Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You're listening to the Whole Hog Sports podcast.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: And now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Today on the show, Jeff Haxton from the Texas Tech Radio Network will join us to talk about this weekend's basketball game against Arkansas and Dallas. Also, Anthony Christensen's in studio to discuss SEC basketball. First, a word from Kendall King.
[00:00:18] 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 A: Big basketball game coming up this weekend. Arkansas and Texas Tech going to be an 11am tip off on Saturday morning down at American Airlines center in Dallas. We're joined now by Jeff Haxton. He is the play by play voice of the Red Raiders for the Texas Tech Sports Network from Learfield. Jeff, I wonder what is the feeling going into this game in Lubbock?
[00:01:04] Speaker D: Well, I, it's, it's a weird situation because there really are no feelings because of the football success.
[00:01:15] Speaker D: When you haven't had any real football success since 2008 and you've taken a beating for all those years and then all of a sudden you're, you're this good.
People are so focused on football because they've had to put their focus towards baseball, basketball, track, me, judging whatever they could find.
And it's still a football town. So there's really not a feeling of basketball fired up yet because of all of the football success and recognition that they've been getting, if that makes Sense.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Texas Tech 7 and 2, you know, the losses to Purdue and Illinois, a couple of really good teams. You know, you got some good wins in there too. What have you seen from this team through nine games?
[00:02:07] Speaker D: It's a bunch that I think is really trying to find its, its chemistry. I think there's some really talented chess pieces that are getting moving. Moving. That's not even a word. Moved. Moved around and attempting to find the right formula.
And I think we saw some of that come together against LSU.
[00:02:32] Speaker D: Down at Dickey's Arena. And that was just a lot. It's a lot of fun to watch them play well and play well together.
A lot of fun to watch the shots go down. They just had a different attitude about themselves. You know, Grandma Caslin's going to demand a lot of things and they had fallen short on Those things and even in wins, but not on that Sunday against lsu. They were good. They were the team that we've all expected to see.
It was shocking just to get steamrolled by Purdue the way that they did. They played okay against Illinois on the road.
[00:03:12] Speaker D: But, you know, in the long run, I think this is a, this is a good basketball team and we're starting to see some improvements and that's been fun to watch them, them, them start to put it together.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: You know, I mean, this is a team that we saw last year. Texas Tech and Arkansas played that great game in the Sweet sixteen out in San Francisco. How similar does it look this year to what we saw when they got together about eight months ago?
[00:03:37] Speaker D: Well, I think it looks.
[00:03:44] Speaker D: Similar in a lot of ways. The biggest thing is, you know, Darian Williams went to NC State and D5.
You know, I think there, there got to be a point where there's only so many.
So many basketballs, and that's one. And J.T. toppin, you know, Big 12 player of the year. Christian Anderson, a guy that is going to be a superstar.
There were guys coming along, of course, through the transfer portal, and I just think he wanted a fresh start. But let's be honest, the guy is a darn good player and can score just, you know, gobs and gobs of points.
So they, they went and got a player out of Washington State named Lawan Watts, who you will see coming up here in the morning in Dallas on Saturday. And Lawan's game's a ton different than. Than Darian's. And so.
[00:04:38] Speaker D: Darien, it was just like a pure score.
Lawan's got a little bit more like craft back down. Smaller guards, can shoot the three, but doesn't. That's not a huge part of his game. He's not, he's not near the defender that he needs to be. Lawan's a massive piece of this pie.
And when he gets right, I think Texas Tech's going to get right. And, and, and we're starting to see his role carve out now with his game on offense because there's no doubt he's a talented scorer. He averaged over 15. I believe that I got all these numbers in my head, but I think it was over 15 for Washington state last year.
And so that's where it looks the most glaringly different. New point guard, new shooting guard, new three, slash four.
And then JT and Christian, the returners.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: That's this team topping. What makes him so good?
[00:05:42] Speaker D: It's just, it's just his, his overall skill and.
[00:05:48] Speaker D: Kind of dogged determination to, to be the big dog. But the left hand is just.
[00:05:59] Speaker D: It'S so.
[00:06:01] Speaker D: So effective and so special.
And.
[00:06:05] Speaker D: You know, it's his technique, you know, I mean there's, there's God given talent, which, there's no, his bucket overflows in that, in that area. But the, the work on it with the skill, with setting a guy up and you think, well, he's definitely going over his right shoulder. Then all, oops, he's under his left, you know, he goes the other way.
[00:06:30] Speaker D: His ability to facilitate helps him a lot too, because if he does get doubled in on the block, then he can throw a bullet pass out to somebody waiting to shoot a three.
And that's what I've been banking on for this team for a long time. He's one of the best players in the country. He can score in a variety of ways, around the basket especially, but if they want to go run a double at him, he can make you pay with a pass out to say, the new guy, Donovan Atwell, who's a sniper.
But.
[00:07:03] Speaker D: JT doesn't say a lot.
He's all about his business and he's getting well paid for it.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: You know, Texas Tech, when I think of Texas Tech, I think of defense. And I mean, you even go back to the Bob Knight years, you're thinking defense with this team. But maybe a little bit more recently, Chris Beard, I would even say, you know, Mark Adams, it felt like they still had that kind of defensive identity. And then Grant McCaslin, that's kind of what he's known for, is having a really solid defense as well.
Did it help that he had a, that he took over a program that kind of had that defensive minded DNA already, or has he done other things that's kind of helped him along in these three years?
[00:07:43] Speaker D: I think Grant has bucked trends or perceptions about him. Do you remember that team at North Texas was the slowest paced, best defensive team in the country.
And you know, he took that team through the NIT and won it and went, you know, just plodded along and went extremely slow. And people around here were like, oh my gosh, we're gonna have to watch this boring brand of basketball.
Well, Grant grabbed a hold of a different kind of athlete and all of a sudden it's not that, that way anymore. So Grant adapts and, and I think at the heart you're right. You're exactly right.
[00:08:29] Speaker D: You know, Chris Beard worked under Bob Knight.
That's definitely his number one mentor.
[00:08:38] Speaker D: They, they're basically one and, and one, you know.
[00:08:44] Speaker D: You know, Mark Adams worked under Chris Beard so that, you know, you did have a lot of that, you know, kind of def.
