8.26: Bend Over and Take It - Hour 3

I'm average when it comes to wagering. I'll put it this way, very average, maybe below average really when it comes to college football, did I say that like I was Donald Trump? Very average? I had that very weird tone there, but very average, pretty good actually. But when it comes to college basketball, I'm not great, but I'm It's what I bet best at, and I feel like

I'm better than average when it comes to that. But again, you know, I try not to ever feel like, oh man, I don't know what I'm doing here.

It was exciting because you were chasing it. You're in you're in the mix, and that that to me, is what makes it entertaining. At the end of the day, if I can put a little money in my pocket, that's just an added bonus because the little money that I do wager, for the most part, is worth the entertainment that I get from it, even when I lose. But you need wins here and there to make it all worth it. If you only lose, then yeah, I could see what people were being, like, what am I

doing here? Was wasting money? Because when you when you are in such a cold streak, you really are lifeless watching like, well, I mean, of course this is what's gonna happen. The most unpredictable thing will happen because all I do is lose. But you shouldn't have less confidence in yourself after that, right, you should. You should just feel like, man, you know what, you should be feeling better about yourself more so than ever saying hey, I'm

getting pretty good at this. I'm not. You know, I'm not gonna win them all, but I should. You know, I should put something on every pick I make, even if it's a small amount of money, because you know, that's what makes it fun. So for those who missed it, John and I, as far as picks and bets, we are. We're undefeated in week zero. Because John didn't make bets, I'm officially undefeated. Yeah, because he didn't. He didn't. He didn't make any bets, but he made picks and they

all came through. I went, I went, Uh, I went undefeated. Now four different wagers. Well put it this way. I was two and zero on straight bets. In fact, three and oh on straight bets. I took Georgia Tech to cover as a dog. They won outright. I took Nevada to cover as a dog. They should have won outright, ended up only losing by like maybe five or something like that. So I parlayed those. That's one bet, and then I had the two individual bets, so that's three.

And then once New Mexico got off to a lead. I bet on them to cover as dogs. They were still getting six and a half after winning in the first half, and I just felt like, aren't we seeing that despite New Mexico being a really, really bad FBS team, there's still probably more talented deeper than Montana State, who's in FCS, which is essentially Division two. And yes, Montana State did claw back and win at the very end, but I couldn't believe New Mexico State was still an

underdog after controlling the first half. So I took a live bet there in that one cashed in. So I do feel comfortable in saying this. That's probably the last weekend where I will be able to come back after a college football Saturday and say I didn't lose a single bet. Now, the reason for that is because there were only four games to bet on. That's you know, that's how that played out. So anyways, week zero in

the books, we got Week one. Now all the local teams will officially get their season started on Saturday, and they are big time favorites. Louisville thirty six and a half right now is to spread against Austin p Indiana twenty one and a half favorites against FIU Kentucky. Let me see, I just Kentucky is now twenty seven and a half. It was twenty eight. It's now twenty seven and a half for Kentucky as they'll take on and host Southern Myths. So the weekend slate, I mean, I'm

not complaining, trust me. There's a lot of games that, like, I can get excited about a game because of what I really like as far as wagering, that has nothing to do with like it being a big time game with a bunch on the line, Like for example, Carolina and Minnesota play each other this weekend on Thursday. Actually, I'm really excited about that game from a wager standpoint, but like that's not a big game in the grand

scheme of college football. But then again, if it's a non conference game where you got a Big ten team playing an ACC team, I mean, that's that's you know, and.

on it. On both sides. Penn State West Virginia actually happened to think that could be a pretty decent game. I'm not a big believer in Penn State this year. I think Neil Brown did bounce back last year. But what's the spread in that game? Now? Now eight and a half?

