Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports podcast. And now here's your host, Matt Jones. Today on the show, Will team and the play by play man for Michigan State basketball joins us to talk about this big game Saturday night at the Breslin center between the Razorbacks and the Spartans. We'll also be joined by Ethan Westerman from Bud Walton Arena. Already a game today over there on campus. Arkansas women's basketball beat UAPB 101 to 49. Ethan will fill us in on that first word from Kendall King.
[00:00:27] Speaker B: 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 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 Shopcart. We are Design.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: No football this weekend. Probably good news for Arkansas and Michigan State fans. It seems like their seasons are kind of going similarly. They're on a long losing streak there too. They're on a bye week.
Everybody look forward to basketball and there's a big game this weekend up at the Breslin Center. Arkansas ranked number 14. Michigan State number 22. It's going to be a 6 o' clock central tip off on Saturday night. It's going to be televised by Fox. Will Teaman is the play by play voice of Michigan State basketball on the Spartan Media Network and he joins us now.
Will, what's the, the feeling, the vibe like there in East Lansing going into what's the first, you know, big basketball game for, for Michigan State too this year?
[00:01:31] Speaker C: You know, Matt, I think one of the things we've talked a lot about is that it's really neat that we're finally having a non conference, big time matchup on a home venue. I mean, Arkansas playing Michigan State, that could be played in some neutral center in Atlanta.
But the fact that this is a home and home deal, we get to go down to Arkansas and they get to see us a year from now.
I mean, isn't that the way it's kind of supposed to be? We are college venues and there's always that steady diet of teams that say Arkansas will play that they probably should win. But wouldn't it be fun on top of the conference games for the fans to see a Michigan State, you know, people like that come into their building? So we're pretty jacked about that.
Other than that you mentioned football Being a little bit of a long season so far for both of us. The thing that I think most people are talking about in reference to this game is the difference possibly in athleticism and shooting. For whatever reason, Michigan State, a team that a year ago almost set a record for the best free throw percentage ever for a single season at msu.
Right now, Matt, we can't make a free throw, so that's not a good thing. And perimeter shooting still in question.
So Coach Izzo is still sort of tooling around with what he's going to do. But at the end of the day, if Michigan State is going to do what they do, that means they're going to have to run the ball, they're going to have to run hard with it, and you're going to have to rebound like crazy. And last year we couldn't shoot either, and we got to the Elite Eight, but we also played some pretty good defense.
[00:03:15] Speaker A: You talk about shooting free throws, you know, the exhibition games, they don't count toward the record, they don't count toward the stats. But I think if there's any. Anything in those games that maybe you can take away from it and put toward, you know, what's happening now, I'd say free throws is right there. Because, you know, I mean, a free throw is a free throw. You look at Arkansas, they're 65 of 81 over those three games, the two exhibitions and the season opener the other night. Like you said, Michigan State, I've got them at 66 of 101, which is 65%.
You played bowling Green and Yukon in exhibitions and beat Colgate the other night. What do you think's going on with the free throw shooting? Because, you know, from. From what I can tell, these are some players who aren't shooting it well right now who have a track record of shooting well at the line.
[00:03:58] Speaker C: Man, I don't know. I mean, I go to practice, right, and I see them, make them, and they chart them. It is not like these guys. The coaches that was playing have stage fright.
Historically, if you equate golf and free throw shooting, if you have a bad shot, what have you done? One, you're not concentrating, or two, your form is bad, right? It's kind of simple in that regard.
But the one we really stare at a lot is Cohen Carr. He's a forward. He jumps literally out of the gym. The guy's crazy athletic, and he was a horrible free throw shooter, Matt, at the beginning of the year last year.
