bullying everybody.
But what became a bigger story is that once he was clearly out and you know, they're in Conference USA, Cincinnati went from being a one then they got dropped down to it two, and of course they got past the fifteen seed, but then fell short against Tulsa, who was the I think the seven seeds, so they lost
in the round of thirty two. And it's got to be something that even as we speak right now, as I'm saying this, if you're a Cincinnati fan or somebody familiar with the like, that's got to be one of the most depth, Like when you think of the all time gut punch, what IFFs in your program. Kenyon Martin getting hurt has to be it for Cincinnati because that was their best team they ever had with Huggins or Cronen whoever, and he has if he stays healthy, different situation.
Now.
It also became a thing because there and again I'm not going to try to act like I remember every little detail about that season, but the other one seeds, I'm sorry, the one seeds in that tournament you had Arizona when loud Oldson had it, Roland, I know you're familiar with that era. Austin loud Olsen was the man.
Stanford had the number one seed, which is wild that kind of I kind of feel like that's weird to me because I don't know if Stanford's ever been good in basketball and they play louisvill plays them tonight when or you you know, or you get your ass sent home from Charlotte early and you got a bad taste in your mouff for selection Sunday me revisiting the Kenyon Martin injury here twenty five years ago. Yeah, in looking at which one seed stole it from Cincinnati because of
the Kenyon Martin injury. That could be really weird voodoo, right, Like this is weird energy. If I had told you, if I'd have told you yes or no, Austin, has Stanford basketball ever been a one seed in the tournament? If you get it correct, you get a billion dollars you would have without hesitation, said source knowledge. Yeah, so they were a one seed and in two thousand and I don't I mean, they did have like two dudes who I remember like being the you know, the nerdy,
great student white shooters. Like that's what I mean, that's what Stanford is. It's it's an academy. It's it's it's an academic school. So one of the seeds was Arizona. Michigan State was the one seed they won it that year. The last time the Big Ten won a national championship, and then the other one seed was Duke and then you know, Stanford. So my guess is that Cincinnati lost their one seed to Stanford and probably shouldn't have. And
that was a real big talking point. It's because the committee, just because they knew Cincinnati was not going to be the same thing without Martin, they had a tough time putting them on the one line.
Right.
Similarly, you knew that when.
Jordan Travis got hurt, the College Football Playoff Committee could not look at Florida State like they were legitimately gonna you know it just so it sucks, but like you know, it is what it is now with Cooper flag if he's I mean, well not, we probably won't know, like for example, this day and age, and maybe maybe you know, had that not happened, I was gonna throw out a hypothetical that I'm not even really sure how we could ever potentially get there, But that became a thing like
Cincinnati should have kept it private that he was that hurt, because it did hurt them as far as their seed. And there is a big difference, by the way, and being a one in a two there is, I mean, just no way around it. So anyways, Cooper Flag, I would imagine that he'll he'll set out the rest of this tournament, and obviously that bodes well for Louisville. I kind of feel like we shouldn't even go there yet because you got to get past Stanford tonight. And of
course Clemson's a good team. They're playing well and they're likely going to win the night and that's who you get tomorrow.
But if no.
Cooper Flag, let me put it this way, if Cooper Flagg is out the rest of this tournament, Duke will still be the favorite to win it. They will, sure, and they look really good today. Kon Kinnepple is a really good player, and you could see that if Cooper Flag wasn't, you know, leading Duke in every single statistic like he is, then Con Knipple, a top five freshman, a top five incoming recruit, he'd probably get a lot
more run. And I don't mean I shouldn't say run, he gets playing time, but he would be utilized a little bit differently because he can score it and today he did that. And how about Georgia Tech, I'll give him credit. Man, they got nothing to play for I mean, and they they hung with Duke and they were giving Duke the business when Flag was out there before the injury, so you know.
It get rejected at the rambat point. I mean, it's nasty and let's you.
Know, I'm I'll be honest with you. I want him to be healthy and to play tomorrow or in on Sunday, or in on Saturday if we get there, because I'll take whatever.
You look, you can't control it.
So if he's out in Louisville is able to somehow win it, that'd be great.
I'm not going to complain.
I'm not gonna, you know, give you the asterisk, but man, I would you know, I want to play them at their best just because even if you lose, that will help you when it comes to the committee, like it would be. You know, you'll take it. You can't control it. It's it's it's something like a lot of things this year.
We just got to roll with it. We can't control the The ACC stinks, But man, it would feel a little bit underwhelming to know that you could get that ACC championship potentially and that you still wouldn't be able to capitalize on the real value that you should have because the committee would say, well, you beat him without flags. I hope he's healthy. I hope he's able to go.