Motion offense type stuff. The motion offense went out the door when, when Grant arrived, being a Baylor grad. So it's, it's, it's a defensive mindset but.
[00:09:08] Speaker D: And he knows how important it is. But this guy also likes for his guys to score points and fill it up. And I've enjoyed that about Grant is, you know, he can, he can adapt to situations and I think you and I both know that adaptation in college athletics is an absolute necessity in about 10 different ways and sometimes day to day.
And, and so this guy is good at that and I've really enjoyed that about him. His, his ability to take what he's got and put it in the best light.
[00:09:50] Speaker A: Texas Tech went to Fort Worth last weekend, played lsu. So this is back to back weekends in the Metroplex. I suspect it's a similar situation with Arkansas where this is a really important region for that program. I mean, am I correct in that why Texas Tech would be going there back to back weekends?
[00:10:07] Speaker D: Yeah, man, that's number one.
It's number one in our book. Our, our programs book is the Dallas Fort Worth metro area.
[00:10:21] Speaker D: You know, we have.
[00:10:24] Speaker D: Several players from that area. Have had several players from that area. You know, I think about Noren Sodiase who was with, you know, he was from Fort Worth and you know, JT's from Dallas and we've got some other players, Jazz Henderson, who's, who doesn't play a whole lot but he's a, he's a Dallas kid. And so yeah, it's, it's, it's vital for this program. But now, you know, with the ability to flash numbers of players, it's not as important.
[00:11:00] Speaker D: But it's still.
[00:11:03] Speaker D: It, it fosters the fan base a lot. Yeah, I've seen, I've seen Texas Tech take over Baylor's arena.
I've seen them take over the drum.
[00:11:15] Speaker D: But always at tcu, the, the Tech fan base takes over and.
[00:11:21] Speaker D: So it gives them, and, and they will get to a fevered pitch for basketball. It's just going to be a little bit longer because of football, but it gives them something to nibble on and, and see this team and gosh, it's an easy trip. You know, we made that trip to Dickey's and tipped off at 2 o' clock and we were back on the ground in Lubbock at seven. You know, I mean it was just crazy how easy the trip is, the way that they do it. So it's, it's one that we won.
[00:11:53] Speaker D: It'S two that we really look forward to. And then throw in the Arkansas with the opponent. That's even. That's great.
[00:11:59] Speaker A: Yeah. What's the Big 12 championship? The other day it seemed like there was a lot of red over there in Arlington.
[00:12:04] Speaker D: Oh my God.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: Speaking of Arlington, you still call Texas Tech baseball?
[00:12:08] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: Yeah, Arkansas played Tech in, at the Rangers ballpark here. And gosh, it's coming up in like two months now. It feels like, it doesn't feel like it's that close. But I mean what's Tim Tadlock's team, what's the out like for them this year?
[00:12:21] Speaker D: You know, I have no idea. They, they have two new pitching coaches.
[00:12:28] Speaker D: They, they fired Matt Gardner. Matt Gardner is now the pitching coach at Houston.
[00:12:36] Speaker D: And so there's some newness there and then there's some, some returners. But, but again, I'll be honest with you with the, the focus on basketball and I do soccer and volleyball on ESPN plus I'm lucky enough to do those sports. I, I don't know a whole lot about Tech baseball right now. I just hope that they.
[00:12:59] Speaker D: I hope that they get it going in the right direction because it was so good for so many years and this is my 10th year, Matt, here.
[00:13:10] Speaker D: In Lubbock. And so I got here and things just went crazy, you know, and I won't go through the list, but it was, it's a nice list of.
[00:13:21] Speaker D: You know, heights reached and.
[00:13:27] Speaker D: This, this, this upcoming deal. I never get to call these games that you're talking about. Yeah, these, these, these first games that are always, you know, kind of blockbuster name wise and so that, that always, that always breaks my heart to not be able to call those. But I certainly hope they, they get back better because last year was the worst year in about 20.
So.
[00:13:55] Speaker D: That one was a really tough one. So I hope they get it going the right direction.
[00:13:59] Speaker A: You've been called in to call a Razorback game or two in a pinch, right?
[00:14:02] Speaker D: Oh, holy cow.
That man, that's unbelievable that you know that and remember that.
[00:14:10] Speaker A: And, and was it St. John's at the Stillwater Regional?
[00:14:15] Speaker D: Yes, yes it was.
That's still one of the wildest experiences of my life because.
[00:14:24] Speaker D: I was there with my, my.
[00:14:28] Speaker D: Let'S see, how many years ago was that?
[00:14:30] Speaker A: It was 2015.
ORU had been there. You were calling ORU Games at the time.
[00:14:35] Speaker D: And we went to, and queue but I'm an OSU graduate.
[00:14:41] Speaker D: So I wanted. And my parents still lived in town and so I took my 4 year old, then 4 year old son who's now as tall as I am.
[00:14:55] Speaker D: I took him to the ball game and then we were headed back to Tulsa and I got a call and I was like, yeah. And so I went and got cleaned up at my parents house and I'll never forget that.
[00:15:10] Speaker D: That experience. Just getting torched on Twitter by the Arkansas fans, which I, I understand you got one voice, you know, that's very popular all year long and then who the hell is this guy? We're trying to win a regional, you know, But I was just, I was glad I got through it and, and glad Arkansas won it and, and, and, but that was a very unique experience. Yeah.
[00:15:37] Speaker A: Yeah, it was pretty cool night over there at, at Alley P. Arkansas's had a few of those over there, Jeff.
[00:15:42] Speaker D: Boy, they, they have they. And in my opinion they've had way too damn many.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: Well, and then they, they took over. Oh, great. About three or four years ago, that was, that was quite the region as well.
[00:15:52] Speaker D: Hey, and I'll, I'll give you one more thing if you want it.
[00:15:56] Speaker A: Yeah, what's that?
[00:15:57] Speaker D: My first year of calling Division 1 baseball was 2006.
[00:16:06] Speaker D: And I'd come from Enid, Oklahoma in a small radio station and went to do Oral Roberts athletics. Just kind of took a leap of faith.
And that year they went to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 19 since 1984.
Played Memphis as a 116 down in Dallas at American Airlines. Good grape. We're connecting dots like crazy now.
