This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services and Sure Your Most Prized Possessions kt z R two sad in iHeartRadio Station Yet figure.
Enough tonoon, everybody, Welcome to Eye on the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera partner Jagan Zalez with Bee and Henry today Wednesday. You know why we didn't know anything about football history because there's no practice, there's no Yeah, they're back on the field today or they were, yep, back at.
It, yep. Yeah. It was just reading some of the notes from from some of the guys who you know, are out there on our behalf right taking care of us, making sure that they keep us informed us to what's.
Going on right anything that you tam.
Mac was back on the field, not not fully still not doing like seven on seven drills or any of that stuff, but he was out there doing more than what he was doing before, you know, not just went out on the which is thrills and stuff like that, which is always good.
So okay, good, good for him, good for them. Uh So we'll see what happens it's kind of like right now we're in like the not dog days of the summer, but uh we're.
Headed out of the dog getting kind of doggy.
Yeah. Well, the thing is, it's it's it's getting a little bit better. You know. July is kind of a doggie where we don't know, it's muggy and awful, right, and there's nothing going on. But now the guys are back and then other sports are back too. I'm sure volleyball. Uh yeah, they're all practicing soccer. Soccer opens like we're gonna have next week. We're Gonnabody's Friday.
We think we're waiting here. We're gonna get the coach Tomorrow's on Friday.
Mm hmm Okay, today, what do we have today?
We've got a u fu Well, we got to we got to talking about Texas Tech yesterday, right and the hit the history like you know, a long time ago. So I got that. You know what, it's time to get another another PAC twelve media member on. So we're gonna have Nathan I think it's geys is how you pronounced his name. But he's the beat writer for the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. He covers Texas Tech he's a young guy. So he said, I can't speak to the whack days, but.
Yeah, they're not hiring anybody anymore.
But so he will. He will be here to talk about Texas Tech and what he sees this year. And so we'll get a little bit of information from him about about you know, what we can expect from from those guys. So we'll have a conversation about Texas Tech coming up and then at uh and so he'll be at about three fifteen, and then at four fifteen we're to have doctor Kevin Lehman, our friend Arthur. He's an author, he's a psychologist. You know, he'll get in and pick our brains a little bit.
Yeah, so you weren't here last week before the psychologists of the team psychologist, right, And I loved that stuff because it gets into things that we don't know anything about. Right, So I said, why not bring him back? Because who's my guest stone was Lamont because Lehman was that guy for them back in the day. Yes, so he mentioned,
you know the things he did. I'm gonna want to ask him what was the thinking back then in the processes he went through and to now if it still applies or is it the new right?
The new stuff is the new issues that that athletes are facing.
And how would he handle it today? You know, not to not to criticize, but you know, no, maybe maybe it's the same, maybe it's different.
Maybe yeah, maybe it is Yeah, maybe it is different. But uh, you know, look, certainly the attention to mental health and all those issues is elevated because of you know, various things that have happened, uh well you know players, you know, committing suicide and you know or you know, leaving you know, an Olympic competition like Simon Files or something like that, because of the mental health issues.
And back in my day, your day, and probably way before me and you what was the solution. Put a little dirt on.
It, little dirt on it and get up and get back out of the field.
Yeah, and that was the solution, right, It wasn't you know, what can I do for you? When he thought what can I do for you? It's more of, you know, get out there, get out there and put thee up and play and go play, right, Yeah, And then that's not so much the case anymore, well at least publicly it's not. No, because you know, well there's still a lot of people who think that way. Those and they wonder, you know, they say, you're a college athlete, what do
you have to worry about? You know, you get out there and there's people like that who still still believe that. And you know, I mean the one that that will always stick in my mind would be, you know that Washington State quarterback that you know played here at Arizona and against Arizona, played a tough game, lost, and then a couple of weeks later he had committed suicide. I can't remember. I don't can't remember that.
Oh god, his brother was his brother had been the quarterback in Washington State before. I can't think of his name. But you know, and you think, okay, what what was so tough in his life that led him.
To Yeah, no, do that. I've said this, I've said this with the miss Kraska. Is that righta Kraska? Uh? And I said the number one thing that I've learned throughout these years is a depression is huge at the college level, not just academically. And then when you're an athlete, if you're a very good one, there's some pressure to perform, and now that you're getting paid a lot of money, right, it's even more pressure, you know, self inflicted or self self opposed.
Okay, no doubt. I mean, you know, there's there's there's things where you know, uh, certain individuals maybe just they're not built to handle, you know, certain things, and and they get.
Into these issues.
But it's just more it's I don't want to say prevalent, because it's probably been out there, it's just more visible.
