2024-12-26- KSR - Hour 2

Published Dec 26, 2024, 5:33 PM
No description provided

Looking for a mortgage bank to help you make your next major mortgage move, whether it's a refi or home purchase, regardless of whether it's your first one or one of many, consider our friends at Stockton Mortgage, but don't just take our word for it. Stockton Mortgage has over seventy thousand five star reviews and counting, just like this review from Joshua, who says this about his experience with Stockton. They were super professional, always answer my questions I had, and streamlined the process. I could not ask for better people to help me and my family get our first house. I feel blessed to be able to go through them.

Be like Joshua or the sixty nine nine hundred ninety nine others just like him, and get started with Stockton Mortgage today by going to Stockton dot com and get started. I've even used Stockton Mortgage myself on my own home loan. For your home loan needs, Stockton dot com and click get started. Stockton Mortgage NMLS eight two five nine, Equal Housing Lender NMLS, Consumer Access dot Org or.

Back Count number two. Kentucky Sports Radio eight five nine two eighth twenty two eighty seven Here at the Kspar. We are open today. If you're tired of all your Christmas cast roles, you can come get something completely different. Also starting today through New Year's Day. You ever, if you come to Kspar, you pick the winners UH and the score of all the playoff games, and the top ones will have a chance to win fifteen hundred dollars UH during the semifinals or five thousand dollars during the finals. So make sure if you come in to pick the pick the winners. The playoffs start tomorrow night or the or no excuse me, start New Year's Eve tomorrow night's Friday. But four games coming up here in a few days. I'm excited. Uh.

I hit a Christmas reset my DraftKings account. The last week has been absolutely brutal. I mean I am just giving them money left and right. That's good Christmas spirit. Yeah. I hammered us to be to Ohio State. I took all the underdogs in the first round of playoff game. So moving forward this Bowl season, I'm ready to get right.

Yeah. By the way, the just for those of you that are placing wagers on the bowl games. Fourteen bowl games so far, the favorites have won thirteen of the fourteen, so maybe they know something that we don't.

So is the format next week where there's one game again on New Year's Eve and then three on New Year's Day.

That's right, one on New Year's Eve. Yeah, so New Year's Eve. Remember Kentucky plays on New Year's Eve. I think people forget Kentucky plays at two o'clock on New Year's Eve. Then there's a game that night, and then there'll be three games on New Year's Day, including one of them is the Rose Bowl.

Boise and Penn States the game after Kentucky plays.

Yes, all right, so let's talk for a second about twenty twenty four. Like I was thinking about this last night. You know, there's everything all right over there. There's very few things going on on Christmas. So I was thinking about the next few weeks in the show, and I was just trying to go back to Christmas last year and how much has changed in UK athletics since last year. And let's just take let's take the four major sports and think about how much different they are today than they were December twenty sixth last year. We'll start with, like start the Minor one Baseball. I think most people in baseball were like, are we gonna have to make get a new baseball coach? You know, there was a sense of like, well, program is really I don't know, We'll see and then all of a sudden they go through a year, they're in the College World Series and we had a team that was right number one or two in the country a lot of the season.

That's true. Yeah, the baseball made the jump where we were thinking about min Jon was on the hot seat for the past couple of years and markhart Ma had to make a change. He's security spot after what he did last year with that team. That was amazing.

And I know they made it to Oma Hall for the first time and lots of people went out there and had so much fun. But Kentucky proud park over here getting that run that it deserved. That stadium in those home that home stretched to Omahall was so much fun and so electric. There were people in their little pullout chairs hours in advance. So just the path to Omaha Lexidon really deserved it. It was fun to finally have that moment.

Then women's basketball, we were with a lame duck coach last year. Kentucky was one of the worst teams, was the worst team in the SEC, probably one of the worst Power five teams period. And then now you end up taking a coach that's been a Final Four coach. He's come in, they've only lost one game this season. There's a one. Jeff Goodman's daughter is a writer for women's college basketball. She said the Kentucky Louisville game atmosphere was the best home atmosphere and women's college basketball this year. He's done that in just a year. Massive change for the positive with that program.

You know, we don't talk about the women's program enough because it kind of gets overshadowed by what Mark Pope and the guys have done. Yeah, this new coach, new team, I mean, he's got some superstars.

