Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports podcast. And now, here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Happy Thursday, everyone. This is Ethan Westerman filling in today for Matt Jones. It's going to be a shorter show today, but we're going to have Anthony Christensen on to talk about Arkansas's basketball win yesterday at Ole Miss. But first, a word from Kendall King.
[00:00:17] Speaker C: Kendall King, we're proud of over four decades of design.
We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall king Soapbox and ShopCart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to spec.
Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shop Cart. We are design.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Welcome back in want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. Serving its community since 1971, Bentonville Glass is committed, professional and versatile. Looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas. Looking for skilled craftsmanship? Choose Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see him today at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at Bentonville glass.com joined now by Anthony Christensen, who was down there last night in Oxford for. You're still down there in Oxford, Actually, he's staying on the road to go to the game at Auburn on Saturday. But he was down there at the game last night for that late 9487 win for Arkansas down there at the pavilion. Anthony, I know we were kind of falling asleep here toward the end of it. It seemed like it was a pretty, you know, for SEC basketball with a ranked team in town, a pretty sleepy arena for most of the game, too. But man, it got interesting toward the end.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it did.
It was, it was a, it was a weird game. I don't, I don't know what to.
I guess there was a lot of different factors. Obviously down here in Oxford. Everybody's excited about the football game tonight and I think that kind of played a part as to why.
Why maybe it was a little bit sleepy for a lot of the time last night, but, but no, I mean, it's a, obviously anytime that you go on, you go on the road and league play and get a win, it's going to be an important result. And you know, even though it did get close there in the end, I never really felt like the result was really in danger for Arkansas, if that makes sense. Like, I mean, Ole Miss obviously went on a run. I think it was ole miss hit 8 of 10 shots to cut the lead down to 4 points. But even, even when that happened, I never really felt like, oh, wow, this game is now in jeopardy. It always kind of just felt like Arkansas was going to come out with the win. And maybe that's just because, you know, I'm sitting up there from, you know, a neutral point of view and I have no stake in it, but I, I never really got the sense that. That the game was in a ton of danger. I mean, obviously, give. Give Ole Miss credit. You know, that's a team that's struggled a decent amount this season and, you know, still kind of looking to find its way back to, you know, what it was last season, if, if it can get to that. But yeah, I mean, it's, it's an important result. Arkansas's 2. 0 in the NSCC play and yeah, got the chalk check, another arena off of. Off the list. So that's always fun.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: No, I was in the same boat as you were watching the game. Like Ole Miss was like, in theory, like it was a game again with it, four points. But I just never felt like Arkansas was going to lose personally. And I think that a lot of that has to deal with whenever you do have Darius a cuff on your side. It just felt like, you know, we've seen this before this year. I think to the Louisville game, even against Tennessee, it happened where if things get a little tight late and the ball is in his hands, good things just usually happen. And I mean, it seemed like, you know, of course, he was kind of the equalizer for Arkansas at the end. Just what did you see from him?
Not only those final, you know, three or four minutes or whatever, but, you know, his entire performance.
[00:03:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, he's the guy who, I mean, he does everything right. I mean, there's. There's only so much you can say about Darius Acuff that hasn't already been said.
I mean, he's going to be in the NBA next year, you know, barring something completely unforeseen and, you know, for good reason. Right. Like, he's. He's phenomenal. He can control the pace of play just pretty much as well as anybody. So, I mean, anything you want him to do, anything you need him to do, he's going to be able to go do it, you know, there at the end. You know, I thought he really kind of took over and slowed some things down, calm some things down. I mean, he scored, I think it was four of Arkansas's last five points to, you know, keep, keep that game.
I, I guess in Arkansas's hands and you know, he's obviously a huge reason why.
Me personally, I never felt like Arkansas's lead was in a ton of danger just because obviously he does what he does. 26 points, nine assists, if I'm not mistaken. And you know, he's, he's obviously always going to be the catalyst for the offense, but he was getting everybody involved and I think that got, that got the ball moving a lot. I mean, they finished with 19 assists, which was their most against a power conference team this season. And you know, really, I thought that was, that was really the key to the game was the ball movement, in my opinion.
