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and also thanks to Thornton's. As you likely know, if not now you do, we are feeled about Thornton's. Make sure you sign up to become a member of their Refreshming Awards program. You'll save money at the gas pump and that'll likely leads you to walk into Thornton's. I mean, I guess I don't know if people still go inside to pay for gas. I mean, if you're going to pay in cash, obviously that's the only way you'd be able to do it. But I don't know many people that.

I mean, I'm sure it still happens more often than I realize. But nonetheless, if you're at Thornton's filling up because you're saving money. At the pump, you might see all the great things they've got that they're promoting on the windows, on the door. Even at the pump, you'll see, Hey, you can get as I've mentioned many times, four Monster Energy drinks for just seven bucks. That's one of the many great deals they've got. So again, big thanks to

our friends over there at Thornton's. I do want to remind you that you could take us with you reever you go. Listen live on the iHeartRadio app. Also listen live at seven ninety Louisville dot com. And I was thinking earlier, earlier, I was looking at I was on Instagram, That's what it was. I couldn't remember which social media platform it was, but I was on Instagram and I

was just scrolling. And obviously the algorithm targets things that you're interested in, or maybe they you know, maybe they're listening to us. And I know I'm not the only one that has noticed this. In fact, I think it's become like a conversation that you hear, maybe not frequently, but there's just no scenario where you could be talking about something without googling anything on.

they're right. So anyways, I was on Instagram and I was just talking about the different Derby Festival events that we have here, because to be honest with you, I mean there's some that I've known of for a long time, like I knew of them, but there's also many that

I didn't know was a thing. And I kind of just did it, not a full deep dive today, but just kind of looked at the entire schedule of the Kentucky Derby Festival events and I didn't know that we had a one million dollar hole in one golf contest. I didn't know that we had Actually I knew of this, I forgot about the bed races, which by the way, took place this week. There was kind of some controversy. As far as the winner, we can maybe get into

that a little bit later. I'm not sure if it's super controversial, but there is somebody who had a picture of two beds crossing the finish line and the one that is crossing just a hair like it was clearly a photo. Finish was not announced the winner, and it sounds as if there's been some confusion on.

know that could really be controversial. But anyways, looking at all these great different events that we have here for Kentucky to every festival season, it's just a reminder how rare this is, and I get a little bit I don't know in my own head sometimes when we get close to Derby, because you know, I don't know if it's fomo, which is you don't know what that means,

it's fear of missing out. I'm not sure if it's that or if it's you know, an insecurity that I have, But like, I wish I was more into horse racing sometimes. But again, over the years, I've just convinced myself that there's really no scenario where I'll ever be super into it, but other people are. You know, it kind of makes me feel like, hey, you know, I wish I shared

that same interest that some people have. But I was talking with Paul Miles earlier today, one of our our phenomenal reporters over their own news radio eight forty whas, and he was we were just talking about what the Derby's kind of turned into, not necessarily just Derby season,

but the Kentucky the Kentucky Derby itself. And I was just thinking, to the people who come here in their private jets that land at Bowman Field or and you know, stay for a few days, maybe they just come for the Derby and then fly out, Like do they realize that we do these things, like we have a steamboat race, Like that's to me, that's you know, some would say maybe that's kind of weird. I think it's kind of cool.

So as we get closer and closer to you know, the actual Kentucky Derby, which it'll be here before you know it, Derby Week's rolling along pretty quickly. I'm just I'm just trying to take it all in, right, because I can't match the level of love and passion that some people have for horse racing. So I'm just trying to, you know, embrace all the things that come with Derby. And I mean we've got a balloon fest, hot air balloons, so you know, it's not just a horse race. There's

a lot that comes with it. And it's a special, special thing around here. I know I've said it many times this week. I know I've said it many times in years prior, but there's just something about being in Louisville during the Kentucky Derby Festival season and.

longer than they ever used to. And there's some real numbers that I want to get into here in just a moment that I think really makes me feel more confident in what I've been saying for a while, and that is that you know, the new world here with NIL and the transfer portal, meaning now you get paid to play, and now with the portal, you can go wherever you want, seemingly as many times as you want.