to be the first coach fire this year. Florida has a really really challenging schedule. They're not supposed to be good. Miami is a preseason ranked team. This is another chance for the ACC to not embarrass themselves because a scenario where you lose this game, I mean, it's just another data point where people can claim the ACC sucks, and I wish I could tell you that it doesn't suck, but the ACC keeps giving us results that does, in fact make it look like it kind of sucks. I mean,

it's not a terrible league, but these are games. This game, specifically, just this year, this is one you should win and it won't mean a whole lot because it'll mean Florida's they what we thought they were is not a good team that's probably going to be in the last season of the billion Napier era. But if you lose, it's just a point and laugh opportunity. And unfortunately Georgia Tech should have been given a little more love going into

that game. But the majority of the reaction about what happened in Ireland is about Florida State not being legit and meaning that the ACC is not worthy of any playoff teams, which we know is not going to be the case, but still, and I know you can't, like, you can't control the perception one thousand percent, but if you take care of business and you beat good teams in the non conference, meaning the ACC does that, it's

a start. It's a start to where people will be forced to realize, yeah, when they do beat up on each other in league play, it's because the league has a variety of good teams. And I'm telling you, the best example I could think of is Georgia Tech is

not looked at as a good team. Now. I mean, they're getting more respect as they should, but the overall reaction, big picture, is that Florida State is not going to be a legit team this year because they lost that game and that was expected, meaning that was probably what we should have expected the reaction to be. But my point is this, if the SEC had a similar matchup. Let's say, let's say Kentucky beats ole Miss, who's a

top ten team. Kentucky would clearly be ian. That'd be a damn good win for him, right, But let's say they played each other in Week zero and the talk I mean again, we're talking two top ten teams. Ole Miss is a preseason top ten team. People think they're going to be a playoff team this year, So if they lost to Kentucky, the reaction wouldn't be point and laugh at ole Miss. It would be wow, just another

tough day, hitt the office when you play in the SEC. Again, a lot of the reasons why people are pointing and laughing at Florida State is because of the lawsuits they started filing when they got left out of the playoff, and they have a very very high opinion of themselves that is much different than I think the opinion that others have of Florida State football. But yeah, I mean again, just looking at other notable games, Notre Dame A and

M that's a big one. I will watch a lot of that game because I want to see what Notre Dame looks like. And I'm pulling for Notre Dame because you want Notre Dame to be ranked a high as possible when you go in there and play. I mean, here's the thing. Because Georgia TACK did beat Florida State, they beat a top ten team, I would imagine they'll probably find themselves anywhere between like twenty one and twenty

five in next week's rankings. But again, as we discussed earlier, I kind of think they're not going to get as much as much love with the AP voters because that is not as recent. I mean, they played Georgia State this weekend. They could beat them by forty, but I still feel like they would have gotten into the top twenty five more safely if there were votes this week. But they don't do a week They don't do a vote after week zero, and I guess you could understand

considering that there's very few games. So back to what I was saying about those two back to back games. When you've got Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, they could be back to back opportunities for Louisville beaten ranked teams, So you know, we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Louis has got to still get passed, you know, and they will get passed. I mean, if they don't get past Jacksonville State and Austin p We've got a much different season ahead of us than I think any of us

would have predicted. But it's just nice knowing that it's here. College football is here and I love it. And one of the questions that was asked, I think on the text line last week that we discussed was Hey, what's the better scenario for the ACC Florida State losing or Florida State winning? And I thought to myself, well, I mean, there's no doubt about it. If in fact Florida State was to lose, and I didn't think they would, it'll be about the ACC sucking, and that's kind of exactly

where we are. I didn't expect it to happen, but it did. And let's be real, SMU did not do us any favors in the ACC because they should have lost to Nevada, who I believe was picked to finish dead last in the Mountain West, and Nevada was the better team for the majority of that game. But to go back to something I mentioned in the three o'clock hour, I think, without us realizing it, the way some of these teams were being talked about, in the way these

games were set up. Not that SMU and Nevada was a big time game, but again it was a standalone game when there's no other college football on so it actually probably did get a lot of viewership on the CBS Sports Network. But now that I can reflect on it, Georgia Tech would have gotten more love if they played in a different league, Like if they had the same exact season but they were in the Big Twelve, even they would have gotten more respect in this game. They

finished fourth in the ACC last year. I'll admit, hand up, I didn't know that. I knew they were better last year under brin Key. I knew that, but they finished fourth in the league. They returned twelve starters, including their quarterback and one thousand yard rusher Jamal Haynes, who ran all over Florida State on Saturday. They also bring back their leading receiver, who was a freshman All American last year.