I mean, Kentucky's gonna be I don't know how much people are paying attention, but Kentucky's gonna be one of the three or four best teams in the SEC this year in women's basketball. So they've got that. Now let's go to football. Go the opposite way. Last year, at this time, we are getting ready to get getting ready to go to a bowl game. Right, we're talking about who we're gonna get in the portal or not. We think Liam Cohen is staying right. You think you're getting another year of Liam Cohen and he's gonna go pick his quarterback. There's a lot of excitement about everybody that's gonna come back and the chance that Kentucky can be really, really good next year. Then fast forward a year later and it's like the intensity and excitement Drew has gone the exact opposite way in football.

Yeah, last Christmas with the football fans, we were still, I guess a month after beating Louisville, We're riding high from there. You have that excitement, all the additional You've got Clemson as your bowl opponent, you know, a nice attractive opponent in a ball game. There the Cohen thing you mentioned and we all talk about and I'm as guilty as anyone best roster on paper if it all just comes together about this ceiling. You never had so much depth, so much talent, and we saw how that went. But in December of last year, there was so much optimism, and believe there.

Was a ton optimist. A lot of the guys we needed to say they were gonna return. We're saying they were gonna return. I mean it looked like you couldn't have asked for a better setup, and then the year goes the opposite. But then, of course the biggest change is basketball. I mean, it is crazy to think what has happened in a year in UK basketball. You go into this time last year, we're going into SEC play, right, not the greatest non conference, but we people are at this point starting to love Reed Shepherd, starting to love Rob Dillingham. You know, Antonio Reeves has just had his game against Louisville where he had thirty some points, and he looks like a potential All American, and then three months later cows out. Mark Pope, of all people, is the higher and we go from a program that like is about freshman one and done's getting people the draft to the oldest roster in the history of UK. I mean, Ryan, it is insane to think about what a different basketball program it is today than it was one year ago.

One year ago, You're right, who would have thought that we'd be sitting here with Mark Pope as our head coach, with a guy that a bunch of super senior six year seniors. I think they had just lost to UNC Wilmington. I think right before they had.

They had lost to UNC Wilmington, they had just beaten Louisville. They beat Louisville like right before Christmas, but that was the last one well before Louisville.

Right before Louisville was the big win against Carolina and Atlanta, and that was awesome. I was down there close game where they went by like three points, and then you go and beat Louisville. They'd kind of put that Wilmington game behind them, having those two back to back wins, and then in Zuri and sec play.

Would you have ever imagined sitting here one year December twenty six, twenty twenty three, would you have imagined the downfall of what would happen the next four months, three and a half months with cal especially.

Not at that moment when we saw, like you said, you were starting to see Reid and Rob and see them develop right in front of our eyes.

But the fact that I mean even like that he's at Arkansas, No, I mean the fact that he would end up at Arkansas looking sad, wearing red, that we would lose in the tournament in the first round again to Oakland.

I went into last season, I said on the show, I thought it would be Cal's last year. On a positive note, yes, you know, with DJ Wagner, Reed Shepherd, I kind of thought this is gonna be the last ride. He's gonna make a Final four, and it's gonna be awesome. So at the beginning of here, I did think it could be Cal's last year. I did not think it would go the other way and it would be so bad that it was in last year, then he'd end up at Arkansas and that you could lose to him.

It's kind of interesting because if you were to go back before last season started, there were a lot of friends of his that would tell you this is gonna be it. Right, Like, he's got this last ride with DJ Wagner, He's got this class, he loves, he thinks this team can win it all. He's gonna ride off in the sunset. And I think what's odd is his struggles and the team being bad. I think made him want to come back more, whereas it made the fans want him to come back less. So it actually had the opposite effect on both groups, maybe Ryan, of what we thought it would.

I think you're exactly right. You know, did the last three previous two marches going into this March. You know the early exits. Now after one more early exit. The we think eighty percent of our fan base was ready to make a change.

When he left.

Yeah, talking about in April after the Oakland loss.

I mean yeah, eighties probably right. The twenty that won an him back were vocal. But I think, well, I mean, like, look at this group, how many of you all were ready for a change. Yeah, it was interesting. It was such an age divide though. Yeah, there were young people. Mario was one of them who couldn't foresee a Kentucky team without John Caliperi, And I think that was what made it difficult for people to just fathom.

Well, I think a lot of it wasn't confidence in Caliperi. It was the fear in something else, like what if we just stink. I mean, we have a guy that's already done it, maybe he has a little left.

I don't think.

Anyone's like, oh, cal still got his fastball. I think it was just the fear of making a change after fifteen years with a Hall of Fame coach.

