It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
That's right, Coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's hour number two. Here on a Monday afternoon, A lots to react to from the weekend, and that is exactly what we are doing. Two hours left, taking you up until six o'clock. Nick Coffee, the tribal chief, mister Austin Montgomery alongside. That's me and if you guys want to join us, she certainly can do that. Five ur two, five seventy nine hundred is the number.
We'll get to. Some phone calls coming.
Up here shortly, but real quick, we'll take a quick time out from.
The college basketball stuff.
I know it's March, but the NFL Draft combine concluded over the weekend and just about everybody there is continuing, you know those there, of course, you know, observing, reacting covering the combine. When it comes to quarterbacks, you know, cam Ward Shoudore Sanders, those guys they opted out of the on field workouts, and there were many other quarterbacks that did in fact decide to participate.
And Tyler Shuck was as good as any of them. He was.
He was listed by any any write up.
That listed you know, winners and losers of the of the combine.
As far as quarterback, I mean, Shuck was mentioned as a guy that you know was one of the winners.
I'm written here from this is from athlon.
It says here that let's see with cam Ward and Sheuer Sanders opting out. The question was which of the remaining quarterback prospects would emerge with a stellar workout. Shuck checked that box from self, starting things off with an impressive forty yard dash which by the way, I had no clue of the heels on him and he by
the way, he was the only quarterback that did run. Now, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to use him as far as a guy that you're really gonna do, you know, design some things for him to use his legs, But he can use his legs. I mean, if a play breaks down, he may be able to, you know, felt like at Louisville there was a it was clear on his mind, or maybe it was just something he was told by Brahm.
Look, I don't care how fast you are fall down, do not run. I mean, I don't know enough about.
His injury history as far as which plays or which things led to it, but he did. You know, that's one of the things that I felt completely, you know, ignorant about because it was right around when the season started. When I went back and looked at Chuck. It was after something Jeff said at It might have been like the mediaa pressor where he mentioned that they're not going to use him as far as his legs the way that he was used at Oregon and at Texas Tech.
And I'm thinking he's talking about the occasional you know, the occasional run.
No, he was.
He was a dude. He was used as a dual threat guy really for both schools. And that's probably because one he's big and now we know he's really fast. But I mean he's got a good enough arm to where you know that that's what's.
Gonna get him in the NFL.
But with that said, he did show some speed and really, you know, had him you know, phenomenal day.
I mean, he's.
Gonna be twenty five years old when he's a rookie, which is a little bit a little bit odd, but really, I mean, there's not a huge difference in being like twenty five and twenty two, right, And I know injury history is never a good thing and it's probably gonna work against.
His draft stock. But he's got the size.
You want in the NFL. It sounds like his arm talent. I mean, we saw that up close this year and it wasn't as if anybody was doubting it.
But I think as you.
Get closer to the draft and you've got guys who, of course, you know, cover the NFL Draft, cover the NFL, that are watching the film and that are watching him at the Senior Bowl, watching him at you know, at the combine like he like where he was last week, and they're realizing this guy can make a lot of NFL throws. He's got an arm that you know, could could get him to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, you know, in the right situation.
So we'll see. I mean, it sounds like day two could be the.
Range for for Shuck, which if that's the If that's the case, I mean day two, I mean they only do one round in the NFL Draft on that Thursday, now, right, I feel like, yeah, it's one round and then Day two is second and third round and then fourth fifth, sixth, and seventh round is Day three unless they've changed it. So I mean, if he's I mean, the fact that Schuck could be a second or third round quarterback, I.
Mean that's I mean, it's really not that surprising.
It's just that wasn't really you know, I think we knew the guy was good, and we thought he had a chance to play in the NFL. But this year, I mean, I think overall, to be honest with you, this is not a great crop of quarterbacks when it comes to this year's NFL draft.
I mean that's a factor here. And again I think.
Chuck's got a lot of lot of talent, clearly, but I guess that would make a little more sense as to why he would be a maybe a Day two guy. Because if you think you can get some value in the second, third round, maybe even fourth round, I suppose, and you like a quarterback, I mean, and obviously, if you're a player, you want to get taken as early as possible. You want to be the guy that a franchise is investing into where they say, look we're gonna
get we think you are the future. If you're a first round quarterback, you are believed at that time to be the future of that franchise. Nobody knows if it's going to work out, even the team that drafts you, but like, that's why they're picking you, because they believe in you.