[00:05:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I think there was like one moment in the game that I was waiting to see, like that I thought Ole Miss maybe could actually make it feel in jeopardy. It was whenever, you know, they got with an 89, 85 and then they got a steal with like I guess a minute 30 left and they have a three on one going the other way. And then Patton Pinkins just pulls up for like a three pointer whenever they probably could have gotten a layup to make it a two point game. And then, you know, he misses, he misses the three pointer, Nick Pringle gets the rebound and then on the other end, Darius Acuff gets to the line and that just that, that just the points. Yeah, it just felt to me like, you know, Ole Miss just they, you know, give them credit for, for coming back and they had, they kept that group of five on the floor whenever they made, you know, kind of the, the full hockey substitution.
And Chris Beard said, I'm, I'm rolling with these guys because they're giving me better minutes. But you know that. And you credit that group for coming back. But it just felt like it didn't matter who was on the floor for Ole Miss. They were not really having an answer for Arkansas on the other end defensively. I mean, I think this was an Ole Miss team. Correct me if I'm wrong. I think they entered this game only allowing like 60 low 60s, maybe two opponents. And that's kind of a crisp beard team, you know, that, that plays good defense. But Arkansas scored 94 on him and it felt like, you know, the, the foul line was a big, a big reason for that.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: Yeah, Arkansas, you know, obviously has always kind of had a lot of success getting to the free throw line.
But not to bring it back to Darius Auff again because I mean, obviously everybody talks about Darius Auff and for good reason, but you know, he was getting to the line and that's not something that he's done at a super high rate this season. It's not like he hasn't been getting to the line, but it's not like his free throw rate is, is all that high. But in, in the two SEC games, I believe his free throw rate is at, I think it's a 7.8 or his fouls drawn is at like 7.8 per 40, which is, I think that's a three and a half average difference from non conference play, which is, you know, if he's going to be getting to the free throw line, you know, as, as often as he has in the first two SEC games, you know, that, that just adds another dynamic. And I thought that was a big, a big part of the game. I think he went 11, 12 from the free throw line. And obviously Arkansas is, you know, a lot of the offense is built around getting to the basket, drawing contact and going to the line and getting those three points. And know that was a big factor in, in, in the game last night for, for sure. Yeah. And you know, and some of that came down to Ole Miss. We really ended up at different points of the game really packing the paint, I think with as many as four guys in the paint at one time to try to stop Arkansas from driving. And you know, obviously that, that led to some, some blocks, some steals, some turnovers, some missed shots at different times. But other times it led to fouls and free points for Arkansas. So it was, yeah, free throws were big. I think, is that, you know, I.
[00:08:03] Speaker B: Think Chris Beard brought it up in his post game. I was, let me tell you, this was all going down at like 11pm by the time like post game was even starting.
So I, I may have been too sleepy to even hear him correctly all the way. But it's. He said something along the lines of he thought that Arkansas, you know, they only played eight deep. But that's not, you know, abnormal for Arkansas. But you know, his team went, what was it, 12 deep.
But he said what he thought was important is that Arkansas went eight deep in that they didn't get any D or F performances really from anybody. And you know, I think that's been the thing for Arkansas that fans are waiting for is just to see like, you know, not just having one or two guys play well, but, you know, getting five or six.
Just from your perspective, what did you think? As far as, you know, maybe that analysis from Chris Beard of Arkansas didn't have any, you know, poor performances from anybody in the rotation and Maybe. Who are some guys in there that you thought maybe need to get a little bit more credit for what happened last night?
[00:09:01] Speaker A: Yeah, no, I, I think it was a, a good and fair point to make. You know, I, I, I think Arkansas had five players hit double figures, and then I think it was four players with five or more rebounds. I could be wrong. I don't have the, the stats right in front of me, but, you know, it was a really well rounded performance, I thought, I think, you know, Billy Richmond had, you know, 13 points and was 5 of 5 from the field and 2 of 2 from the free throw line. Didn't miss a shot with six rebounds and an assist.
So I thought he was, I thought he was outstanding. And obviously Darius Aovs gets, gets the plot. It's, you know, I thought DJ Wagner had some good moments. You know, he had the big end one there in the SEC in the second half and also had four assists. I thought he had some good defensive contributions as well.
You know, there, there was a lot to, there was a lot to like. Carter Knox had good moments.
You know, you could, you could point to everybody on the floor and say, you know, he did this well at this time or he did this well at that time.