And then Coach Izzo took him aside and he Worked really hard at changing everything he did when it came to shooting. And all of a sudden in the back half of the year, he becomes like an 80% free throw shooter and you're going, yeah, that's pretty good. Well, right now he's in that 30 to 40% range if you count exhibition games and the opening game against Colgate. So you ask yourself what happened? And you know, I don't know. I mean, it's really strange. It's kind of the easiest playing basketball, right? Sort of. You just stand there and it's the same shot you've made a million times. So how hard can it be? But apparently it can be really hard at times. And, and so when Michigan State gets in the conference play and play somebody like Arkansas, the margin of error is not that great. So if somebody's going to give you a free free shot, you be good to make it.
[00:05:32] Speaker A: Tell me about Jeremy Fierce and just what he means to this team. Seems like he had a really good night the other night against Colgate and he's one of those you think about like, like for Arkansas, D.J. wagner. He and Fears came out in the same class. They were both highly rated players and so that's kind of an interesting matchup I think, if they get matched up on Saturday.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: Yeah, Jeremy Fears is a, is a really great story. He came in like a lot of freshmen that we're talking about here. Highly rated, great human being, wonderful work ethic and skill. So you put all that together, you're looking at somebody just has now to get some experience.
And he was our starting point guard as a true freshman and he went home for the holidays and got shot. I mean, he was in a guy's house and somebody walked in and opened fire.
And so the good news is he was able to recover from the gunshot wounds and but from a basketball perspective, that whole freshman year is gone.
Getting back in to any kind of playing shape in the summer, gone.
So now last year, his first full season, he was really trying to get his sea legs back and see, you know, if he could do what he once did.
And so watching him progress and work hard and fight off some frustration was unbelievable.
And so, so far so good. He's not the greatest point guard shooter Izzo has ever had, but he runs the team pretty well. He's got command of the offense, but he has made great strides from a year ago. Now, has he made enough to deal with, you know, Acuff and all those guys? We're going to find out, I guess.
[00:07:17] Speaker A: What'd you Think about what happened against Colgate the other night, 80 to 69 in the season opener.
[00:07:23] Speaker C: You know, everybody knew that probably we would be Colgate. And by the way, this sounds so like a coach speak, but Colgate is a really good team and they're really good at their level and they've. I think they've won their league five the last six years. So it's not like this was a layup game, so to speak.
But you're not really looking at the score. You assume you're going to win. You're at home, we get great crowds.
You're looking at what really didn't happen. The game was close until the end, and then msu, we just sort of took off a little bit. But you're taking a look at, you know, how you got to the 80. Well, you didn't get there because you shot great from the three under 30%. You didn't get there because you, you know, grade the free throw line. That was about 65% and you're shooting 42 from the field. So you look at that and you look at your top people in terms of where the, where's the rebounding coming from?
You scratch your head a little bit. It looks nice on paper, 80, 69 sounds like a solid one over a good team. But at the end of the day, the positive, I think, Matt, is we all know those of us who hang out with this team and pay attention to it, we know that there's a lot more there. So the question is, when is it going to happen? It'll happen eventually. It always does. But it's going to happen Saturday. It's going to happen two weeks from now. But if we play exactly the same way against Colgate, if that effort and performance is what we get against Arkansas, it could be a sad Michigan State radio broadcast.
[00:09:00] Speaker A: Well, Tom Izzo said after the game the other day, he said, quote, a lot of work to do or we're going to get our ass embarrassed on Saturday. And maybe that's good. It's good to have that pressure on us. You mentioned you go to practice, what have the practices been like since that game in preparation for?
[00:09:15] Speaker C: Well, obviously, coaches always like to have something to talk about, right? And so he had a few things to discuss with his guys.
And the neat thing about this group and the group we had last year especially, you know, we've all seen coaches be a little fiery, but it was great to watch him last year and so far this season in practice, he still will raise his voice from time to time. But he's really teaching basketball to these guys. They're good students, they learn fast and they want to be good, and they have the skill to be good. And so at the end of the day, the practices have been intense.