That's that's why they.
Make that kind of an investment, right, So you know, with that, if it's a team that gets him in the second or third round, maybe fourth, and it's a good team, that could be a situation to where, you know, maybe he gets to play because the starter gets hurt and then maybe he you know, takes the job, or maybe he does enough as a backup to where somebody wants to trade for him. So you know, well we'll
see how how you know. I would imagine there'll be more to take from Shuck when he does private workouts and has meetings and all that kind of stuff. But I feel like there was a lot of hype starting to really build quickly for him once we started getting closer to the draft, and then sure enough the combine took place. And I feel like now that the combine has concluded, he didn't mean he more than lived up
to what people were saying. It sounds like he even put himself in an even better situation as far as where he is when it comes to you know, other quarterbacks, I mean, like cam Ward Shadoor Sanders, those are guys that are probably gonna be I mean, those guys are gonna be taken first round, there's no doubt about it. But you know, you got other guys like Brady Cook, Jackson, Dart Quinn, or's Kyle McCord.
I mean, those are guys.
That, like it sounds like shuck at least, you know, it all depends on I guess what NFL team really values. And there's also it's also worth saying you really never know what to believe when it comes to NFL. You know, NFL draft rumors and whatnot. But I have a hard time seeing there not be four quarterbacks taken in the first four rounds roughly. And I feel like he's got a chance to be in that in that really, you know, he's not gonna be one or two. We know that
probably won't be three, but maybe after that. So and it's not just shuck. I mean, I think every Louisville player that was there did nothing but potentially help themselves. I don't think anybody when it comes to the Louisville.
Guys Gelatti, Brooks, Riley.
I don't think those guys did anything to hurt their draft stock with their their you know how they showed out at the combine, all right. So we did talk a lot, as you could expect about Louisville and Kentucky this past Over the weekend, Louisville gets a big win against Pittsburgh. Really, I mean, they won by eleven, and they now have jumped into the top fifteen and both
the AP pole and the Coach's poll. And Chucky Hipburn making six consecutive threes in the first half like that, to me is obviously the thing that stands out from that game more than anything else else, because that's not something you ever see. I mean, Chucki's not even the best shooter on his team, and yet he put together just something, you know, in a brief amount of time
that you rarely ever see. And I think it also kind of played tricks on me mentally, just because I felt like, if you see somebody do that, you should be expecting them to be, you know, running away with the game. When somebody scores eighteen consecutive seemingly with no I mean, I'll have to pull up the stat broadcast breakdown as far as the plays, but like the amount of time he hit six threes in seemed to be rather quick.
So Pitt challenging, you know, Pitt challenged him.
They were fighting, and you know, I've always said that Pitton has good players, and I think that showed on Saturday. And as much as I think this team has has really I mean, Pat Kelsey talked after the game about how he told the He told the players in the locker room, you know, look at the crowd out there, and you guys deserve this. He also made and I didn't I didn't hear it, but I did see the quote.
I'm not sure who it was that shared it. Let me see if I can pull it up here, because I do think it was.
Yeah.
This was on his postgame radio show, Pat Kelsey when talking about Chucky Hepburn, he said, quote, he's a great player. I think one thing that's really important and I don't know or and I don't even have to say this to our fan base in our city, they already know. I hope this core group is celebrated and remembered. And I think these guys will be celebrated and I think these guys will be remembered forever. I mean obviously as
far as celebrated. A lot of that's going to depend on sort of what happens in the postseason.
But I think even.
If there is somewhat of like a letdown and you somehow don't get out of like the first round of the tournament, that would be disappointing, no doubt, But I don't I can't see a scenario where that result would make me not love this team just because I mean, talk about being ahead of schedule.
It's been you know, it's been phenomenal.
So and by the way, real quick, I didn't mention in the first hour, and I should have pat yourself on the back if you're somebody that attended the game, because those who you know were aware. I mean, I didn't see any sign of somebody not doing their job. As far as the stripeout, it was beautiful looking all the pictures I saw, I mean, it couldn't have been better. And there were eighteen thousand plus there. I think that's
you know, that's a great turnout comparatively speaking. And I feel like if Louisville's able to sustain the success, right like if Pat Kelsey continues to put a really.
