[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Happy Wednesday everybody. I am your fill in host. Christina Long on the desk in place of Matt Jones who is already headed up to Omaha to get going with our College World Series coverage. I'll be joining him later in the week. We're excited to have all kinds of stories On Whole Hog sports.com today on the podcast we will be joined by Cokie Riley who joined me on Zoom yesterday to talk about the matchup with lsu. He covers the Tigers for the Advocate and he covered their national championship run in 2023 and will be up in Omaha as well. So talking about the LSU perspective on Saturday night's game with Cokie Riley and also Anthony Christensen will join us on the desk in studio to talk about his way too early men's basketball top 25. He's our resident AP voter so he's already thinking ahead and being very thorough with his with his thoughts on the men's basketball season. So we will get to all of that starting with our interview with Cokie Riley after a word from Kendall King.
[00:01:12] 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 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.
[00:01:45] Speaker D: I am joined now by Cokie Riley who covers LSU baseball and football for the Advocate. He's headed to Omaha to cover the Tigers at the College World Series and I'm looking forward to seeing him there. I've known Cokey for a few years now since he's been on the LSU beat. Kogi, thank you so much for joining us.
[00:01:59] Speaker E: Thanks for having me on.
[00:02:01] Speaker D: So you covered their national championship run in 2023. Just how you know from the LSU side of things, what's kind of the mood going into this, not only this game but this College World Series as a whole? And is it comparable at all to kind of what 2023 was like?
[00:02:17] Speaker E: I don't know if it's totally comparable to what 2023 was like, just because there was definitely this feeling of this is the best team, they have the most talent, all that sort of stuff, even if they weren't necessarily the number one team heading in and they were just so hot heading into this, heading into Omaha.
This year's teams I guess a little bit different and you have the struggles against Little Rock.
They had two pretty explosive performances against West Virginia, but West Virginia also didn't do themselves any favors by consistently shooting themselves in the foot during that super regional.
But, yeah, overall, I think this game, I think a lot of LSU fans at least think that, you know, and even probably J. Johnson as well, because Jay Johnson has said multiple times that Arkansas is the most talented team in the country. He's. He said that a couple times already.
And it's. That this game is going to go a long way in determining who ends up winning this entire thing.
These are the two most talented teams in the tournament. It's odd that the two best teams are facing each other in the first round like this.
It just tells you, like, the magnitude of this game. And LSU's never won a College World Series that went in the first game.
So, you know, it's just hard to win four games in five days and just have no wiggle room like that. So whoever wins this game, I think is probably going to be the national champion. And that's a very dramatic thing to say for the first game of the College World Series, but when you look at the rest of the field, it's hard to make that any. Any other sort of argument.
[00:03:48] Speaker D: Yeah, the way this tournament shook out has been so interesting and not what anybody expected with just who has ended up here. You know, you've got a representative from every conference, basically all the major conferences, plus a couple others, which is really interesting. And are you, you know, the conversation about them facing each other in the first round and how you've got the two best teams in the tournament in the first round.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Are.
[00:04:08] Speaker D: Are you Team Reseed or not? I. I personally don't know. My, like, my instinct is no, because I like, you know, a Murray State, like, having a shot, you know, and know I like that. But I also understand, you know, especially for teams like Arkansas and teams like lsu, A. Reed would benefit. But are. Are you. Are you on Team Reed there?
[00:04:30] Speaker E: I. I don't think I'm on Team Reed, and we talked about this on our podcast a little bit earlier today. But I don't think, like, LSU fans in particular at least can really complain about the sort of draw they got. They got the lowest four seed in the tournament, they got the lowest three seed in the tournament, at least in terms of rpi. And then they faced the DBU team that was really, really. That just didn't play well at all. When they faced him in the regional and the super regional, they got a two seed. So you can't, I think if you're an LSU fan. Like, yes, it's a tough draw to be able to have Arkansas as that first team, but there's, you can't really complain because they probably got one of the easiest paths out of all the teams that have gone to Omaha here. But anyway, as, in terms of, like, should they recede the tournament?
I don't know. It's like, who's to say who's really the best team and who's really not the best team? Even though we've just spent the last five minutes saying how LSU and Arkansas are the two best teams. Right. So I, I, I feel like, Yeah, I, I just sort of, I just sort of feel like there's, you just can't really make the, make the argument that I, I guess you can make the argument that they, they should recede this whole thing, but like, I guess sort of the beauty of the NCAA tournament and as we've seen so far in this tournament, you know, the favorites aren't always going to win. And I, I don't know, like, you have to face a team like Arkansas at some point and beat them. So if, whether it's the first game or the last game, that's the reality of the situation.
So I guess maybe for more of an, from an entertainment standpoint, you could definitely make the arc. I think you'd make that argument. But in terms of, like, what's fair and what's not, I don't know. It's hard, it's hard to, it's hard to recede because of that.
[00:06:07] Speaker D: Right. And I mean, to your point about who's just, who's to decide, you know, it's, we already saw a little bit of controversy with some of the seating for the tournament overall, you know, with Vanderbilt being as high as, you know, being number one, and, and whether that was justified or not, and, you know, how they kind of balance RPI versus eye test, you know, and that's. Anytime you have a committee deciding on anything that's, there's always going to be seating controversy. So then you would just kind of introduce another round, which maybe that doesn't, you know, that doesn't necessarily mean you shouldn't do it, but it would be another thing that could cause some, you know, there could be some discontent with how that shake shook out or, you know, how do you kind of decide it that way, you know.