And I, yeah, I, I don't think I would disagree with Chris Beards. You, you know, his, his opinion of Arkansas's game at all, you know, and Trevin Brazil, I don't think anybody's really talked about his performance. I think finished with 18 points, was five, seven from the field. Five, six from the field, something like that. Yeah.
[00:10:16] Speaker B: Five, six, four or five from three.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: Yeah.
So, you know, and, and you know, when Chris Beard was talking about him, it was like, yeah, we kind of had to, you know, sag off him from three. It wasn't a disrespectful thing. It's just like you can only do so much against this Arkansas offense.
I don't know if you heard that big truck just rev its engine, but I did not. All right, how about that? But no, it, like, like, I mean, this Arkansas offense, I believe, is rated number 12 in the country on Ken Palm right now. And I think you can see that just about every time they go out and play a game, you know, especially in recent games. So it's, it's, you know, it's fun to watch, it's hard to guard for, for the opposing teams. And yeah, I think, you know, yeah, like, like Chris Beard said, I don't think you can really look at anybody and say, yeah, they played a poor game. I think everybody contributed in, in a lot of different ways.
[00:11:11] Speaker B: I've actually never been to Ole Miss's arena. I know you said it was for you. Checking one off the list. What is the, what was the experience like down there? I mean, it seemed from the broadcast like whenever Arkansas did something, well, there were some cheers in there, so I'm assuming there were some Arkansas fans who made the trip. But, you know, I, I'm just curious, like, what was the atmosphere in there?
[00:11:30] Speaker A: It was a little weird, right? Like, it was, it's, it's a small arena, but it doesn't really feel small. Like, I think the capacity is 9,500, but it looks bigger than that. But. And at the same time, obviously it wasn't, it wasn't, you know, near capacity. I think a lot of people obviously are, you know, looking more forward to the football game tonight. Like I mentioned earlier and you know, at times it seemed like it was a neutral, neutral site crowd. But you know, at the end when Ole Miss kind of made it a game, I, I, you could definitely, you know, hear the, the Ole Miss majority as you, as you probably should just. Because obviously it's a home game and you know, there were more Ole Miss fans there. But you know, it wasn't really until the end that they really had a lot to cheer about. And at the end they, they made their voices heard and you know, it was, it was a weird, it was a kind of a weird, weird road environment. You know, I, it was kind of a. Yeah, I don't.
A strange, A strange game day atmosphere. I'd love to come back down here. Oxford's a great little town. I've really enjoyed being here. I would love to come back for a game where, you know, Ole Miss is, I guess, meeting expectations because obviously that team is, has kind of underperformed to, you know, what you would expect a Chris Beard team to be so far this season and not have a College Football Playoff semifinal the next day.
[00:12:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:51] Speaker A: So I'd love to see, you know, the pavilion at, at its best because I think you could, I, you could tell that it, it, it can get loud in there. So I'd, I'd love to come back and experience a true game day environment there when there's not all these different, weird factors going into it. So. But yeah, it's, you know, a great town. I've really liked it and yeah. Neat, neat. Weird, strange, strange arena. It's kind of, it's different from a lot of places I've been not in like, not In a bad way, but. Yeah, strange.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: Gotcha. Yeah, it seemed like just a weird environment from the broadcast, so I'm glad to hear that. I was not, you know, that we were picking it up correctly through the, through the tv. We're at an important part of sec. I always think that, you know, you get two games in and of course, like, your start doesn't always dictate how you finish. Arkansas can attest to that last year with the, you know, the start they had. But I do feel like you're at a point in the SEC after two games where 02, like, feels a whole lot different than one and one even and then two and oh, of course, for teams like Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Missouri, A and M, Mississippi State right now, if you, you know, that's kind of a surprise in there, but.
And that feels really good. You're already off to a great start and you're starting to think about, you know, could you go win the. Could you go win the league? But we're at that point, you know, in conference play where teams really start to feel, I think, a little bit more pressure, especially those ones at the bottom of 0 and 2.
I kind of want to just size up the SEC real quick. Now that we've had two games for every team. We'll go through some. We'll just start, I guess, going through some of the results from these midweek games and, and I just want to hear your thoughts on maybe where you think some of these teams stand and we'll start.