But that block where he got rejected at the rim that if he doesn't get hurt not long after that, that that's that's that's probably got a billion views on social media by now. Yeah, no, and it's still been It's still been viewed. But obviously everything about Flag is now in the rear view because the focus as we speak, is all about, you know, his injury and how healthy he's going to be.
I'm sure Duke's social media admin didn't like that.
Did you see that? They doubled down yesterday?
Did they know? I haven't. I haven't went back to him since.
This behavior again, I'll I'll just reiterate, does it doesn't make any sense? Like what are you like? What are you like? It's not only it's not only like you know, how can this benefit you? It's like, what are you thinking? This is going to make you look like? It's just so stupid. So Flag, of course is likely going to be National Player of the Year.
We know that.
So yesterday they decided to tweet out and I'm trying to scroll through it myself because it's just weird behavior, Like it doesn't make any sense. It's almost like they genuinely and and trust me, this is not Hey, we're in your kitchen. We're living rent free. Because if Duke is worried about Louisville, that would be insanity. I mean, let's just be real, Duke. I mean, Duke shouldn't really be worried about anybody. Duke's the program that does have
to kind of like laugh at Kentucky. We don't think your rival like Kentucky fans Duke, Kentucky's biggest non conference rivals, Duke. Duke's like, we don't even like we forgot about you, Like Duke does not embrace any rivalry other than Carolina.
So don't I don't believe.
That they're obsessed, but like they're still really bothered that Pat Kelsey deservedly one Coach of the Year and Chucky Hepburn deservedly won Defensive Player of the Year. But I'm trying to scroll down here because it was something along the lines and I'll find it before we get out
of here. It wasn't anything crazy compared to what we saw earlier this week, or they might have deleted it, but they went out of their way to say Cooper Flag was the only finalist on any of the national awards, meaning not just ACC Player of the Year, not you know, not just National Player of the Year, not just I mean, it was almost like, you know, you have to remind folks that any award he didn't get from the ACC is a crime, because clearly he's the only ACC player
that's a finalist for all these other various awards when it comes to National Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, all that kind of stuff. It just like it just it screams insecurity for a program that has absolutely nothing to be insecure about, you know what I.
Mean, Yeah, no, absolutely, and you're going out of your way to do it. That's the whole.
It's the one thing if it just comes up in conversation, this is the official Twitter account of the program, who is just trying to trying to, you know, put stuff out there to look like a petty little bitch.
And they're retweeting and re like or quote tweeting like stat muse and all of that.
It's just very odd behavior. It might be a little kid running it, right and it's definitely some that probably just turned out.
Have you seen the really really really short guy who's a walk on for them that got in on senior Day. No, I didn't go look him up because I'm convinced now due because the way he kind of like, you know, he kind of he's kind of like the team mascot like he's and I hate calling him short. He's probably taller than me, but you know, he was out there playing on senior day, short.
On athletic white guy.
So you know, he I don't know, with his personality and his like social media silliness, I kind of feel like he's running their Twitter account. That would actually make it make sense. And at that point, if they put it out there that was the case, I would actually just think, Okay, that's kind of funny because like you would never expect that.
I mean, maybe they're under the uh maybe they are under the impression that, uh, what do you say, like not all publicity is bad publicity or whatnot, because I mean, they are getting interactions, they're getting cooked by several other fan bases, but maybe they see that as a positive.
I don't know, I don't know, if I don't.
Know what kind of feather in their cat that they think this is but it's just odd behavior.
I'm with you, man, I'm with you. And by the way, the kid I was talking about, his name is Spencer Hubbard and he is I mean, he's five foot eight. Yeah right, I was listed it. I was listed at five ten for Saint Catherine College when I've never been five to ten. I think I was five to seven at the time. But like he went off on senior day,
like he was in his bag and like that. He's kind of like a you know, a lot of like walk ons now can can can kind of play into being the walk on on TikTok and Instagram and get millions of followers and like blow up, you know what I mean. There's been some guys that's been kicked off teams because they really just walk on with a good GPA to get access to stuff and use it to grow their online brand, which, to be honest with you, that's not a bad idea. But anyways, we got to
get you a break. We're way too late. We'll come back on the other side, get you caught up. A lot of games have already taken place today and there's currently some games going on right now. Wake Forest up too on North Carolina. It is a good game thus far, so stick with us. We're taking you up till six. It's a beautiful day. It's March. We got college basketball going on. We got the first postseason game for Pat Kelsey tonight. I'm I'm aroused now.