Well, these days, what do they say about all the stuff we see with with police getting police, getting fights with with people, people getting fights with police, more things happening socially. Well, they didn't have phones back in the day, right, you know Now they have phones everywhere, so we see it more.
Often, Yes, we do, we do. So, you know, I think it's I think it's it's telling that that this stuff happened. So, you know, someone like Kevin Lehman is good, just put some perspective on it.
For us.
We're not smart enough to figure you know, a lot of this stuff out, and some people nobody's smart enough to figure certain things out. But they're happening out there, and you know, and and and what we're dealing with here is that you've got you've got a whole group of athletes, five hundred what five hundred plus athletes are going to suddenly find themselves not going to familiar places? Right,
what does that do? Uh for them? You know, all of a sudden instead of going to going to LA and going to San Francisco, places that you're very familiar with, now you're going to Point you know. Now you're going to Waco, You're going to Lubbock, You're going to still Water, you know, all these places. It's like there's got to be some stress to that. And then you know the
length of the travel as well. So yeah, and not that I mean the length of the travel, but also what that means in terms of how you keep up with all the stuff that you're responsible for.
Sure, sure, But the thing I think we talked about this last week too, was that what's the one's the last time you saw or read about a student not being academically eligible been a long time actively ineligible? And right, because they have everything made, they everything.
All the support that they get now is way beyond what they you know, what they used to get, right, And yeah, it's it's it's certainly different.
So it's a good thing. And and you know, still a tough thing. Yeah, yeah, okay, so we'll get to that on the second hour. I'm looking forward to the Texas Tech thing. When do they do they play them? When when are they play They're.
They're the first pack Big twelve home game. Okay, so they're they're after after Utah. Okay, So we'll probably talk to him again later on as we get closer.
But and that was another reason.
I you know, I looked at this guy and I thought, okay, let's talk about you know, Arizona's first Big twelve home games against against Texas tex.
So I'm still curious too, Like I said yesterday to you guys, you and who do we have Brett Farrell? Uh, they're getting into the Big twelve, and to me it sounds more footballer, you know, and table rather than a Pac twelve because it's more fanatics mean it but but sec but but but you know what the Big ten, Big twelve people think about the guys coming in right? Soft? Not soft?
What's the reputation right?
Because if you were and I can't ask some messing the wrong guy, what's Arizona's reputation soft?
Yeah, I would agree, Arizona's reputation is a team that never really was regularly competitive in the in the in the Pac twelve, never won a championship.
So so here's Mike cool. With that said, I'm thinking, so, what makes you think you guys gonna just come on here and do really well?
Well, here's something I was thinking about today because and I want to get to that something that I've been doing over here that I want to get to a discussion of later the College Football Playoff. But Arizona, we all sit here think they're on the verge of having one of the best seasons possibly they've ever had. Right, that's what we think because we saw this last.
Year, and you've thought this every timement, I'm sure.
Again, but we saw this in the expectation is like the expectation after the other ten one season, there's another one, another one coming up. So there's a lot of people here in town who think Arizona's gonna be really good and gonna compete in the in the in the in the in the Big twelve. But what, you know, what they don't know Arizona, Right, Arizona. I feel like, who's
the fans outside outside of here? Outside of here? Uh you know, or that's outside of the PAC twelve footprint for you know, those matter like Utah probably you know their fans when I think, okay, the A Zone is going to be prett good because they beat the hell out of its last year Colorado probably you know things you know similarly, and then and then a su obviously right so, but the other twelve teams in the league,
they're going, who the hell is Arizona? And then additionally, I think a lot of the national media isn't really thinking of they think, you know, they see Fafiita and mcmeillan, and they're gay, and they're getting guys on the list. But as a whole, Arizona's kind of flying under the radar and all of this, which is right where it wants to be, it always has and where it wants
to be, you know. And and again eating to this thing that I'm working that I'm working on and I've just finished it for a discussion that I want to have with you later is that you know, people are talking about you know, who you know, the four you know, the four uh uh higher seeds for the college football tournament, who college football playoffs? Who might they be? And then you know, talking about the other the other teams and how the SEC and the Big ten is going to
dominate the you know, the the bracket. Uh, and then talking about dark horses. You know, Arizona's not even be mentioned as dark as a dark horse in all of this. You know, you're talking about Oklahoma State, you know, because Oklahoma State has a bit of a profile right with with you know, how they've done last few years. You know, they're talking about you know, oh miss and and uh. You know obviously no, you know, Notre Dame's not under the radar kind of team, but you know, they're not
a top four team. So there's not much conversation about is Arizona really good? Nobody's really talking about plays into Arizona's.
That's exactly where they like to be because before when they didn't do so well, guess what they were doing, they were talking about Arizona, right and they didn't sit it didn't to go well, right, right? No, I think Arizona has always been better when they when they don't talk.