I want to start yesterday with Missouri going and beating Kentucky on the road. That was a, a really strange game because, you know, Kentucky, I don't know if. Did you see the final play of the first half?
[00:14:47] Speaker A: Yes, I did.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Oh, a nails a shot from literally his own free throw line.
[00:14:53] Speaker A: Really bad turnover on, on Missouri's end. But you. You kind of, you don't. You don't think that's going to happen on the other end of it. You don't. You don'. I don't think a guy is going to hit a shot from, you know, from Louisville in Lexington's. But that was, that was very strange.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: I bring that shot up because it felt watching that game like that was going to end up being extremely important because it was a tight game, but then Missouri created separation. And this is what I say. 1 and 1 feels a lot different than 0 and 2 and I think Kentucky can attest to that and Missouri can attest that two and oh, feels pretty great. Just thoughts on those two teams at this Juncture I know Missouri also had the big win against Florida. Maybe what you just your perception of maybe the future of those teams this year.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah, Kentucky, I know, you know, we've, we've been hitting the panic button on Kentucky for a little while now. Now. I think we've probably pushed it enough to where it's, it's probably broken at this point. Right. Like Kentucky is healthy, they've got Jaden Quadens back, they've got Jalen Lowe, they've got Mode of A.
And you know, the results outside of the St. John's and Indiana games, which those two teams don't look like they are as good as we thought they were at the time that those games happened.
You know, like it's, it's not looking great. You know, there's still a lot of talent on that team and you never want to say that, that you know, it, something is over. Obviously, like you mentioned, obviously Arkansas showed that last season. You can start poorly in league play, but turn it around.
But you know, there's not as many big time opportunities in the season's SEC as there was last year. Obviously the league is still very good and you know there's going to be a lot of, a lot of opportunities to turn things around. But you know, Mississippi state, I believe is 2, 0 right now and I, I still wouldn't really say that winning against Mississippi State would be a huge turning point at this stage of the season. You know, maybe, maybe I get proven wrong. Josh Hubbard's obviously a sensational player and you know, kind of is team's backbone right now. But yeah, Kentucky, it's, it's full, full panic mode. I think just because, you know, whether, whether the reported rumor of the 22 million dollar figure is true or not, it's out there and that's what people are going to believe. And you know, there were extremely high expectations for this team going into the season. You know, ranked number nine in the preseason AP poll, picked second in the SEC preseason poll. And what is there to show for that? You're what, 9 and 6 and 0 and 2 and SEC play and you know, there's, there's still plenty of talent on that team. I think it's just, it, it's, it's just difficult to, I guess really see it turning around. But you know what, we, we said the same thing about Arkansas last season. So it's, it's certainly possible, you know, I'm not, you know, to, to use John Caliperi's terms, I guess, nailing the coffin. But, but it, it's looking, it's looking rough. And then on the other end of the equation, you know, Missouri is 2, 0 in SEC play for the first time ever, if I'm not mistaken.
So, and that, that Mizzou team looked pretty dead and buried coming out of non conference play. They played three top 100 Ken Palm teams in non conference play and lost all three games, two of them in blowout fashion against Illinois and Kansas. So you know, that team looked pretty much dead and buried. But now two. Zero in in SEC play against the teams picked first and second in the, in the preseason SEC poll and they're sitting there at 2.
[00:18:29] Speaker B: 0.
[00:18:30] Speaker A: You know, are Florida and Kentucky what we thought they were be they would be coming into the season? No. At least not yet.
But you would certainly rather have those games than not so and to, to win those games, you know, in the manner in which Missouri won those games, you know, both tight games, both, you know, games in which they needed to make plays down the stretch to, to, to see him through.
You know, that's, that's, that's big, you know, especially for a team that's coming back into full health for the first time these past two games.
It's, it's, it's big for a team like that to, to have. So no, I'm, I'm intrigued by this Missouri team. I'm still not fully sold on, on Missouri but you know, I've been impressed with the way they've been able to see out these games and win those two games and they play here in Oxford on Saturday if I'm not mistaken. So they've got a real chance to go three and oh, you know, Ole Miss obviously really needs a win too and I still think Missouri is very beatable. So that's, there's, there's a lot to, to break down and yeah, obviously Missouri getting healthy is big and know Anthony Robinson I think has been really big down the stretch these past couple of games for Missouri as well. You know, I didn't think he had a great non conference showing, but then I thought he had two. Obviously he was stellar against Florida, hit the banked three to, to win that game. And, and then you know, from what I saw last night, which was limited admittedly just because obviously I was covering a game, but I thought he was, he was good with the exception of the turnover on the, the 400 foot shot at the end of the first half. But yeah, yeah, two interesting teams there for sure.