Fun and exciting team on the floor, then then I think you get back to it. I talked about this last week.
I think when it comes to attendance at the YOUM Center moving forward, when you play the nobody teams in November and December, I just think it's gonna be tough to expect there to be eighteen thousand plus there. I just don't think that's realistic. That's nobody's fault. That's just society.
People don't like.
People don't look across the country, like when Kentucky plays those games, those are lightly attended compared to what they typically get for, you know, big games.
That's just part of it.
I think when you play a big game against a really really good team where like, you know, hey, these two teams are playing and the winner is going to be in the driver's seat to win the ACC regular season. Let's say in a couple of years that's Duke. In that scenario, I think you're looking at a sellout. But
I think other good team. You know, if the ACC gets back to you know, being a good team again, I'm sorry, being a good league again, and you've got at least one opportunity every two weeks to get a really good win on your home floor, where you've got a chance to beat a ranked team and improve your resume, and it really feels as if there's something on the line.
I think if things stay the way they are right now, meaning where Pat Kelsey keeps the momentum going, then I think you're looking at like eighteen thousand is the average attendance, which you know that's not a sellout, but like, I just think that's I think that's doable, it's realistic, and it would be a good sign. I just I think the days of Louisville basketball having twenty one plus every night, regardless.
Of who they're playing, I don't care how good they are. I just don't think that's realistic. I just don't.
But anyways, props to the fans who did a phenomenal job of executing and wearing the right color dependent upon what section they were sitting in. But anyways, what I was getting to before, I wanted to make sure I applauded the fans for doing their part.
I wanted to do that before I forgot.
But this team, in the last four games, they've to me they've just looked not quite as sharp. It's not like they're they're falling apart. It's not like they're they're adding like new weaknesses that we didn't know they had.
It's just they look a little bit.
I think fatigue has carried over and it's led to them at times giving up an offensive rebound. It's led to them at times not being where they need to be defensively having a hand down, letting somebody get an uncontested three off, not not playing help defense, not communicating quite as well. And I'm listing all these things as if it's a complete mess, and that's not at all what I'm doing.
That's not what I'm intending to do.
I'm just saying, you're seeing those things here and there more so than you did previously. And I just again, I'm going to assume that it's more so due to
fatigue than anything else. When Louisville really got rolling in January, and they were not just winning against you know, for what it's worth, the teams at the time that we thought were good in the ACC they were blowing them out, some of them, and they were winning by double digits against others when they didn't have a good night at the free throw line, where they didn't have a great night from three point range, and they were still able to win. And I think it's because they were just
so polished defensively. Their attention to detail was so spot on. They were getting every loose ball, they were giving up nothing on the offensive glass. Like when they were doing that, like it was, it was, I mean, it almost didn't seem real. And I remember thinking to myself, like I thought they wouldn't win many games at all if they weren't shooting good at the line. They weren't gonna win many games at all if they weren't getting at least
twelve three pointers, but they were still winning. So like to see Chucky hit six straight threes and the games still be close, it just kind of reminded me that, like, maybe, you know, again, Pitt deserves cre just because again they got players too that are going to compete.
And I think you saw that on Saturday.
I mean, I don't believe that Pitt's a team that is going to miss the tournament this year because the talent wasn't there.
Now, speaking of.
Pitt, I do want to give Jeff Cable a little bit of credit for not sugarcoating things. He was asked, I think after the game Saturday about the ACC and again, don't think he could have handled it better. The question was, in fact, I'm sorry, this was today on the ACC ACC Coaches tele conference, I believe, or maybe he had a press conference. I'm not sure, but George Milakowski, who covers Pittsburgh basketball.
For Theportalreport dot.