And I think you also had the roster last year that was at least for me, this is where I am. Last year was the roster where I was like, if he can't win it with these dudes, then you know what, we just got to move on, right, Like, if he can't win it with a team that shoots as well as they did, that has two top ten picks, that has a first team All American and Antonio Reeves, and if you still can't beat Oakland with that team, then why do we think this group coming in next year, which is significantly less talented. Why do we think Ryan that's gonna do any better?

I think that's where a lot of our fan base was at exact scenario. You can't get to the weekend of the SEC tournament and you can beat in the first round of the NCAA tournament with one of your best teams you've had in the last five years, what more can we expect? A lot of the same? I think that's what was coming.

I will go to my grave thinking that team last year should have been good. Yeah, that team last year should have been good. You give me I don't care who else is on the roster. You give me Reed Shepherd, Rob Dillingham and Antonio Reeves. You should be able to be really good with those three guards. In today's college Basketball World. Those three guys should be enough to get you to the Elite eight.

That's why going into the year, I thought last it's the perfect ending he has Reed Shepherd, the Kentucky Boy. Yes, I thought DJ, it's kind of like bookends on his career. Derwan Wagner was Cal's flips one and done. DJ could have been of his last class. You had Edwards at the time that didn't pan out, But in November he was projected number one. Yeah, you might have another number one pick. You saw Bradshaw. He could send this great class off to the NBA. And it's his swan song. That's why I thought it'd be his last year. It ended up being his last year, just for the complete opposite reasons.

And remember two years from now or two weeks from now. Last year was that game against Georgia when a visych hit four threes in the first half, and if all of you were honest, we all thought we were winning the National championship after that half, I mean we did. We thought like, now we got this kid, we got no chance to lose. And then he barely had a game like that, hadn't had a game like that since anywhere listen.

Nate Oakes thought Kentucky was winning the national championship after that Alabama game. Yeah said it. He said, we helped Cal find his five. He looks terrified of what Kentucky.

But what was.

Interesting about that is Nato said after we beat Remember we beat a final four Alabama team by thirty and scored one hundred and twenty points on them. And Nato said, after the game, I helped Col just found his five. But here's what's interesting.

Cal still wouldn't play it, wouldn't play them.

He still wouldn't play it. He had to play at that game because I think somebody turned their ankle or something and so and Edwards, to be fair, was really hot in that game. But at that moment, you knew who the guys were and he just wouldn't do it right. He just would not play those guys.

It was obvious to everybody. And while he continued to refuse to play that lineup, the most efficient lineup in the country was still that's malpractice.

Do you think if we did if we had to do it over again and they'd played those three guys Edwards at the four and a big do you think that team or or or those three guys in Wagner or whatever. If they had not insisted on making Justin Edwards the three. Yes, and do you not think we would have been better?

I think you can throw Chris Livingston in that same spot a few years before, if they'd moved him to the forward, quit trying to make him a wing when he wasn't a wing. I think that hurt them back. I think it happened with Edwards and Livingston. We're focused on the three that could shoot, but early in the year Trey Mitchell was carrying them. Something happened with him halfway through the season. But now he should have been the center. They had a great roster Aaron Bradshaw and he got healthy. I mean, he wasn't perfect, but he tre Mitchell couldn't. But that's he should have been the center, and we were trying to play him at four. He could have been like Andrew carry Is at the five and instead anyway, I don't mean to go off on it.

And then and then Mark Pope ends up the coach here. It looks like a huge blessing. Do you think we'll feel that way in five years? Yes?

I think the one unanswered question Mark could he recruit and we're seeing what he can do with the clas coming in next year. He continued to do that answer your question.

Yes, everybody said, can this guy recruit, which is a fair concern. He's proven doing pretty well with it. I was about to get another one in January hopefully. And he can't win a tournament game. Well, he hasn't had the opportunity to win a tournament game yet. Can't hold that against him. But I consider Duke and the Champions Classic and Gonzag and Seattle's as close to winning a tournament game as he can do. So the two knocks against him, I think he's kind of silenced those a little bit.

Yeah, Court physical therapy. If you need physical therapy, go to Court, New Year, New you right, Yeah, yes, Yes, KRT dot com, seventy locations all across the state. No reason to be in pain. Most insurance is taken and you don't need a doctor referral. It's Court dot com. It's KRT dot com. Go check one out today. We'll take a break right back here at Kasbar and Grills, Kentucky Sports Radio WORKO back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio here at the ks Bar and grill eight. I'm nine two eight oh twenty excuse me, twenty two eighty seven, day after Christmas. Energy. It's weird having Christmas midweek because, like, I don't think anyone in the city of Lexington is working today, Like, no one. The streets were absolutely empty. We're open, but it didn't look like very much was open. I think people just pull a billy here on the twenty sixth and twenty seventh and say, you know what, we're not gonna work on these two days.

