This is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio just search Ie on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to Win the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera, You're Jacob Zalace Henry. Now you have breaking news.
This is I on the Ball.
Breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Conference tournaments going on.
The Big twelve tournament by U and Houston will be tipping off now with the winner playing the winner of the Arizona game later.
What do you think on that one, Houston. I'm a big fan of Houston. Yeah, and by is one of the hottest teams in the country.
They were the other night.
But Houston plays up. You better be you better have your Cohn is ready to pay over under on that game. Uh, just a guess, and I don't know what I mean.
Wait, what's the over?
Under a half? You're taking the over to the under? I would take you sixty sixty.
I'll take the under, which is crazy because b why you alone at ninety six against Yeah, but.
That's but they play that way exactly. Houston. You gotta but you to scores points.
You know, I took an under on Houston a couple of weeks ago, and then then I saw it and I'm like, why did I do that? They score seventy five points. I don't remember who it was, but it was like it was stupid. I think it'd be the under. He's going to score. What's the spread?
It was the Houston game. Yeah, Houston minus six and a half. Oh, that's a big team. That's a big spread.
If I would to do it, I would go give the points, which would be very tough to do, and the under.
I love houst. Houston's, to me is just a fantastic team.
I don't know if they'll win it because they don't they don't know how to score, but they do score.
That's just it.
They They're not a team that stays in the sixties. No, it's a reputation that this team because they're so tough. But I looked at you know, I again I took an I took an over under, and I took an under at like.
A one Oh. I don't remember who it was, but.
It was like a one thirty eight or one thirty nine. I said, oh, under, they're gonna beat somebody you know, sixty eight to you know, sixty eight to fifty five, and then went way over in Houston because Houston went off and scored eighty points.
Well, if they scored, they can have the chest to win the title, but I'm not sure they will.
The ACC tournament's semifinals, Louisville will play Clemson and North Carolina will play Duke Cooper. Flag will not play after injuring his ankle yesterday versus Georgia Tech.
I think there's no reason for them to play.
No, right, just you know, if you don't win your conference tournament, because what you're still a number one seed, just you know, and then and the committee will take that into okill ye, they do, and they'll make them the number one seed in the tournament.
If you remember, Arizona in two thousand was the number one seed overall. And guess who was out Lauren Woods. Yeah, because he had played enough games without him right to show that he was.
Then they lose to Wisconsin.
The SEC tournament, Auburn and Tennessee advanced to the semifinals today. Missouri versus Florida and Alabama versus Kentucky will face off later today. Those right there as a final four, right, yeah.
Well Albert had a little bit of a tough time for a while there was with all miss today I saw that.
Those are some great Hey. The final four of this Big twelve tournament is the heck of a tournament.
Yeah yeah, I mean there's a lot of people think that by You can make a run.
They have, they have. I mean, wow, I think the end today, but.
Well but they again, it's a really good team. You know, you could see everybody to say, you could see by U and Houston in.
The final four just right to get hot. Yeah yeah yeah.
The Big Ten Tournament, Michigan State in Wisconsin advance to the semifinals today. Maryland is currently winning against Illinois, and Michigan will play Purdue later today.
Are you Peter brading this? Yeah? Yeah yeah.
The Big Ten just kind of like who what you know, Michigan State, maybe Maryland, I wri Maryland, now.
Who else? Illinois is still there?
Illinois.
It's just like okay whatever, you know, there's no one team. I feel like. Yeah.
And then in the Big East Tournament, Marquette and Saint John's are currently playing in Yukon and Korean will play later today.
In the semifinals. Four more good teams. Yeah.
Again, what I like about this in terms of Arizona is that, remember you just felt nobody was paying a pension to the Paccuff Tournament ever. Yeah, right, And they're in the middle of everything, right, They're they're on they're on highlights there. You know, they played Kansas last night. It was a big game, you know, for the networks
and and and the fans and and that. You know, there's all this attention that you know, to the tournament that they're in, Whereas the Pactuff Tournament was an afterthought regardless of how good the teams were, right because Oregon got A, got to a final four, and you know all those you know, but U C. L A was good a number of times, but you always thought the Pac twelve tournament was an after that.
I'll give you this.
Okay.
So we're in the West, pretty much give me the teams in the West. Do you pay attention to the Mountain West?
Yeah?
Because I pay attention to San Diego State. But that's that. But that's what that's right. Okay. Mexico is pretty good.
Really.
I watched Gonzaga Saint Mary's the other night.