Any smart player in this team ain't going to say much. He's going to do a lot of listening, because nobody has to tell these guys that they didn't have their finest moment against Colgate. And nobody has to tell these players how good Arkansas is. They see the video. They know they've seen a lot of. A lot of these. Obviously, these guys know each other from au ball and things like that. So it's. It's kind of a. An important game.
You know, when we get into March, will anybody care who won this game? Probably not.
But as you're trying to get really good and win a title in the conference and get to March, this game is monumental.
[00:10:33] Speaker A: I think it feels like these early season games, it'd be interesting to see what you think about this. From what you've seen at courtside, it feels like there's a lot of fouls called, whether it be, you know, officials, they're hammering home the points of emphasis. Sometimes you got players who are coming out of practice and they're trying to find that balance between the hard practices and what actually can go in the games. And sometimes it just, you know, a Big Ten team is no different than an SEC team. I think these teams are, you know, built the bang a little bit. And, you know, a lot of times you can get officiating staffs that aren't used to that.
Feels like, you know, you add all that together, maybe the athleticism of these two teams and going back to free throws, you know, just. Just who plays more sound defensively and can't foul. That could be a big key.
[00:11:21] Speaker C: Yeah. And I don't know about the sec, but I can say exactly what's going to happen in the Big Ten. We go through this every year.
When we played Connecticut, 77 free throws were shot.
Think about that. 77 free throws got shot between two teams. The game took eight hours. Okay? And.
And so what happens, you know, well, we're gonna. We're not gonna be as rough. Down low. For example, one of the rule changes in college basketball is, you know, we've all seen down low, big guys defending another big guy, and the guy with the ball keeps pushing him and backing him up. Well, in theory, you're allowed to take one whack at a guy defending you, and you can't displace him more than once.
Okay, well, they're calling that now. Are they going to call it in February? I doubt it. And so I said, what happens is, you know, everybody's like, oh, boy, we're going to do all these new things. And then here comes real basketball time after the first of the year, and we just get back to where we were. Tough, rough, and it's, it's.
And I. I don't care who you root for, who your favorite, you know, player is, it doesn't make any difference. Because at the end of the day, if you can figure out why there is no consistency in officiating from maybe half to half in a single game, please call me. Because, you know, I think we all suffer the same illness on this. It's like, what just happened here.
[00:12:53] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. Yep.
[00:12:55] Speaker A: Let's see. I want to ask you about playing at the Breslin center. The first time Arkansas is ever going to play there. Just third time these two teams are ever played. They played at the Maui Classic or the Maui invitational back in 91. And then I remember Arkansas playing Michigan State up there at the palace at Auburn Hills in mid-90s. 95, 96, I think was the season very early in Tom Izzo's time there. What's the Breslin center like for people who maybe haven't tuned into a lot of Michigan State basketball?
[00:13:20] Speaker C: You know, it's really good. We have a great crowd, and Tom has energized it a lot over his time.
But it's. It'll be full and it'll be crazy. It'll be loud and, you know, everybody has their, like, student group. Ours is called the U Zone. And they are certifiably nuts. They're so much fun and the place will be rocking.
And if I could give any advice to anybody on the Arkansas team, don't shoot an air ball or your life will be miserable.
But it's a. It's a great crowd. And the neat thing about Matt, about the Big Ten in general, you know, Big Ten coaches will talk about how tough road games are.
Well, what makes them tough isn't so much if we go to Nebraska. Is Nebraska good or not in basketball?
The fact is they're going to have 20,000 people in that arena, and everywhere you go, you have no friends.
The road in the Big Ten is really difficult because of the great fan support.
And so, you know, Arkansas will feel lonely when they hit the Breslin Center Saturday. But that's the way it should be, right?
[00:14:24] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. One more for you before we get you out of here, Caliperi and Ezzo, certainly they're very familiar with each other, whether it be NCAA tournaments, champions, classics, other events that they played in.
Familiarity in this game, do you think it means anything?