Then Oklahoma State gets the number one seed, but they don't have enough hotel rooms, so they have to come to Fayetteville for the regional. Hogs are the two, Princeton's the three. Oru. No, oru's the three, Princeton's the four.
[00:16:45] Speaker D: And we beat Arkansas the first night.
[00:16:53] Speaker D: Oklahoma State beats Princeton, we beat Oklahoma State.
Oklahoma State eliminates Arkansas.
So in front of about 900 people, Oru beats OSU to go to the supers.
But that was my first baseball regional that I called was Bomb Stadium, which I still claim is the number one stadium in college baseball.
I've not been to Box Stadium, but I've been everywhere else.
And I just, even with how great o' Braid is and me being an Oklahoma State grad, I just, I can't get over how good Bomb is.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: Yeah, it's changed a lot since I was six too. It continues to grow. Well, I mean.
[00:17:35] Speaker D: Back then they didn't have the, the suites down all the way to the, to the polls.
[00:17:42] Speaker A: Yeah, they've added, they've had a lot out there.
[00:17:44] Speaker D: I have so many Arkansas stories. Ridiculous.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: But we can have you back on different time and we'll talk about them.
Jeff, we appreciate your time, man.
[00:17:54] Speaker D: I appreciate it. I had fun. And.
[00:17:58] Speaker D: I really think Saturday morning, if we can wake up in time, it's going to be a really good, really good basketball game.
[00:18:03] Speaker A: Ought to be pretty good. 16 and 17 in the AP poll. This is one of the games of the weekend in college basketball. Jeff Haxton, the voice of Texas Tech basketball. When we come back, Anthony Christensen will join me here in studio. First, a word from Kendall King.
[00:18:16] 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 brand 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.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've 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 buy and see them at 507 South Main and Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com we mentioned yesterday that the names are starting to kind of trickle out. Arkansas is hiring as their football coaches. Of course, none of these have been officially confirmed, but you know, the reports are out there and the reports are not being refuted. So you can typically take it to the bank that these are, you know, accurate reports.
Darren Wilson, who was a defensive backs coach at Arkansas previously under Sam Pittman, report today from Matt Zenitz at CBS says that he is coming back to Arkansas. He's going to be here and work under Ron Roberts.
Wilson had been the defensive backs coach at Florida this season. Ron Roberts was the defensive coordinator there this season also. I guess there's a little bit of crossover with this other hire who was announced yesterday because remember, when Wilson left Arkansas, he actually initially left to go to Georgia State and be their defensive coordinator. He had a cup of coffee there and then he ends up going to Gainesville to be an assistant coach. Well, yesterday, Zenitz, after we did our show reported that C.J. wilford, who's been a defensive backs coach at Georgia State, is coming to Arkansas to coach safeties.
So there's. They're all part of the Ron Roberts tree. Ron Roberts with Wilford. They had been together previously at Louisiana Lafayette. Wilford had been with Roberts, I think, for a year at Florida. So this is how the coaching profession works.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: It's like the office. It's weird.
[00:20:34] Speaker A: I mean, it's like, you know, it's. You're. If you're in that profession for very long, the number of contacts that you have is a lot.
It's. And not just people that have worked with you, but I mean, maybe people, you know, you call this guy, he's like, hey, you need to go talk to this guy. And then, you know. But there's always a link.
[00:20:52] Speaker B: It feels like, oh, yeah, oh, yeah. No, for sure. And I mean, even, like the amount of coaches I know just as a reporter now, like, it's kind of crazy. So I can only imagine, I think, if you're actually in it, like, the amount of people that are, like, I can talk to this guy about this guy, who will know about this guy, who knows about that guy, who also knows this guy, who I already talked to about this guy.
[00:21:15] Speaker A: Something like that.
[00:21:15] Speaker B: I don't know.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: So these are the reported candidates at this point. What are we up to? I think eight or nine assistant coaches that have been reported at this point. I think. I think we're at nine. Yeah, I think we're at nine.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: I.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: Again, none of them. None of them have been officially confirmed, which I. I don't know. Maybe they're waiting for all the, the hires to get made and then they'll announce them all.
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Yeah, just kind of like as a. Because I think they did that with the men's basketball support staff when. When John Caliperi was first hired.
[00:21:45] Speaker D: Right.
[00:21:46] Speaker A: Like, I think they wanted to wait to, to.
[00:21:49] Speaker B: They put it all out, like, at once and it was like.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: But we had actually, we actually, we actually scooped that because we found all their names on the UART directory.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:21:57] Speaker A: They hadn't. The university side wasn't really talking to the athletic side in terms of putting names out on their website.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: I remember that. Yes.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: All right, so we talked to Jeff Haxton just a minute ago about Texas Tech game this weekend. I mean, this is.
It's not the biggest game of the weekend. I think the biggest game, am I wrong, is Arizona, Alabama. Is that the biggest.
[00:22:18] Speaker B: The biggest? Yeah. Probably going to be the most entertaining.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: Alabama's ranked what this week I want.
[00:22:24] Speaker B: To say 11, 12, something.
[00:22:26] Speaker A: I thought they'd be a little bit higher than Arizona. Still number one.
[00:22:28] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: And they're going to Birmingham to play this game.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: You know, I mean, one thought I do have on this is why can't you get some of these games.
[00:22:36] Speaker B: Alabama's 12.
[00:22:37] Speaker A: Okay. Why can't you get some of these games on campus?
[00:22:39] Speaker B: But yeah, if you're going to Birmingham, just play, make the. What did they play? Two hours?
[00:22:44] Speaker A: Did they play. I think they played Arizona, Alabama in Phoenix last year, something like that. You know, Gonzaga in Kentucky did this where they played each other. But they said we're not going to go all the way.
We're going to go to. We're going to go to Nashville and we're going to go to Seattle.
Come on. If you're.
[00:23:03] Speaker B: Come on.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: Especially if you're Gonzag in Kentucky.
[00:23:06] Speaker B: Yeah. If you're gonna, if you're gonna play those games in Seattle, like, how far away is Seattle from. From.
[00:23:13] Speaker A: I think it's campus. I think it's like a couple hours.