I think people know if they bring their employees in for Thursday of the twenty sixth and Friday the twenty seventh, probably not gonna get a lot done in those two days anyway. So whatever, just stay home, pull a billy.

Yeah, it's exactly right. One person rights, Matt. Since you're talking about twenty twenty four, I always like your recommendations. Each of you get one choice. What's your favorite TV show of twenty twenty four? Ryan, I'll let you go first, because I'm sure it'll be the best one.

I found Bear. I know I was a couple of season behind, but I found Bear this year. Watched all three eight well. When the new episode came out, series. So that's my pick. Why did you liked it? I think it was. It's phenomenal. I will say this season three is very, very slow. The first two seasons are really good, but the third season that just came out, it's kind of slow. I need to pick it up for season four.

I didn't like season three, but there is one great episode, the flashback episode with Tina where she comes in and gets the job and meets his brother. That's a really great up.

That was a good episode. Yes, Also, I found Righteous Jimstones. You guys have been recommending it for years, found it and watched it this past year.

Like he says, he found it. We've been recommending it to him for years. Found you found it because I've been telling you to watch it for years. All right, So the bear is yours. That's fair. What about you? What's your show of twenty twenty four?

I feel like Apple TV had a good year of Bad Monkeys with Vince Vaughan.

What else did I watch them?

There?

So three or four on there?

But uh, I think my official pick is gonna be what was it called Chip Crazy?

Yes, Chip Crazy, Chimp Crazy on HBO's That's that. That show is insane. It's not Tiger King. Nothing is.

Tiger King is a legend in itself, but it is of the Tiger King family.

Have any have you seen that where she's like in love with the chimps. I know that sentence sounds weird, but that's exactly what it is.

This week I started Land Man, that's kind of the new Shirt and Yellowstone thing. But then Beast Games, which is like Squid Games but on Amazon. That's pretty good.

I would say for me the show to the show of the year, My favorite was probably Ripley. The It was like talented, mister Ripley. I don't want to rupt you, but look at this coat walking in Look at that coat, Look at that cod What a great nice that's right? Uh the yeah, I would say Ripley, which was like from the talent to mister Ripley was in black and white. It was great. And then I'm watching a show now highly you guys all would like this. You need to watch it. Say I've said this before, but say nothing on Disney Plus or Hulu. It's about Ireland, Northern Ireland, and it's so well done. It's a great book that they've made. I've watched half for the show.

It's great. Oh you would like it too. Everybody will like it. Yeah, well, I don't you recommend? Was the one Caleb from Accounting. It's when you visit something like that.

Colin, But that's different. That's not for everybody. This one would be for everybody. Everyone would like, would like say nothing. It's a very thick Irish accents though, so you might have to put it on subtitles.

I'm gonna check that one out. There's one people keep tagging us on Twitter, Kings of Tupelo. I saw the first episode. It's like a documentary, right, Yeah, it's another that Tiger King, Jim crazy, just some people.

You wonder that you're surprised people like that in the world. It's about. It's about real people in Tupelo, Mississippi, which is supposed to have really crazy.

It's an Elvis impersonator and then his brother became a competing Elvis impersonator and took his wife and his competing Elvis in person big enough for two of them and then their brothers, and there's there's all kinds of stuff.

I like that. This town ain't big enough for two Elvis and person so it's not an official endorsement from me. But okay, what's that on Netflix? All right? I may check that out. Who's up next there, Sarah? Go ahead, Sarah, Hi, Matt.

I just wanted to call and kind of corroborate your Bob Huggins story with a personal experience. I used to tend bar at the Marriotte in Cincinnati, and back in twenty twelve, West Virginia was up there playing the University of Cincinnati, and the night before the game, Bob Huggins and all of his staff, athletic chainers, everybody came in and they were just pounding shots of patron, just throwing them back, and they almost went through a whole bottle of patron. And they also didn't tip very well.

So well, that's why you tell the story. If they didn't tip very well, you should. Yeah. I just got annoyed, and I appreciate the call by Huggins the lawyer, acting like I hadn't seen. He was like, there's no proof he was at the bar the night before, and I was like, first of all, I'm sure there is, but my proof is my eyes. I saw them. I don't have his receipt on me.