[00:20:13] Speaker C: Kindle King we're proud of over four decades of design we're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King Soapbox and Shopcart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shop Cart. We are Design.
[00:20:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't know if the talk was ever fully dead with Missouri about NCAA tournament, but I think it's fully now back alive as far as you start two and oh, and that's a, you know, a good start for them. We'll briefly talk on these two teams mentioned Mississippi State a little bit that they're two and oh now they, they beat Oklahoma really handily last night. Oklahoma's now one and one. I think they, they opened with a win against Ole Miss.
So I guess just thoughts on real quick. Just Mississippi State being 2 0. I mean it's kind of surprise.
[00:21:07] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. Mississippi State, I still am not, I'm not, I'm not sold. You know, I, I, yeah, you know, Josh Hubbard can take that team to, you know, wherever he can. You know, but I question how much they can really lean on him as much as they have.
You know, obviously he's always going to be your primary scoring threat, but you know, if you are going to rely on him almost solely to be your guy to go get baskets on every possession, I'm not sure how sustainable that is. But you know, they've looked good the past couple of games, right? I mean they beat Oklahoma pretty soundly and you know, you can say what you want about Oklahoma. That's still, you know, an SEC team that had some decent wins going into, into conference play. And yeah, it's, obviously it's, you're always gonna, you're never gonna complain about, you know, winning a game in conference play. So you know, Mississippi State 2 and oh and in, in league play to this point, you know, it's, it's intriguing if nothing else.
So I'm, I'm intrigued to see where it goes from here. You know, obviously, you know, it's not a team that I think had super high expectations coming into the year.
But you know, two and oh and SEC play and you know, bad non conference, you know, had some, took some really bad losses. But you know, I guess it's never over until it's over and you know, maybe they can, they can turn it around and make something of the season. But I'm intrigued by the start for sure.
[00:22:39] Speaker B: Certainly makes their game against Kentucky on Saturday a lot bigger as far as. It feels a lot riskier for. It's. You're catching a Mississippi State team that's picking up some confidence if you're Kentucky and it really would not be a good loss as far as all the metrics are concerned. And it really starts to feel a little bit, I feel like, like a must win for Kentucky. The big one yesterday was Alabama at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt, you know they're, they've kind of been the metrics darlings because they've taken care of business. But a lot of people were like, well what ranked team have you played? Well, they got it yesterday 9690 over Alabama. I'm sure you didn't get to watch much of that one because it was going on simultaneously with Arkansas. But just I guess thoughts on the Commodores now getting that win that really I think makes people take them if they weren't already taking them seriously. I think the last night's result probably now does that.
[00:23:28] Speaker A: I, I am beginning the Tyler Tanner is an all American hype train now.
That guy is awesome, you know and I, I admittedly coming into the season I wasn't super high on him. You know, I, I obviously I knew he was a good player and you know, figured he was going to be good, but I, I didn't expect this. I don't know that anybody really did.
But no, this Vanderbilt team is, is, is very, very for real, you know and, and like you mentioned, you know, some people were saying okay, where, where are the real wins they've got? I think it's eight wins over Ken Palm top 100 teams now. They had, I think it was six and non conference play. Two of two. Three two or three. Two or three of which came on the road like in true road games. Which is, which is impressive because I mean a lot of, a lot of teams don't like playing in true road environments and non conference play. So you, you get that. And you know, Vanderbilt's offense is awesome. I think it's rated number four in the country right now. Ken Palm, if I'm not mistaken, I think the defense is number 13 in the country right now. So I mean this Vanderbilt team is very for real. Like it's, it's, it's very good. They've got the right pieces and you know, I, I questioned how good Vanderbilt would be coming into the year. You obviously you lose Jason Edwards to the portal, you lose some other pieces as well and you qu. Kind of question, you know, okay, Vanderbilt was good last year, but how good can it be? This year. The question or the answer is, you know, very, very good.