And that the first time. Yeah, those those are three teams right there in New Mexico, those two. Who else is out there isn't right there isn't so because you're you're focused somewhere else.
Run Yeah, and and you know, I mean look look look at the look at the eight teams that wound up in the Big Ten, in the Big twelve.
You know Oregon, Yeah, decent in basketball, but you know they may did it.
You know when when the they're gonna be they're gonna be the same type of seed as theirs.
All.
Yeah, but you know Washington's not any good. No, well has that been good at anything?
You know, usc they got in a fight with security government, you know, UCLA, you know, I mean, you know then you look at you look at you know, Utah, Colorado and and Asu. You know in the Big twelve they didn't do anything. They were the you know, the bottom of the barrel in basketball. So it's really you know, Arizona is the only of the eight that went to a new league, at least as it relates to basketball, is the only one who's really you can say, done much of anything.
It's interesting.
So there aren't any teams, you know, that's the not right that those teams weren't the quality of some of these other teams that now you see Arizona they really are good.
They really were good, you know, and they're and they're doing it in the Big Twelve as well.
Iowa has dismissed long time head coach fran McCaffrey after fifteen seasons.
Could there have been Jay? Could there have been a more bland coach in the history of the last fifteen years?
I mean, come on, he's kind of like the coast.
When they said that he had been there for fifteen years, I'm like, I never would have known.
Yeah, and he won two hundred, almost three hundred games.
You could have asked me, who's the coach at Iowa and I always said George Raveling, you.
Know, doctor doctor.
What's his name, Tom Tom Datos. Yeah, you know he's last year.
Remember he got into it with some people and he was like just really strange, strange confrontation with with some people at the tournament. But yeah, just kind of like nondescript, kind of just there.
Good luck with that. Yeah. Yeah.
Former Rams receiver Cooper Cup has agreed on a three year, forty five million dollar contract with the Seattle Seahawks.
Yeah, that's a big deal, man. They've got they've got some guys. Yeah, yeah, they got some guys. They let Tino Smith go. You know, there were some people who were saying they might go get Russell Wilson back and that didn't happen.
And Donald, you know Sam Donald, you know, he had a good year last year.
But they're you know, the Vikings think JJ McCarthy's their guy, and so yeah, you know, watch out first.
Yeah, I mean they're in a tough league, right, uh, you know with the with the with the Rams and the and the cards.
Well the Cardinals. I saw the Cardinals went and got cha Kobe Brissette today. Okay, that's right up there. That'll help them. Yeah, a couple of days old.
But golfer Tiger Woods ruptured his achilles and underwent surgery on Tuesdays.
Is he having too much trouble on that uh fake golf one. I don't know.
He.
I think he was just playing and then all of a sudden he took a swing and it just popped on him.
You know that's how achilles go. Welcome to the getting old then.
Yeah, so well his body that one of the results of this is there's just been a lot of discussion. Okay, that's it. You know, his body is just done. You know, it's if it's not his back or his whatever, now it's his a killing I mean his you know, he he he he used up his body, you know to do what he did, which is okay, but he's probably gotta you know. I mean he's about to turn fifty, so he could technically go on the on the Champions Tour.
Would he would would would Tiger Woods Champions I think so if he's capable, Yeah, because what are you gonna do to compete? What's gonna compete? And he's imagine how dominate he's gonna be?
Are we just we just can't play?
We saw him, I just saw him a color guard. He can play with these guys, so nothing. I can't go to save my life. But you know what I'm saying, Yeah, when you're fifty and these guys are fifty six and six, Yeah yeah, yeah, and he's Tiger Woods. Who's who's not gonna go see him playing? Well?
Yeah, I mean he could if he wanted to, you know, go make the money, keep the notoriety, keep his name out there.
Compete. Sure he could.
The question is was is his body going to allow him to because you know that if he decides to compete, he's not gonna do it half assed. He's gonna he's gonna put everything he's got into it. He's gonna try and be as good as he can possibly be, which means you know, he's gonna tax his body some more. And is he going to be able to do that? And if he does, what does he play five? Six tournaments? Maybe, but more than he's played in the you know, on the PGA Tour of the last few years.
That's all I got. Okay, what time is it?
Staying on golf Jay Justin Thomas tied the course record at the Tour Championship?
Was it?
Which is that?
That the TPC course in in Florida? She shot a sixty two today. I would I would shoot sixty two on the front nine there from the white Ts. But uh uh, you know, golf's underway man. Yeah, the Masters comes up right the week after I did not I could have gone, but it was it was gold for Sunday was perfect. Sunday was perfect.