[00:23:16] Speaker B: So it's probably about the same from Nashville to Lexington. Right? I don't, I've never made.
[00:23:21] Speaker A: Yeah, probably that sounds about right. Three hours.
[00:23:23] Speaker B: Yeah, just make the extra little, little. They're not driving.
[00:23:26] Speaker A: No, just fly.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: Yeah, just fly over there and make the extra 20 minute flight.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Instead of landing on that Runway. We're gonna.
[00:23:31] Speaker B: Yeah, we're gonna go. We're gonna go 15ft over and we're gonna go there. Obviously I don't schedule these. I know, I know scheduling is a lot more complicated than that. But still this.
[00:23:41] Speaker A: But, but Arkansas, Texas Tech. This is one of the games of the weekend. American Airlines Center. This ought to be a fun.
Again, this would be fun if you're, if you're playing in Lubbock or Fayetteville, but they're not. But they are going to play in Dallas and I think that this ought to be. This isn't like playing. If you're Arizona going to Birmingham and playing Alabama, where, you know, 90% of the arena, if not more, is going to be Alabama fans.
I suspect that this is going to be a real split crowd. I'm not going to say it's going to be a 50, 50 split. Now, I don't know who's going to have the edge in the seats.
I could see it going either way, but I think it's going to be a fun environment on Saturday when these two get together.
[00:24:19] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. I mean, it was a fun environment when when they played Baylor there last year.
[00:24:25] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be fun. Yeah, two good teams. I know Texas Tech hasn't maybe been as good as what it had hoped entering the season or what I had hoped because I remember I put him at 5 on my preseason AP ballot. But yeah, it'll be a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it. To two teams that are good, you know, two teams that are, you know, both kind of looking to, to build some momentum as we get closer and closer to conference play and. Yeah, no, it'll be, it'll be a lot of fun. I'm intrigued to see the, you know, the guard matchups, you know, Darius Acuff versus Christian Anderson or you know, Trevin Brazile versus J.T. toppin. I think it's going to be, you know, a lot of fun to watch. And obviously it's, you know, a rematch of last year's Sweet 16 game in San Francisco. So that's obviously another, another element to it. So it'll be. There's a lot of fun elements to this and I'm really looking forward to getting down there to cover it.
[00:25:20] Speaker A: This is one of four top 25 matchups this weekend. Of course, Arkansas, Texas Tech has won. Nebraska goes to Illinois. This is part of Big Ten play. They're already. Because they play a, they play like 20 game. There's a 20 game conference schedule.
[00:25:33] Speaker B: The two games now and then they go back to non conference and then they go back to conference. Yeah, it's a, it's a weird setup.
[00:25:41] Speaker A: But three, three of these ranked matchups this weekend are going to be in neutral sites mentioned. Arizona and Alabama. Also UCLA and Gonzaga are going to play in Seattle. It's always a fun game when UCLA and Gonzaga get together.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: Oh yeah.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: So we wanted to talk about the SEC and how it stinks and how it's just different. Just, just how it's different.
Maybe then what we thought the SEC was going to look like two months ago. When did Bruce Pearl announce that he was retiring?
[00:26:13] Speaker B: Ooh, it was September.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: Yeah, it was after football had started. So I mean it's within the last three months, I want to say.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, September.
[00:26:20] Speaker A: So let's, let's go back to that point because at that point you thought Auburn might have the best team in the SEC or certainly one of the top two or three. And maybe they still do.
But you begin with that and then you look at what's happened with Kentucky this year and the games that they've had.
You know, there have been, you know, some Teams that maybe aren't Florida, I would say they're not performing quite at the level. I know they played a really tough schedule, but they're probably not performing quite at the level some people thought they were going to.
How is the SEC in terms of basketball hierarchy through the first five, six weeks of this season changed relative to what our perceptions were two months ago?
[00:27:01] Speaker B: I think it was always going to take a step back from what it was last year. I don't think it was ever going to be sustainable to, you know, think that it's always going to get 14 of 16 teams into the, into the NCAA tournament. I don't think that was ever going to be, you know, something that you can always bank on, you know, regardless of my, my objections to some of those teams getting in last year. But I digress, you know, with regard to the hierarchy, you know, I think the Big 12, probably at least at the top, looks like it's the best league in the country right now. I mean, you look at, you know, just how those teams have performed and even once you get into like the lower end or of that league, I mean, UCF has quietly put together really a really solid season so far. Colorado was undefeated until it played at Colorado State recently. So, you know, there's, you know, Kansas State stinks, so that's, that's not somebody we need to talk about. But, you know, the Big 12, you know, has depth. I think the Big 10 has shown that it has some depth as well.
So you're probably looking at the SEC being third or fourth right now in terms of best conferences, depending on how much you want to, I guess, weigh the, the top of the acc because obviously Duke is really good, Louisville's really good. North Carolina has looked, you know, good as well. But then you look at the bottom of the ACC and you know, I don't, I hate to say it every time I come on the show now, but Boston College stinks, which is why I consider.
[00:28:29] Speaker A: Point has been made. Yeah, but what about within the sec?
Within the sec, how does the hierarchy look different now?
[00:28:37] Speaker B: Oh, yes.
[00:28:37] Speaker A: Relative to two months ago.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: I don't think anybody was expecting Vanderbilt to be this good. Let me go through people real quick.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: Let me go, let me go through the standings or the records right now. Okay, Just in case people are still in football brain and they haven't quite figured out what's going on in the SEC yet. Vanderbilt's nine and oh, they're the only undefeated SEC team that's remaining. You've got Georgia and LSU are 8 and 1. Missouri is 8 and 2. Arkansas and Alabama both 7 and 2. And you got a cluster of 7 and 3 teams. Auburn, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A and M. Oklahoma and South Carolina, both 6 and 3. Kentucky is 6 and 4.
Florida is 5 and 4. After that loss to UConn last night, Ole Miss is 5 and 4 2. And then Mississippi State's the only team with a losing record at 4 and 5.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: Yeah, Mississippi State stinks. Man, that team, that team looks bad. Like, worse. Like, I, I, I remember somebody, or maybe I was giving myself some flack or a buddy of mine was giving me some flack for putting Mississippi State at 14 on my preseason SEC ballot.