Like it's, it's almost like unbelievable how good this team is. And that's, that's a credit to Mark Byington and the job he's done there.
And I mean, he, you know, he was stellar at James Madison and you know, James Madison, I guess is just the coaching factory now, right? He's obviously, you know, with Mark Byington, Kurt Zagnetti, you know, all those guys. But yeah, I mean this Vanderbilt team is, is right now, I don't think you can have any argument the best team in this conference just because, just because of the record, the metrics, the numbers, everything points to Vanderbilt right now being the team in the sec, which, you know, I don't, I don't think I know anybody who would have said that coming into the season. But you know, it's, it's, it's been incredibly impressive and you know, major, major credits to Mark Byington and his staff and all of those players for, for putting everything together because it's been, it's been a lot of fun to watch.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: Conversely, you know, Alabama, I don't think anybody, you know, they lose this game at Vanderbilt and it eliminates them at all from, you know, SEC contender at all. Like, I mean, there, it's a, it was a pretty close game on the road, but there are concerns for Alabama. Like this is becoming very commonplace where they give up a lot of points, I guess. What's the panic level there as far as Alabama being able to, they have big goals, they want to be a Final four team. But do they have the defense that could make them one? As of now, I don't think so.
[00:26:34] Speaker A: My concern level with Alabama with regard to SEC contender is zero.
I mean, that's still a really, really good team. You know, obviously, you know, ever since NATO just been there, Alabama's been, you know, a high pace, high, high scoring offense. You, you can't have questions about the defense and I think that's very legitimate.
But yeah, I, I, I'm not worried about Alabama from, you know, a contention standpoint, really, really at all. I think that's, that's a team that's going to be fine. You know, down the stretch in that game. I think LeBaron Phylon was dealing with some cramps and everything like that. I, I, if I'm not mistaken, he only played 19 minutes like you said. I, I did not get to see a lot of this game because obviously I was covering a game. I haven't got the Chance to go and watch it back yet. But yeah, no, I'm not concerned about Alabama at all. You know, which coming into the season if you told me Alabama would have lost its, its game at Vanderbilt, maybe, maybe I, I, I would have had a different opinion in October. But, but obviously that Vanderbilt team is if, if Vanderbilt's not a national title contender at this stage of the season, it's certainly starting to knock on the door of, of being in that, in that tier.
Which is still a wild thing to say. But I'm not, I'm not concerned about Alabama. I think that's a, that's a team that's going to be, you know, still competing at the top of the sec. But right now I think, I think it's Vanderbilt and then the field right now which obviously a lot can change as we've, as we've mentioned a couple of times. But yeah it's, it's, I'm not, I'm not concerned about Alabama.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Yeah, my thing with Alabama is just I look up and ever I feel like even in a lot of their wins like they're opponent like if you look at their losses that Gonzaga scores 95, Vanderbilt scores 96, Arizona 96. These are good teams. I'm not like they are going to score a lot on a lot of people. But they beat St. John, St. John scores 96. It just feels like they, you know, they beat South Florida, South Florida scores 93. It just feels like they are very against these big name teams. It's, they're going to have to win in shootout fashion a lot. It reminds me of watching Arkansas football this year how we kept on saying well if they're going to win a big game man the offense is sure gonna have to light it up. But you know, obviously comparing Arkansas football to Alabama basketball, this is not a good one to one comparison.
[00:28:52] Speaker A: Not apples to apples, but no, I see what you're saying and the defense is like, like you said, like I said it is, it is a concern.
But you know when you have Alabama's offense and, and if you have lebaron Phylon clicking on all cylinders like it's, you're going to be able to win a lot of those games and I think Alabama is built to, to do that. I think Alabama is built to win a lot of those games. So it's, yeah, yeah, I'm not, I'm not super concerned. The defense could be better. Obviously like you mentioned, they give up a lot of points but then they score a lot of score a lot of Points conversely. And you know, they challenge themselves in the non conference slate. Right. They did that purposely. You know, even, even some of those buy games, like you mentioned, the, the South Florida game, the Yale game, you know, they're playing against good teams that are projected to be at or near the top of their respective conferences. And they do that for a reason. They do that to prepare. They do that for the metrics.
So yeah, I'm not concerned.