[00:14:41] Speaker C: No, because I think both guys know what they're going to do.
And I know Tom speaks very highly of John all the time. With the committee work they do and they see the game of basketball, they're very much on the same page of how they view what's good about it and what needs to be tweaked. But I think in a game like this, especially with the way you can prepare, it really boils down to a couple things making a shot.
You know, we're going to the offense of Michigan State runs. Nothing is going to surprise Coach Caliperi on Saturday, but Michigan State is going to get a ton of open shots because they are so good at detail. They are so good and moving the ball. They're so good at coming off a pick.
And when you're good at some of those things, you can't defend it. And you're going to have an open shot. So the key is, Matt, does Michigan State make him? You know, Arkansas is going to have some open looks like how are they going to do so when we go through all the prep and the scouts and the video study, in some ways it boils down you're going to make a shot or aren't you? And I think the guy that walks out here shooting about 45% probably going.
[00:15:51] Speaker A: To win this game will Demon play by play voice of the Michigan State Spartans. Will, we appreciate you coming on and good luck tomorrow night.
[00:15:58] Speaker C: Thank you, Matt. And so sometime you got to come visit. It's nice and chilly up here. You'll love it.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Yeah. Hey, it's like about 80 degrees outside right now here in Fayetteville. The cold weather's on its way, but it hadn't made it down here yet. So appreciate it. Have a good time tomorrow night.
[00:16:12] Speaker C: Okay? Thanks, Matt.
[00:16:13] Speaker A: All right. Will Teaman from the Spartan Media Network when we come back. Ethan Westerman will join me from Bud Walton arena to talk about today's women's basketball game. But first, a word from our sponsors, Kendall King.
[00:16:23] Speaker B: We're proud of over four decades of design.
We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kindle, 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 Shopcart. We are design.
[00:16:48] Speaker A: Hey, welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They have been serving their community since 1971. They're committed, professional, and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can come by and see them at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com we had some morning basketball in Fayetteville today. It was elementary day over at Bud Walton arena and the Arkansas women improved a 20 with a 101 to 49 win over UAPB. Just a total blowout this. There was really never any doubt in this game. Arkansas was up by 21 at halftime and just kept building the lead throughout the second half. Ethan Westerman, who covers women's basketball for us, is over at the arena right now. Ethan, what did you think?
[00:17:38] Speaker D: Well, I thought it was loud, first of all, very loud.
I don't think the loudest moments that it got in this arena was they did something called the six seven cam, which I still don't understand this whole six seven thing that the kids just love.
[00:17:52] Speaker A: But do they?
[00:17:53] Speaker D: They did. They did it for like a whole minute. It was eardrums just busted from that moment. But then also when they scored 100 points, it got pretty lively in here then, too. But, yeah, I thought it was a good showing for Arkansas. I mean, what they're doing right now is they're kind of doing the things that I think Kelsey Music prided her style of play on when she got hired. As far as she wanted a team that could put up a lot of points and play a style that excites people.
And they're doing it on both ends is the thing, too. This is a team that's been really good at generating turnovers of the opponent. They're diving after loose balls. They're doing the hustle plays. That'll get a crowd into it. But, I mean, they could have done anything in this game and gotten this crowd into it. These kids were ready to scream for just about anything.
[00:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah, it was early. They'd had their Eminem's and their sodas and they were ready to go. 13,032 is what I saw the attendance listed as. I don't know that I've ever seen an elementary day with that big of an attendance you have.
[00:18:48] Speaker D: And it was the second largest crowd Here in program history. And I asked Kelsey Music just.
[00:18:54] Speaker A: Just interrupt. Would the first be the WNIT championship?
[00:18:57] Speaker D: That's the largest, I believe so. That's their largest crowd still. And last year's elementary day had been number two. It was like 12,000 something last year. So this was. This is now the second largest crowd. And this is the type of crowd that will inflate your attendance numbers for a while and have you sitting there pretty near the top of the conference. But yeah, I asked Kelsey Music right after the game about how important it was. You know, whenever you have this many kids in the stands, just put on a good performance for him. And she.