About Yeah, when there's not when there's no expectations, right, and.
There's some here, it's they're lingering that bubbling over.
No, there's a lot here. Steve the thing is inherent Tucson.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, but not not out there, not out there, which fine. I mean, you can believe the press clippings. The funny thing about it is, uh, and you read the day to day I don't read it as much as I used to. People believe the stories as they should because they're truthful. But there is a lot of positive going on right right, So Joe Blow, Joe Blow. Sister Sally is reading these and thinking, oh, this team is going to be pretty good. What I read,
they're pretty good. What I read, they're pretty good. It reminds me of the summer that Marcus Williams played in the Summer League with Corey and on them, right, and he scored like fifty one points, but it didn't tell you is scored a good you and me? Right, and and he says, well, I hope he does that during the regular season. He's not going to be playing against you and me.
Exactly, you know.
So they're thinking, oh, he's going to be great this year. Well not necessarily necessarily, right, But you're reading positive stuff, right, so what do you what? What? What else can you expect positive stuff until until until it's not until it's until they go up against Texas Tech and realize.
These guys are pretty good, right, right, because because look like you know, no matter no matter how good you think Arizona's going to be, when Texas Tech comes to town, they're coming. They're coming to town to be Arizona to win because they think they can.
Yeah and have right and normally, I mean, come on, we went to this is going back. We've been here a long time. In eighty nine, eighty eight, when we went to Texas Tech, I didn't think they'd lose their No, I didn't think. If you remember, everyone was pretty good at that time, right and got their.
Ass hattitude, they got it bad.
And you're thinking, how did this happen? Yeah, yeah, because I remember everyone was pretty good back then.
They were and they and they still had a good season that season. They they they went to the they went to the Copper Bowl. We went seven and four gun into the Copper Bowl. Won that. So that was an eight wins, an eight wins team that got his ass handed to them at Texas Tech. Right, And you think and beat Oklahoma, beat Oklahoma and this is a win.
The next week, this is a win, You're thinking, Okay, what we do here, this will win, this is win this What the hell do we know? We know some things, yeah, some things with not all things.
And actually sometimes not much right right?
Okay, so we got about a minute left to.
Who I'm I'm you know, I'm looking forward to this conversation with because someone asked this, you know this writer. What do you guys know about a Yeah, right, I mean you have me certain probably haven't been paying attention to them up until now.
I'm curious. Does he do basketball too?
Yes?
So so then we'll talk about a.
Little bout and he's the beat writer for football and basket Okay.
Cool.
For for the love of Cavalanch.
You'll never have a day off until March.
Yeah, gotay? How heart is that?
Steve?
Very okay?
Just take to break, all right, let's go ahead, take our break. When to come back, Nathan, I believe it's geys from the Lubbo Ca Avalanche Journal will be talking about the Texas Tech Redreators both football and basketball. Just again, we're working our way around the Big Twelve talking to me and India members and you know, kind of their perspective on this, on this new new league that's getting started here in a couple of weeks, Lets stick around.
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Steve Rivera and Jagen Salez. They have their eye on the ball on Tucson's sports stage yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming.
Live on the IHID Radio Lapp, Hey, welcome back to Win in the Ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. He's Jackensauce. Down the phone. We have Nathan Geese from the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. Nathan Hill, are you I'm well?
How are you fell?
We're doing well. I saw that to Jay check you down. Are you as excited as we are to join the PAC ten, the PAC twelve? Down in the Big twelve. I'm sure we're excited.
It's an exciting time. I mean, I like the newness of college sports. I know a lot of people don't, but I like the idea of new rivalries for him and new opponents popping up. Arizona's especially one of them.
Yep. So you know I mentioned to you that we were talking about Texas Tech. We're talking like some old days. Okay, we're talking like fifty years ago kind of stuff. So we're we're not going to go into that, but you know this, it is an old rivalry they've played. I'm looking at the record twenty seven games. Texas Tech has won twenty five of those. Most of those were back in the you know, seventies and before. But they did
play back in twenty nineteen. I think they were supposed to play again in twenty The return game was in twenty twenty that got canceled because of COVID. But here's here's our question. This is kind of who we're asking everybody that we're talking to in the Big Twelve, from around the Big Twelve, what is, for lack of a bedword, image not only of Arizona but of the Pac twelve
teams that are coming into the league. What do folks around the Big twelve know or think about these teams that are joining the league.