So what that has done is that has made college basketball a much better product, not only because you know, you guys sticking around longer, but because you got you've got free agency essentially where you can just you know, build a team from scratch, just like Pat Kelsey did a year ago. Like that, that's that's good for the game. And yeah, there's the downside of it, where you don't

get guys to stick around for four years. The four year player is going to be a real rare thing moving forward, and that is and you know that sucks However, I still believe that if you're just looking at the pros and cons, I mean, it's way more beneficial for college basketball.

like the following season and the NBA Draft. I mean, you used to have guys that would go to the NBA Draft knowing like they would turn pro, enter their name and draft and know that they didn't have any real chance of getting drafted, right, but they just decided, Look,

I don't want to stick around in college anymore. You know, I can come back and get my degree whenever I'm twenty one years old, and I want to go ahead and start my pro career now, because you know, when you're a professional athlete, Let's be real, in most instances, you can't do that for the same amount of time that folks can do most jobs that they have. Right, like God willing, I won't need to have any athleticism or be in great shape to do this for as long as they allow me to do it. If you're

a basketball player, you got a window. And if you spend four years in college, yeah, it would probably be a great experience. I doubt anybody would ever regret that experience. I'm sure there are some examples, and yes, you would get an education and you'd live a good lifestyle, right if you're I mean before an il, before anybody was getting paid to play as far as you know, name, image and likeness, they were still living a pretty good life.

doing manual labor and being tortured, nothing like that. So you know, like it would make sense that you would decide, hey, you know, I'll come back and get my degree, because again, why not go ahead and start making money and instead, let's just say you've got a.

out earlier. Today, they're only one hundred and six players that have entered the twenty twenty five NBA Draft, according to the NBA's latest release.

NIL era officially started. So again, these numbers probably don't really surprise you, but I just thought it was worth sharing because again, I think of all the sports that have you know, impact, been impacted differently with this new world, I don't even think it's I don't think it's close. College basketball has benefited from it more than any and it's not just because of the obvious right that guys

stick around in college. You now have you know, guys that are twenty two, twenty three, sometimes even older than that playing and they're mature their experience. Maybe they don't translate to the NBA, but you know, the product of the game is good, and when you've got the portal, you can go add guys that are twenty two, that have played a bunch of college basketball that can come in and really help you, you know, make a big improvement from the year prior, or maybe even you know,

just sustain what you did the year prior. But let's go back to where college basketball was before this happened. I think I think it was suffering in a big way. I mean, I'm gonna always love college hoops because you know, that's just what we do around here. I mean, I know not everybody probably is obsessed with it like I am, but we're clearly a big college basketball market, both programs here in town. I mean I think, let's I mean in the state, I should say both Louisville and Kentucky.

Like when people think of our athletic programs, they think of basketball, and I don't really see a scenario where that we'll ever that will ever change. But you know, when you've got top twenty five recruits coming in for a year leaving, if they're one and dones, or guys that stick around for a second year, because that's what this wasn't. I mean, it wasn't widespread, but it was,

but it was growing. And what I'm talking about is guys who weren't good enough to be you know, one and dons right out of high school because they weren't maybe they weren't developed yet, maybe they were still just you know, all about potential. It wasn't about anything they were actually ready to do and produce. So then you would have guys that would come back for a second year.

And if you're a top twenty five recruit of McDonald's All America and you're American and you're coming back for a sophomore season, and it's because maybe your freshman season, like you didn't you didn't really have a big role because you weren't ready. Like it was almost as if like you got to go pro after that year, because at that point, if you keep sticking around in college like you had no time to develop, I mean you did,

but you didn't want to. You would you would just move on because guys who stuck around in college that were really really highly regarded players. I mean, it was viewed if you it was viewed that you were a bust if you didn't leave early. And I just think, you know, you go back to guys like DJ King, Jalen Johnson for Louisville, I mean even EJ. Montgomery for Kentucky.