[00:29:48] Speaker B: Yeah, don't want to go into all the Tuesday games. We just went over all the Wednesday too much. But now I just want to look at the SEC as a whole real quick and maybe get your thoughts on who you think at this stage. Obviously this all changes. It's very fluid as the schedule goes. But after two games of conference play, who do you feel like are the contenders to win it?
And I guess how many teams do you think the SEC could get in the NCAA tournament? And I know you already said you think it's Vanderbilt in the field right now with the sec, but I guess to go a little bit further than that just, I mean, I guess the grouping at the top that you think could challenge for it at this stage.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I think right now the top three is, is Vanderbilt, Alabama, Arkansas. And you can, you can flip Alabama and Arkansas in whichever favor you or whichever order you want to do that.
I, I think that is your pretty, pretty clear top three.
But with regard to the rest of the sec, you know there's, there's a lot of good teams. I mean, I'm not ready to give up on Florida just yet. Maybe I'm, maybe, maybe I'm delusional in saying that, but I, I still think that Florida team is good. You know, I think we, we've, we've started to see that a little bit.
You know, obviously Florida struggled a little bit, you know, in the first half against Georgia, but then really turned it on in the second half. I know the, the backcourt is still a bit of a concern, but you know, beat Georgia by, I think it was 15 points. It was a home game, but still Georgia was entering that game and if I'm not mistaken, still is the highest scoring offense in the SEC on average in Georgia. Obviously a lot has been made of the non conference schedule and how for lack of a better term, week it was. You know, I think their best win was Cincinnati, if I'm not mistaken on paper, which that Cincinnati team stinks.
No disrespect, but yeah, I mean I, I still think I'm not, I'm not ready to Give up on Florida. Tennessee is obviously going to be there. Just put, just really put it on Texas the other night. And that Texas team I kind of think also stinks.
But then you kind of, you know, there are your teams that you have questions about, you know, Missouri is, know how, how real is it, how important? Obviously it's very important that Missouri is healthy now.
You know, they were missing Jaden Stone for, for a lot of the season and you know, getting him back has been, you can already tell how huge it's been.
But you know, is, is that a tournament team? I'm not ready to, you know, make a committal on that yet. You know, South Carolina is 1 and 1, but the win is LSU. LSU is 0 and 2, you know, after, after, you know, a really good non conference slate. So you know, how, how concerned are you about lsu? You know, Ole Miss, like we mentioned, you know, has not met its expectations going from preseason.
You know, can Kentucky turn it around?
These are all very valid questions. You know, as for, as for the tournament, I know John Caliperi the other, the other night or I think it was after the James Madison game, he was like, yeah, we got 14 teams in last year. I don't think we're going to get that many, but I think we could probably get 12.
And then in my head I'm like, who are the 12 he's talking about? Because some teams, you know, had, had struggled, right? You know, Auburn is 0 and 2 and SEC play obviously had the really weird finish against Texas A and M the other night. You know, nine and six overall.
They haven't lost anybody bad. But you know, at some point you have to win your games, you have to beat somebody good.
Which Auburn? You know, I still, I still like the roster, but right now Auburn's best win is St. John's and St. John's right now looks like a bubble team.
You know, I, I don't want to say it best, you know, this, but St. John's is very clearly not lived up to the preseason expectations. And then, you know, Auburn's second best win I believe on paper is NC State, another team that hasn't lived up to a preseason expectations. So, you know, is, is the Auburn a team that can turn it around and, and, and make it into the tournament? I don't, I don't know, you know, every.
In bracketology, I, I try not to look at bracketology in general just because I like to, I like to see things for the first time on Selection Sunday because I'm weird. But, but it's you know, sometimes obviously it's going to show up on your feed and you know it's going to catch your eye. You're still seeing a lot of these teams in there and for good reason. They've got, you know, all the talent they need to make it in. But you know, some of these teams, like they need to start winning their games and you know, I still don't expect to see Mississippi State in the tournament. I have questions about whether to expect Oklahoma in the tournament or not. And you know, I'm not a huge believer in that Oklahoma team.
Big reason, a lot of reasons. We saw the other night or last night against Mississippi State.
So there's, I'm trying to make sure I cover all the pieces.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: Sorry I did throw the whole 16 team league at you.