Back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
That's right, Coffee and company, field by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety nit coffee. The tribal chief Austin Montgomery alongside back with us today. You don't know how, you don't know what you have till it's gone. And he was gone yesterday. So we're gonna we're gonna savor the presidents today because we certainly certainly missed him. But big
shout out to my man Carl Blanton. I said this on the show yesterday, Austin, you won a deep bench in March, and we can go to the bench and we can bring in Carl Blant.
We're doing okay. He's like your Tim Henderson.
I mean, he did the damn thing and I and in all honesty, he's just doing us a favor. Clearly he's a paid employee, but we have a part time crew that they do this because they love it and they also have lives and other things to where like it just comes down to them deciding do they want to help us out if somebody can't, like if Austin's got to go somewhere, or if somebody's on Baker, because we just have we have a very thin bench right
now when it comes to producers. But for for us, you know, when Carl and Radio Rick are available, I mean we're gonna we're gonna take advantage of it. But not only is is is Carl a pro Like you know, he wanted to make sure throughout the show, every minute that would pass during.
A commercial break, three minutes Nick, three minutes Nick.
And I'm like, he's on his stuff right now, he's in his bag. Man, he's he knows it's March, he knows it's time to perform. No, I mean he's.
He's also like when you see him in the hallways, he's a genuinely sweet guy.
Oh, he's a he's awesome. He's an angel. And I'll say this and this is not like, this is not me putting any kind of pressure on you. And I'm not not trying to show insecurity, but like I do like when Carl, because Carl just kind of sits back does his thing. He's checking the phone lines. I mean, he's running the operation. But when I and I make a when I have a line or something that you know might be borderline funny. You know, Carl's nemverer. I
think spoke on the show. But I like to look at the monitor and see that I got a little chuckle out of him for something I said, right, yeah, and he kind of you know, it's kind of he doesn't even probably even know I'm looking. But like when I can see that somebody's getting, you know, a little humor out of my jokes, you know, it feeds the insecurity that I have that, like, you know, at least somebody thinks I'm funny.
So thank you, Carl.
I feel like if your joke lands with him, you're good. Yeah, I mean, you're golden.
We were talking so so the company man joined us yesterday to catch up and we were talking about what a data miss pregnancy because his wife's wife's due in May, right, and we were talking about was closed.
I know, it's crazy.
I was referencing the craving that my wife had for pickles.
During her pregnancy.
And you know, I was sharing some stories and got a couple of laf set of Carl and I was like, okay, And then you know that what that does is it feeds my confidence from like, Okay, you got this, Nick, Yeah, you're rolling today. So again we missed you yesterday. Happy to have you back.
And thank you. I was.
I was out at the the YOUM Center doing the Disturbed concert. You Disturbed either a big heavy metal guy. No, not at all, Like down at the side.
I don't dislike it, but I don't like if you'd have told me Disturb broke up ten years ago.
To believe you, I didn't know.
But I'm also like impressed that they were able to, Like, I mean, again, what do I know? But I would have never guessed that that who were they with? It was somebody else, right three days grace like seven does. So they were clearly the headliner, right, yes, Okay, I thought it was maybe like a duo headliner kind of thing. But the fact that they got the Young Center, I mean that, I mean I would not have guessed that they were touring arenas like the YOUM center.
Oh, dude, I shout out to him.
Yeah, dude, shout out to disturb I like some of their mut He's like yeah, like the sound of silence and shout out to the guitar hero. Because that's how I kind of I developed my taste for heavy metal.
I think there's a lot of people that did the same thing, dude.
As far as the path of like understanding what it is and appreciating it and learning about it, well, we.
Talked about it before that, and like like Tony Hawk games and especially wrestling games that got you down to like the indie grudge post grunge rock, like Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin and all that. But I get there at like four forty five. Ivan's supposed to be there at like five ish. I get there about fifteen minutes early. The whole lobby just absolutely slammed. I've been out there for Luke Combe's, Morgan Wall and the country concerts,
which is huge popular. It's never like that at five o'clock. It was jumping for some disturbed last night.
It makes a lot of sense as to why I hit traffic, more so leaving here yesterday than I having a long time. Oh wow, yeah, whenever I'm heading again. I'm terrible with knowing which street as well. But when you turn right on Fish Street out of the garage to leave, and then you take that first immediate right, is that Liberty?
Yes, I think it's literally the first one as soon as you turn out of here. Yeah, it's Liberty.