Yeah.
I was out there Sunday for till about two o'clock. Very nice, great setup, look great on TV. I got homewats the rest of it. Yeah, it looked fantastic. Did you walk around the course though not as much? Yeah, not as much because it's a it's a tough wat, it's a very tough walk.
Yeah.
I mean, well, everybody, I've never walked it because I won't walk it. You know, I've you know, I've written, you know, I've played the course, you know obviously a number of times, and I go, I could never walk this course, you know.
And and then when they said they were going to play it, Time'm like, okay, how's that going to work? Well, they have carts, but.
I guess they have carts on some of that where there's long, long gaps between the greens and the tea box and they were shuttling players.
No, it's a great day, nice day, cold Friday, halfway decent Saturday. Them how many? How many more years do they have on their contract? Three more?
Three more? Had rumors about side other course coming on, but it didn't seem like that. There's only a few that you could do that.
I mean, I remember when when star Pass opened, right and they moved the tournament from Randolph to star pass and I went, you know, they they allowed the media to go play it, you know, when it opened, and I went and played it, and I thought the same thing with start passes, said, how are golfers going to walk, you know, from from hold to hole on this golf course? Those things are tough, you know, all those all those desert courses that started coming in with star passing, all
the other ones after that, that's a tough go. You know, gas on National is you know perfect. It's just not long enough anymore, right, you know for these guys. We'll see how long it was a nice day, good weekend. Yeah, okay, Henry, you're done right, Okay?
Anything else? Just think it's safe and clean, please.
Yeah.
I haven't wished anybody bad things today. It's only twelve o'clock, but I say I go home a lot. Watch the Arizona game.
Here, first TV time out. Houston's up nine nothing so nine nothing.
Wow, I'm taking Houston. I'm taking Houston. Houston is a fun team to watch, and they play it just in a brutal they're just mean. Yeah, they are mean. Yeah, and you've gotta be tough. This is a This is not a game for.
I remember the Arizona game. I think Arizona one up seven with like eight minutes ago, and people were celebrating.
I was like, they got you right, what they wanted you right, and then they went and then Arizona couldn't score.
Yeah, exactly, shut it down so good. And I like him. I had him last year and then she'd got hurt.
But you know what, I just watching b YU the last coupleaks, I thought, who's going to stop those guys?
Sorry, Houston, it looks like Houston.
Houston think Texas Tech could to Texas Tech is on another one of just a slight.
Below Houston, and they're playing so well too, right, Texas Tech.
Is top and is fantastic, So we'll see if anybody has someone to stop him. But you know, Henry's played well, Uh let me ask you, let me ask you this. Well, okay, I'll ask you, even though I don't there was don't have momentum.
And not so much.
They won a game, right, but they but they they lost a couple right there at the end, So no, I think they feel better about themselves last night class night, right, they say, okay, we won that. I don't disagree that was a hard and that was a hard game to win. Don't disagree with that, right, So I think they probably feel better about themselves. Do they feel like they've got a lot of momentum?
I don't know. It takes more than one game to have momentary Here's what you got, A call no good?
So they one last night for the reasons I said they lost Saturday, so they wouldn't last night. But I think they, knowing what I know about the team in the program, they have a sense of relief. They probably should think there's a lot of relief. I know I had a sense of relief. So so now they're a four seed, realistically, I think, yeah, likely, Okay, so what's good enough?
That's exactly good enough?
What else are they gonna be a three?
You want the tournament? You can be a three, okay, but that's not that Indeed, that's tough. That's a tough class.
Right, So they get to be a four, not that they're not gonna play hard, but you know what I'm saying, there's a there's a sense of we're here, we're gonna be okay, we're four seed.
Send us to wherever you need to almost reset.
Right, right?
You know there's it maybe be you know, I think more than anything, it's just the pride in winning this thing.
You know, it's the first time. It's the first time in this tournament.
They want to I think, you know, I want to let people you know, I know we've been in the PAC twelve, but we're still a pretty damn good program.
We're a blue blood.
Well they got a blue blood. Someone texted me yesterday. Someone texted yesterday David Kelly bless his heart. So the game tonight with two blue bloods as he left the show with Kansas and Arizona. So so, Dave just said they're blue blood is he doesn't know what he's talking about. I was gonna say, son of a gun. I was going to say something we talked about momentum blah blah blah.
It'll come to me. It'll come to me. But I feel like.