You know, clearly those guys weren't great. I think they knew they were never going to make it to the NBA, but they just decided to move on from college and

start their pro career. And look, maybe they don't regret doing that, but there's also I think some level of of of being worried that you're The longer you stick in college, the more people were going to bring up the fact that you were a McDonald's All American or a top twenty five recruit, and if you're still in college, it was just viewed as a bad thing that you were a bust and you're you know, you know, your story's over. Yeah, you're you're all right, you're decent, but hey,

they were really wrong about you. Will now, I mean, you've got time to develop. I mean, because let's be real, if you're not ready to play as a freshman and you're at a high level, you're probably going to transfer after your freshman season a to a program where you can have a bigger opportunity.

foolish not to do that. So yeah, I guess from that aspect, there are some signs there are some downsides of it, but they'll adapt, right, I mean, that's what they have to do. I mean, it just sounds like something, you know, unheard of, but I really don't think that we're that far away from it being a very public sales pitch from mid major and low D one programs that we're selling you to come here and we'll give you an opportunity right away and then you can get

the hell out. I mean again, think about that, a coach selling you come here, you'll only be here for a year, and then you can go.

a trend that's only gonna grow. So you know, if you're coaching at the low D one or mid major, you can you know, you use that against those coaches, right, like, hey, yeah, I know they offered you a scholarship, but let's be real, you're gonna have to sit and wait for a long time because they've got this guy back and that guy back, and oh, by the way, they brought in two guys that play on the wing just like you. So why don't you come here. Yeah, it's not the SEC, it's

not the Big Ten, it's not the ACC. But you'll get minutes, you'll put up big numbers, and then when you hit the portal the next year, you'll have everybody calling you again. I mean, I doubt that that will be like the direct sales pitch, but I feel like that's what you should do if you want to, you know, I mean, if you're gonna make this work, because if you just try to, you know, I mean again, you could try whatever you want to keep guys to stay,

but it's just not realistic. You can't pay, and the nil situation is just gonna be just gonna be much different. So, I mean, I used to kind of worry about the future of college basketball because you know, the product wasn't great and you needed guys like Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis to really bring eyeballs to the sport because you know, of the product, meaning guys that everybody knew were probably

going to be stars in the NBA. And you can tell when you watch them play for programs like Duke in Kentucky. But you know, you don't get those guys very often. That's a pretty rare thing. Well, now maybe you don't have I mean, Cooper Flag was certainly a big, big deal this year. But I think even though you know, you may not have a guy that's viewed as just this can't miss NBA prospect like Cooper Flag was the product.

When I say product, I mean the game like it's competitive, you have you know, and there's a lot of parody too. I mean that's another factor that I think makes it a benefit to college basketball, meaning the new world that we are, that we that we're in now with the with nil and with with the portal. So I just thought,

you know, I just thought that number. I mean, that's pretty crazy to see only one hundred and six players enter the draft when just four years ago, right before you get paid to play three hundred and sixty three innered And another thing to keep in mind of the one hundred and six that have entered this year, there's many of them that know they're coming back to school or at least probably expect to come back to school because they're just going through this process to get the

experience and maybe get some good feedback from the NBA. Like Otaga away at Kentucky, I mean, I think the expectation is he's back for Kentucky next year, but he's considered in one of those one oh six. And also there's also guys from across across the pond in Europe and other countries, international players that have entered the draft.

get into that. Also, haven't talked about it much as we get closer and closer to Derby, but Pat Kelsey has a horse named after him. That's got to be one of those things that you don't really think about when you take the Louisville job, but you know, then it happens and you're like, yeah, I guess this is one of the perks at coaching at a place, you know, like Louisville where they happen to have Churchill downs at the Kentucky Derby. So we can get into all that

and a lot more. If you guys want to join us on the show today, you can give us a call five oh two five seven one seventy nine hundred again five oh two, five seven one seventy nine hundred if you want to call in, and you can text in on the L and N Federal Credit Union tex Line five O two four three eight ninety seventy three. It's coffee in company feel about Thornton's on Sports Talk

seventy and seven ninety. That's right, it's coffee and company feel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety thanks for hanging out with us. And we had somebody text in on the text line and mentioned the I said controversial. I don't really think it's that I was being, I guess a little bit dramatic, but at least some people did agree that they need to have, I guess, more clarity in the rules as far as how you win the bed races, which apparently so it's the sam Tech

Great Bed Races. And for those just now joining us, it came up earlier because I was just talking about all the kind of random derby events that we have, and they've just some of them have been around a long time that I don't often think about if you're an outsider and you hear about all these events that come with the Kentucky Derby Festival, you know, leading up to the actual Kentucky Derby, the most exciting two minutes in sports, like getting companies to old bed and race

one another against other companies like, that's kind of a weird thing, but you know, it's interesting. I will say this Tony Vinetti, believe it or not, he said something earlier this week that I.