Com, he asked Jeff Cable on the narrative that the ACC is having a down year. Again, stupid question as far as how it's framed, it's not a narrative, it's the truth like that. I don't know why it irritates me so much, but there's a reason I kept bringing it up when I was in Charlotte for the ACC basketball Media Day event. They act as if they're not down. They act as if like the league is not a joke compared to what it used to be. They act like the committee is against them. No, the league is
is bad now. It's bad when you compare it to what it used to be. Technically, it's you know, roughly about the same as the Big East is right now. But again, the ACC should always be a good basketball league, not the best league. Maybe every year sometimes it will be, but like it shouldn't be in the position that it's in now. But when Cable was asked, this is what he had to say, Well, it is that's the reality.
I'm not going to give you coach speak.
It is down and he's right, and that doesn't you know, that doesn't make it better as far as like that's not a fix for it. But it's also just, you know, like the Quicker, people acknowledge that, like the Quicker, these schools realize they've got a bad coach and they need to move on. That's the first step in actually, you know, getting better. But earlier today or earlier this morning, Jeff Goodman,
college basketball insider for the Field of sixty eight. He he put out there that his sources tell him that Mike Young at Virginia Tech, Earl Grant at Boston College, you were Davids in North Carolina, a Red Autry at Syracuse, Steve Forbes.
At wake for is all going to be back next year.
And I mean, to me, all situations here are different, Like with Boston College, like who are they going to go get? I mean, I could tell you who they could hire that would probably do just as good as Earl Grant, and maybe there's a chance that like he breaks through and has success there.
But like, why would you get Red Autry? What has Red Auchery.
Shown Syracuse that would make them think that he's going to be a coach that can get Syracuse to no longer be a humong his joke. I know, two years isn't a lot of time, but Syracuse, I mean just to give just just use let's just use them as an example, like Syracuse should always be good, right, They're a little tricky because kind of like Duke and even like Indiana to an extent, like when they were ever
really good, it was just one guy. I mean, heck with Syracuse, like I don't even remember their program before beahem, like it was just behim. But Red Autry, he's currently twelve and seventeen six and twelve in a bad acc in.
His second year.
In his first year, I didn't realize that Syracuse won twenty games last year. I did not realize that. And is this Yeah, so this is his second year and they're just as talented this year, if not more talented, and they're terrible, Like I guess when you have twenty wins in your first year. Being this bad in your second year with a good recruiting class coming in is not going to result in you getting fired.
But the recruiting class.
Can no longer be used as this saving grace to like help your situation, because that just doesn't matter like it used to, right Like, I don't think there's any scenario where a coach out there who's been really bad, like with a freshman class coming in, like everybody's gonna.
Be like, Okay, it's all right.
The reinforcements are coming in all freshmen, Like the reinforcements are going to be portal guys, And I feel like you never really know what you can and can't do, and the portal clearly money matters, But I mean, if you have no momentum, like if you're coming off of I don't know, Pat Kelsey a little bit different, but he was a new hire, right Like if Pat Kelcey like, well, I don't even want to do this because I've had
a nearly blocked out thinking about it. But like, let's just say Kenny Payne was the coach here and he had all the money, you think he'd be able to recruit the guys that came here this year, like no, like they wouldn't, like I don't think people would believing that he was going to be the guy that could get things turned around. So I mean, freshmen can help and who knows, like maybe they stick around and they help you, like you can still get value and adding
good freshmen is something you still want to do. But that can't be the like, hey, we're going to keep this guy because of that, because that's a sell of like, all right, give me more time because when my freshman man when they when they become sophomores in it's go time, Well, like why would It's like we should always be more patient and everything in life, right, patience is something we probably could all use a little bit more of. But you don't have to be patient anymore in college basketball
because you can flip your roster at any moment. Every year you can get a new team, and who knows if you're going to get a good team or a bad team or whatever. But the days of like give a coach four years, I just think anybody who decides to do that, anybody who decides to give.
A coach four years after two years of it.
Being clear that they're not very good. And it's not because of any other reason. It's just like Red Autry should be better. His team has good players. He should not be terrible, but they are. That mean he's the worst coach ever. Like maybe Syracuse, after four years he'll end up being in a good position and they'll say that it paid off, it worked out, and they were patient and this guy really got it rolling. I mean, that's possible, but I think there's a much better situation than.
In year four.
If he gets it, he probably won't probably get his third and that'll be it. Like what are you waiting on?
Like it's just telling your fans that you're content and you're not. You're not. You have no.