Momentum wise, no, no, I wouldn't say, you know, momentum that you feel I can carry him through this game. I just think they you know, as you said, the relief, they feel better about themselves.
They want a game.
You got to go and they beat Kansas, and so I think, yeah, I think I feel good about themselves.
Okay, we got to go and talk to our guide from Texas Tech on the other side.
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Steve Rivera, he's got his eye on the ball on Tucson's sports station, Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Hey, welcome back to join them all here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jiginsauce down thefo we have Nathan Geist from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, who happens.
To be in Kansas City.
Nathan, how are you?
I'm doing all right, hopefully you guys can hear me to well in the bowels of the media press rium.
Here kep Center, No, no where, You're fine.
I guess you're not enjoying the fourteen to two zero fourteen to two FIFU three Houston right now.
Yeah, let's just see you guys called that a good time.
So how is tonight's game? What do you We're gonna have you preview? What's going on over here?
Uh?
Uh?
Did you come here for the last game? Uh?
For the Arizona game in Tucson, though I did not.
Yeah, to me, it was the best game that I saw in person. Arizona had to match Texas texts physical physical news and they did. What a great game. I'm hoping to see the same type of game tonight.
What do you think, Well, it's gonna be kind of interesting because I'm putting the odds of chance, like know him playing at like maybe five percent. I don't think he's gonna go. H They haven't said anything there, They won't say anything until tip off. But he sat out the second half last night. He's de hold a bunch of different injuries right now, but this they're calling an upper body stream and there's really nothing on the line for him.
In this one.
You want obviously, you want to win. You want to keep going in this and try to get a big twelve tournament title, but you just can't risk it this close to the tournament. So I'd be surprised if he goes. And if he doesn't go, that's gonna shift a lot of what Tech can do. Uh. Just in general the matchup, they have to go much bigger, I guess Arizona than
they did against Baylor. So you're gonna see more Federico Federico along with at top and to try to match up with Arizona's size, and when you do that, it kind of takes away a little bit of tech strength, which is their perimeter game, getting four shooters out there with one big. If Arizona goes to the double big look, which they've kind of been known to do, or just kind of let them run out there, that that's that's kind of a it's a tough matchup for Tech in that regard.
Well, what what's been the key to them this? You know, late in the season, because they've been really really good. Uh, what if they had going and and again, you know, talking about the injury, how much does that change what.
What they have been doing?
Well, chance that you missed a couple of games. He missed the winn against West Virginia and the lost agains Houston. Him and darry And both missed the last akins Houston, and that was still an eight polaying game. And I think what they've kind of shown throughout this it's dealt with a bunch of little Nixon bruises and smaller injuries that aren't devastating, but they hurt you at the time. Is that their eight guy rotation is pretty good, but when you can have all eight guys, it's exceptional.
It's just trying to.
Get all eight guys healthy at the same time, which at this point of the year you can't really do. I mean, you're four months in the season.
You're just hoping.
Everybody's at the top of their game. But the one guy that is absolutely at the top of this game is jat Topping because he's the one where he was the one not healthy for the first throughout all of
December and the first couple of weeks of January. I don't know if you guys remember this, but that first matchup against Arizona, he was just coming off of an illness where he lost like ten pounds in a matter of days, and he was as skinny as he'd been since I think he even got to college and just weak, but still had a great game for him. And then the return trip, I do I agree. I think that was probably I think that was the one game I could probably say he just got beat I mean, they
had most of the losses. You can kind of look at one thing and it was only just beat them, but a lot of it was, you know, there's always playing at home. They shot much much better from the field, still didn't hit a lot of threes, but when you have that crowd energy. It helped you a lot. Obviously Tech knows that, so it would be interesting to see how it kind of works out in a neutral setting places.
So did they exceed expectations maybe by you and others, because this team is a fantastic team.
From the outside. Absolutely for me, no I wrote in October, even when the preseason pool came out, I think this team could have could win the conference. I think this team could go to the Sweet sixteen. Now I think you could probably elevate that a little bit too, Allee a potential Final four. A lot that comes down to health, which right now is kind of questionable. But I saw the makeup of this team from the jump like this,
this is a pretty good team. And the thing I keep trying to tell people is with Grant, with Tech having success in Graham mccasms two years as head coach, everybody keeps saying, well, he's won everywhere, and the one thing you is dangerous for a coach like that is that if he can win anywhere, watch out when he gets honest to God talent like he does right now. He's just making the most of it.