[00:06:44] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
[00:06:47] Speaker D: So you mentioned LSU kind of having a pretty favorable draw, pretty clear path to, to Omaha. How much do you think there is to be said for the Fact that Arkansas is going to be the biggest test that they've had in the tournament. I mean Arkansas coming off a super regional, you know, versus Tennessee, that was pretty big. They had a favorable regional draw and they, you know, did what they were expected to do and got through their unscathed. And then they have Tennessee and that was, you know, such an emotional series for all kinds of reasons, rivalry reasons, Tony Vitello reasons, everything.
[00:07:16] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:07:16] Speaker D: And then, you know, they get through.
[00:07:17] Speaker B: To play a close game and then.
[00:07:18] Speaker D: They kind of dominate that second one. LSU had a little bit of a different story. You mentioned the, this kind of scare with Little Rock. Just what do you make of the fact that their first big test is coming in this spot?
[00:07:32] Speaker E: I find it interesting because these two teams did play the regular season. So at least we have that like direct sample about a month ago.
And I think LSU's pitching matches up pretty well against Arkansas in terms of the strikeout stuff. And they can get the alloys, the swing and miss at pitches quite a bit. And you saw that a lot when those two teams played the box. But again it was at the box. This is going to be in a different setting. It's going to be more of a pitcher friendly setting which might also help LSU here because Arkansas has the better offense.
But really like my question for LSU at least in this, in this matchup is like do that, can they get to 5 runs?
LSU this season has notoriously been amazing when they score at least five runs in a game. They only have two losses this season when they've scored at least five runs.
And that a lot of that's because of their pitching. And when their offense is rolling at all, they, they pretty much always win.
And I, that combined with it's the fact that it's just gonna be tough to score runs, combined with the fact that they're not very good against left handed pitching. And Zach Root is obviously one of the better left handed pitchers in the country.
It's going to be a massive challenge for that offense. And that's if you're an LSU fan, that's the part of this that you're probably worried about the most. And as you said like this is their easily their biggest challenge in the NCAA tournament.
The familiarity of it kind of makes it, you know, maybe a little bit less intimidating. The fact that you already beat them twice, including that 13, three game that was only went seven innings.
But yeah, I, I'd say overall it's, it's definitely going to come down to whether any else you can hit the ball here because, you know, as we, as we've seen, they can lose to anyone when they're not, you know, when they're not totally on. So that's, it's, it's going to be a big challenge for them.
[00:09:26] Speaker D: Yeah. My Matt Jones, who's our usual podcast host, he pointed out to me on one of our shows, I think last week that Zach Root has kind of had a pattern this season where he'll put together back to good outings and then he hasn't been able to add a third, so he kind of gets two and then he kind of goes back and he'll have like a four inning start. And you know, he had a really good start in the regional against Creighton. Throws six shutout innings. Then he has another good start in the super regional, you know, throws seven with I think one earned run.
Do you. You touched on this a little bit. But are you expecting this to be kind of a similarly sort of low scoring game to that first regular season.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Game that they played when these two.
[00:10:01] Speaker D: Guys were on the mounds?
[00:10:02] Speaker E: Yeah, especially when you put in the Omaha factor where the wind's probably going to be blowing in from center field and nothing's going to go out and it's going to be, you know, home runs are going to turn into routine fly balls. And you know, you hear about it and then you show up there and you see the ball just die in the outfield from our press box seat.
And I, it's, yeah, it just really, it's just going to tamp down the scores of these games, even almost no matter who's on the mound.
And I think that helped LSU out a lot in 2023 when they had a bunch of fly ball pitchers who live in the upper half of the zone. And like, they could really sort of play into that against Wake Forest. And now this time around, they don't have as many like high ball pitchers, but at the same time, like they're probably a better defensive team than they were in 23 even. And I feel like they have more pitching depth than that 23 team did where you were just kind of stringing together Nate Akenhausen and Riley Cooper and Griffin Herring together and trying to win three games in three days.
This team has more options, they're more volatile options when it comes to strikes. They throw a lot of balls. This team walks a lot of people.
But they got really good stuff, you know, multiple guys out of the bullpen who throw 100 and just a lot of talent.
And when those guys Throw strikes. They're very, very tough to stop. Like they didn't use any of their top four pitchers against Ole Miss in the SEC tournament. They hold, held in the two runs, but when they're not throwing strikes, it's really, really ugly stuff against. It's 10 runs against Little Rock.
10 runs and 11 walks against Little Rock. So it's. So I, I think it's going to come down to that maybe later on in the tournament if these two teams face each other again.
But for this first matchup.
Yeah, I think it's going to be low scoring. A lot of has to do with the park. A lot has to do with the fact that these two teams talented pitching staffs and I don't know, like, whoever gets the five runs is probably going to win the game, I'd say.