[00:34:42] Speaker A: You know, Texas A and M haven't talked about a lot. You know, 12 and three two zero in SEC play. The win at Auburn is, is big. You know, Bucky McMillan is, you know, a coach I like a lot.
No bad losses. You know, the smu, UCF and Oklahoma State I think are the three losses for, for Texas A and M and it's, it, it's interesting. But then the best win so far is Auburn and then they also beat LSU, so they're 2, 0 in SEC play. But it's an LSU team that kind of wishy washy. Apologies for the ding there.
If you heard it. I don't know if you can.
[00:35:20] Speaker B: It might have happened but I didn't pick it up so we're okay.
[00:35:24] Speaker A: But yeah, I'm not sure, you know, LSU is all that good.
And then Auburn obviously we still have questions about, but you know, Texas A and M still no bad losses and is, is, you know, 12 and three and oh and two or two zero, excuse me, in SEC play. So there's, there's still a lot of variance and a lot of things that need to play themselves out throughout the, the rest of the conference season.
I think if you're, if, if you're asking me to make a projection on how many teams the SEC gets in and I apologize because this has been way too long winded of an answer.
I, I would probably say some, somewhere in the range of nine is probably what you're looking at because obviously you know, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Alabama are the teams that you're thinking are the three that are going to most likely compete for the regular season title. Then you have your Florida, you know, I still think you're probably Florida, Georgia, those teams look pretty solidly in the field.
[00:36:31] Speaker B: Right now.
[00:36:33] Speaker A: Yeah. Tennessee, obviously. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, like I just like trying to do this all on the top of the head.
Tennessee. You know, I still think you're probably going to see most people having Kentucky and Auburn in the field right now because, you know, obviously the metrics are still there and then you have your, your wild cards, your Missouri's. Is Mississippi State going to turn it around for real and get in and overcome those bad losses in non conferences? Texas A and M going to do enough in conference play to get in? So I'd say you're probably looking at the range of somewhere around nine, which is a very non committal answer.
[00:37:15] Speaker B: But this is the beauty of conference basketball play, is that we have how many more games now? 16 still left. We're only two games in and we're already getting to talk about this stuff. So buckle up. We'll be doing this till March. Getting to give our takes on this as we get closer to the big day. Selection Sunday. It'll be here before we know it. But I guess to end on this note, Arkansas, you know, don't want to overreact. Only two games in, but they are every bit right now at least an SEC contender. So I guess blend on this. What do you, what do you want to see from them Saturday at Auburn?
[00:37:52] Speaker A: I think you want to see a better defensive performance.
That was something I think John Calipari wasn't exactly pleased with. Obviously, you know, teams are going to go on runs. It's a road game in the sec. It's always going to be difficult. I don't think he was super pleased with how the defense played. Right now they're 61st in adjusted defensive efficiency on Ken Palm, so there's certainly room to grow there. And Auburn is a team that can hurt you on offense.
I mean, so I think that's, that's what you want to see for sure.
Especially in that game.
You know, a road game against, you know, a quality opponent, an opponent that hasn't lost anybody bad, you know, for, for all we can say about, you know, Auburn needing to win, you know, win some games, you know, there's, they're, they're nine and six, but none of those six losses are super detrimental.
And, but yeah, obviously you still need to, to, to win your games in the end to get in. But yeah, I think, I think the biggest thing that I'm looking for if I'm Arkansas is, is a better, more solid defensive outing because I think last season that was really what you could hang your hat on if you're Arkansas because the offense would go into dry spells a lot more than, than it does this season.
But the defense I thought was, was what was, I guess Arkansas's calling card, if you will, last season.
I think Arkansas finished top 20 in defensive efficiency last year and I think you can, you can still see the, the defensive potential there, right? I mean, I think the, they don't give up a lot of points at the rim because I think the rim production has been good.
I think, I think the average shot comes from. The average two point shot comes from over six feet from the rim, which means that you're doing a good job of protecting the rim. But I, I still think there's still areas of improvement that are needed on the defensive end for Arkansas and I think that's, that is the big thing that I'm looking for if I'm Arkansas going into the game at Auburn on Saturday.
[00:39:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, we'll be back with the show tomorrow probably to talk some more about this Auburn game. Want to thank you for tuning in and listening. We'll be back tomorrow. Hope everybody has a great Thursday evening.