So you know, I'm just going Liberty down to First to get on sixty five South. That's my path every day when I leave, and you just get when you've got people hustling to get to Second Street to get
closer to the umcenter, that's where it just gets. I mean, honestly, coggested past that, past that light, meaning the intersection between Second Street and Liberty, there's never anything yeah, but butever but like you just got to get through, like people stopping in the middle of the lane because they thought they could make the yellow and they didn't, and then
they got to move around. I mean, in fact, yesterday the real issue wasn't just the jam of people like semi trucks downtown, like get out of here, like like, look, I'm sure you didn't want to end be here. You're probably more stressed than anybody because you're moving an eighteen wheeler in a downtown area, but like, get the hell out of here, man, Like you're just in the way. And I know you wouldn't be here if you didn't
have to. So I hate to be so insensitive, but like I mean, any eighteen wheeler in downtown Louisville between you.
Know, really gotta be a nightmare, really really really.
Anytime, but like three pm to seven pm, Like everybody hate you, man, Like everybody just wants you gone because you're just in the way.
You can't stop at a light with me nothing.
You could actually be driving as flawlessly as possible in an eighteen wheeler in downtown and people are still gonna think, like, get get out of here.
You're just in the way.
It's also because like I think Hall, like Fifth Street from Market one is still dealing with that gas leak that we had about three or four weeks back, because they're just digging.
Is that where they're just destroying downtown? Okay, it makes sense, then that's I mean, that's not helping. I mean, and that's the kind.
Of stuff that like clearly they have to do it or it's a safety issue. So and it's clearly been a big priority because they they've been at it since they realized they had to, you know, do whatever they got to do. But that can't be an easy thing to like put back together, right, I mean, just digging deep into the ground in downtown Louisville.
I feel like the machinery every single day has gotten bigger. As I'm like, told her, set you up for that one. It's March, man, I didn't think of that. Well, you're on your game.
Yeah, I mean, the machinery in March is always bigger just because it's good. It's good energy, you know, yeah, good stuff. So real quick, some scores from around the country. Caliperri and Arkansas. Uh, they fell short today against ole Miss at a game that really was neck and neck in the second half, and it looked like just maybe Arkansas was going to be able to stop and cal could do what he doesn't usually do, which is, you know, win in the SEC tournament. But Ole Miss wins eighty
three to eighty. And the next game up here in Nashville will be Texas and Texas A and M, which I mean Texas is one of those teams that, again I just don't understand how like, I'm sorry, if you're six and twelve, eighteen and fourteen, I will I will absolutely one thousand percent acknowledge how loaded and how good the SEC is. There's really no way to dispute it. But teams like Texas and teams like I mean, even dare I say Vandy, Like, the fact that they're still
being considered is just it. It's only like there's nothing they've done that'll tell you that they belong, not a thing. It's just that they aren't, you know it. Really it comes down to their numbers, right, Their net and their ken palm is not as bad as you think it would be for a team that's eighteen and fourteen or
six and six and twelve in their conference. So, I mean, there's a part of me that says, the Committee may surprise us because we've got people out here putting teams on the bubble, that you're only doing it based off the fact that their net and their quad one and quad two is what it is.
There's really nothing else.
And yes, that stuff matters, but it's not the end all, be all, and there have been times where the Committee will acknowledge, Yeah, the only reason we would even consider this team is because our flawed formula has them ranked in like the top thirty five or forty. We can use our brain and also understand that, like that's a
flaw in the formula and they don't belong. Like there's some people like again Louisville, I don't even want to talk about their seed until they get past Stanford, because you lose to Stanford tonight, you're definitely an eight or worse. Like there's just no way around it. In my opinion. I don't know that I'm guessing like anybody else, but I think when you're seeing all these other teams, it's like it's like you're entering I'm gonna use a I'm
gonna use a weird analogy here. So for Louisville, there when you look at the other teams that they're competing against for a seed line, you're talking about Creighton, Gonzaga. I meant Zaga is not a good example. But we'll use Creighton, Creighton and Yukon, We'll use Oklahoma, how about U C. L A, maybe even Illinois, Kansas b YU. Like that's who that's that's that's the neighborhood you're in right now. Seemingly when it comes to seed line and you're you know, let's say we're on a we're on
a What's a Good Dating show? Where like they're like the Bachelor, yeah, or the Bachelorette. Like let's say, let's say the it's the the Bachelorette is when all the dudes are fighting for the lady. Right, Okay, so we're all we're all on the Bachelorette and we're all entering.
Do they live in how I think they do?
Right?
Yeah, it's like some sort of house.
So Louisville, those teams I mentioned, Louisville, Creighton, Yukon, Kansas, Illinois, throw Missouri in there, Arizona. We're all entering the house and we're getting ready to meet the bachelorette to make an impression. Okay, and we got to get ready and in the getting ready processes the conference tournaments.