Urgency to get better and maybe look deep down, they just believe.
In this guy. But like, I think you've seen enough to know that.
Like even if he does, Like if you're Syracuse, let's say next year and this is the this is the word. This was the worry about Kenny Payne. Like let's say Kenny, instead of winning four, he won ten and instead of winning eight, he won thirteen. He'd probably still be our coach here, right, nightmare to think about, but he probably would would that mean that he's anywhere close to being good enough to be the coach at a place like Louisville.
No, Like you're Syracuse.
If this guy who's now twelve and seventeen likely gonna finish, No Joe, he'll finish twelve and nineteen this year if he goes, you know, sick. Let's say he wins sixteen next year. Are you gonna be like dunking on your fans? See I told you so, because they'll say, yeah, but he still.
Stinks we're Syracuse. We should be better. Same like Mike Young.
I don't think he's a bad coach, but I also don't think he's the guy that's gonna be able to really thrive in this new world, especially at a place like Virginia Tech that doesn't have great resources.
I mean, Hubert Davis.
I know why they're keeping him, and I think he's done enough to show that like he should get at least one more year. Same thing with Steve Borbs, to be honest with you, although this year it's just malpracticed with how they're losing game like they would have made it if they didn't slip up and lose to bad teams and Another issue that he has is that whoever did his schedule didn't do him any favors. It was probably him, to be honest with you, all right, let's
do it quick break, We'll come back. Keep this thing rolling along. It's coffee and company. Feel about Thorns on Monday right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine.
Day, so I mentioned Earli.
I think with Kentucky losing to Auburn, you know, you never want to get blown out at home. And Kentucky's a programmed that, although it doesn't work out this way really for anybody. I mean, they have a belief in themselves understandably so that even if you are playing a great team, you shouldn't get blown out. But again it happens. But Oliburn I think is the best team in the country.
And I think Duke. Part of me is worried to put Duke up there just because they have not necessarily been challenged quite as quite as much as other teams because of how down the ACC is. But watching Duke play, I mean I have a hard time saying they're not one of the best teams in the country as well. And for what it's where Duke did play that random non conference game last weekend against Illinois where they could have won by I mean they won one hundred and
ten to sixty seven. And that Illinois team that's not some slouch, that's a top twenty team in the net. And and the kin Palm, who you know, just beat Michigan by twenty and an Auburn and Arbor, So you know, I think Duke Auburn those are the two best and really have to that, man, I mean, I'm not sure who I would say. I mean, Florida and Tennessee Houston, like those are the teams that in Bama. But I don't know, like there's a part of me that doesn't want to put those four teams in the same tier
with Duke in Auburn. And then after that, you've got teams like Texas Tech, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Missouri, Saint John's. I mean, I'm just I'm I'm mentioning teams that are believed to be in good spots with it when it comes to top three, top four seeds, that have also kind of proven that they can go out and beat anybody, maybe not just in their own conference. I mean, i'd say Kentucky's in that spot, but I
don't know. I don't think i'm a hater here. If I'm now looking at Kentucky as a team that clearly is good, and who knows, maybe they make a deep run. But I don't, you know, I don't know if I would if I would put them in even that second tier, which againtes the likes of Houston, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama. Now again, they did beat Tennessee twice and they did beat Florida once, So maybe I'm wrong, But I think you've got two really good teams four to five that are that are
behind them kind of in their own tier. And then I think there's a big pool of teams that I believe on any given night, like if they play well, maybe they maybe they make a deep run. When you're looking at teams all the way in like the thirties, like for example, like Ole Miss twenty and nine, just outside the top twenty five. I mean, I think Chris Beard's shown that this is a team he has that I wouldn't want. I wouldn't be eager to go play them.
I mean Michigan Dusty May again. They got beat by twenty at home yesterday to Illinois, but they're twenty two and seven.
I mean, they'd be a tough out for anybody.
They've got some really really good talent on that team. I mean, I think Danny Wolf's been one of the best transfers, one of the best players in the country. So I think we could get a really, really really good ZAA. This is a year where I'm sure there
will be at least one or two. But if the teams that right now I'm looking at and like the net and the kN Palm, like the top thirty five, ish, I feel like if those are the teams that are you know, if the Sweet sixteen and really the round of thirty two is a mixture of most of these teams, yeah, you won't have the Cinderella story as far as a team that you've never heard of, No Sister Jeans, nothing like that.