[00:12:00] Speaker D: Yeah, I, I think you're right. That's kind of my expectation too. And I'm, I'm interested to see how Arkansas's offense is kind of affected by the, you know, the way the field is. And I'm not, you know, they're used to it, they've been there, whatever. But this is not necessarily, I wouldn't say this is an Arkansas team that like lives and dies by the home run. You know, they, they've had that in years past where they've, they felt that they relied too much on, on home runs, but obviously they haven't hurt them and they hit a lot of home runs and so you know, where, how much they're going to be able to adjust to a park like this and to a situation where it's just going to be. Those are just going to be harder to come by. I'm, I'm interested how they actually kind of adjust to that. And it's something they've had to do in years past. They're not new to it, but just with this particular lineup and, and how much power they have and against lsu. I mean, you mentioned your, your point about the alloys and, and what LSU's pitching staff was able to do against them in some of those games. And so I think how Arkansas's lineup adjusts is going to be really big. And you know, you mentioned the alloy thing is, is there anything else you feel like other lessons from that regular season series that you think LSU or Arkansas on the flip side can kind of take from what they saw from each other in that regular season series? Because it wasn't all that long ago.
[00:13:02] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah. And I think LSU could force a lot of swing and miss, force a lot of Whiffs. And that's. You kind of saw that in that, in that regular season series between the two teams when Anthony Ironson and Kate Anderson were on, they were getting swings and misses and against their, and against. It's their top guys as well. Heaven especially.
And I, I just feel like they have the talent to be able to maybe not expose that, but to, but, but to pick at it.
And I mean, we are. I, I think LSU will almost certainly start Kate Anderson for that first game.
So. And he, you know, he's second in the country in strikeouts, so it's a.
And he did get hit around a little bit. Him and Anthony Einstein against West Virginia. One, West Virginia is a pretty good offensive team. And two, I think the weather had a part to do with it. I mean, we were talking mid, you know, low to upper low to mid-90s and humid.
And, you know, the ball was kind of flying and the guys were getting tired as, as those outings went along because both those guys threw really well through the first four or five innings. And then things. Things really tapered off after that. So I don't think you're quite going to have those sort of conditions in Omaha.
It's going to be a night game, so it'll be a little bit cooler. You're going to get, you know, the park advantages that come with that.
Then the real question for lsu, then, if the pitching is going to be there, which my guess is it will be, and what is the offense going to do and can they get to Root at all? I think they scored two runs and six innings against him last time out on five hits. They did an okay job. Not a great job.
I think they're gonna have to do a little bit better this time because they can't rely on Aiden Jimenez just losing his command, which is what happened, which kind of determined the series. It tied the game, sent the game the extra innings, and then also you won five to four.
So, yeah, like, that's, like that. Like, they've got to do. They've got to win the battle between Anderson and Root. And if they do that, they're going to win this game. But if they don't, then Arkansas will. Arkansas will win this and they'll probably win the national championship too, as dramatic as that sounds.
[00:15:09] Speaker D: It's crazy though, the way, I mean, you're right about that. The way the bracket's set up, you would expect. That's what you would expect. So when you were there in, in 23, did you go to Rocco's for a Jello shot.
[00:15:18] Speaker E: Yes, I did. Did a whole story.
[00:15:20] Speaker D: See, I didn't. Okay, awesome. I didn't make it out there. When I was there in, in 22, the last time Arkansas went, I didn't actually go. I think I was a little afraid of the crowds, but I was thinking I was like Rocco's. No one has to be more can be more excited about this matchup than Rocc.
I mean, all of the Arkansas fans and all the LFC fans are going to be there and all of the jello shots that they are going to buy. I feel like the only thing that could make it better for them would be if all this were here. Yeah, these are like two of the record setters for sure.
[00:15:49] Speaker E: You know, Absolutely did a whole story on it. And sometimes we would show up after games, like later, later at night after games and, you know, people would be there. Like, like some somehow, like there were people here in Baton Rouge would like Venmo, people who are over in Omaha to buy them jealous shots despite the fact that they weren't even there. Just, just to, just to shoot up the tally.
So, yeah, it's, it's gonna be absolutely. It's gonna be wild and it's gonna be a lot of fun.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm excited to be there. I think this, you know, it's just.
[00:16:20] Speaker D: Gonna be totally packed, I think, for this game, so it should be really fun. But while I have you here, I want to throw in a couple of football questions because that is my way and I am the host.
But just, just since I have you in, since football, I know it's June, but we'll, we'll do a little football discussion. I, we put out our, we put out our Arkansas Football Preview magazine of Hogs Illustrated recently, and we included, you know, a preview of all Arkansas opponents, everybody on their schedule. And I wrote up the LSU one and I picked Nick Anderson, the receiver, as the player to watch for lsu. And so, you know, everything I was looking at for lsu, kind of preseason hype, a lot of it is about him. And so what's kind of the level of excitement around him at lsu? And then who else would you kind of pick out as somebody to watch besides Garrett Nussmeier?
[00:17:06] Speaker E: Yeah, I, I think Anderson's a good pick in part because injuries really derailed his season last year. The year before, it looked like he was kind of a rising star at receiver and that. And I, I, I guess, you know, the struggles of Oklahoma last year combined with those injuries is why he's here at lsu. Now, and I, I think he's very important for their offense because of his size. They don't have a lot of bigger big receivers. Aaron Anderson, shorter than me.
Chris Hilton is, you know, maybe 6, 6 foot, 61 ish. I mean, but like Nick Anderson's like a big 6, 3, 64 body. I can go up there and grab it, grab the ball. Like they needed that.