Looks like I was being too nice.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: Some of these records are, are reflective of who they played.
[00:29:42] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:29:43] Speaker A: I mean, like, you know, Arkansas, they could easily be 9 and oh right now if they didn't go out and play Michigan State and Duke. But you test yourself, and I think that makes you better down the line. Florida, they've tested themselves. Oh, yeah, they're five and four.
But I think a lot of people thought that they would win some of these type games that they've been in early in the year.
[00:30:02] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Florida. Let me pull up the Ken Palm real quick. But, you know, Florida is, you know, winless against power conference teams, but it's not like they're going out and getting killed in any of these games. Like, you know, season opener, you lose by six against Arizona, which is now ranked number one in the country and is five in Ken Paom. You lose by four to tcu, which is bad loss. I think the TCU team is not very good. Then you lose by one at Duke in Cameron Indoor, and then you lose by four against, against Yukon at Madison Square Garden, which, you know, isn't that far from Connecticut.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: So anytime UConn plays at Madison Square Garden, it's a home game.
[00:30:37] Speaker B: Unless it's, unless it's St. John's now.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: Even then, it's, it's a neutral site.
[00:30:41] Speaker B: Yeah, but so outside of that TCU game, I think you can maybe excuse some of those, but, I mean, that TCU loss is not great, especially when you look at tcu. And TCU lost its season opener to a New Orleans team that won four games last year and, you know, played competitive against Michigan, which now nobody can play competitively against Michigan.
[00:31:03] Speaker A: It's like a freight train running downhill. What they beat Villanova by last night, like, 28. 28?
[00:31:08] Speaker B: Yeah, 28.
[00:31:08] Speaker A: They could have beat him by worse. It was a 30 point game, halftime.
[00:31:11] Speaker B: It's crazy. But then they lost to Notre Dame at home, and Notre Dame's not great either.
[00:31:16] Speaker A: And Michigan had played some good teams in the stretch. I think they had won their last four games going into last night by an average of 38 points. It's an. It's insane. They beat Gonzaga by 40, 40, and then Gonzaga turns around and beats Kentucky by 35.
[00:31:30] Speaker B: It's unbelievable what, what, you know, Michigan is doing, especially because Michigan kind of struggled a little bit out of the gate, you know, had to go to overtime against Wake Forest, which Wake Forest is always kind of tricky, but isn't necessarily a team that you would think is going to win the acc.
And then struggled against TCU as well. Or maybe I'm getting that mixed up. Did they go to overtime with TCU or Wake Forest? Either way, they went to overtime in at least one of those games and struggle with both teams. And then ever since then, they've just been killing everybody.
[00:31:56] Speaker A: So who here is better than their record shows?
Like Tennessee. They're seven and three. They've lost three in a row.
[00:32:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So I think.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: But are they better than the record shows?
[00:32:07] Speaker B: Maybe. I think I, I think you need to get some more out of Nate Amen. You know, I, I. Nate Amen had the. Had the last shot against Syracuse, and that Syracuse game is a game that you just frankly shouldn't lose. I know it was a true road game, but, yeah, Syracuse made tough.
[00:32:24] Speaker A: Well, not.
[00:32:25] Speaker B: They made some good.
[00:32:25] Speaker A: Not. Well, I was gonna say I almost made a comment that Syracuse made Tennessee play their game, but almost. I almost feel like Tennessee might be more comfortable in that grind it out, slow down type.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:36] Speaker A: Game as well.
[00:32:37] Speaker B: Yeah. So, I mean, that's a, That's a tough one to take. You know, teams that are better than the record shows.
It's a little tough to say. I think you can make an argument for Auburn, but then you look at Auburn and, you know, they've. They lost by 28 against. Or 29. 28 or 29 against Arizona. And then I also got bludgeoned by Michigan, which obviously, you know, the one and two teams in the country.
[00:33:03] Speaker B: And it's. It's like, you know, they were competitive against Houston, but then they also went to overtime against Bethune Cookman, you know, so it's, It's a little tough to say. Florida, I think, is the, the easy one to say that, yeah, this team is better than its record just because you see how competitive Florida has been against some of the best teams in the Country. But then you remember the TCU game and it's like, so it's, it's interesting. Kentucky on paper should be better than its record. But then in practice, you watch some of these games, you know, upper level competition, and it just so far hasn't looked like they belong on the floor with some of those teams, you know, they, they should have beaten North Carolina, but, you know, just didn't make the plays. I think they went on a stretch of like one of one field goal in like 12 minutes in that game. Some. Something like that. So you would think, you know, that team is better than its record shows. But is it? Actually, I'm not entirely sure. But if you're asking me to, to make a, a profound statement in saying that a team is better than its record shows, I think I would say Florida right now.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: That's fair. Florida is an interesting, you know, Boogie Flan's gone there and I haven't seen a whole lot of these last two games, but I did see the end of Duke and I saw the end of UConn. He made mistakes. I don't know that UConn is so much a mistake on Flan, but. But I don't think he's totally blameless either.
[00:34:24] Speaker B: It was certainly, it was a fast 5 second count against Duke.
[00:34:27] Speaker A: He turns it over and Duke ends up winning that game. Did it, was the turnover, did that lead to Duke's winning shot or was that after Duke?
[00:34:34] Speaker B: I think that was Duke, if I remember.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: I think they had just taken the lead.
I think that's right. And then against UConn last night, Florida give Florida a lot of credit for like the last minute or so, extending that game, making Yukon go to the line, go one for two. You hit a layup, making them hit two free throws. You hit a three. I don't know if they hit a three in there, but. But basically they're able to chip away at that lead and they get UConn to turn it over right in front of the Florida bench. They trap a guy out of an inbounds pass. Neither team has a timeout. But neither team has a timeout. Yeah, and Boogie is the trigger man right in front of the Florida bench and he can't get the ball in. Yeah, five second call. UConn gets it. They make a couple of free throws and they win the game.
Whereas Florida would have had a chance to potentially shoot a three and try to tie it right there. Maybe Dan Hurley fouls Florida and they don't ever get that chance. But we'll never know because he couldn't get the ball in right there. He's been really good for them. But part of how, you know when you go play for these elite teams you're graded on a little bit of a curve.