I think that kind of depends on which schools we're talking about, because I think for Utah, I think they're the one that everybody kind of looks at. Is that's kind of like the big get for football, and it very much differs from sport to sport. Arizona's obviously the big one for basketball, and coming in here you get the Dionne Sanders effect in Colorado. But for football wise, Arizona's especially up there this year because of what they accomplished last year. And I don't think you guys will
hate this too much. With Arizona State, it's kind of the oh, okay, they're here now. So they don't have the best image right now. I mean, obviously they've had success in the past. It's they're kind of on hard times for a few different sports. But overall, it's kind of a good mix of we like this, we like where this can kind of go in the future.
Yeah. Yeah, So I understand you do football and basketball, right.
Yep, Yeah, I do football, basketball, and then kind of hitting on some of the other sports we got going on around here.
Good. Look, you're not going to have a day off until June.
But I am well aware of that. My month of July was dead and I was very much okay with it.
Yeah, no, I get that. I get that. So, so, how good is Texas Tech going to be? Because you know, they're kind of kind of unknown.
I feel like they're sort of an Arizona you know what Arizona's been in the PAC twelve sort of a kind of a middle of the road program. Uh, you know, has some has had some good years, yeah, but has had more so so years than really good years. I know you had the Cliff Kingsbury period and the Pat Patrick mahomes and all that kind of stuff, But where does Texas Tech sit in the Big twelve do you think right now?
Uh?
Yeah, Like you said, they're kind of that middle of the road team. Nobody's really kind of sure. But I think the big thing to kind of know is that it took them a lot just to get to the middle of the road because they were not a middle of the road team. Even a couple of years ago. They were three four win teams, not even kind of sniffing a Bowl games. There just wasn't a lot of hope. But now they made three straight bowl games, they won them all. They haven't done that since the Mike leegera,
So there is momentum kind of moving forward. But for this year specifically, it's kind of an unknown because last year was supposed to be the year. Everybody thought that, oh, this is the year they take the lead. They were picked forth in the preseason Big twelve pole. It just didn't work out for them, And now this year there's a decent amount of returning talent, but there are a lot of places where they have good talent On the roster.
We know what guys have done at previous stops, guys like Josh Kelly at Washington State, Haleb Douglas in Florida, the Braill and Carroll defensive line, and coming over from Rice. It's just kind of how those new pieces are going to sit in with the returning pieces here and how it's all going to kind of come out at the end.
Yeah. So what were they picked to finish this year? Yeah? Yeah, what were they in the media poll? I guess we should have looked that up.
I believe it was eight eighth or nights. That was kind of where most everybody had them. The coaches kind of followed suit.
There is that where you put them.
I had them eighth or nine. I think, yeah, that sounds about right, But I could easily see that jumping up majorly just because of how the schedule unfolds.
So I came from Dallas many moons ago, probably way before you were born too. But where is the and I wouldn't know where this is anymore, but in Texas? In Texas per se, where does Texas Tech land among the Texas schools? Because I'm sure it's like eight or ninth too.
In terms of hierarchy like all the Texas school Yeah, yeah.
You got Texas at number one, and you know where the recruits decide to go.
Texas oust the number one. I think A and M is probably two in that regard, and then it's just kind of a mix of Baylor, TC and Tech. I think they're all kind of in that three, four or five spot jogging there, and then SMBU is trying to kind of make that jump up with the move to the ACC.
So that's pretty good. Five is not bad in those big, big time schools.
Yeah, and they obviously want to be number one, but you know, you're you're dealing with the juggernaut of the Longhorns, and even if they're not the best, they they'll tell everybody they're the best. So that's just kind of kind of how it goes. But that's kind of what they're trying to do. And what a lot of teams, especially in the new Big twelve, we're trying to do is take up that mantle of no, we're the giant, now
we're the one, kind of taking over. And I don't think anybody's ever gonna wes Texas is because they have so much history. Maybe not in the last twenty years, but before that they built up so much equity, so everybody's just kind of trying to leap for each other now based on where everything is unfolding right now?
Is there is there a sense of excitement though that? Because look, even Texas Tech picked to finish eighth. Is there any kind of sense of excitement that this league is wide open? Right? You know, you win a game here, you win a game, maybe you're unexpected to win all of a sudden, you might be in the middle of something. Is that how, because that's how we're seeing it here. Look, and Arizona, Arizona football has a history where it's just rarely been somebody who's spoken of is going into a
seat and saying, okay, watch out for Arizona. Arizona isn't rarely that team, but they've had, you know, some good seasons and you know, finished near the top a few times. But it seemed from where we're sitting, we're seeing we're seeing that, Okay, Arizona doesn't have to deal with UCLA or Washington anymore, going to a league where nobody really scares Arizona. But we also know that Arizona just isnt going to walk in there and started beating all these teams.
You've still got a bunch of good teams, but it's more wide open, are you guys see it that way? And you've got four more teams that are just coming to get in the middle of it.
I think so. Yeah.