But I think we could get.
Some really really good games, which is what I prefer over the Cinderella if I'm being honest with you.
But again, I'm just gonna mention it once more.
I know I talked about it last week and I don't want to beat a.
Dead horse here.
But all these teams i'm talking about that you know, I think are good despite not going to be getting a four or five seed, Teams like Louisville. Honestly, I mean Louisville could, I guess technically get a five depending upon what happens. But whoever you play, I think even the round of sixty four, I believe that whoever it is, there's a good chance they're going to be substantially better than nearly every team you've played since January first.
There's nothing you can do about.
It doesn't mean you won't beat whoever's in front of you in the round of sixty two, or the round of the round of sixty four or the round of thirty two. It's just something that has really stood out to me when I look at bracketology and see these matchups. You know, it doesn't mean I'm scared, didn't mean I
think Louisville can't win. But it's just an unusual thing to be a Louisville fan in a year where your team is safely in the tournament, you've got twenty plus wins, you're not sweating it out about selection Sunday, but you also have to know that when you get there, it is going to be a step up.
Again, doesn't mean you're not ready for that step.
It's just it's not something I can remember happening before, like maybe in Conference USA back in that time during Denny's time here. But I mean even then, there weren't really that many teams that Denny had in Conference Ussay at least, you know, I'm talking about my when I watched. I know he did have some really good teams in the metro in the early days of Conference she had, say, but for me, you know, like mid nineties on, I don't remember many teams that had the kind of record
that Louisville has this year. I know that ninety seventeen was really good, made the Elite eight, lost to lost to Carolina with Anton Jamison and Vince Carter. Still sad about that. I wish to wan Whe's ankle would have been okay, but you know, it's life. How many years have gone by since then, roughly thirty, I'm.
Still sad about it. March March is.
She's tricky because she gives you great moments that you just you know, she's a tricky gal. Yep, she can give you some great moments that you know is just like you're on top of the world. And then she can also leave you with some pain that you just can't you can't ever escape. I'm sure I'll be in my deathbed thinking about all the great times I had
and that might hit me. But man, life wasn't great when Dwan Week couldn't play because his ankle was hurt and we lost to North Carolina best Denny Crumb team. I watch to play because you know, I wasn't alive when Dinny had it rolling in the eighties. So anyways, we'll move on. I don't why I got sidetracked there. Let's talk about the Little of Men's Clinic, shall we? So the Little of Men's Clinic. They can help you fellas,
and you may not even realize you need help. And it maybe isn't necessarily something where, hey, you're in desperate need of help, but you could have a better, happier, healthier life at the Little of Men's Clinic and you may not even know it. They offer a variety of services. If your testosterone levels are low, they can help you with that. That's what they did for me. Maybe it's rectile dysfunction. That's not something anybody ever wants to address
because you know, it's uncomfortable, it's awkward. But the better you know, the quicker you do something about it, the better it is for not only you, but for also your partner, and it's part of life. They've got a variety of treatments when it comes to rectile dysfunction. They also can help you when it comes to hair restoration, weight loss therapy. So I'm sure if you're out there and you're feeling great, there's a good chance you could
feel even better. So give them a call FABU to four four four four thousand, or you can check them out online at Louisville Men's Clinic dot com. All right, So one team that I don't think is in like that top tier as far as you know, a team that we got to worry about winning the national championship, but Kansas. I mean, we talked about Kansas getting blown out in a couple of road games when they played Utah and BYU. The BYU game was one where it was a level of a blowout that you really never
see for Kansas, certainly under Bill self. Well, then they lost at home to Texas Tech who, by the way, is a good team, and now they're sitting here with still a good resume, still safely in the tournament. When I say good resume, I don't mean it's not a good resume for their standard, and they're certainly not going to get a great seed. But this Kansas team, I mean, I'm just looking here in the in the knpalm. I mean, Kansas right now is still a top two twenty one team.