And there were big expectations for Boogie there this year and this is two of their highest, most high profile games. Now if not there are two most high profile and he's really made a big mistake in the last 10, 20 seconds of both that you can look back and say I don't know if it cost him the game, but it certainly cost him a chance to make a play to win the game.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: Yeah. No, and, and Florida is kind of weird because it seems like when Boogie Fland plays well, Xavian Lee plays poorly and when Xavian Lee plays well, Boogie Flan plays poorly.
So once, you know those two guys start playing well at the same time, you know, this team I think is going to be fine and more than fine. Yeah. So it's, it's just kind of I guess getting over that hump and you know, like we mentioned earlier that 5 second count was fast. I think afterwards somebody had timed it and it was actually 4.6 or something like that which obviously it's, you know, it's five seconds. What you know, it is what it is.
[00:36:36] Speaker A: It's interesting how that that would seem like something that if you're an official it would be why are we still relying on you know what I mean? Because not everybody's is the same.
[00:36:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:50] Speaker A: Wouldn't that be something where it'd be easy just to have a stopwatch right there?
[00:36:53] Speaker B: You would think so. But Arkansas fans, I guess you like the.
[00:36:59] Speaker B: For I guess broadcast and like people watching in the arena purposes like it makes more sense to or I guess some sense to you know have the visual of the you know, official actually counting out I don't know but stopwatch and five three. But yeah, so it was a bit of a fast five second count but you know you still want to get the ball in and not have it get that close I guess. But yeah, Florida is, is certainly an interesting one to me but I mean you look at the metrics, I mean still top 15 in Ken Pam and you know, and they haven't you know had these guys play well together yet, you know. So I think that, I think that will come eventually.
You know I'm not you know slamming the panic button on Florida just yet but they're no, they, they don't have any more true opportunities. You know in, in the non conference I mean, George Washington, who they. They host, I think on Saturday, is a good team coming out of the A10, I think 60 in Ken Palm. Top 60 in Ken Palm.
So a good team coming in, but a team that you, as Florida expect to beat and, you know, not have too many problems with. And if they lose that game, then you know, we, we can revisit and obviously then talk about, okay, what is actually wrong with Florida, because that would be 5 losses, which is more than what they had all of last season.
[00:38:21] Speaker B: Yeah, but they, you know, they don't have any more true opportunities. They won two Power 3, excuse me, Florida State, Miami and Providence. But none of those teams are really expected to be all that great. I mean, Miami's been all right, you know, maybe a tournament team, but yeah, they don't have any more true opportunities with the exception of George Washington. And that's more of a, I guess a trap game than anything before SEC play. So it'll be interesting to see kind of if they can get, you know, that backcourt, you know, playing up to its, you know, potential. Because, I mean, obviously last season's Florida backcourt was what it was. So, yeah, that's. That's kind of what it is. And Todd golden after the game last night was like, yeah, our margin for error this season is.
I don't remember exactly what he said, but it's a lot lower than, Than what it was last season just because of, you know, the. Not just the talent, but the experience they had in the backcourt as well.
[00:39:13] Speaker A: So, yeah, it's funny, I looked up a story for you earlier today.
I wrote a story several years ago about Arkansas and their conference tournament history. And so I was looking up some stuff on Dallas to send you about Razorback's playing down there this year. But then talking about this whole inbound thing and the time, it reminded me of another thing that I wrote about in this story, which was in 1997, Andre Pattillo was a referee in an Arkansas Georgia game. And people who have paid attention to raceback basketball, they're going to know the story as soon as I started telling it.
Arkansas was down by two to Georgia at the SEC tournament. It was at the Pyramid over in Memphis. And Arkansas, Arkansas still huddling where they.
[00:39:55] Speaker B: Have the tank of fish in the background.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: He takes the basketball and he just sets it on the ground and starts counting. Arkansas sprints out of the huddle and they can't get the. I don't know if they can. If I think they. They either couldn't get the Ball in or maybe, you know, it forced them to make a bad pass and it got. But they never got shot off and a chance to win. And Pat Bradley, when I wrote this story, it had been 21 years since that happened. I was talking to Pat Bradley about it and this was Pat's quote. He said, it's a crock of crap if you ask me. I mean, he was still upset about this two decades later. He said, you can't wait three seconds for us to come out of a dang timeout if you're refereeing a 10 year old AAU game and it's the 12th game of the day and it's 9pm but where the heck did he have to go? He said, those types of things are what irritate me about humans and referees. It's unfortunate when you get a dumb knucklehead call like that. So every, every time I see my time and this, this was such a profound play on me watching this on television. Every time I see the count, like it doesn't matter. Every time I see the guy start counting, I think of Andre Pattillo and the 1997 SEC tournament. That.
[00:41:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I, that was before I was alive, so I actually hadn't seen that. I'm going to, I'm going to look that up when I get home. That sounds like an interesting.
[00:41:11] Speaker A: I'm sure it's on YouTube. Everything's on YouTube. Even if it's a bad. Like everything's on every game is on YouTube. It feels like now because even if it's a bad moment for your team, it was a good moment for the other team. And they want to, they want to remember that everybody's got their version of War Machine, right? Or Stu Hog, right?
[00:41:29] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah. No, so I, I'm going to look that up when I get home. That, that sounds like a, an interesting watch.
[00:41:35] Speaker A: Kentucky. What's wrong with Kentucky other than the fact that they can't shoot?
Ethan was telling me the other day they went through a stretch. I think they missed 17 of their last 18 against North Carolina and then they missed 42 of their first 47 the next game against Gonzaga.
That means.
Let's do a little bit of math here real quick. Did they miss 59 of 65 shots over the course of parts of two halves?
[00:42:03] Speaker B: Sounds.
[00:42:03] Speaker A: That's insane.
[00:42:04] Speaker B: I'm not a mathematician, but man, that.
[00:42:06] Speaker A: Is your word for it. That is insane.
[00:42:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:08] Speaker A: No, this team, well, they hate. I think Kentucky fans hate that. They may hate this team more than they hate Calipari.
They booed them off the floor the other night in Nashville.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: Yeah, they got the win yesterday against NC Central, which you would expect. Obviously, NC Central is not good.