On defense, they went out and hired a new coordinator because their defense stunk, and there's no way anybody would have known, but Tyler Santucci did a great job defensively, at least in his first game coaching. He comes from the David Elco tree. He was the guy who was the DC last year at Duke. And by the way, I know nobody ever throws out Duke football as like a good thing, but Duke last year led the ACC in scoring defense and they were ranked sixteenth in the country,

only giving up nineteen points a game. He was the guy leading that defense, along with Mike Elco. Throwing the fact that the quarterback Haynes King for Georgia Tech. He's one of only four quarterbacks last year to have twenty five or more passing touchdowns and ten or more rushing touchdowns. The others are Jaden Daniels and Caleb Williams, who by the way, are starting in the NFL this year, and Dylan Gabriel who has proven to be a really good

player and he's at Oregon now. So not to say that, like, hey, we should have looked at this and expected Georgia Tech to win, but nobody gave them any like they were just, you know, the cute team that maybe will keep it close for a quarter and that the results were right in front of you from a year ago and what they brought back, and you never know, right, sometimes things

don't carry over. But I just think because the ACC has viewed the way it is, Florida State probably already isn't getting the respect they deserve or wasn't getting the respect they deserve. But like nobody considers anybody else in this league worth of dam and I hate that and I just wish it wasn't the case. And SMU again another example as far as like just the perception of

the ACC. They were this cute see team that people thought would really transition well to power for football because they won their league a year ago and they won eleven games in fact, and because the ACC is, you know, this bomb ass league, everybody said, well, SMU, they'll be fine. I mean, they're only in the ACC. They'll probably like top five ten because that jumps not that big. We're talking about the ACC here like that. That is how I think people view it, and I just, you know,

in a way, I get it. I just wish it wasn't the case. I mean, last year again, they won eleven games, winning eleven games is not a down year for anybody, but there is context. They won eleven games in the American Conference. The year that Houston left, the year that Cincinnati left, the year that Central Florida left, they won eleven games. All of those teams were non Power five teams. They played three Power five teams. You know what they did in those three games, They lost

all of them. They did not compete against Oklahoma, they did not compete against TCU lost those games about seventeen points. And then they lost to Boston College, who was also in the ACC. I kept bringing that up randomly when talking about SMU, Like people don't realize. And I know bowl games are tough to really know the value or lack thereof, because who plays and you know that kind

of stuff. But you lose to Boston College by double fur figures in a bowl game, and then you come into their league and people rank you way higher than Boston College, Like, letn't make any sense. And I know it's two different seasons, but still so Louisville, let's hope they can take if if what everybody says about the ACC is correct, Let's just hope louisvill can take advantage

of it. And I found myself over the weekend kind of for the first time, kind of shifting a little bit in regards to sort of how I maybe not how I view the league, but I would really hate for Louisville to put together a really good season this year that on paper and you know, the numbers and all that, maybe even the eye test from the objective folks like Louisville looks like they could be a team that maybe steals a playoff spot because they got a

bunch of wins. They played for the conference championship and they lost to I don't know, Clemson or something like that. But it would just really suck in the first year of the expanded playoff off to get to get, you know, the short end of the stick because of how people view your league. There's nothing you can do about it other than go play the games on your schedule and

win as much as you can. But I just, you know, I think years of the ACC struggling in non conference games has you know, has come back to bite him to where now when you have an opener where Georgia Tech, maybe they are a top twenty five team this year, but that wasn't the way people are looking at it now because it's the ACC and that just proves that everybody in that league must stink if Georgia Tech and

beat Florida State. Although with all that said, it's not a pity pot mean, I'm not sad for Florida State. In fact, I took great satisfaction in seeing them lose. And man, some of those message board screenshots from Tallahassee, they didn't take that loss. Well, all right, let's get to let's get to our first break here in the five o'clock are a lot more to get into. We'll let you guys hear what Jeff Brum had to say

when he was asked about Amari Huggins Bruce. Also some things I'm I'm specifically looking for on Saturday, other than of course a beat down VIC. And we'll go to the text line. I've neglected you guys. On the text line, I do apologize. Some good stuff coming in. We'll get to it next. This is Coffee and Company. We are feel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety so.