it around. And just to see a lot of people that you normally you know, are working with. I guess it depends on what kind of work you do. Maybe it's an office setting, maybe it's at a warehouse, maybe it's at a a factory, or maybe even at like a restaurant. Maybe it's hospitality, like you usually see your colleagues in a work setting, and then.

put it that way, all right. So the ACC yesterday, uh well it kind of officially announced it, but it came out yesterday from a variety of different reporters that we're discussing something that the ACC is looking to do

to to help the basketball side of things. So CBS Sports Brandon Marcello is the first that I saw that put it out there, and uh, I'll just read directly from his write up, it says the ACC is strongly considering shrinking its conference basketball schedule to help boost the leaguess inn CAA tournament profile, and the increasing expectation is it'll be done, per sources. So, uh, I see this yesterday and I'm thinking, okay, this is this is this

is good? Meaning, you know, last last year, right before the season started, I was in Charlotte for the ACC basketball media days they call it Operation Basketball, and I was there for the first time in a couple of years, and I remember kind of, you know, on my way there on the flight, thinking, Okay, I wonder what the the real you know, vibe is going to be given the fact that the league has taken, in my opinion, significant steps back as a basketball conference in recent years,

and the expectation this year wasn't that the ACC was gonna be that good. And sure enough, that's exactly how things played out. And if I'm being real, the ACC can get better next year. But how much better I don't know. So I thought maybe they would challenge other teams. Hey, we gotta we got to collectively get better and improve to to start, you know, getting some respect back. I mean, it's not as if it's the worst league in the country, but it's fallen quite a bit in the last decade,

and other leagues have gotten better. So instead of hearing the commissioner and maybe other coaches during their you know, their entire experience at the AEC Basketball Media Day is kind of talking about, Hey, let's get better, let's let's get back, let's let's get this thing back on track. It was more of a hey, what can we do to to convince the committee that they're wrong? What can we do, uh, to you know, get more teams in

the tournament? But not because like we need to get better, but like we need to just sell ourselves that And I'm thinking, okay, you got, you gotta, you gotta. The first issue here is you got to address the fact that you're the league is not what it once was. To me, it was like they were in denial and didn't want to acknowledge that the league had taken big

steps back. They just wanted to act like it was all the committees fauled And in fact, they were having Lonardi Like I mean, if you remember the whole thing, Liken, they they were they had Lonardi come and talk to the AC. It wasn't at basketball media days. It might have been one of the spring or fall meetings for the league where like Leonardi was talking to coaches telling them what they can do to better improve their resume.

Am thinking, first of all, Leonardi doesn't have anything to do with the tournament, and you know him having three four teams in in his bracketology in late February, like, I mean, that wasn't that far off. So, I mean, I was bummed to know that instead of acknowledging that the league has fallen a little bit, they were just

in denial, acting as if they were being picked on. Well, then you then you hear that they're going to make a change to the ACC basketball schedule as far as how many games you're going to play against conference opponents. That's that's I mean, maybe they won't say it out loud, but that's full on proof that you're well aware that when you play twenty league games, I mean, that's going to leave you having a huge you know, I guess

that's I think it's four more than some conferences. I know some do eighteen, some do sixteen, but the ACC does twenty, and they added to it was eighteen and then they went to twenty when the ACC Network launched just because they needed the inventory, but because the ACC has fallen so much. I mean Louisville was a perfect example.

They went all through January winning games and it wasn't their fault, but like they got nothing out of winning those games because the league was down week actually, and again you can't control that, but I guess they realize now that you could have another situation where and I still think Louisville was incorrectly seeded this year, and in fact, I still would be convinced you could convinced me that the committee just flipped Louisville and Memphis and put them

in the wrong spot. I mean, that's like the first conspiracy theory that I'm getting closer and closer to just believing and not even thinking it's a conspiracy theory.

I'm sorry, got an eight seed. Clemson, there's no scenario they're able to sustain what they've done the last couple of years because I mean, they had a special group that had a good run for Clemson and now they're kind of starting over. Miami certainly can get better because they were awful. Will Wade at NC State, I guess it really depends on what kind of roster he has when it's all said and done, but they'll get better with him.