[00:42:26] Speaker B: It was obviously a handy one. But, you know, Mark Pope said something interesting after the game that I was expecting to see a bit more on social media, which I really haven't. I've only seen it the once, but he's like, we just don't know how to compete yet. We will, or something like that.
Which I was like.
I mean, I. I respect that he's, you know, coming out and being honest with it, but, you know, with regard to what's wrong with Kentucky, I mean, defensively, they look a little lost. I mean, he. Going into halftime, you know, he was. He was interviewed going into halftime of that NC Central game last night. Just very blunt. We have to guard, you know, so.
And, yeah, that's. That's. That's kind of one of the issues you mentioned. You know, they. They can't shoot, which is very strange for a Mark Pope team, because even going back to his days at Utah Valley, like, his teams have always been able to shoot.
So it's. It's. It's almost perplexing because obviously Kentucky came in with, you know, really high preseason expectations, and obviously there's going to be teams that don't live up to preseason expectations. It happens every year.
But it's. It's strange. And then you get into, you know, how much money was put into this roster, the $22 million that was reported, which I don't know how accurate that number is, whether it's true, whether it's true or not, they're one of the most expensive rosters.
[00:43:48] Speaker A: Until somebody comes out and refutes that perception is reality.
[00:43:52] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, absolutely.
[00:43:53] Speaker A: And there's no doubt in anybody's mind that Kentucky has probably outspent every team, except maybe one or two in basketball. That's not going to surprise anyone.
[00:44:03] Speaker B: Yeah. And you look at. There was the report, I think, in the summer that came out that North Carolina had spent $14 million on its roster. And like, I remember people being aghast at that number because on paper, the roster, like, on. On paper, the roster wasn't all that great. And obviously, now you look at it, I think they're ranked 13 in the country right now and, you know, have looked really good to start the season. And as opposed to, you know, when this, When Kentucky, when the 22 million figure came out, everybody's like, I guess I can see it. Whereas this team has just not looked.
[00:44:39] Speaker A: Sometimes you're paying for the jersey.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:41] Speaker A: You know what I mean?
It's like, oh, I'm going here. Well, that's going to cost you an extra.
Whatever.
[00:44:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Which I mean, being an international sign.
[00:44:51] Speaker A: Like when people used to scalp tickets back when that was illegal. Who knows, Maybe it's still illegal. I don't know.
I highly doubt it is the way everything works now. But, you know, it's like they would, they'd put it on ebay and it's like, here's two tickets to the Arkansas LSU game and two champagne glasses. You're not paying for the tickets, you're paying for the champagne glasses. That's kind of how it is when you're, when you're recruiting guys now, you're not recruiting the five star, you're recruiting the brand.
[00:45:18] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:18] Speaker A: You know, just as much.
[00:45:19] Speaker B: Yeah. And being an international soccer fan too. I mean, I think you see that kind of in like transfer fees and everything.
That's a whole different discussion. Not whole different, but it's similar. And I'm not going to get into it.
[00:45:30] Speaker A: But who's the best team in the sec?
[00:45:32] Speaker B: The best team in the sec, I think, is Alabama.
You just look at, you know, the way Alabama has played, you know, it's the, you know, it's, it's a NATO team. Right. They're gonna, they're gonna play fast. They're gonna, you know, they're gonna shoot really well. Number three offense in the country right now. Defensively, there's some concerns, you know, they were competitive against Gonzaga and a neutral sites. You know, obviously Gonzaga ended up winning that game by double figures. Lost to Purdue at home, which, you know, I'm not going to begrudge anybody for losing to Purdue no matter what. I think the Purdue loss, Iowa State was more of an anomaly than an indictment. You know, not to take anyway anything away from Iowa State because I think Iowa State is phenomenal.
But I don't think you're going to see Purdue get, you know, lose by 23 points at home ever.
So I, I, I, I tend to think that, you know, that was more of a blip than a true indictment on Purdue.
And I also think it's a huge credit to Iowa State and the job TJ Otzelberger has done there. But I would say right now, I would, I would put Alabama.
[00:46:38] Speaker A: Where's Arkansas?
[00:46:41] Speaker B: It's a good question. I, I think top five for sure, I think top three is, is very arguable with, you know, I think Alabama for sure, like I said. And then I think. I think you have to have Vanderbilt in there. And I know Vanderbilt people have been like, who's Vanderbilt played? Vanderbilt has four top 100 wins right now. Arkansas has one.
So, you know, you can. You can look at Vanderbilt schedule. I mean, those top 100 wins are against UCF, which, you know, earlier in this show, I talked about how UCF is putting together kind of quietly a decent little season. I think they're 8 and 1. That one loss is to Vanderbilt. Haven't really played a lot of other teams, but kind of beat the crap out of Texas A and M, which every power conference team seems to do right now.
But then VCU is, you know, VCU is always solid, and they kind of took it to St. Mary's it was St. Mary's obviously, Randy Bennett there is, you know, always had one of the best defenses in the country. The 96 points Vanderbilt scored against St. Mary's is the most that a Randy Bennett team has ever allowed in regulation, if I remember that stat correctly, which is a huge credit to Vanderbilt and the job Mark Byington has done there. And then they beat a really solid SMU team by 19 points or so. So you can say, you know, Vanderbilt hasn't really played anybody, which I disagree with that sentiment. You know, like I said, four top 100 wins already. You know, they've got two tough games.
[00:48:06] Speaker A: Have any of them ranked?
See, that's. That's the deal.
[00:48:09] Speaker B: St. Mary's was receiving votes.
[00:48:11] Speaker A: Nobody's looking at top. And I'm not saying what you're saying is wrong, but just your casual fan.
[00:48:16] Speaker B: They look into the AP.
[00:48:17] Speaker A: Did you beat somebody in the top 25 or somebody who was in the top 25 at the time?
[00:48:21] Speaker B: Yeah, no, for sure. And like, like I said, St. Mary's was receiving votes, including my vote going into that game.
So. Yeah, but Vanderbilt has really, really impressed me. I'm not sure where exactly they fall in the SEC hierarchy, but I think as things stand, you have to have Vandy in that top, you know, three to five discussion. And then I think Georgia warrants a discussion as well. I mean, they haven't really beaten anybody of note. Their losses to Clemson, which obviously Clemson kind of fumbled away that game last night.