One name we have talked about quite a bit in the last week is the name that Jeff Brown can still not talk about publicly, and that is a Mariy Huggins Bruce. So he's at Louisville meeting at school, but he's not on the roster, not with the team, but maybe that changes sometime soon. Jeff was asked as I'm sure he was expected to be asked about a Marii Huggins Bruce at his press conference earlier today, and this

is what he had to say. Is he back on the team, what's his role going to be with the team, and maybe walk us through the process of him coming back to Louisville. Well, right now, I probably can just talk about people that are on.

they decide to just say, okay, yeah, that's fine. He never played a game at South Carolina and he was already enrolled at school at UFL prior to that, So you know, that's fine, We'll we'll grant you a waiver in this situation where he doesn't have to enter the portal, like maybe that's what it is. But again, the portal exists so that you can be contacted by schools once you get released from the school that you were playing at.

And he never played a game, but he was enrolled at school in South Carolina since last January and was going through camp with him until last week. He just decided to bail and has now made his way back to Louisville. He has enrolled as a student, and you know, I guess it's now the waiting game. And that's really two different obstacles, right. One is just waiting for the NCAA to potentially address your situation, address your question, but also you know, getting them to actually sign off on it.

That's a different obstacle. So we shall see. I I know I don't sound, you know, overly positive about this overall thing, but it's if he's able to play, then that'd be great, right. You get another receiver, especially knowing that you have an injury to a guy that was expected to play a lot of a lot at the slot this year. And Huggins Bruce, you know, wouldn't shock me if that he is here and healthy. He is, you know, still the same kind of guy that you

see him out there. He'll make a play every now and then, but he's not a guy that you know, can really be your lead receiver at that position, meaning the slot. And maybe, like you realize, the other guys that are getting an opportunity because Colin Lacy's hurt that they actually make more sense to get the majority of the reps. So it's a positive to have him back

if he can play. I just think because of the unusualness here and because of the worry about life without Colin Lacey, I think there's there's been an inflated perception of what he brings to the table. Meeting of Mary Huggins Bruce. Now I say all that knowing maybe you know, maybe you got better. Maybe his time at South Carolina, you know, really helped him, and and you know he'll come back here and and we'll we'll be looking back

at this time thinking, man, what a crazy scenario. I'm so glad that worked out, But you know, we'll see it sounds like at the receiver spot in place of Colin Lacey, you're likely going to see you on Jayden Thompson be the starter there. And he's a guy that's played a lot of football, was at Cincinnati before he transferred to Louisville, was involved in the offense a little bit last year. Not a guy you saw a whole lot, making a whole lot of plays, but you know he's

gonna get an opportunity now. I think Kataras Hicks is also a guy that that that they like. It's just it comes down to can you go out there and be week in and week out a reliable weapon for this offense? Can you you know, can you create? Can you get open? Can you make can you make the catches consistently? If you're in a position where shut just got to throw it up and you've got to go make a play, can you do that? Now? Sometimes that's easier said than done. For example, we've seen Chris Bell

do that, it just hasn't been consistent. Now it needs to be consistent. So I think Chris Bell has a chance to be your top receiver, and I mean even ahead of somebody like ja Corey Brooks. That's how talented Chris Bell is. But now gonna he's gonna need to emerge as a guy that is sort of, you know,

the lead guy at receiver. And I think with the way Jeff calls plays and with the depth that they believe they have, I'm not saying Chris Bell is gonna have to come out there and catch more balls than anybody every single game, but he's shown the flashes to where now it's time to make it a consistent thing. The other guys haven't really shown that because, to be