And they have some athleticism at tight end and some, some depth there despite losing Mason Taylor. So he's a really good choice in terms of like the most important aspect of the scene because they have a lot of new weapons on this year's team returning. They're returning Kate Durham at running back. They're obviously returning Garrett Nussmeier quarterback, but you know, they're gonna have a new number one tight end, new most. A lot of new receivers at new wide receivers around Garrett Nussmeier as well. So I think the biggest question with that offense, though, the thing to keep an eye out for is the offensive line. I mean, you're gonna have four new starters. Will Campbell was the, was, you know, the fourth pick in the draft.
So, you know, it's a lot of new there. And the one returning starter really struggled last season. And D.J. chester at center, they might move him to guard. They added a couple veteran transfers who in theory could really help him out, but we don't really know what that starting offensive line is going to look like heading in the next season. And I think that's. If there's going to be like a weakness for this team, it's probably going to be that, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
[00:18:51] Speaker D: It's funny you're mentioning all these kind of strengths and weaknesses of this offense, and it sounds a lot like Arkansas. You know, they've got, they've got their quarterback back. Their receivers are maybe a little undersized. And, you know, Arkansas kind of, I think, has more concerns at receiver than lsu, but. And I think quarterback is more of a question too, for sure. But I'm not saying these are the same teams, but it's funny.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: And then offensive line, you know, a.
[00:19:10] Speaker D: Lot of new people, a lot of replacing to do. It's. It's the same kind of beef as we're seeing on the Arkansas football beat about, you know, kind of the concerns or, or what we're waiting to see. But with lsu, I mean, there's, there's preseason buzz about them as a playoff contender is that, you know, it's June, but do you feel like that's kind of an overreaction or do you think that's kind of a fair expectation? You know, some people as, you know, a real title contender?
[00:19:31] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean, if they don't, I'll say this, like, if they don't get there, I think, you know, people are going to get really, really angry and upset and that's definitely going to be the expectation heading into the area. It should be. When you have a quarterback who is probably going to be a first round pick, a returning starting quarterback who's probably going to be a first round pick, you have the talent, they have a receiver, you have the recruiting classes they've had. And also when you factor in the amount of money that they spent on the transfer portal this, this off season, they spent a lot and they added a lot from the portal, so on both sides of the ball, honestly, at almost every position. So considering that how much older they're going to be this year because of that, like, the expectations are massive heading into the season, to be quite frank. So, yeah, I mean, just huge.
It's, it's like that, that is, they have to make, they kind of have to make the playoff this year.
There's no more, there's no more excuses. I guess that's the best way to put it. Like this is, this year is the year for them to do it. And I mean, the schedule, I wouldn't say it's favorable, but I mean, after that Clemson game, you could argue that they're the favorite from that point on just based on home road stuff. And I mean, they haven't won an opening game since 2019.
They haven't won a season opener since 2019. And it's going to be tough to keep, it's going to be tough to break that streak this year when they have to go at Clemson to open the season. So they're gonna, there's a decent shot. They're going to be in a bit of a hole. And then after that they, they're probably gonna have to come close to winning out, if not winning out.
So it's, it's. The expectations are massive this season, to say the least.
[00:21:16] Speaker D: Yeah, the opener thing is crazy. And then, yeah, for them to keep having these tough games, I mean, that's, that's gonna be the one to watch in week one for sure. But Koki, thank you so much for joining us. Talk a little baseball, a little football. I'm, I'm so excited about this, this, this game on Saturday night and, and I will see you out there.
[00:21:31] Speaker E: Yeah, I'll say out there. Thanks for having me on.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: Thanks again to Cokie Riley from the Advocate for joining us via Zoom to talk about LSU baseball versus Arkansas. Coming up, we will talk to Anthony Christensen in the studio up next about a little men's basketball. But first want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971 and they are committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas, and if you're looking looking for skilled craftsmanship, you can choose Bentonville Glass for all of your glass market needs with the highest quality products. You can Visit them at 507 S. Main in Bentonville or at bentonvilleglass.com @Kindle.
[00:22:06] Speaker C: King we're proud of over four decades of design.
We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kendall King, Soapbox and Shopcart. Together these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas.
Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shop Cart. We are Design.
[00:22:37] Speaker B: Welcome back. I'm joined in studio now by Anthony Christensen, our resident AP voter who put together a way too early June men's basketball top 25. He's very thorough. We'll get to his methodology where he can expect explain how much work he puts into this. But before we go into basketball talk, I wanted to mention that track and field is competing at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. It starts today, Wednesday and goes through Saturday. So the men are Wednesday and Friday and the women are Thursday and Saturday. And I really think the men's team has a shot at an at an NCAA title. They always, it seems like they always do. I think they're set up really well this year with 15 entries. We're going to have coverage of every day of the meet on whole hog sports.com so we will be watching that. It'll be between me and Anthony. We'll have all of the coverage that you need of track and field. They've never won an outdoor title under Chris Bucknham and He's been here 17 years, which is really surprising because of how much they have won. But that's the one title that they haven't gotten a team title with him. And I think this is they have, they're set up really well to do it. I think the women's team, they have, I believe, 13 entries, but they're ranked number nine. I think just with the way it shakes out, they have a lot of people in the 400. So just, just a scoring opportunity. It would be harder for them, I think, to get a team title. It's not impossible. But I do think the men's team is set up really, really well if they can get done what it seems like they can get done with a wide variety of entries. So track and field's been really exciting. I've enjoyed covering it this season. It's covering a team that's great in any sport is fun. Winning is fun. And so they are a great program to follow. And like I said, we'll have all the coverage that you need on whole hog sports.com and I believe that'll also go in the newspaper as well. So we'll be keeping up with track and field, but we want to do some June basketball talk with Anthony.