We're talking to Nathan Guys from the Lovebo Avalanche journal, Nathan, is there a coach, another coach in the Big twelve that he is similar to? You know, whether it's Tommy Lloyd, whether it's Calvin Samson or one of the other coaches.
To answer your question, just from my end, Iowa State guy TJ. Whatever's name is.
Osselberger. See what's funny is I kind of know Olberger a little bit. He was He came to South Dakota State right as I was leaving, so I got to interview him while he was getting his first thing, this first head coaching job. I don't think that's I don't know if that's a I'm not gonna say it. Well, I wouldn't go there. I would think scatchery is the obvious one. He came on. They have a lot, they have a lot of the kind of the same mannerism.
But I think he's a little bit more, a little bit more wound up during games, not to a bad extent, but just he can kind of see's like he know a lot RIGHTO. He doesn't relaxed or unclenched until after the game is over.
Like he's got that we're going.
Until the final buzzers over sort of thing.
He's the guy, I.
Would probably say, but he's obviously tweaked what Drew does and made it his own.
How did how did Texas Tech get a topping from New Mexico? How much money does he make?
I can tell you what I heard, but I don't know that would be a good thing. But No, A lot of it was he had his high school coach at Say Family Academy. He's been He's known Grant for a while and the team GM Kellen Buffington. He's known that the Dallas basketball scene for a while and that was one of the reasons why they brought him here to be the gem of the team. So it was both connections, and I think a lot of it was he's close to home. His mom can come watch him
whenever she wants to. Uh, he's got that grounded. And his uh his best friend from high school, Jess Henderson, is a walkout on the team, so that that's another thing that just kind of helps with that. There were a lot of things in play there, but from talking to the people around him, a lot of it was they saw what Grant was able to do his first year and then looked at it and said, oh, well, there's something brewing here. We we kind of want to be part of that. We see what is kind of going.
Is it a lot?
That's the I mean, it's a lot. Everybody's taken a lot compared to what.
I make makes a lot.
And a certain point right, a certain point of number the number right exactly.
So let me ask you. You know that we've been through the first you know, regular.
Season in the Big Twelve almost you know, we're almost in the late stages of the tournament.
The four teams that came into the league.
And I was talking earlier that you know, really of the four that came in, Arizona is the only one that you know, asserted itself a little bit. But is there a sense of change in the league or do you think these these four teams have just kind of been absorbed in the league?
Is still what it always was?
You know?
Is there is there a different sense of the league now with sixteen teams and you know, you got BYU and Houston who just joined the league and stuff like that.
How different is it from what it was?
I think it's very different. But I think kind of to you the point, Arizona is the only one that really shits in that mold right now because Arizona State and Colorado they're going through their struggles. Utah uh, I mean they're looking for a new coach and or they have their new coach, I guess, but they're going through a change. And of the other four that came in the year before, Houston was kind of the only one. So I guess of of the eight, only two of
them are really kind of factoring it. Actually sorry, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, well probably the cougar nation out there, but three the eight are the only ones kind of factoring into this right now, where everybody else is kind of stickering out. But there is a change in the Big twelve. And I think you just have to look at what Cantus has been in the last couple of years, like they're I mean, you want to talk about nil. They're sharing it out the money left and right, and it's just
not working. I don't know that something build selves has cut out for in that kind of regime, and not every coach is. But he's change to the cop okay sorry legally, uh uh, but there's a change the conference. I think it's just more focus on those three new of the eighth and the other ones are trying to find their place in the league. It's gonna take a little while.
Well to that point, the fourteen teams left now Houston by U, Arizona, and Texas Texas obviously, but three of those are two year sex new, UYU is very new, Arizona's new, and three of them are still left.
Right right, Yeah, they're gonna say this, what the first time in however many years that it's not one of the old Big eight teams that's gonna win. That's gonna win this tournament. It's been a while where Texas Tech fits. And let's talk about, you know, across the board, right football wise, you know, basketball wise and stuff like that. With this expansion of the league. What is Texas Text place in the in the league as as a program, as an overall program.
Well, they're trying to be number one. I think there was that that study that came out in December that takes the highest valued athletic program in the Big twelve. And don't know what their formula is for that, but they're definitely trying to be that program through and through.