Okay, Well, Louisville, they're entering the house.
They forgot their luggage, they got no they got no they got no good drip they got they got no good drip. They they don't even have anything to fix their hair. I can't relate.
I don't have hair.
But like they they're showing up and just hoping that just some good old fashioned charisma. Yeah, maybe a real charming a real charming smile.
Someone that can make it lay.
Yeah, can make an impression because they've gotten not a lot to work with before selection Sunday. Selection Sundays when you make your first impression. We've got Kansas, Illinois, Yukon, Creighton, They've got they've got suits to choose from. Oh yeah, they've got I mean they may even.
A little a little look quick boatox. Right?
Oh yeah, men, go boatox, don't they. I mean, I haven't done it yet, but I'm not trust me. I'm I'm I'm vain enough to where if I need to do botox to look better, I'll do it.
Oh yeah, they're secure engineers or like designers or construction worker.
That's that's the conference tournaments where you go to the sec man. You're picking your you're picking the best suits in the world because you got opportunities to get all dulled up, right, you got opportunities to get dapper, because that's what the conference tournament is. You get you know, you got a lot of room to grow and look good. You can enter selection Sunday. I mean you leave selection.
If you leave the conference tournament. With two more quad one wins, you might as well be walking up to meet this this bachelorette with the nicest suit anybody could have ever found. Sure, with Louisville, they got nothing. They beat Clemson, that's that that. Honestly, I think it does, in fact clearly give them another good win. But because it's the same team, I could see the committee saying, Okay, we already knew you did that, you know what I mean, Like, we already knew you could do that.
So your bad is basically saying, like Louisville's like when you're trying to set somebody also another set you up. References, well, like are they hot, Well they got a great personality.
No, I think I think Louisll's hot. Right, Here's what it is.
Louisville's hot, and they're intriguing because of how newly hot they are, right like damn like rich is ugly last year. Yeah, okay, I'm going to hit follow here on Instagram because like something pop it off right now. So there's the intrigue there. But then they're like reminded. Yeah, I mean, but come on, you know, like Louisville was one eight games last year.
He's just an interior designer.
So I still stand by what I said for the last couple of weeks that as much as we want to obsess and I'm obsessing over the numbers and the bracketology that's out there, the committee can is just gonna have to decide how they want of you Louisville, because you could look at Louisville as a team where you'd say, look, no bad loss, they won, we value winning.
They're twenty six or twenty five and six, or they.
Could say, yeah, but who they beat. Let's look at a team that's got double or more than double the losses Leisvelle has, but they also have two more wins of value like it. It's gonna come down to how they choose to view Louisville. So you know, the teams I mentioned aren't teams that Louisville. I mean, those are teams fighting to get in.
But like.
Here, I am gonna defend the ACC. I know Carolina has had a lot of misses against Quad one teams, but look at what I mean, Look at teams like Georgia, look at teams like I mean Texas. How's Texas being considered Ohio State shouldn't get in Indiana, if I'm being honest, shouldn't get in. But if they do, it's just gonna because the committee's gonna say, well, hey, we know they lose a lot. They showed us that, but like maybe they just lose a lot because they're in a good league.
And yes, their league is a factor, but man, can we get back to.
Call me old school?
Winning and losing shouldn't matter more than it does. Quick break keep a locked her here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Here we go, hips moving in a way I didn't know possible.
Yeah, they were for me, they're still going.
I mean, it's it's it's not even it's not even something I'm.
Attempting to do. It's just it's just happening. It's happening.
I'll tell you what else is happening, or let me better say it, what's not happening. I'm not falling on the sword for the clock management here because that was an eight minute commercial break. That's why we have very little time left. I don't know clock. Oh yeah, with an l yep, Yep, that's right. So we'll see. I mean, I I mean, I don't want to just say goodbye as soon as we come back, but I think I'm gonna have to because I want to keep this thing on.
Because here's what happens. If I take this up to four o'clock one, that gives me, I mean, it's less than two minutes now, so then we already start way late. So like, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna bail here, and I'm gonna, you know, blame it on an eight minute commercial break, which I'm not sure how possible. That's one of those things that nobody looked at that. If you told anybody above us that's somebody created an eight minute commercial break, I mean, they wouldn't be in trouble,
but they would say that was a mistake. Somebody overlooked that. So we'll make sure they're not that long. The rest of those show. Link is only good in certain instances. In fact, I honestly Link's overrated if I'm if I'm being honest myself, That's that's what I always say, right, That's what I always say. All right, quick break two hours left a lot more to get into it's game day. I'm fired up. Let's uh, let's have some fun.