I was very. He had, he texted us behind the curtain. He texted us and said, be warned, I have a behemoth way too early, top 25 coming. And it is, it's about 2,500 words. But you were.
So I want to talk about your methodology first because. So last season was your first as an AP voter and you are very thorough in your act. Like your real AP vote too, because you do. So explain you do a top 25 and then a next 25.
[00:24:40] Speaker A: Yes, I do. Like, yeah, full top 50 just to make sure I'm, I'm not just honing in on a specific group of teams or anything like that. So it kind of forces me to pay attention to everything else that's going on as opposed to just, you know, here's these six teams in the SEC who are doing good or doing well. I should say I'm tired. But here's these teams in the Big ten or here's this one mid major team that's having an outstanding season. Shout out Drake. So, but yeah, that's kind of my in season kind of philosophy, I guess, is how I kind of took it on.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: But yeah, do you do. Somebody told me, or maybe it was you or maybe it was somebody else who was just marveling at your process. Don't you do another 25? Like don't you do a 70? Basically 75.
[00:25:22] Speaker A: I do not. Okay, for this, I did 65. For my way too early. I started with a list of 65 teams that I at least to some degree considered having in the top 25.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: So you said in this, this story is on wholehunksports.com, we published it yesterday. On Tuesday you wrote that you, you looked at the rosters and the coaching Staffs. You went through every conference and you looked at every team and you went through rosters and coaching staffs. You filtered out for the ones you thought, okay, these are the ones that I think are actually contending. You didn't go through coaching staffs and rosters for like every college basketball.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: Correct? Yes.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: You filtered all that.
[00:25:57] Speaker A: I did look through every conference.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:25:59] Speaker A: And like, kind of deciphered like, okay, I'm not going to have any teams from the Ohio Valley or the Summit League or, you know, wherever, or the, the Mac, the double.
[00:26:08] Speaker B: The double.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: But yeah, so I went through every conference and just kind of looked through, you know, who I think is at least worth considering.
That sounds a little mean. Worth considering, but seems that I think could at least contend for, you know, those top 25 spots.
So that led me from, from, from every conference. I narrowed it into a list of 65 teams that I eventually shaved to a top 25. So looked at the rosters, the coaching staff turnover, who they lost, who they brought in, incoming freshmen, incoming transfers, you know, how much coaching staff turnover was there? Like, for instance, I heavily considered Murray State because I think that is genuinely one of the top 30 to 40 rosters in the country. But it's a whole new coaching staff and a first time head coach. So how much do we think there's going to be a learning curve there? I think that, I mean, there's worse things to do than hire A Greg McDermott assistant coach, which is what they did with Ryan Miller there. And I mean, every, every one of his assistant coaches seems to go on and be successful head coach, but just want to see a little bit more like actual on the court evidence before I throw them into the top 25. So that's just one example.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: But yeah, the Racers are so up right now.
[00:27:27] Speaker D: The Racers are very up in all sports, apparently.
[00:27:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Baseball. Welcome to Omaha. Shout out to Missouri Valley Conference.
Men's basketball team looks good. The women's basketball team's always solid. I don't really know much about any other Murray State sports.
[00:27:42] Speaker B: Honestly, at this point you could tell me they're all amazing.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: Apparently their football team's quite horrible.
[00:27:47] Speaker B: Oh, they have a. I guess that makes sense.
[00:27:48] Speaker A: Yeah. FCS football team.
[00:27:50] Speaker D: Wow.
[00:27:51] Speaker B: Okay. Who knew?
[00:27:51] Speaker A: I think they're, I think they're competing in the Missouri Valley.
[00:27:54] Speaker B: I was going to say. Well, I don't know what they're. Okay.
[00:27:56] Speaker A: Which apparently, and I'm no football expert, but apparently the Missouri Valley is like the SEC of fc.
[00:28:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: So that's, that's Tough.
[00:28:05] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: I shout out Murray.
[00:28:07] Speaker B: So with your, with your top 25 here, you. How long did this actually take? Like, when did you start working on this? Because you also have written. You didn't just list teams. You explained kind of everything that you think about all these things, why you've put them where they are and you, you know, you name a lot of specifics. So how much, how much research and how long did you spend on this?
[00:28:24] Speaker A: As for like the writing itself, I wrote this all on Monday and it took me from like 9am to like 4pm or something like that. So I was just, I was hammering away.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: Don't let anyone tell you sports journalism isn't a 9 to 5 job.
[00:28:38] Speaker A: Exactly. But as for the research, I mean, I mean, it's really just kind of been all off season. I didn't want to do this before a, before the transfer portal closed because there's just so much movement and a lot of things can change. Yeah. Which I.
No disrespect to anybody else, but anytime I see, you know, a top 25 while a portal still open and people are still uncommitted and everything like that, I just kind of like, don't really.
[00:29:04] Speaker B: It'S not really worth looking at because you just don't know. They could get a game changing player in the portal or they could lose somebody. That's game change, you know.
[00:29:10] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. And then I also wanted to wait until after the draft, the NBA draft deadline, to see who, who withdrew and who came back and who stayed in and, and you know, all that stuff. So I've been following along with, with all of that and kind of seeing, you know, where all these different players wound up and everything along those lines. Like, I mean, on the.