She said that they talked about it before the game, that she told her team that.
That every single girl on. On her team is what at one point was a kid. Like these kids in the stands that had a dream to play this level and she wanted them to. To. To put on a good show for those kids. So I know that they. They actually made it a real point of emphasis to. To talk about it being elementary day and to play well for the kids.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I was driving around town this morning before the game and then driving over here just after it ended, and the number of school buses, it's just amazing. And you know, one of the buses or some of the buses that I saw were coming over from Farmington and Jenna Lawrence, who went to high school in Farmington, now, she didn't go to the elementary day games because she didn't grow up in Farmington, but she ends up being the best one today. 26 points for her.
It seems like that hits a little bit differently when you got a northwest Arkansas kid playing well in front of others, you know, who are growing up in the same area.
[00:20:24] Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. And she's a player who. This was her third time to play in this type of game because she's. She's one of the few returners on the team. And I know it meant something to her. She was perfect. Three pointers today. Five for five.
But on a real good show. And there's a lot of, you know, kids from this area that recognize her. If not from, you know, just watching the team play the past few years, she'll go back to Farmington High School and put on camps in the summer for kids and stuff, too. So she's going to be a fan favorite all year long. So it was really cool to see her do that. I also want to interject real quick and say I just got a report back on how many schools came to the game. And you will not believe the number.
[00:21:04] Speaker A: Oh, I'd guess over 40.
[00:21:06] Speaker D: 67.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: So not done.
[00:21:10] Speaker D: The kids, you cannot make this up. Yeah, I can't tell the kids, but I was asking about it and they said you aren't going to believe us, but 67. So yeah, this whole trend that's going on was kind of the underlying theme of the game was how often it could be part of the game.
The halftime score was 44 to 23. So you do the math and we're at 67. Thank goodness. I think it was Bonnie D's for Arkansas hit a three pointer when they were at 66 points.
Everybody in the arena was worried that they were going to get, you know, a free throw trip and you know, score that one point to get to 67 because this place would have just lost its mind.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: Did they tell you how many school buses came today? Because I've gotten that report too from elementary day before.
[00:21:53] Speaker D: Yeah, no, I didn't get a school bus number this year, but I, I don't even really want to know. It was so many. I, I'm glad that I got here a little bit early because. And then in years past I played with fire a little bit and got in the arena late and you get in that school bus jam and yeah, it's, it's a major delay, but there were a lot of school buses. There's a, I mean, it's crazy coming to one of these games and seeing it this full for a women's game.
And it just blows your mind that there's this many like kids in this area that to come to this game, it's just, I don't know, really visualizes a little bit more just how, how many kids are in this dang area.
[00:22:35] Speaker A: Well, you know, the thing is, I wonder if there are other promotional type nights that they can do this with. Now this is obviously totally different because you've got the schools bringing them over to the game and I don't think they have to pay anything to get in. It's just, it's really kind of a community outreach type event. But I wonder if there's other type of promotions that they can do this type of deal with. Because, you know, if you're, if you're only selling what, 3,000 tickets to a game, maybe that's a big night for them in women's basketball or at least it has been over the last few years.
You know, maybe, maybe there's something to be said for saying, hey, you know, we'll give away 5,000 tickets. But maybe it builds you a fan base up where they want to come back and buy a ticket down the road.
[00:23:16] Speaker D: Yeah. And Kelsey Music said that after the late game on Tuesday that she views this game as a chance to really try and get her team connected with these kids in the area. Because she said, you bring kids and they enjoy going, then all of a sudden they're bringing their grandparents and they're bringing.