I was just talking to one of the Colorado guys up there last week about this very thing. Is that once you kind of get past the first four teams, even just kind of looking at the preseason poll of Boklahoma State, Utah, Arizona, Kansas, Kansas State, that kind of mixed. After that, it's a lot of teams kind of on a similar plane where even if you don't think right now they're in that top five, they can easily shoot
up there for it. I'm the perfect example of this is when Tech and Arizona played each other in Tucson in October. If Tech is not five and zero at that point, something went wrong, because that's just house. This schedule kind of unfolded here for them and they should be battling for a bowl game before Halloween, which is a very different thing than what they've done the last few years. They've had to kind of go to the
end of the season for that. So there is kind of that if you and if you find that momentum early, you can get a couple of those games. Maybe Tech goes into Tucson and beat Arizona. They can nip Iowa stayed Oklahoma State. Right, You just never know what can kind of happen if you get things going in your direction early.
That's funny. You said five and zero and Arizona if they're not three and two or better, somebody went wrong because Arizona, Yeah, because there could be two and two for sure.
Well, yeah, well they'll have four games because they have a bet, they have a bye week before, so the best say they've got four games, and so you know, Arizona's got to play Kansas State, which is weird in a non conference game because that was already scheduled, and then they go to Utah and that's before before Texas Tech comes here. So you know, most of us, anybody, any reasonable people, Steve Steve accuses me of never been reasonable on Arizona stuff like this, but you know, you should.
You should expect Arizona to be two and two. You don't expect them to go beat win at Kansas State and win at Utah in those first couple of games, But after that the road get You know, Arizona's got a schedule that seems very manageable, but it starts with Texas Tech. If Texas Tech is coming over here and they're five and zero, right and they've got their sight set on some stuff, all of a sudden, that's a very different game then from what it looks like.
Today, right, A lot of it because that's kind of what happened in Tech last year. They had all these high expectations and they went they went up to Wyoming, lost in double overtime, and that was just kind of a backbreaker for it. Yeah, then they hosted over again, lost that one. Two close losses, but if those go in a different direction, you have no idea what the rest of that season is going to kind of do.
But since they lost them, it was kind of the well, here we go, we're not going to be as good as we thought we were. And then injuries kind of played into that too. So if they can turn that around, which they're not good at starting season strong, this is very much a chance for them to do that.
What what kind of what kind of team do we expect to see here, you know, because those of us who you know, however casually we watched, you know, the other leagues and stuff like that. When we think of Texas Tech from Tucson, Arizona, we do think of you know, Patrick Mahomes and and and and the air raid offense and all that kind of stuff. What are they today?
See that's kind of a Loavely question too, a little bit, just because last year they were They went into the season wanting to be that spread it around offense and throwing it up and down the field, but quarterback and Reis forced them. They just had to keep feeding Todge Brooks the ball. And he's a very good running back. He had a very good season for him, All American, All Conference kind of guys. So it worked worked out in that sense, but it wasn't the offense they wanted
to run. So this year what they have to hope for Baron Morton to stay healthy because if they don't, there's a lot of inexperience behind him. And if he can stay healthy, you're gonna be a much better mix
of that. I know they've already established that they want to get Todge Brooks the all time career rushing record, which is about eleven hundred twelve hundred yards and you can still do that and still be a kind of a pass oriented team, which was the receiving options you got out there with Josh Kelly, Caleb Douglas, Koikin was Morton's favorite target down the stretch of the season, and the five star recruit Mikeah Hudson. He's going to be
involved early and often the season. There's a lot of different weapons that you're not just going to ask him to bill block for Todge Brooks all the time.
Yeah, well, interesting stuff. Yeah, yeah. Well, and the history I'm talking about the history. There is a great history. Even I didn't know it was twenty five and two.
Yeah, so there's no billboards because it's fight five and two and one of them was Kevin Soman beat him in twenty nineteen. I was just looking it up when they last played and it was it was it was shortly after that that they went on the lone started the long losing streak that that that went got twenty games. It was ugly, but anyways, and then there was the one that we were talking about yesterday, the nineteen seventy five game when Arizona came back and won.
But you know, it's it seemed, you know, we sit here.
The Pac twelve to us right always been a pass happy call it a finesse league if you want. You know, maybe outside of or outside of Washington and USC teams were really never physical the Big Twelve as a whole. What what is it in that regard? Would you say?
I think it's a decent mix. You've got a couple of teams that are pretty physical. Kansas State is the most physical. I think that the Iowa State of the returning groupe returning programs coming into the Big Twelve this year. And then you tell, we know what their reputation is. You guys have seen it. They're just kind of a
smashball style. But then kind of down the line, you get a little bit more finesse offenses as you kind of go down what the defenses are trying to kind of keep pace, which is what the big knock against the Big Twelve was forever was every game is fifty five to fifty two and no one can stop anybody. It's really come back down to earth as defenses have gotten better, as better players and better talent have come into the conference.