I don't remember if it was the exact draft deadline day or when it was, but you know, Houston got Milos Usen back and then lost Pop Isaacs in the same day. So I mean, that just kind of shows that's just how much and how quickly things can change.
So really it's been all off season.
[00:29:48] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:29:50] Speaker A: But.
Yeah, and then I kind of, I made a rough draft a few weeks ago that I didn't like write anything for. I just kind of listed out 25 teams from.
I think at that point it was like a 70 team list.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:08] Speaker A: And then now I shaved that down to 65.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: And then have an updated top 25. So that's. To put it lightly, I've been working on this, I guess since April, if we want to be.
I guess Taking all encompassing.
But if we're talking about just this version, I guess it would be since the draft deadline.
[00:30:32] Speaker B: So you've got Arkansas at 11.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:30:34] Speaker B: You've already had someone, at least one person, get mad at you for not having them in the top 10.
[00:30:39] Speaker A: I don't know that they're.
[00:30:40] Speaker E: Matt.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: I was just kind of like, okay, it's right there.
I did have it noted and that's fun.
I did consider. I think I considered like putting like the ranges of where I considered teams on here, I think. And I. Obviously I didn't, but I think the highest I considered having Arkansas was seven.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: The lowest was like 14.
[00:31:00] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:31:00] Speaker A: So kind of landed right in that middle ground, I think. I think Arkansas has got a very good roster. I think the continuity is really good. Obviously they return a solid core of, you know, Billy Richmond, Carter Knox, D.J. wagner and Trevin Brazil. You get those guys back and that's a really solid core, especially with how much those guys kind of progressed throughout the season. I mean, you look specifically at Trevor Brazil and how much he kind of was a huge reason why they got in the tournament to begin with. And then Carter Knox, his kind of, his growth as a shooter, Billy Richmond, just kind of how those guys progressed. And D.J. wagner when he really got settled in as the primary ball handler when Boogie Fland went down. I think you really started to see the team kind of mold into what it should have been the whole season, frankly. Not to say that sounds mean, but.
But yeah, just the way the team should have been. And I think we did see that kind of vision, I guess is the right word, kind of when it was getting into the NCAA tournament. So there, there was that. And then you look at, you know, the, the incoming class, obviously Malik Ewan and Nick Pringle, those guys are going to be big time rebounders, which is something. It's a big time need that they went in and addressed. And then you got Darius AKA from Malik Thomas, SA Asili, Kareem Rittel, all those guys coming in as freshmen. So I, I think the roster is absolutely worth considering in, in that kind of range that I mentioned earlier.
And then you get to, okay, what are the concerns? I think shooting is a concern because I think you're. I think you're. You're looking at Carter Knox kind of continuing that.
That growth he had last season, which I think is going. I think that's very possible and likely even.
Which, you know, he got some good feedback from the NBA drafts, you know, having returned from there. So I Think that's that, you know, is there going to be another option? I know Malik Thomas is a really good shooter, but how much is that going to translate in year one? I mean, he's a five star freshman for a reason, so you'd expect him to, to hit the ground running, at least in that regard. So I think that is probably the biggest concern. And then you kind of get into the concern of okay, where's the depth? Which is kind of a concern last year, but in the end once the rotation kind of shrunk a little bit like they got better.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: Right.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: So maybe, maybe it's not as big of a concern. But I think that's the overview of where I, of what I thought with Arkansas.
[00:33:24] Speaker B: And hey, anybody who thinks that's too low, they're your second highest ranked SEC team.
[00:33:28] Speaker A: They are my second highest ranked and.
[00:33:29] Speaker B: They'Re ahead of Kentucky. So people, people should be considered.
[00:33:33] Speaker A: To be frank, I did consider Kentucky in that same like 7 to 14 role or role 7 to 14 range. So I think my main concern with Kentucky is kind of the roster continuity. They lost a lot of graduating seniors, lost a lot of, not a lot of transfers. But I mean you lose a guy like Kirk Cresa, you know, you lose, you lose guys like that.
But I mean you look at the, the transfer haul that's kind of coming in for, for Kentucky, I mean, Jane Quaintance, Jalen Lowe, Denzel Aberdeen just won a national title at Florida. Modi Mo Diabate, Cam Williams. I mean that roster is, it's really good and I want to know how it gels before I kind of throw Kentucky in there just because of how much it lost from, from last season. But I mean, you look at, it's kind of a similar situation to what Mark Pope inherited. I mean there was no team there when he got there.
So it, I would expect it to be another good team for sure. It's a similar position. And you know that their team on paper is probably as good, if not better than it was last year. So I'm excited to see what Kentucky does.
[00:34:38] Speaker B: We've got a confirmed Arkansas opponent up at number two on your on your way too early at Houston. So we just, we found out the other day, Houston, Arkansas. I'll be playing them in Brooklyn, which is pretty exciting. I'm hoping to make it up there for that. I think that'll be really, I like that they're doing this New York thing just because it gives us a trip to New York, which is pretty exciting. And you know, Arkansas fans traveled really well for that last year, which is part of why they wanted to do it.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: Yeah. John Caliperi was, like, taken aback by how many Arkansas fans were there.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: They'll go anywhere.
[00:35:03] Speaker A: Yeah. No, and it was. It was very fun. I mean, I love New York City. I got to stay with a friend of mine, which was a lot of fun.