They're at twenty one with a nineteen and ten, and their net ranking is let's see, even higher, they're at number twenty. They still have let's see, they've got five quad one wins. So really, more than anything, Kansas is just down for who they are. There's still a team that is in a better spot than most Kansas. I mean they got spoiled. Bill self dominated the Big twelve at an insane level.
And the Big twelve is a good league by the way.
However, I don't know, maybe they weren't as good as we thought, because to me, the Big twelves the league that in recent years we've talked about how loaded it is and it hasn't really played out on the tournament.
And then Houston, who, by the way a really good team. Well, coach Kelvin Sampson probably the best coach in the sport that really people don't talk about a whole lot, but him coming in to the Big Twelve in his first two years, in winning the regular season with room to take a couple of losses and still win the league. That's like one of the more impressive things you'll see in college basketball in recent years. But again, it just like to me, they just I don't know what it
is about Houston. Maybe because they were gone so long they were irrelevant. I mean, they were certainly rolling back in the five Slama Jama days obviously with a chem and Clyde and whatnot. But they've been so good and they've made final fours under Sampson, and yet it just it seems like they still are like, yeah, who cares,
but they're good. But anyways, Kansas not only having a down year for their standard, Like there's some weird stuff going on, like why Bill self felt the need to address the conversation he had with like, I feel like there's been some some pr backfiring going on here because whenever they were struggling, I believe on his end because when he was asked at a press conference about talking to Oklahoma State because for those who are no, he was at Oklahoma State prior to taking the job at Illinois,
and then of course he left Illinois to go coach Kansas.
He's been there ever since.
But I think it was a strategic move on his end to have somebody ask him about that, because he talked to Oklahoma State during their opening this past offseason. But he danced around it like, yes, but it was more so to give them some guidance on who to hire, and they hired Steve Lutz and they hired the right guy. But he wanted it out there that he talked to them, in my opinion, because I think he wanted Kansas fans to realize, even though we've had a little bit of
a setback here, you should still appreciate having me. And I don't think it played out the way. I think it looked like what are you doing here? So then he had to like he went on fill to sixty eight.
Again. I believe this is all strategic.
I think the whole thing backfired with Oklahoma State thing to where then he wanted to like make it make a statement when people weren't really asking that I knew of, like is he going to retire? He went on with Jeff Goodman to say, there's no truth to any rumors of me retiring. I didn't hear anybody starting those rumors, to be honest with you. But Bill's self, I think because things started going poorly, he wanted to do some things on his end to make Kansas fans appreciate him,
and it just really hasn't gone well. And then on Saturday after their loss to Texas Tech, and I guess this was actually Sunday, Like, how often do you see a coach after a game do a press conference just talk about the loss?
Right? Nothing?
You know, it's not a good thing. They lost, but like nothing crazy happened. There wasn't like any controversy, he didn't get ejected.
It was just a loss.
And yet Kansas and Bill self released a statement. It just seems like a lot of work for reasons I don't know. Quote this is the statement that Bill self and Kansas released Sunday out of nowhere about nothing.
Quote.
The game today was a very good college basketball game. We played a very good team and we got beat. We had some individuals have exceptional individual games.
And we have had.
We've had and we had some maybe not play up to the standard they've set for themselves, but everyone on our team, coaches included myself more than anyone, had opportunities to impact the game. A play here there that could have been a difference in the game. Over the course of forty minutes, Texas Tech made more plays than we did. We competed, we tried, we came up short, and I'm proud of their efforts, and I'm also proud of their preparation to be ready for the game.
We haven't had the.
Overall year that we had hoped for ourselves, nor the year that many of other people have expected, but it hasn't been for lack of caring. I can do a lot of things better. We all could do a lot of things better. But I'll roll with these guys every day and be proud of it. Any criticism about the team should be directed at me. I'm the head coach. I'm looking forward to seeing how we bounce back against
the terrific Houston team on Monday. Then after that game, I'll look forward to seeing how we respond to a terrific Arizona team on Saturday. This is the most important time of the season, and this is the time where we need to be better. But we also need to be focused on basketball and not things being set outside of basketball that have absolutely zero merit. End quote that was all unnecessary, Like what is he talking about now?