Yeah, produced what he ordered but I was there, and he was there, and he was there what Bob Huggins looks like?

And then they of course lost, and I thought he kind of looked tired at the end of the game. He wasn't able to stop Kevin Knox when he went off.

And if Bob Huggins is trying to be a little incognito, I wouldn't wear the gigantic West Virginia pullover that he wears for every game.

He wore that, Yes, he wears that everywhere. Must be his only outfit, you know, thinking.

About that weekend, that game though, was one of the best college basketball environments I've ever been in at West Virginia. It was awesome.

By the way, the Harrold Leader today reported what our schedule looks like for next year basketball. Yeah, so we talked about this the other day, but they had an official So we play Louisville at the Young Center. We play in the Champions Classic against is it Kansas? Michigan State? Should be?

Can we just did what was it? It's New York Kansas?

Yeah, I think it's Kansas. We play Indiana at RUP on December thirteenth, So they announced that. So the first Kentucky Indiana game will be at rupp Aerena. December thirteenth, we will play Ucla in the Champions Classic, and then we will play December second or third a home game against an ACC team. So because of our schedule, we don't get Duke or Carolina next year, so the thought is we will get either Duke or North Carolina at home next year. So that means you would have in your non conference schedule next year either Duke or Carolina at home against in Indiana, so you would get those two. That's pretty good.

Great schedule.

Kenzaga series is on in Nashville, and I think that the problem is they don't they don't know when to do it, so like it'll either be very early in the year or it might be in between Christmas and New Year, but we will play. It'll be like our game this year. We'll get to play them in in Nashville, and we control the tickets, so it will basically be all Kentucky fans in Nashville. So really three home games. You basically get Gonzaga, Indiana and then either Duke or North Carolina all at home. So a good a good schedule, and.

It's Michigan State because we played one hundred dickets in last year in the Champs.

So it's Michigan Stadia, all right, So there you go play. We'll take a break. Rright back. It's Kentucky Sports Radio. Water back Tucky Sports Radio here live at KS Bar and grill text machine seven seven two seven seven four five two five four. Remember if you're out here to pick the winners of the games for the for the playoff coming up sports, it's pretty pretty bad set of sports here in the next couple of days. Tonight's like the Seahawks and the Bears, and then there's nothing tomorrow. But then Saturday you get full day of bowls, full day of all that. So that's good.

There's one random bawl tomorrow Pitt plays somebody in the something. But yeah, to your point, not not a lot happening. I like, you're wearing a Bear's shirt and said, nothing going on tonight.

We're terrible. I mean, we're absolutely terrible. The Bears are gonna get destroyed. But the good thing is I wanted to lose every game get a better draft pick. They can't. Pete. I saw the everything about Pete picking Pete Carroll as the coach. He's seventy three years old. Let's not do that. Let's let's get somebody young, that sort of whipper snapper, and let's let's I like Pete Carroll.

But no, And did you say they moved the Bengals game to Saturday?

This Bingos game got moved to Saturday. I'm actually gonna go. Yeah.

Are you gonna go?

Yeah? Because I never get to go. I mean they never I always have the NFL Show, so I never get to go. I think I'm gonna go. Saturday they play the Broncos, big game for the Mingles.

Yeah, we're Saturday off for us in the middle of a basketball season. We don't usually have a Saturday without a game.

Draft Kings. They've got promotions all until New Year's but you bet five, get one hundred and fifty, use a code KSR. It's time for our Draft Kings picks. Let's go through here the balls today, the Game above Sports Bowl? What is Game Above? No, I was trying to pull that name out of my head. Didn't have it. Pit versus Toledo. Next year we opened the season with Toledo and there running back next year will be a guy named Chip Chip Tray and them who just who just left Kentucky and went to Toledo by the way, a little surprising. A big school didn't want him, ended up at Toledo, and we.

Were focused on, oh, we might have to play Dane at Georgia. We got Barryon could be in the conference. No, it's Chip that's gonna be first to me. Opening up with Chip. They're seven to five. They played Pitt. Who you got?

I go Pitt.

Pitt had a good run there for a while. This season fell off at the end.

I thought Pitt was like top twenty five.

Ranks they were at one point. Lost a bunch of pit all right, Pitt and then in the Rate Bowl. I don't know why what that means? Rate our Ate, Rutgers and Kansas State. What do you got? Ruggers good at basketball? By the way, Two top five freshmen if you ever watched him play yet? Dylan Bailey and is it Ace Austin? Is that the name Ace Bailey? Who's Austin Harper? I should remember that since that's my middle name. Ace Bailey and Harper Austin are two top five picks. Those guys are great. Who you got in the football.