That was a choice of mine that would have put me in a hotel, but I just wanted to see my friend. But, I mean, you look at this Kentucky or Houston roster. Excuse me. I mean, the returning of, you know, miloshizan Emmanuel Sharpe, Joseph Tugler might be one of the best defenders in the country coming into the season. And then, I mean, Sam Houston State transfer Khalifa Sacco, he's, you know, he's. He's big.
He's big on the boards. He's really good. And then Houston has. Which is kind of a bit different from what Kelvin Sampson has done in the past. I mean, has a really heralded freshman recruiting class.
I mean, you look at the guys they've got coming in. Chris. Chris Cenac, if I'm pronouncing his name correctly, I apologize if I'm not. You know, he's his highest rated freshman signee ever. And you got Isaiah Harwell and, you know, Kingston Fleming's coming in as well. I mean, it's a really good team that didn't lose a ton. I mean, they did lose LJ Cryer, who was an All American, to graduation and a couple of other guys. But, I mean, this. This. This Houston roster is. Is outstanding. And I do think Kelvin Sampson is up there with the best coaches in the country.
[00:36:12] Speaker B: One thing I like about, you know, AP rankings, the. The official. The real ones is when you can go on college poll tracker and you can see, I like that they include the, like, extreme picks. So I wanted to ask you, based on what you've seen, are there any of these that you feel like would be graded extreme?
[00:36:27] Speaker A: San Diego State.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: Okay. And you have them. Where do you have 16. Okay. Is that too high or too low?
[00:36:31] Speaker A: I'm much higher on the consensus on San Diego State. I mean, you look at what they've got coming back from last season.
Let me get down to where I've got them, just so I don't. I don't miss anything. I mean, Magoon Guath's coming back is a fantastic name.
Yeah, Magoon Guath is coming back. Miles Byrd is coming back. I think Brian Dutcher is one of the best coaches in the country. Has San Diego State operating pretty much as A high major in the best mid major league. Don't get me wrong, the Mountain west is outstanding in. In men's basketball. But then last season, San Diego State was its biggest struggle was that it didn't really have a true point guard and it went and got it. You know Sean. Sean Newman from Louisiana Tech, who was one of the best point guards available in the portals. I think this team is going to be really, really good. Brian Dutcher teams are always really good defensively.
Just don't look at last season's NCAA tournament game. But no, I think when you look at the roster continuity and how they addressed the needs, I think San Diego State is looking a lot better than I think people are giving them credit for.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I also like that you College Poll Tracker gets a mention in here when you mentioned that it apparently says.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: That you are biased against Oregon and only Oregon. I'm not biased for any team.
I'm not biased against any other team but Oregon. And I don't understand.
[00:37:52] Speaker B: You're just Oregon's biggest hater.
[00:37:53] Speaker A: No, no. I love Dana Altman.
Like.
Like. I, I don't.
[00:38:00] Speaker D: I guess.
[00:38:01] Speaker B: Do you. Does that. And I don't know a lot about how College Poll Tracker works, but I'm guessing does that just mean you tend to put them lower than most people put them?
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Yes. So that is. That is that. I. I disagree. I don't think I'm biased against Oregon.
[00:38:12] Speaker B: I like Oregon. You don't feel a disdain.
[00:38:13] Speaker A: I don't. I don't feel a disdain for Oregon in my heart, you know, but it's a good roster. Jackson Shelstad, I think is one of the more underrated players in the country. Nate Biddle comes back after testing the draft waters. Jamari Phillips, Kwame Evans, both coming back from an NCAA tournament team. And then you bring in, you know, at Sean Stewart from Ohio State and TK Simpkins from Elon. I think those are some good additions to an already good roster. So maybe, maybe mentioning this will.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: Yeah, they're going to listen to this podcast. They're going to say, all right, we'll take the organ off his biases and he'll be perfect.
[00:38:46] Speaker D: Unbiased, no notes.
[00:38:48] Speaker B: I. I'm intentionally not reading your full list because I want people to go to whole hog sports and look at it. But you've got a. At the bottom here, you've got a list of other ones you consider. They're not in a particular order. Who were your. If you know, off the top of your head, who are kind of your first three, four, five out.
[00:39:03] Speaker A: The first three out were NC State, NC and Murray State.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:39:07] Speaker A: I think NC State, Will Wade is there now. So Willie the Kid or the American Gangster, whatever you want to call them, you know, the roster they put together there is outstanding. Darian Williams and everybody else who came in as well, not going to, you know, go name by name on NC State's roster. But I mean, that roster is really good. I think Will Wade is one of the best coaches in the country and everything he did is legal now.
[00:39:31] Speaker D: So justice for Will.
[00:39:33] Speaker A: Yeah, justice for Will Wade, I guess. So that is that. And I mean, I think NC State is, is going to be really good. You know, the ACC looks like it's going to be up from where it was last season, which isn't saying a lot because the ACC kind of stunk to its own standard last year. But I mean, you've got, you know, Duke, NC State, Clemson's going to be good. North Carolina is probably going to be good again. Louisville looks outstanding. Like it's going to be one of the best shooting teams in the country.