fair to them, they haven't had the opportunity. And I'd say that the opportunity wasn't there because there were guys ahead of them last year, you know, like a you know, like a Jamari Thrash who's now in the NFL with the Browns. So I think you'll see a lot of receiver. In fact, I think you're gonna see a ton of guys get legit rap on Saturday because you're gonna be winning by that much, and that's what you should do

in games like this. All right, five two six, five three zero seven nineties the number if you guys would like to text in on the Ellenn Federal Credit Union text line members get more at Ellen NFC. You can learn more at Open your Account Today at lnfcu dot com. This text says Nick seeing Jack Plumber ball out for the Panthers, what does that do to you? It doesn't do anything to me. I mean, he had a really good game the other night. He's probably gonna be their

emergency quarterback. They did change the rule in the NFL where you can keep an emergency third quarterback, so he'll be. I mean, right now, they've got obviously the kid Stroud, not Stroud, but is Bryce Young? Yeah? Bryce Young is their quarterback in Carolina, and then Andy Dalton is the backup. And then it sounds like Jack Plumber will be the third guy, so he'll be practice squad emergency quarterback if the Panthers decide to do that. But I mean, look,

Jack is like Jack. And I said this a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sure it sounded really stupid. I'll have to make it sound a little less supid this time around. Jack Plumber and Malie Cunningham are a lot more like than you would think. And what I mean by that is you would see them at times showcase an arm that you feel like is a good arm,

maybe an NFL arm. I mean, Malik was really really accurate with the deep ball at times, and he'd have games and drives where he looks all American caliber, and then he'd have a throw that you think, what the hell you doing? Were you thinking? Or man, how can you not make that throw that's a lot easier than the last five throws you made? Jack was the same way. It's all about. I think what separates a lot of

you know, athletes is consistency. But I'd say quarterback, man, it's even I mean, there are throws you can make here and there, but what makes you know being able to stay in the NFL for a number of years, even in a backup role. It's about doing it consistently. And I think Jack is such a good dude and a good locker room guy, good teammate, good leader. Jack Jack Plumber is a really good guy. By the way.

I won't claim to know him, like you know, we're talking every now and the phone, but I got to know him a little bit and he's a really, really good guy to where I can see that Carolina will would love to have him in their locker room as the guy that is in that type of situation as the third string quarterback that might need to be used in an emergency situation, a guy that's practice squad. And

I think he was good enough to do that. With Jackie, it was just it was just inconsistency and at times, you know, I think he let a mistake turn into three because he was trying to double down at times to make up for a bad decision that he'd made prior. So look, it'd be different if he was going to be the starter. Like, I don't know people trying to use Jack plumber success in the NFL preseason as a sign that, uh oh we thought Jack was the problem. Maybe he was brawm Like, I don't I mean, I

don't think anybody's doing that. But like, what do you mean? What is Jack Plumber? What does it do to me? I don't know what that means? Whoever asked that on the text line, still trying to figure out what that Like, Oh, I mean, go go Jack Plumber? Does that mean that what you wanted? I don't know. I mean I feel like I was way more nice in kind of Plumber

than most. I defended him at times, you know, all it took was me saying something not mean about him, and phone lines would light up on the postgame show for people just wanting to get in for fifteen seconds to tell me sucked. I gotta say, I do.

They got packages for four or five different tight ends at times to where not that they can all have them on the field at the same time. But I think they're going to play a lot of tight ends this year. And if you know, if Jack had these weapons last year, maybe it would be a little bit different, but I mean he made a lot of mistakes in crucial times, and you know that's something people remember. I mean, he was a big factor in why you lost to Florida State the way you did, and you could have

won that game. And I hate you could ever blame it on one guy, one play, but you could also say, hey, that specific play, you know that that guy didn't make or really messed up like that, that that was a huge factor in the overall result of winning and losing. This Tech says, you think bron will try to keep some tricks in the bag in the first few weeks just to just to throw off the Yeah, so maybe, I mean, I Louil hasn't been in this position in

a long time. I mean people last year were saying he's gonna keep some tricks in the bag against Georgia Tech when Georgia Tech, you know, was housing you halftime.