That's so we only have a couple of minutes. Now, let's talk real quick about basketball, because we'll probably get ahold of you when this season gets closer or the games comes closer. You talked about Arizona coming into the league basketball wise, I can't wait. It's just going to be a fantastic league. Texas Tech is better. I know they lost their coach, Beard, who was a fast, tested coach, as you know, but what's the excitement about basketball?
It's high. I can't say that it was the case necessarily this time last year because there was so much unknown with how Mark Adams left and Graham mccastlem coming in. Everybody thought, you know, this guy can coach, but can it kind of translate to everything. And the thing that impressed me the most is they had injuries themselves too, and the way they were able to adjust to those injuries throughout the year was probably the most impressive thing about the team. And so this year you got Darien
Williams coming back. He just he became a monster down the stretch last year, and adding him with New Mexico transfer JT. Toppins, that's a really good one to two punch at the three. And four positions. He got some really great shooters surrounding him. And it's kind of like with football, I'm not really sure which direction it's going
to go. I know Campus and Houston in Arizona are probably going to be the top three in some order pre season wise, but kind of like last year, it's an open field and anybody can go take it.
Yeah, and like Steve said, it's just going to be fun and a lot of us here can't wait. But you know, we have football to deal with too, So that's.
So maybe lastly, before we go away, you've been on the road to most of the Big twelve venues or no, a.
Decent amount of them. Last year was my first year traveling. They usually try to keep me within driving distance of places, so I haven't been to too many spots. I didn't get to go to Iowa State or UC but I've been too few spots.
Yeah, what two fans expect on those roads? Then for the Pac twelve.
For road destinations this year or when they come.
To Techna, you know, when they come any of any of the venues, I mean, what can we expect to see over there, because look, you've probably seen some of those UCLA games where there's you know, twenty five thousand people in an eighty thousand seat stadium Stanford. You know some of those places, there aren't any of those, are there?
Not really No uh basketball, the different story obviously, there's a these spots. Oklahoma State was a depressing visit back last year. But for football wise, as long as the team is pretty relevant in the conversation, their fans are going to kind of show up. They're going to get pretty rowdy there. And I know for Texas Tech, they got a brand new, uh South End zone product. They're way Twin Dale is going to create this pretty cool
backdrop for the venue that hasn't been there before. It's gonna be interesting for the new teams that kind of come in, but the new teams have their own traditions to the Big twelve is gonna have to deal with.
Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be fun. Thanks a bunch, Hey, Nathan, We do appreciate it.
We are gonna want to talk to you again at some point, uh you know, the week probably the week probably the week that that they the Texas Tech comes here and to see how things are going at that time.
So you're going to be making that trip. That's drivable. Good look.
For me, any for me, anything is drivable.
But you know it's the paper.
Hey, we're still figuring that out.
But if you mean anything else on the Texas guys, we.
Used to be newspaper guys were no longer. We know the money situation.
Exactly, exactly exactly, all.
Right, thanks so much, Nathan, appreciate it.
Thank you.
Nathan Geese from the Love of CA Avalanche Journal. Another young guy out there on the beat. Right, if they're over thirty again, we could be all their fathers. Cow all right, let's let's take our break. We're gonna come back. We'd love to take your calls. Five TUESDAYO four one six, seventy four to forty. I'd love to hear if anybody was at that seventy five I know we're talking old guys, right,
seventy five Texas Tech Arizona game. Arizona was getting killed at halftime and came back from like I think it was twenty eight to three to win the game.
That's fifty four to fifty fifty years ago, forty nine, So those guys had to be forty nine years ago. You're gonna have to be my fifty have to be seventy years. You remember that. Oh, plenty of those guys out there, plenty of guys listen to us.
Do they know how to use a phone? Yeah, I'm sorry, no question, said they how to dial a phone? All right? Give us a call. Five tiens zero four one, six, seventy four forty.
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Live Monny iHeartRadio WIP. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jacobzalez on Fox Sports fourteenth fifteen.
Hey, welcome back to tying the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty on Steve's Jay Kevin. Now we don't have Kevin. We have Henry. I knew that. I don't want to keep calling every cash hev So Henry in with us today every Wednesday. In fact, you're gonna put a sign right behind your head.
Hey, and uh see, we shouldn't need that.
No, but I don't remember much. You don't remember much.
We we shouldn't.
We shouldn't need that. Henry knows, he understands. He's been on us old men a few days or few now, Hey, good to talk to the guy.
Yeah, that's fine.
We'll continue to try to do that right, right with other people.