Though, I want to say Kansas State with Avery Johnson their quarter, I have no idea if he's playing, but they they're pretty good.

I'll say Kansas State.

I have no idea, so I'll go Rutgers.

I'll go Kansas State. And then in the sixty eight Ventures Bowl, shut your mouth ride Arkansas State in the sixty eight Ventures Bowl against Bowling Green. This game's at nine o'clock on ESPN. Any of you that are watching this, you should find a hoppy if you're watching Arkansas State Bowling Green tonight. Who you got?

Just one more Venture? That's all they needed was one more.

Who you got Bowling Green? Bowling Green?

Bowling Green lost a linemen to Kentucky. They're just in shambles when you lose a player like that to the portal. So are Arkansas State covers?

I'll take Arkansas State. And it's Dylan Harper, not Harper Harper Austin. Harper Austin, not Dylan Harper Harper Austin. They're very, very similar. Who's up next? Evan? Go ahead, Evan, first time? Long time? Who what?

We're approaching conference play here and we've looked good so far besides against Ohio State. I was wondering who you all thought would be the most important player in conference play for Kentucky.

Well, I mean, our most important player is definitely Lamont Butler. But our most important player going forward to me, Drew is I still think for Kentucky to be really good, Jackson Robinson's gonna have to take a leap. He's gonna have to take a leap into that. Even if he doesn't get to Antonio Reeves level, he's got. You know, think about Antonio Reeves. You knew, no matter what, he was gonna give you eighteen to twenty a game, right, no matter what, even if he didn't play well, you were gonna get eighteen to twenty. We gotta get Jackson Robinson to where we know, no matter what, I'm getting eighteen to twenty points from that kid. So that's why I think he's the most important guy going forward.

Yeah, he still shotes away at time when he that second half of Gonzaga Jackson Robinson that took over a point guard and made some big plays to win that game. To answer the question, though, Lamar Butler, if something happens to him, he goes away, shut it down. I just think he is so important to this team.

Is what happens if he were to get hurt? Would we I mean, is he so important to the team that if they if he got hurt, we'd have a hard time making the tournament?

Oh, I mean if it happened early enough in SEC play. I think so, just with the physicality of the guards and the SEC We saw what happened when he was out of game or two, especially with kirbying out, just not having a true point guard at all and the roster there. I mean, he's so important. Got to keep him healthy and playing well.

We have seen, really for the first time in the last couple games, this major drop off from the starters to the bitch. I mean that the top six are a lot better than the rest of our team. And I don't think we knew that at first, but I think it's certainly shown itself to be true here recently.

Like we said, I look about the whole of the mont Butler situation, but I did like when Jackson Robson had to play the point he did seem to thrive in that position.

Well, we did come back and beat Gonzaga without Butler or Kurt I mean we did in that second half. I mean, they didn't have either one of those guys and they were able to do it.

I wouldn't have to see Jackson become more selfish though. Actually, even if he's not the point guard, just I wanted to be a little more selfish.

I do see a little of what we were talking about with the Mario Williams where sometimes it's like you forget he's even out there, when it's kind of like you want to nudge him. You're Jackson Robinson, go get a bucket. I think he has spans of a game where he doesn't see him as all the way in.

How does it make you feel that probably the two best teams in the country are Tennessee and all.

Gross makes you feel like I need to take a bath, But I mean they are.

I mean personally, I think Auburn's the best team in the country by a decent amount. I think Tennessee's gonna struggle scoring enough to win a title, but Drew, I think Auburn's good enough to win the whole thing.

Yeah, and Auburn's not a surprise at all. Once Broom came back and all the pieces they have, we knew they'd be really good. What hurts with Tennessee is the Lanier is playing so well and he's a guy that was down to Kentucky and Tennessee. I'm not saying i'd kick anyone off this roster that we love to add him, but that's the guy Kentucky really went after and he's really panned out Knoxville.

He's been great. And that's now if you go back to Dalton Kanneck last year, you could make an argument Tennessee's gotten the best transfer in the country two years in a row. I mean, Chas Lanier may so far this year be the best transfer in college basketball and they got him last year. With now this one, you know, it's it's annoying. But Tennessee Rick Barnes, they've still never made a Final four though ever in history. But he has got them. He's got that program to where they're just kind of just turning it out.