So I mean they've had close enough games, Like last year, they had close enough games against teams that you should have beat pretty bad or teams you just expected to be bad and they weren't to where I don't know, I mean, I don't know that that's a really good That's a good off the record question for Jeff because he would give you a very expected coaches answer if you asked him, hey, when you playing, when you're playing Austin p and Jacksonville State, you're gonna you're not gonna

really show anybody what you want to do the regular season right the rest of the season. He would say, well, you know, we respect our opponent, we're gonna we're coming out. You know, I'm gonna try to win or do whatever

it takes. I mean, he would probably give you a coach's answer, as most coaches would, but off the record he might say, oh, yeah, we're not really gonna show some of the some of the trick plays or some of the you know, maybe some maybe there's gonna be some some things we throw out there that nobody would have expected given the personnel that we have and all that.

So he'd never give you an answer, but it would make total sense that if you get to that Georgia Tech game, let's say it's a top twenty five matchup, that maybe you see a wrinkle that wasn't there against these weak opponents that you have in your first couple of games. Uh. This text says Nick do you think it makes more sense to try to embarrass Austin P and jack State because of the perception for the playoff off?

And then this text also goes on to mention that the acc being you know what it is, You're gonna need some style points. I've got a probably unpopular opinion about playing these teams that I'll share with you given that question. So, if a team is coming in and you are paying them money to be here, which is a it's a bye game for for Jacksonville State next week in Austin P this week, just like it was

for Montana State. Montana State got paid three hundred and sixty thousand dollars to go to New Mexico and beat them. If I'm paying you to be here and that bill or that that check is is really footing the bill for your program to exist, bend over and take it. If you're getting paid to be here, I'm not gonna embar I'm not gonna try to get anybody hurt. I'm not going to, you know, try to make an example out of you. But I'm not worried if I'm up eighty.

If I'm paying you to be here, that's what you're paid to do, show up, bend over, and take it. Why are you comfortable, John, I'm not uncomfortable. I'm just sitting thinking should that be the title of the show today. Yeah, but it makes sense that it does. It does like. It doesn't make me an a hole. It doesn't make me you know somebody that you know is picking. I'm not a bully. These people are being paid to be here. And I don't think you'll ever look bad by beating

somebody's brains out in football, Like I mean, in that situation. Now, there's a level of gamesmanship like running up the score and all that. But no, like when when Kentucky and Louisville play each other, that's not and sorry, let me back up, that's not a good example because that's a rivalry. Like, oh, you will use this game that's on Thursday. It's Minnesota

and North Carolina. Like if if Carolina is getting beat by thirty five and you know, Minnesota's running out the clock and then they run one more pass play and they score again, some would say that that's like, you know, that's doing too much. You were trying to embarrass them that and I you know, I still think that's kind of weak. If you don't like it, stop it. But I do understand it from that standpoint, because that's just

you know, the game's over at that point. Now you're trying to pile on, but nobody's been paid to be there. That's a that's a that's two powerful programs. Scheduling a home at home, Like if I pay you to, if i'm if I'm giving you a gift, you cannot be choosy how I beat you, Like you can't cry victim whenever you go to the press conference afterwards because you got a check in your hand on the way out, like again, and sometimes you lose those games. You're not

gonna take it easy on us? Why will we take it easy on you? I guess I probably could have worded it a little bit differently than you know, bend over and take it, but like take your ass, that's what needs to happen. No, No, it's another one of those moments and the show where I thought to myself, like what if somebody just tuned in right at that second and like the butt stuff yeah last week, Oh yeah, a lot of butt stuff, A lot of butt stuff. We have a I'm sure you're not a big Jim