I mean, you saw what the football team went out and Dad when this last Hurrah, nil just loaded up and I think Joey's I haven't paid too much attention while I've been up here, but I think Joey's making the podcast round saying you know, this is the year we're going all in and we're gonna get this done or why you know this is kind of I don't want to say the be all end all, but they're
kind of pushing positioning themselves for it. I don't think basketball programs in that spot because they're already successful like this, they're, like you guys said, they're kind of overachiating what people expecting them to be anyway, so they're in a pretty good spot. It's the other one, the baseball team that's got awful right now. The softball teams doing their thing. They you know what they're picturing that key is making
it exactly. So if you want to know what the money's coming from tech, you can kind of look there and based on that. But yeah, they're trying to be that program. I think it's obviously there for the taking when you don't have everybody just looking, oh it's Texas
and Oklahoma. Even if they're not as good as they were, people like to claim they were on the field of play all the time, they still were the brand, and now they're looking for a brand, right and I think Texas Texas trying to take that spot.
So you've covered the team for how long now, I've been around.
I've been around for about five years, my second year on the beat now.
Okay, So, and they continue to do well, obviously, and very likely the coach is going to be named if he's not already named for their schools. What do you think the chances of Texas Tech holding onto him because he's obviously very good.
Well, there are already people that were trying to throw his name into the Indiana job. I don't foresee that. I don't see him ever leaving the state of Texas. He's a Texas guy through and through, grew up here, played here, made his family here. Uh. I do think text in a pretty good spot with him. They just signed him to a new extension with the pay raise.
I think his buyout as of eight of this coming April first, would be about eight million, So it's not terrible, but it's still a good chunk of change for a basketball coach, especially when teams are trying to load up for their revenue sharing models right now. I don't think they're two words, and I think the only one that would be kind of a concern is this scatcherw ever did leave Baylor, and then you could potentially have another Crisp Beard going to Texas situation on your hands.
But I think the.
Vitriol would be a lot less with Grant because he just doesn't bring that kind of out of people Chrisp Beard did. I don't think they're too concerned. And I think, yeah, they've had in this success where they can kind of say, you know what, we're going to keep this guy's honestly possibly ten Did you cover Beard?
Probably not.
I did a little bit.
Yeah, he's fantastic coach, but he's got that Yeah.
It was, uh, either loved him or he hated him. You loved him because of what he did, or he hated him because of this kind of how he handled himself. And and he's, uh, he's an interesting name to bring around anybody. There's a there's a story one way or the other. He can't deny what he did for the basketball program. Obviously they're they're in this position because of what he was able to do, but how they how everything ended there, but a lot of sour grapes involved there.
Yeah, okay, sounds like a guy named Jake Fisher. Okay, thank you man, thanks you wait wait wait what do you think tonight?
You're right, you're right there, man. How's the atmosphere been? Okay?
The thing that came up and we'll Steve, we'll talk about today, is that with Kansas and Iowa State losing, that a lot of the fans just left.
Is it is the atmosphere still look like it's pretty good.
I haven't been out too into the arena during this Houston bla a game, but during the other game has been pretty well attended, except the afternoon session yesterday. But I don't think you're getting a lot of people that want to see Houston play Colorado, right, But it does staying for him that I was saying Kansas aren't involved, But that just means if that keeps happening, the other team fans are gonna have to come up here more before you go.
There, Nathan, if this was in Vegas, it would be packed. Say just say, so, what do you got today?
Who do you think tonight?
What?
How's it?
How?
How is this game get to play out? Do you think.
I think it's so this is just a silly cance my ability to don't play. I think it's going to be tight throughout the first let's say, thirty minutes, and then Arizona's probably just going to be able to kind of wear them down because then by that point Tech's only going to have seven bodies. I foresee, uh a walk MB start trying to get Topping into fil trouble because he's had pretty good games against him right in the year. So if you can get him in the foul trouble, that changes the dynamic.
Keep it more interesting.
Wow.
Well that kind of tilts me a little differently now, I know, I don't I'm on DraftKings already and I'm just kidding.
I'm not.
Fun, have fun.
I thanks, thanks, I take care. Yeah, that's interesting. That's interesting.
With the injury, Well, I forgot about the injury and I was listening to their game uh on uh you know on the radio light. Yes, I was in the car and I just I put it on and their their announcers were, you know, we're talking about that because they you know, during that game, they you know, there was this injury and I don't remember the guy's name, but the key player and they said he was out for the game. And then then they had another guy who hadn't played much and stuff, and they show they won.
But you know it was a struggle. You can tell it was a struggle without this guy. So we'll see, we'll see what happens.
Okay, I give hope to Arizona people might Okay, let's take a break and come back with the final segment. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you'd know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Loudelsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them.