Zegler, their point guard is back for like the seventh year. He's solid. Also, I'm still in the boat that I don't think Alabama is that far behind Tennessee and Auburn. I think Alabama eventually is gonna be a really good.

Team, but it's gonna be a hard SEC. I mean it's gonna be it's gonna be a really hard We've got to win that first game. We got to win that game against Florida. I mean they're good, and like that's the kind of home game that if we're gonna be good, we have to beat a Florida. I think they're good. I don't think they're undefeated, top ten good, but we've still do we have to win that game.

Yeah, they're scheduled until playing North Carolina recently, who they were up by million on he got close to the end. They've been destroying teams with the opponents haven't been that good, so it's hard to really get a good gauge on them. But just the fact that they're undefeated and they're winning games by twenty something points, they're they're bringing in a very good team in here, and the SEC is so hard.

You gotta win your home games.

You gotta hold serve every night on the road.

Whoever it is about.

You're gonna lose some of those road games coming up.

If I'm nine two eight oh, twenty two eighty seven, we are here at KS Bar and Grill. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. It is a post Christmas. It's weird having one game in three week or two weeks or whatever. But that's where we're at. We'll take a break and be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back. Final segment here Kentucky Sports Radio at the KS Bar and Grill. If I'm nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven, this segment Spont's are by Don Franklin. Tomorrow. We are at Don Franklin in Glasgow. So love to have all the folks there in the Glasgow area come and join us. That is what two hour drive from here in the morning, well over two.

But I'm so excited to give Brandon Stockton a hug and.

Just confirm that he's still They're still alive.

Yes, was he who the somebody called off?

Right?

We shouldn't do that. Uh, he will be there. He'll be there tomorrow. Right, And we are at Don Franklin in Glasgow. I just heard they're bringing uh free pizza for everybody there and then they're giving away tickets to something here at RUP like the water Willie Show or something like that was coming through town. May not hang on, it may not be water Willie. It's it's like some kind of Uh, let's see Hot Wheels Monster Truck Glow.

Nice.

I don't know what hot wheels? What is Hot Wheels Monster Truck? Is that like Monster Trucks? Yeah, but they got the Hot Wheels brand. What makes it glow? The lights that they put underneath the Oh, that sounds like something I could wear my cowboy hat.

Oh definitely, you would fit right in with your cowboy hat.

You know, I've been trying to figure out where was I gonna where is that gonna wear it? Maybe I go to the Hot Wheels Monster Truck Cowboy Glow.

I was pretty disappointed that we can't do radio with the hat because the headsets or I might.

Be wearing mine right now. Yeah, you can't headsets, you can't do it. That's true. Duke Duke signed a quarterback for next year. It's a guy from Tulane. They're paying him four million dollars a year in nil. They think that is the highest amount of football player has been paid so far. If I had told you that there was going to be a quarterback to make four million dollars, you might not have been shocked by that. But what if I told you there was a quarterback there's gonna be paid four million dollars and it was at Duke.

Not a chance, Not a chance. I'm thinking Georgia, Texas an SEC school for sure, not Duke, where football is kind of secondary.

There four million dollars at Duke.

Did someone just wake up one day the rich like I kind of want football to be good now. I would have thought Duke would have kept most with its money towards basketball. And they went out there.

I mean they took a quarterback that was nine and three this year. I mean Duke football was nine and three and good, and they basically told him, you can go somewhere else. We're gonna take this guy. I mean they looked at nine and three at Duke and we're like, yeah, we're gonna try to do better than that. I mean, that's it'd be interesting to see. That feels like a lot of pressure on this dude. I mean, the guy they just kicked out with nine and three.

Yeah, I had great numbers. The two A quarterback Mensa is his name. He's got decent numbers. But you've never really know how someone's gonna translate. To have someone in your locker room that's already done it that's a big jump to go throw a bunch of money at a guy coming from the group of five.

What about our quarterback, cal cal Zada. I see, I'm gonna, I'm gonna I'm gonna wanna call him cal Zona cal Zada. You know, now you've had a couple of days to digest it. How do you think he's gonna do.

Of course, I'm gonna end up being really excited about by the time the season starts, just like I was with vandergriff last year. You know, he's put up some good numbers, he's got a good history. I'm hoping it translates on the field this year. So you're fucking yourself into I'll eventually talk myself into it.

Yes, all right, what about you?

I have not talked myself into it. I mean it's a good addition. You gotta go out and get someone. I just have huge concerns with the all of the things they're gonna have to do between now and the fall.