[00:48:54] Speaker A: That's one way to put it.
Weren't they about 22 in the second.
[00:48:57] Speaker B: Half, something like that?
[00:48:58] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, they choked.
[00:48:59] Speaker B: Yeah. And credit to byu too. AJ Debanza was awesome down the stretch in that game. Kiba Keita broke the rim or the backboard, whatever.
[00:49:08] Speaker A: Is that why it took so long? For Florida, Yukon to come on.
[00:49:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:49:10] Speaker A: Yeah, I was wondering because I was not watching byu, Clemson and then I turned it on. I was like, man, this game seems like it's going on a long time for it not to be an overtime game.
[00:49:17] Speaker B: Yeah, it was because broke the backboard.
[00:49:20] Speaker A: One more thing before we get out of here. Arkansas, they've got a couple of high profile games before SEC play begins. They got Texas Tech this weekend. They play Houston up in Newark next weekend. What are the other games in the SEC to watch between now and when conference play begins? What are we, three weeks away or less?
[00:49:38] Speaker B: Something like that. Yeah.
[00:49:39] Speaker A: January 3rd, I think is the first day of conference play.
[00:49:42] Speaker B: Lucky for you I made a comprehensive list.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: Because I told you to.
[00:49:46] Speaker B: Yes, right. I think I may have gone more comprehensive than you had originally hoped for.
[00:49:50] Speaker A: Let's not go too comprehensive. Let's. Let's stick to the, stick to the highlights.
[00:49:53] Speaker B: I think for like we were talking about with Vanderbilt, I think the big things, they're coming up on a difficult little stretch of Memphis on the road and Wake Forest on the road, which Memphis hasn't been what you would expect Memphis to be so far this season, but they did get a home win over Baylor, which Baylor had been decent up to that point. So, you know, FedEx forum is always going to be a tricky place to go. And like we mentioned earlier as well, Wake Forest is always a tricky team to play. So I think those are two games that are going to be interesting. We talked about Alabama versus Arizona. Alabama also has South Florida and Yale in. In some buy games that are against tricky opponents, top 100 opponents, both teams that could win their conferences and get to the NCAA tournament. Talked about Florida playing against George Washington, which is a tricky game tonight.
Tennessee versus Louisville. That is, that's a big game I think for Tennessee to, to.
[00:50:45] Speaker A: Is that tonight?
[00:50:45] Speaker B: That is tonight. If I, if I remember or if I read the schedule correctly, which I.
[00:50:50] Speaker A: Think that's next week.
[00:50:51] Speaker B: Oh, well, my bad.
[00:50:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:50:54] Speaker B: It's the 16th I just saw Tuesday, I guess.
[00:50:59] Speaker A: Yeah, continue.
[00:51:02] Speaker B: Anyway. Sorry, I'm dumb.
[00:51:03] Speaker A: You're killing your credibility.
[00:51:04] Speaker B: I don't think anybody, you know, I look at so many basketball things every day. I'll allow myself this one mistake. But Louisville next week, you know, it's. Which is big. I think that's Tennessee's next or it is Tennessee's next game. Tennessee needs to, you know, get a rebound. Obviously the three games in a row they've lost. Kentucky's got Indiana and St. John's they host Indiana, they play St. John's on a neutral. You know, Georgia has Cincinnati, I think, in Atlanta, which Cincinnati kind of stinks. So you would expect Georgia to win, but it's a power conference opponent nonetheless. So you, you, you know, if Georgia is going to be for real, they need to win that game.
Auburn hosts or goes, I think to Indianapolis, excuse me, to play against Purdue, which is obviously a, A, you know, a big time opportunity.
You know, LSU plays against smu, I think, in New Orleans, I want to say.
And you know, LSU only has the one loss. We didn't mention them kind of going through the, the, I guess the, the rundown on SEC teams. But I, I'm not sold on LSU at all. You go to overtime with Boston College and. Yeah, and then they got killed by.
[00:52:15] Speaker B: Who was it Texas Tech? It all comes back to Texas Tech. And then another, another team we didn't touch on is Missouri. You know, Missouri's, I think, eight and two, but you know, those eight wins are against nobody except for Minnesota, which stinks. And you know, they didn't give themselves any sort of wiggle room if they lose their, you know, their opportunity games against power conference teams. And they lost in Notre Dame and were killed by Kansas.
So they've got a neutral site against Illinois and St. Louis, I think the 27th. And that is, that becomes essentially a must win for, for Missouri if, if Missouri is going to make the NCAA tournament. And Illinois is obviously very good.
So, yeah, Ole Miss plays NC State, which is kind of disappointed so far this season, as has Ole Miss, I think four games in a row with a really bad loss to a stinky Utah team. And then Oklahoma plays against Oklahoma State in a neutral site. That game should never be in a neutral site.
That, that makes me sick.
Like, it reminds me, I was watching Missouri versus Kansas the other day and that was in Kansas City on a neutral site. That game should like, those games should never ever be in neutral sites. Like, come on, what are we doing?
Texas plays at UConn in a true road game too, which that could.
[00:53:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's Friday night.
[00:53:29] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:53:30] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:53:30] Speaker B: Yeah. So that could be.
[00:53:31] Speaker A: Can I ask you for like the five best games?
No, I think, I think we're up.
[00:53:35] Speaker B: To like 55.
[00:53:38] Speaker B: The games to look out for.
[00:53:39] Speaker A: Anthony's given us the full non conference up until conference play begins and Arkansas plays Queens and James Madison. So there you go.
[00:53:46] Speaker B: Preston Spradlin coming to town with the Dukes.
[00:53:50] Speaker A: All right.
[00:53:51] Speaker B: It's always fun talking up to Oregon.
[00:53:52] Speaker A: It's always fun talking basketball with Anthony. Sometimes we just have to cut his mic off to where he can't say anymore.
[00:54:00] Speaker B: Apologies for the schedule gaff. Sorry to everybody in Tennessee and Louisville.
[00:54:05] Speaker A: Appreciate you being in here, Anthony. We appreciate Jeff Axton today too for stopping by and talking Texas Tech. Hope that we see you at our website, wholehogsports. Com. We're back here on the podcast tomorrow. Have a great day, everybody.