Well, I, I guess it's their grandparents probably bringing them. But that's how you kind of grow your. Your fan base, I think, a little bit organically as you just really capitalize on your community outreach. And they did a good job as far as, like, staying after. And I walked back out here, game interviews, and there were players still, like, meeting kids, taking pictures, signing stuff. So I think they. They take it serious right now about trying to.
To grow their fan base however they can, because it, like you said, it's not always a very lively crowd in here for women's games. And so. And that can be something that, that helps you out recruiting if you can start building your fan base. Because you look at, like, South Carolina and LSU women, obviously those teams have won championships and whatnot, but they're a lot of times having bigger women's games burnouts than men.
So, anyway, yeah, I'm looking over here.
[00:24:22] Speaker A: There's a bobblehead in our studio. I know you've seen it, but. Bobblehead of Gary Blair here in our studio. And one of the things that Gary Blair did so well when he was at Arkansas was there was no group that was too small for him to go talk to. He could go talk to the, you know, the Democrats of Washington county, who might have 13 people in the room, or the Rotary Club or the small businesses, whatever it is, you know, like, he. Like he didn't matter.
He doesn't care who you are. It's just. Is there a group of people there to go talk to? And he would do that, and that's how he built his program. And he'd take some tickets with him and he'd hand them out, hey, would you come to our game on Thursday night? And there's a, you know, Mike Neighbors I know he tried to do that too when he was here at Arkansas. He learned from the Gary Blair example. He had been with him here. But there's just a huge piece to this in this sport, especially where the. The head coach, the players, it's all about community outreach getting out there. And even though, as crazy as it sounds, Ethan, letting them know that you exist 100%.
[00:25:30] Speaker D: I mean, you have to. And I think that they've done a good job of that so far with different events that they've put on with different, you know, speaking engagements. Kelsey Music's gone to. You have to do that in women's basketball to grow your fan base. I think until you have, like, a generational player, like a Caitlin Clark at Iowa or something, that just makes people come. A lot of times it's you. You go and you win over a fan base by, number one, just engaging them in the community. Then secondly, when they do come to your games, it's how can you make them want to come back? And Kelsey Music's team has done a good job of that the first two games, just with how hard they've played. I've heard several people I've talked to after these games, like, man, this is just fun to watch how hard they play. So, yeah, they're off to a really good start to the season and a good start to her era, to be honest. Like, as far as just.
They're doing all the things that she said that her teams would do, and that's. You don't always get that with a coach.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: You know, I think maybe the thing that stands out to me today about this score, 101 to 49, is the fact that they beat a team the way that you expected them to beat that team, and that wasn't the case last year. Even. Even in some of the. You know, the few times that they won games.
You know, you and I were talking the other day about when they beat East Texas A and M by 19. You would think that Arkansas would beat that team by a lot more.
I think maybe that's the biggest takeaway, not only from today, but also from Louisiana Tech, who is a much better team, is the fact that they just. They look like a better team right now than they did at this time a year ago.
[00:26:57] Speaker D: They do, and they are. I mean, they just have more up and down the. I think up and down the lineup talent, first of all. But they're also just.
They're coming in very focused and with the game plan, they're executing it. I think aside from that, you know, the very beginning of the Louisiana Tech game on Tuesday, when they got down 17 2, they really dominated that game against a team that is not bad. Like, they'll win quite a few games in their conference and could challenge for ncaa. And then uapb, they're in. They had a terrible season last year. I don't even know how many wins they had. But I think that they have a second year coach who was like searching for her fifth win or something today but. But they did beat Memphis in their opener this year which Memphis women's basketball is not great but still that's an upset in the women's game and they came back from I think down 13 in the fourth quarter that one. So it's a UAPB team that is like. It's not like they're just fully incompetent like of being able to like play with some teams and.