We're gonna get some more, you know, get some more uh, you know, beat writers and whatnot from from the various uh, from the various big twelve cities. Okay, so let me bring this up now because there's something that I was listening to uh today. Look, it's it's starting, right the college football playoff with the twelfteen bracket.
Uh.
This year really adding a lot to the conversation. You're gonna ad a lot of intrigue to to the to the season, right, A lot of should be a lot of suspense at the end of the year. You know, if you can get into the Big twelve or can get into your conference championship game and then win that game, you get a first round by and you're automatically in the in the College Football Playoff and you got a
first round by. So it was a conversation going on in one of the podcasts they listened to where they were talking about, Okay, let's apply the USA Today Coaches Poll ranking to the bracket, and what would the bracket look like if if that, if that were the final, if that were the final rankings. And the funny thing that came out of it was almost that you're better off.
You're almost better off not being the one, two or three seeds, right, and you presume that the SEC champ and the Big twe and the Big ten champ are going to be the one in two seeds, right, And if if you're looking at the bracket or you're looking at the pole at Georgia and Ohio State and you set up the bracket, and then if you're it's like, the best seed to be is number five. And it's
weird because here's the way it sets up. The four seed goes to the worst, the lowest ranked of the four power conference champions, right, okay, in this case, in the in the in the in the in the USA Today Coaches Ball, that's Utah. They're they're ranked. I can't believe.
I shut it down.
But Utah comes in ranked number thirteen. So now Utah's number thirteen. Well, Oregon, who's number three, would be in a first round game where if they win, they play Utah instead of you look at the other side of the bracket where I hope you can follow me on this. Let's say Georgia's Let's say Georgia's number one, they got to play the winner of Notre Dame Mississippi, as opposed to uh, you know where Oregon, if they were you know, higher rank, they get to play Utah, who's ranked lower
than Notre Dame in Mississippi. Here's even worse one. If you're the number two seedt Ohio State, you gotta play the winner of Alabama Michigan. So who's got a better bractet Oregon who only has to who would only have to beat Memphis and Utah to get to the semi finals, Or Ohio State who's got to beat either Alabama or Michigan or Georgia who's got to beat either Mississippi or Notre Dame. There's gonna be a lot of controversy behind that. There's gonna be a lot of discussion. What the hell
I know it means an extra game for Oregon? But an extra game against who? Against Memphis?
Where's the bulletin bulletin board material? If you want to be the best, you gotta beat the best.
Sure, And that's what they'll say, right, that's what I'll have to state, WI say. But wouldn't you rather be Oregon?
You want the easiest road to try, right?
Would you rather be Oregon where you get to play? You would get to play Memphis at home?
All right?
Okay, all right, and then you go play Utah on a neutral field to get to the semi finals. Whereas if you're Ohio State, you're only playing on the neutral field and you got to be either Alabama or Michigan to get there. It's it's it's you know that when as that starts to develop, people are gonna lose their minds over this.
Uh, Okay, we'll get there when we get there.
But I like it though, But I like having this conversation. This is this what's gonna make the season fun? Is the look? You know that every week somebody in a column or on Twitter or whatever is going to apply the AP ranking to your bracket and say, Okay, if this was the end of the season, it would look like this. And so that's what we're doing now with this. You know, we'll say what, how do you what it
comes out with with the A people. But you know, really, you got to know that somebody like an Oregon or whatever is licking their chops to saying, you know, if I'm the five seed now or Notre Dame, right, Notre Dame can't get a number one seed, a number one to four seed because they're not in a conference, so they could wind up as the five seed if they're the best of the rest of the teams and they can be in that spot.
Which of course you say is a good spot. I think it is. It makes sense to me. You know, it makes sense to me because they see that's how my mind works. I know you're you're trying to how can I get to the quick mark the fastest, any obstacles to get some ice cream?
Exactly. This whole thing is gonna be fascinating though, because again, maybe you finished in second place in the league, right, But you get into the into the championship game, you're playing for a spot in the in the guaranteed spot of the college football playoffs. You know, looking at this bracket again, there's only one ACC team, there's only one Big twelve team, and then there's the then there's the group of five teams. The other nine spots are going
to the Big ten in the SEC. So you're playing for a lot in the Big twelve unless they unless they have an eleven and one and a twelve and o team going into the going into the championship game. That's the only way you're going to get two teams, Yeah, two Big twelve teams in.
The playoffs right right, and then how many s SEC.
This would have one, two, three, four.
So the rich continue to get rich four SEG.
Teams, one, two, three, four Big ten teams, then Notre Dame and then a Big twelve and ACC and a group of five. That's what that's what the twelve, that's what they called the USA Today poll. That's how the bracket would play out, and number twelve LSU gets left out because you get a group you got to get a group of five team in there so and they'll you know, they'll bitch about that for sure. I like this, Steve. I want to have fun with this every week.