North Carolina was probably 27 on my list. I, and maybe, maybe it's a little myself getting into my own head, but I mean the report came out that North Carolina spent $14 million on its roster and I looked at the roster, I'm like, this is what $14 million buys you. So maybe it's a little bit of that. But I mean, North Carolina is going to be really good. I mean, yeah, yeah, it's going to be really good. And then I talked about Murray State kind of at the start of the show as well. Just I think that that roster is really good. I just want to see how that first year coaching staff kind of comes in. First year head coach, first time head coach kind of comes in and puts everything together, but it's kind of a mini Creighton.
Murray State's bringing in, you know, like basically all of the Creighton rotation guys who weren't getting all of the minutes and then brought in a really good recruiting class with some foreign kids. Another kid from, I believe it was UC Santa Barbara. I can't remember his name off the top of my head. So I apologize. But I think that Murray State team is really good. Probably the betters favorite to take the Missouri Valley this year. Not the only Missouri Valley.
[00:41:07] Speaker B: How many people are betting on Missouri Valley basketball?
[00:41:11] Speaker A: From covering. Yeah, I was going to say from my experience covering the Missouri Valley and seeing my, my DMs at the Missouri Valley tournament.
[00:41:18] Speaker E: Oh, My gosh, it's a lot.
[00:41:21] Speaker A: So yeah, so I considered Murray State, not Missouri State. I think that team's going to stink.
Murray State, I considered Illinois State.
Those are the only two Valley schools I considered. Illinois State has an outstanding roster coming back, which is really rare for, you know, a good mid major team coming off the CBI title. I think it's three years in a row the CBI champion has made the NCAA tournament. So Illinois State got, got that going for them and a really good roster kind of coming back. Obviously you got Chase Walker coming back, Johnny Kinzinger coming back, guys like that. So not to get too far into the weeds of the Missouri Valley, but.
[00:41:58] Speaker B: But yeah, so you mentioned you think you feel like the ACC is going to be a little bit back this year as far as the sec, I mean one thing that when I was at spring meetings in Destin a couple weeks ago, a lot of people were asking the basketball coaches about, you know, nobody's expecting them to get the same record number of.
[00:42:13] Speaker A: Shouldn't have got that many teams in to begin with. And Texas had no business being in the NCAA tournament.
[00:42:19] Speaker B: Uh, oh, don't give them a soapbox folks. I, I think so. Nobody is expecting the record number, but there are a lot of people are asking the coaches there, you know, do you expect that the SEC is, is the level of success they, they have started, you know, they have reached, is that sustainable? And I'm wondering for, from your perspective, what you think. Do you feel like the sec, is this going to be another good year again, knowing they're not going to get that many? You can't expect them to get that.
[00:42:41] Speaker A: Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of good SEC teams as, as kind of you should expect.
Like I don't remember how many I have in there, to be fully honest with you. Let's count them at least three, four, let's see. One, two, six. Three.
[00:42:57] Speaker B: I've got six.
[00:42:58] Speaker A: Okay, so six, which is, I, I'm imagining probably the most of any conference. Maybe the Big Ten has more. Big 12, maybe, I don't know. But I, I do expect the SEC to be good again. I'm not sure that I expect it to be quite as good because I mean you look at, I mean the players who, you know, graduated just, just looking at Arkansas, I mean, John L. Davis has gone, Jonas Adu is gone. Those are two big time contributors to a Sweet 16 team you look at. I mean Texas, this whole roster is gone with the exception of Tramond Mark, who still has college eligibility.
[00:43:30] Speaker B: I always liked Tramond.
[00:43:32] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, he's a good player. You know, I didn't, I mean I came here like halfway through the first season, so I didn't get to Tremont experience. Didn't get to really get to know him all that well. But you know, he's a fun player to watch and always hits buzzer beaters against Texas A and M. So that's interesting. Texas A and M, another team lost its entire roster and has a new coaching staff. But I really like what Bucky McMillan's brought in. I think that's going to be a good team.
Missouri is kind of a bit of a question mark. I mean, you bring back Mark Mitchell, but you lose tomorrow. Bates, you lose Caleb Grill. Excuse me.
So that's kind of a question mark. There's a lot of question marks in the sec. I think that's the depth of the league is kind of where I'm looking at like Oklahoma has a really good transfer class coming in, but we all kind of know Oklahoma's game. They play really well in the non conference and then kind of spiral in conference play. And that's one of the teams I would have not had in the NCAA tournament last year if I were in charge, but I'm not.
[00:44:29] Speaker B: But they wouldn't put you in charge with your bias against Oregon.
[00:44:33] Speaker A: Of course not.
How could they? But I would have had Oregon in, just for the record. Yeah, but I think it's going to be an interesting little case study just to see, you know, who it. What happens. I mean, Mississippi State has a lot of roster turnover. Ole Miss has some roster turnover as well, but it kind of returns a good core. So it's, it's an interesting kind of case study. But yeah, I would expect them to get a lot of teams in the tournament again, but just how many I'm not sure enough to see the teams play.
[00:45:02] Speaker B: You could almost say it's way too early to know.
[00:45:04] Speaker A: Some would say that people are saying.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: Thank you for, for joining us. To talk a little bit about your top 25. You can see the full list on our
[email protected] Anthony's working on a bunch of basketball stories, offseason stuff, the NBA drafts coming up and he's working on some exciting things with that.
And like I said, we'll have track coverage this weekend as they're out at the national championship and of course our coverage from Omaha. Matt's up there. I will be joining him later. We're really excited to see what's going to play out there.
And so you can follow everything we're
[email protected] and we hope to see you on our podcast tomorrow.