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Streaming live on the iHeartRadio app. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Eight and welcome back to mid the Walk here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera, you're jagansaus Enery. Get us to the end of the day here, take some calls by two zero.
Four, one six seventy.
Okay, so we got we got a Texas Tech angle on the on the whole thing. What do you think about the injury? No, about the game, just the game in general.
I mean, I still think I hope that gets see the same game we saw last time there was.
It was physically like, holy crap. I'm surprised that Arizona's matching them physically right, which is great to see because you saw that Arizona had it in them.
Yeah.
Have we seen them be physical and tough enough times to say they're a tough physical team when they want to?
Yes? Wow, but that's the point. Okay, Yes, every game are they no?
No, be what?
No?
Not at all?
Who they lose to? No, not at all, because they play they do when they want to. But I've seen that before. You don't Arizona. You tell Arizona you don't have a chance to give you the chance. You tell them, who are playing the tame Manhatta state man, we don't want to show up.
Okay. But over the last.
Let's say ten to fifteen games, ten games, okay, would you say they've been they've been a tough, gritty team and all ten of those games. No, no, no, half baby half half? Yeah, asue a issue here was not?
Okay, So that's right.
Issue up there may have been because they had to be, you know, given the circumstances. But I don't see the schedule in front of me. But but no, ten of years, no for half? Maybe I mean they went to Taylor and we're damn good against Baylor. Okay, that's one. Houston they were, they were Texas Tech, they were b yu. Were they physical they didn't need to be? Didn't and they got beat but they didn't need to be. They should have been because that's.
How they were.
Maybe they wouldn't game. That's how they beat it exactly.
Yes, we're watching Houston do exactly that to be why right now they're pushing them around.
That's what it takes to be be physical. So that's three. I don't know what the schedule is. You have the schedule.
Who else at the end towards the end of the year. I think they I think Colorado was in there.
Well, Kansas, Kansas up there? They did there? They did not. Now wait now, were they were they tough and just got beat? Or were they not tough? I don't know.
I don't know tough, you know, physical, I don't I don't. I don't know about the toughness. Give me the rest of the schedule. Baylor to beat Baylor, I would say they did then I wish state.
But they gotta be Yeah, they gotta beat handled it. Yeah no, no, never mind, because I'm thinking about the one here.
Yeah, that's gonna be handled You think of this, Where does this team? Where is this team if Caleb Love doesn't make that half court shot?
Good question, you know, good question.
Right, I mean think about think about the vibe and the momentum they got that off of that that win. If that doesn't happen, they lose that game, everything's different.
I think they're Kansas, you know. Yeah, yeah, I don't know.
Six maybe Hey, let me ask you a question to get off the board here, I see you once a week, right, So what about the idea situation?
Oh well, uh you see you saw the Yeah yeah yeah yeah. If she, if she takes a job like that, I'm not surprised, you know. In the end, you know, Ada wants to coach at a place that's got resources where she can think she can win a national championship. And you can probably win a national championship in pretty much any sport in the SEC.
Right, Yeah, did you read the story? I guess Kim Dars did the story locally here. Okay, so there was a thing and I said this story of the day before there was something that the DIA had mentioned or that she wrote. She says, I want to go somewhere or be somewhere where I'm appreciated.
Oh what a big baby. There are seven thousand plus fans that go to her game. But you know what you're talking about, talking.
That love the hell out of her.
She's talking about nobody's giving me enough money or appreciation in the house, right in house, right right. Look, you know we we've been around her enough. Maybe I don't know if you've been around her enough. I know I've been around her stuff to know. She's a tough person to to be around.
She's hard.
I mean, she's gonna make make sure who she is right. She's driven, she's demanding. She expects the people around her to be as committed as she is. That's why a lot of players have not stuck around. We know that that they leave because I'm.
Disagree with you when I have a chance, But I'm not disagreeing with you.
Know that that that they they go because they're not up to her standard standards.
Right.
You know, they leave, either they're suggested to leave or they say I can't. I can't deal with her standards to.
Her detriment because look at all the great players right left and made other teams right good.
So I could see where she feels like, if other people aren't as committed as me, then I'm not appreciated. And I in the end, Steven, with all due respect to harv megdalo Is on her show, it's women's basketball and tuicson Arizona, okay, and and and it's just not it's it's gonna always be in the shadow of everything else.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but let me tell you something. Yes, but it's it's elevated itself to unbelievable. She's bride sheet and she's the master, and he did it. She's the Can it continue? I think, so they can win whoever's coaching. This is a little soap opera.