But yeah, right. It's only so much you can take away from two games early this in the year. But they are doing what you're supposed to do to a team like UAPback and they're doing it in a fun style.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: I don't know how many elementary kids are going to get in the building for their next game. It's going to be an 8 o' clock tip off on a school night Monday against uca. That game's going to be on SEC network. That's when we'll get to see Kelsey Music's team for the third time. Even before we get you out of here, Arkansas, Michigan State tomorrow in men's basketball, just what are your thoughts on this game?
[00:28:25] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean it's a great challenge for them. It's.
You can't ask for a better. I feel like like second game of the year road test then going and playing. You know Tom, is those team in their building. You know you're going to get a team that plays hard against you. And I think for Arkansas it's going to be interesting to see if the lessons they learned against different defenses between Cincinnati, Memphis and then obviously Southern kind of played them some zone if that has them ready for what Michigan State's going to bring on. Because I think Michigan State's going to be the best team they've seen so far defensively for sure. But can Arkansas keep up that high scoring that they've had and all the other times they've taken the court? I, I think that that's the type of game that if Arkansas can go in there and win that game, it just, it's a tone setter more than anything that you start off your season in a hostile environment against a, you know, a program and a coach who are pretty legendary.
Yeah, it's exciting. I'm glad that there's teams like Arkansas willing to play these types of games on campus early in the season.
[00:29:29] Speaker A: It feels like these games are going to maybe come a Little bit more prevalent as the MTE's go away, the multi team events. Not that they're going away entirely, but certainly, I mean, you know, Dan Hurley made a big deal about it last year. He said he didn't want UConn playing anything like that again.
Bill Self talked about it last year before they played a game against Duke in Las Vegas.
He just said that, you know, the kind of the growing thought within the coaching community is that it's a lot better to go play on a campus or have a team come play on your campus. Or if you want the payday, go do like Arkansas is going to do at American Airlines center or up in Newark or you know, those type of games at United center in Chicago.
I think we might see some more of these type games moving forward.
[00:30:15] Speaker D: Yeah, I do too. I mean I was looking at, I don't know if it's next year's Maui Invitational field or the one after that, but it just kind of lets you know like these are dying a little bit. As far as like the field that's going to be playing there is just not your typical what you'd think of with the Maui Invitational historically. It just seems like they're, they're going away slowly but surely. And I think that if you're a team like Arkansas, it is sometimes more beneficial just to go play, you know, at Michigan State or host.
I'm just throwing out a team named Louisville. I know that's acc, but just these, these games that, that are going to be on your net.
As for like for Arkansas instance against Michigan State, the nets important late in the year with the Quad one victories, you already know Michigan State, if you go beat them in their building, that will probably be a quad one at the end of the year. Unless just Izzo's team drops off the face of the earth.
It's. You kind of get more guarantee than you do because it's weighted differently in the net with home, away neutral and the away.
You can get a lot more Quad one wins playing true road games.
[00:31:22] Speaker A: Yeah, Izzo's team, even if they were to fall off the face of the earth, you know that they would reemerge somehow in March. That's just what they do.
[00:31:30] Speaker D: Izzo in March is a great combo.
[00:31:32] Speaker A: Yes, it is. Arkansas supposed to go to the Maui Invitational, by the way, in the fall of 2027.
We'll see if that, if that, if that stays. That was something that was scheduled by the previous coaching staff. John Caliperi has shown in the past that he's not real fond of that tournament. You go back and look at some points that he made when he was a turkey.
[00:31:52] Speaker D: Sorry to butt. And I think I saw that USC is going to go to Maui. So Eric Musselman seems like he is still a believer of the MTE train.
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, he is. I think so. Ethan, good stuff.
Appreciate you coming on. And if you want to read Ethan's content from today from the women's basketball game, Anthony Christensen's over there as well. You can go to our website, wholehogsports.com to see it there. We'll also have a lot of content going into this game against Michigan State tomorrow. And we'll have full content, full coverage from this game against Michigan State on our website both Saturday and Sunday. We hope you have a great weekend. Hope that we see you here again Monday on our podcast. Have a great day, everybody.