Rome guy. But he had a he had a caller that has a drop that said something that is it is I think still a legendary drop within the Jim Rome show, and that is Bohica Buddy bend over here it comes again. You ever heard that? I have not. That's pretty funny though, you know. So after we put up fifty in the first half against Austin p Bohica Buddy bend over here it comes again for another two quarters. We had somebody earlier on the text line. I kind of just ignored it because I didn't it was it's

uncomfortable to even think about. But we did talk about it. Last week. They had a coach on their staff, their offensive coordinator, their co oed C last week resigned because he got caught up in a child sex trafficking thing, which is, you know, not good, disgusting. So like somebody was alluding to the fact that, you know, maybe maybe that'll keep the staff from taking their foot off the pedal, because you know, they employed a predator, which they did

and that's awful. But anyways, let's get our last break out of the way. I gotta remember the five o'clock hours of my Mom's on her way from work, so she's probably like, why Nick, why are you saying bend over? Take it? Come on, grow up. I can't grow up, mom. That's why I do this. That's what this is. This is me, this is your son. I'm not really an adult, just kind of kind of getting by as one pretending

to be one. All right, it's coffee and Company. We're fuel about Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We can get into this a little bit more throughout the week, but I do see here that Jasper Johnson, one of the top players in the country, who of course is considering Kentucky, and it sounds like it's gonna be Kentucky and Alabama. But Woodford County native has a lot of Kentucky connections. But it's gone back and forth,

according to those who cover his recruitment. Is it gonna be Bama or is it gonna be Kentucky and Mark Pope and he's gonna make his decision looks like next Thursday, September the fifth, And I mean he's doing it at Woodford County High School, which I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong to just assume that means he's going to Kentucky, but I mean where else would he do right, like if he's back here, I mean, he's not going to do it at over time elite. I don't mean I

guess he could. I don't know, but you know that would be massive. I've talked about it here and there whenever we've discussed his recruitment. And of course, obviously Malachi Moreno from Scott County also committed to Kentucky. So for Kentucky to get two local kids that really wouldn't have been recruited like this if the previous staff was still here. Jasper Johnson would have, but he probably wouldn't have been

prioritized quite like the Pope staff has done. And I think i'd heard I think it might have been something mentioned on KSR that Jasper Johnson's first nil offer from Kentucky was you know, like disrespectful almost as far as how little it was compared to what Carolina and Alabama and even Louisville was prepared to offer. So, you know, anytime you can get to top thirty players, I mean that's good for anybody. Even cow Was you know, would

get those guys. But if they're from Kentucky and they're you know, this highly touted as the Kentucky brand is kind of shifting back to being more about Kentucky and not just about Caliperry. Like, I think that would be a really good I mean, who knows how you know how good the teams would be under Mark Prope. Who knows. Again, these guys are still going to play another season of

high school ball before they get to Kentucky. But I feel like if you would have told Kentucky fans that the first class Pope puts together from the high school ranks is going to include these two guys, I mean, that would have been best case scenario for them. Now, again, the portal still matters in a major way, and you know, freshmen aren't relied upon quite as much. But Jasper Johnson's a special player, and I believe I've got a piece of use is Trivia. The first coach to ever get

Jasper Johnson on campus for a visit, Scott Saderfield. He was a football recruit before he was a basketball recruit. I think I whan he was like a freshman in high school, he was believed to be a guy that had a future of playing at the next level in football more than basketball, and then you know that changed. I think he's probably influenced as well to go to the football route, considering the fact that you know, his father was a player at Kentucky. I think his uncle

might have been. His grandfather was also a player there. So anyways, Jasper Johnson making his decision next week. Somebody had asked me earlier why Louisville is still being meant, there's a graphic that like shows his final six or five and Louisville's in there. But I mean, I've heard nothing about Louisville being in the mix at all here, which again that doesn't mean I don't see that to

be critical. I just think, you know, it was going to come down to three schools, Kentucky, Alabama, North Carolina, and now I think it's just to Alabama in Kentucky. So we shall see. All right, We're back at it tomorrow. Hopefully you guys will join us as we continue to get set for the opener Louisville Austin p. I mean, it's not a big time game. I said that, and I couldn't even fake it that it was like, you know, big time action. The Governor's coming to town. Come on,

they're coming to town. They're gonna bend over and they're gonna take it. They want that check to be here, they better bend over and take it. Sorry, Mom, have a good done everybody,