How about it. I hope I'm missing a few days. Two other days I'm not here here.
We got a call. You have to be here.
Hi, you're on the airline.
Ball my fellows a him.
What's up, Jim.
Well, I'm thinking I'm listening to you today and we're you know, trying to get excited and motivated and looking forward to the season, the football season first, obviously, And I want to go back to something I said to Steve about two or three years ago. I think it was three years ago. I said, uh, you know, this is going to come down to who can make and
break patents as to how things go. And they progressively got better, right up to the where Jonah Coleman was probably probably the MVP of the team at least the last half of the year, don't you think.
Yeah, No, I don't remember you saying talking about tackles. I do remember you talking about Joonah Coleman.
Uh.
I'm glad you didn't use the word grumpy when you mentioned my name, But no, I agree with you. And in fact, Jay, if it's going to be more rough and tumble rugged as we assume, I'm not sure that's gonna In fact, as Jim says, there was a gonna have to be that.
Well, I think what I think.
They've got a sort of like a pressure outlet on on the field all the time. And we all know what we all know what t MAC has done and what it will likely to do again. But I think the games are going to be won and lost here based on what we can do running the ball to control the ball and control the game. I think that this uh Collie Connery is going to have to break tackles as the line of scrimmage.
Yeah, well you know, man, Now he's built forty set up forties five ten to two o seven, so he's a big, sturdy kid. But I think that's what's going to make the final difference. Jay, as to whether you get to go to.
Your bowl game, Well, John, Jim, I think you you know you're right in a way because as much as we talked about last year and and the things that that the TAMAC and norfafeated and everybody else did with the passing game, the reason Arizona was good and the reason they won ten games was because the running game that they have. So you know, with Colt, you're completely right on that. You you have to have a running game.
Look again, otherwise, how many how well would Texas Tech have done in those years where they are, you know, throwing for five hundred yards every game they were in the mid road.
The bad news. The bad news is we've never seen either one of these guys. And there there are two prominent figures in the running back scheme. It's Speedy Luke and Collie Collie Conley from San Diego State. And the bad news is we've never seen them together on the field. We've never seen Speedy get the ball more in two or three times a half. The good news is Collie Conley ran for eight hundred and fifty yards last year, so he's capable. But I think that's going to be
your difference maker. Is off tackle at the edge up the middle? Can can these guys break a tackle? I'll hang up and let it go at that. But and of course I think t Ma is gonna, you know, be a difference maker right no matter what. He's the best wide receiver I've ever seen in college football.
Yeah, well, I like your analysis, Jim, I like your analysis. Good stuff, but I agree. I agree with him and that, well, look, you don't win. You don't win by being good on one side of the ball.
Of course, you just don't.
The twenty fourteen airs on the team, right, Okay, threw the ball over the field, all over the field. But they had a good running game. Nick Nick Wilson was good. And the other the other dude, uh uh.
Terence?
What was the name?
Oh god, no, don't know, don't remember.
He had a hyphenated last name.
Fourteen. I can't remember, fourteen. No cover for the fox of something brid God darn it. Who is the who's the other? Who's the other running back?
Kill him? See Steve Ding You know today at at lunch I told you about the you know it'll be in breaking news the Cowboys football player from the early seventies who passed away today to it. Well, we were reeling off names. We were we we basically named the whole Dallas Cowboys offensive and defensive starting units from that time, from that from that team, from that team back in nineteen seventy one, I think seventy one, seventy two times quarterback. No, no, no,
that would have been No. Roger Stobach seventy one.
He took over that early. I thought it was later in the year. It could be wrong anyway, but you know what I'm saying.
You know, Craig Morton, Bob Lily, mel Renfrow, we were running, we were reeling off all these names, and here's this Terrence Jones, Griggsby, that's the guy that I was trying. No, no, I got it. I pulled it out of it, kind of pulled it out of somewhere. But that twenty fourteen Arizona team had a good running game. Well that's why they were That's that's why they got as far as they got. But it wasn't elite to get them pasted Oregon in the championship.
Well, that's why coaches talked about you have to establish the run before you established you do.
No matter how good of a passing game you have, you have to be able to run the ball.
And it's exciting to watch the passing game, but you need the running game, you absolutely do.
And and so yeah, no, that's a that's a good point there. But again, by all counts, this running backs room is pretty loaded. We'll just see how good they are? Are they good enough to compete?
Are they?
The Big twelve? Are the Big twelve running backs?
Right?
Twelve goods? Okay, we gotta go.
All right, take our break. We when we come back.
Henry's here. He's gonna have some breaking news.