Right it is.
She look, she raised an expectation here, so she's kind of you know, the problem is because of her own success, she's raised an expectation and then since the final four season, has not been able to meet that expectation. So I can see where she thinks she's not appreciated. But I really wish she would step back and take a look at it. You know, look around the arena at the games where there's still seven thousand people coming to those games, and they steve they weren't that good this year.
And I don't think it's talking about the fans.
Look, last year we had her on the show, right, and last year about this time, and she was talking about nil and making one hundred and fifty whatever it was, making one hundred and fifty to compete and we're looking at each other. Man, she's telling us the truth and it's very enlightening, right, and then the nil stuff and all that. Then the two hundred thousand, what are the money that's going to be not equal?
Right, They're going to get a small percentage. So so we get that, we get that.
I just think that she doesn't think she's appreciated the college calling called me from inside the building.
You know what I'm saying, Not the fans. The fans adore the hell. But it's other.
Quests again, and it's probably just from a the standpoint of, you know, how hard it might be to work with her because Oka, because of her her high standards, right, her high standards and her demanding ways that have made her a success, right and and and I could see that, And look, I don't I don't know anymore that everybody knows. My son works in the antheletic department. He doesn't work with her anymore. He doesn't tell me things you know
about about her anymore. No, but you're saying, but I think the reputation that we the things that we do hear from others, you know in the department that we talked to, including members of the media who cover her, is that she's driven.
Yeah.
And and if you're not going to drive in the same direction she's going to drive, she's really got no use for you. And so you can see where she might feel like, yeah, you know, maybe my time, my courses run here, and I'm gonna go to a place where somebody's got the same.
Approach that I do and no harm, no foul.
I mean, you know what if she goes to the SEC and she gets a million and a half dollars a year contract and there's all this, there's nil money to go around, and she can you know, she can operate at a level that she feels like she wants to operate.
So what that she went to the UVA. She came here and did a great thing.
She said, the place she's like the Nathan was talking about their coach and and jed doing what he did here.
Second, Larry Smith went to USC People were pissed and hurt and and and stuff.
But who the hell wouldn't have taken that job if it was put out there.
In front such same thing for yeah, for a DA two she makes a ton of money. They can't afford that. They can't They're not not for women's basketball unfortunately. And that's another issue, you know, you know again and getting back to what we're going to talk about it. You know, at the festival books on on on on Sunday, and Howard Megdal addressed that in his book, this chasm he called it between.
You know, men's sports and women's sports.
You know, this book was focused on the University on Minnesota, right and the University of Minnesota, and it would point out how the women's program was one of the top programs in the country year and year out, all right, final fours, all that kind of stuff, and the men's program was just kind of a middle of the road Big ten program. Yes, they got to a Final four in ninety seven, the year Arizona went.
And then the member of the coach it was, it was the American Cleim Haskins.
You know, got caught doing some stuff right, Yet you know, a middle of the road kind of coach was making millions more or several hundred thousand dollars more, you know, than the women's basketball. The women's basketball coach is making one hundred fifty thousan dollars a year. So just to talk about the chasm everywhere between men's and women's sports, and it's there whether you whether you agree with it or not, where you like it or not, that's the
reality of it. And it seems like Ada thinks that women's basketball needs to be.
Pushed up here a little bit more.
In the end, women's basketball is women's basketball. It's great that they get seven thousand, you know, fans a game and all this, you know, attention and what she did and getting to the final four. But you know, if it were to go back to be a program and they got two thousand fans a game, I just don't think this community would be up in arms about it.
And I do think, I do think though that what she's done if she leaves, is that this fan base will embrace a new coach because they've void having this pro sure.
And they've enjoyed winning. I think if they find the coach that makes them win. She's still here, we can't say because she's not. We'll see what happens. I think the next couple of weeks we'll find out. I mean, I mean, Kaylin Lowe, Right, she's doing just fine. They're still filling up Hill and Brand. You know, you know what, the program is good. They're winning.
Winning solves a lot of pas, right, keep winning.
But she had she had a couple of struggles there, a couple of yeah, no, no, we didn't go to the tournament that one year. But yeah, they were still filling up the dang the dang stadium and they still are.
How do we look?
Yeah, we got to like, Okay, what do you think. I don't know what that injury. I'll say, Texas sec.
I think Arizona wins. Now, Okay, cool, but that's me. Yeah, you take the advice of everybody, but but I'm glad with that. I'm good with that. Henry, thanks a bunch yep