So again, like maybe the ACEC is a lot better next year, but we could certainly be in the same situation we were in this past year where you've got some teams that have good records and they're out of conference. I mean, Louisville actually is the perfect example as to why they should do this, because again, Louisville in the non conference, they didn't have any losses against teams that

you would say are bad losses. I mean, in fact, every team that beat them in the non conference made the tournament, and they actually had you know, a few decent wins in the non conference as well. And then you get to ACC play and they went eighteen to two.

So I still think the committee got it wrong. But in the real issue with the with how they seeded the tournament with the ACC is that they just weren't consistent, right, Like Carolina getting in is something that probably shouldn't have happened. Clemson getting a five seed was it or a four seed one of those two getting a one. It's like

they didn't see the ACC consistently right. The things that got Clemson their seed and that got Carolina in, like the things that they got credit for to get where they were, Louisville didn't get credit for that. So anyways, playing more non conference games giving you a chance to go out there and add more valuable opponents, meaning that there's something there's something to gain if you win, and if you lose, it's not really a real hit, unless, of course, you know, you get blown out so they're

going to go from twenty to eighteen. I wish they actually would go from twenty to sixteen, to be honest

with you. So this is this is full on confirmation and it's actually kind of a mean, I'm happy they're doing it, but it's also kind of sad because I think if you really consider what they're doing here is like they know they want they need and want to get more teams in the tournament, but if everybody's playing twenty games, it's gonna leave you to have a not not a real high ceiling as far as your seed line, because I mean like the only real valuable win and

I mean like real value that that you were you were getting and I guess everybody's you know, barometers different, but like a resume win, a signature win, the only one that existed in the ACC this past year was Duke.

in the tournament. I mean that that's not something that's crazy. I mean we got to take baby steps, I suppose, because you had Carolina as the last place team in Louisville as an eight, Clemson as a as a four or five, whichever it was, and they lost to McNee state, and then of course Duke was a one seed. So you know, this is a good thing.

He says, if indeed ACC Men's basketball reduces the league schedule from twenty to eighteen games where you play just where you're going to play just one rival twice a season. Here's so I guess you'll play every team once and then one team twice. Would that add up to make sense? So who is Louisville's rival in the ACC, you may ask, I don't think we really have one, and I'm not real big on creating rivalries, but I can tell you what this is the school that there's like.

going to play each other twice. N C State and Wake Forest, FSU, Miami, Clemson, Georgetown, Cal, Stanford, Boston College, Notre Dame, pitt and Syracuse, SMU and U of L. So that is that is how they have it laid out here. According to David Teal, so like SMU and U of L put together just because of like being you know, being outsiders, I mean, Louisvill's been in the ACC for a decade. SMU's brand new. I think you could put Louisville in Notre Dame together and it would

make better sense. I think you could put louis and in Syracuse together because these are good basketball programs, like basketball schools, and you could take Pittsburgh and SMU and who would care? And you know, Boston College Notre Dame. I g I guess there's some history there just as far as the two teams to an extent, but I just wish it would be somebody different than SMU. But either way, getting rid of the twenty game league schedule what it's going to do. And I'm sure they'll have

this conversation with each member of the league. You know, we're doing this, and that means you can't go add Popcorn State to take these two games. You've got to go at you know, try to find somebody that will play you to where you have a really really you know, competitive game where there's not a whole lot to lose if you do slip up, and sometimes just playing good teams and you lose, as we've learned, it can actually

benefit you. Like you could beat a team by thirty or lose by five to a really good team, and your resume is better from the loss against a good team than a win against a nobody. So I'm you know, there's no better. And I really hammered on this when Louisville played them, because it was just it was all

they're doing. But when Louisville ended up playing wake Forest, and wake Forest had a good record and they had you know, I mean that that should have been a game where there was some value there if you get to win. And yet because wake Forest decided to schedule a bunch of non conference games against teams in the three hundreds, and they barely won some of those games, like Louisville got Louisville did Louisville beat a team that honestly had a better Like they had a better win

at the time than Louisville did. And I thought wake Forest had some good players, but like they were ranked in the seven late of the high seventies in the net, which made it a quad two game.