I'm not plugged in to Kansas basketball to know like what's being said behind the scenes, but like, to me, he's doing a whole lot of No, I'm not retiring.
Let me release his statement. Yes, I did talk to Oklahoma Like it's like.
Bill Self, despite being clearly the most proven college basketball coach currently in the game outside of maybe Rick Patino, Like there are three coaches in the game right now with two titles, Rick Patino, Bill Self, and Danny Hurley. Like Bill Self has nothing to prove to anybody. But it's like he's developed this weird insecurity to where he needs to Like I mean, I think all of Like he didn't need to say anything about Oklahoma State having
a conversation with him. He didn't need to, you know, come on Field of sixty eight's live stream to say he wasn't retiring, and he certainly didn't need to release says statement after all, Like it's just it's unnecessary, and it screams insecurity, and it also screams that like maybe he's crumbling a little bit.
I don't know, but I do know. We have to get you a quick break.
We'll come back and wrap up at the four o'clock hour. Keep this thing rolling along. It's coffee and Company. We are feel about Thorntons right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
I mean, I can't tell you the last time that I made it a point to.
Watch Saturday Night Live.
I'm a big SNL guy, but like most people, you know, it's just it's not what it used to be. But if Shane Gillis is gonna keep hosting, I'm gonna I'm probably not gonna watch it every time live, but I'm gonna record it on my DVR and watch it or maybe just watch all the the skits the scenes that appear on social media.
That's really what I've done now.
But he went from not being able to host because he was on the cast in twenty nineteen, I think it was, but was dismissed after some old videos resurfaced whenever, you know, cancel culture was was real active, but he hosted in February and then did it, you know, so really twice in what the last few weeks, and his opening monologue you know, didn't hit and that was a big talking point.
But I think most would agree that other than that, like it, like it's been hilarious and I don't.
Know what it was, but it took a little while for me to realize just like, you know, how funny he is. I don't know what if it's his delivery, if it's the kind of humor, but he's I feel like as much as I've enjoyed, you know, hearing him on podcast, and I think he's really funny. He had
that show, was it called Tires on Netflix? Like that was, yeah, Tires, that was his show, and I didn't have aut you know, I thought it'd be you know, kind of stupid funny, and it was, but like overall, like it was good.
I enjoyed it.
And he also has been really good on like Roast his stand up that I think was on Netflix. I enjoyed it, but you know, I didn't think it was like hilarious, But I think of all the things he does that I find him very funny in I feel like hosting SNL is like.
He's perfect for that.
So yeah, I each time I pop open Twitter or TikTok, I guess the algorithm knows that I've become a big Shane Gillis fan because I'm seeing all these clips and it's like really really really funny.
And ESENL.
Like because they just recently did the fiftieth anniversary, that led to you know, a lot of old I mean, look, SNL's.
Been around for fifty years.
It's been around a long time, so there's a lot of stuff that I've never seen before from like, you know, legendary actors who haven't been on it in decades because you know, they've become a little too big for it. But man, I watching all the clips get resurfaced and even seeing some of the stuff that they did when they were celebrating the fiftieth anniversary, I mean really really good stuff.
And and also, though, to be honest with you, it made.
Me really really miss Chris Farley because you know, he's a legend and I don't really remember him on SNL because I wasn't watching it a whole lot. Then whenever I was that young, but clearly and that's really what has been like a. It's like a he's clearly been gone a long time. And I can't imagine how many hilarious movies and things he would have been a part of because he.
Was just he was awesome.
But whenever I end up seeing a really funny SNL Chris Farley skit that I'd never seen before, it's like me getting a chance to still see new Chris Farley stuff, if that makes sense, even though it's not technically new. In fact, it's very old, it's new to me. That's good stuff.
All right, Speaking of good stuff, we got another hour coming your way, so stick around.
I'll try to keep my clock management in order here, because you know, we got a clock management sir.
The clock management. It's not my strong suit. But I'll get better. I need to.
I feel like if I was gonna get better, i'll probably like kind of like I was talking about those bum acc coaches, like if it was ever going to work out, wouldn't it have wouldn't it have happened? If I was going to be better with the clock management, it probably would have already happened. But you know, I'll continue to try it's coffee and company fee about Thornon's on Sports Talk seven ninety