For all of it working out, I'm glad they got him. He's got a good tape.

I hang on to that win against Number one Alabama when they had a great defense and he drove down the field, But getting me excited for next year's football season is a big.

Task, do you. I mean, I just have no idea how to evaluate this transfer class, you know, like you could tell me they're good or not good, and I have no idea. Like I don't know any of the players. They're all from schools that don't really know. It's just impossible. I mean, it's gonna be so hard to have a feel on this team next year, no matter what happens. I don't care what people say during camp. How are we gonna have any idea if this team is good until they play that first game?

We're not absolutely not. You know, when we had the transfer portal guys like Ray Davis or Dumas Johnson, we've seen those guys play. These guys coming in next year, we don't we know really nothing about them, and.

We don't have a lot of dudes returning from last year's team. I mean, our offensive line is going to have five new starters. Now, I mean that's probably good because the five we had this year were terrible, But like, it's still five new starters, you know, I mean that's gonna be and.

You don't really know till it's September whatever, and you're lined up against Toledo and if it's like, oh crap, he didn't work out, well, that's too bad too.

You're in it. Yeah, I think it's gonna be. It's just it's gonna be so different this year going and that Toledo game. Remember go back to the schedule, Toledo then Old Miss. Yeah, in the exact in the next game, that Old Miss game, there's gonna be so like, such pressure on it because it's one of the few games that you can even look at Drew at home and say, well, maybe we could win that.

I don't want to scare anyone with Toledo, but they went into Mississippi State last year won by thirty. Now Missippi State's stunk, but that's a team that's not gonna be afraid of an SEC school coming off going on the road and winning big just this season, so even week one, I mean, you should be Toledo, but that's not a pushover opponent.

One person rights Matt after the Ohio State loss, I watched your ass video that had all the wins and losses of the year. After the Ohio State loss, do you have any changes on your SEC preview. I'm staying twelve and six. I felt like people thought I was conservative in doing that, but I think that's still about right. I don't think we are as bad as we looked against Ohio State, but I think we're gonna have some bad losses. But I'm still gonna go twelve and six. What about you? You had us at eleven and seven. Eleven and seven. I don't think it's indicative of Kentucky.

I think it's indicative of how strong the SEC is this year. You know, when you're going on the road to places like Oklahoma, you may think you're gonna win. Oklahoma's really good, Florida's really good, Missouri's good, LSU's good. And that's the bottom tier of the conference. So I'm sticking with it.

Okay, I think I said six. I'll keep it there, But my confidence level has dipped a little bit. I read a lot of kN Palm. He's not high in Kentucky this year, and that system has its flaws, but he's dropped the prediction to nine and nine with his analytics.

Oh wow, So I mean, think about it. If we went nine and nine. I mean, that's first of all, very plausible. I mean, nine and nine is very possible, and if you went nine to nine, you would still make the tournament. We would still make the tournament. At nine and nine, we'd probably be like seven seed, maybe at nine and nine something like that. How would you look at the year if we went nine and nine and we were a seven seed.

I still feel like, you know, just the fact they beat Duke Gonzagon Louisville is gonna help me ease the pain if we lose some games in the SEC that maybe.

What if you after you beat Duke Gonzagon Louisville, you lost twice to Tennessee, twice to Alabama and once to Albert.

Oh, I don't think you're gona say Arkansas, well we win that.

Arkansas, we gotta win the Listen, We're not not necessarily even thinking an Arkansas loss into existence. That's not happening.

No, Like Ryan said, one game shouldn't carry as much weight as it does. But beating Duke went a long way with me. Because if I'm being honest, if you told me in October before all this started, that they beat Duke Gonzaga Louisville and went nine to nine in the conference, I'd go I'll take it.

Sign up for that. I think if you said before the year we're gonna go twenty and eleven with those wins, people take it. But I think when you start and you're the number four ranked team in America and then you get there, I think there would be some people who would be disappointed with that. But look, I think we're gonna go twelve and six. I think we're gonna play well, but I do hope people are prepared. We're gonna take some smackdowns in conference play. We just start now. I think we'll give a couple too. Yeah, but we're gonna take a couple and and you know, the Ohio State game kind of proved that to me, Ryan that like, we we're gonna throw a couple of clunkers up.

As poor as this team is defensively in the spots we're gonna have to outscore teams. There's gonna be other games where we have trouble scoring. Just be ready for it.

Yeah, I think I think that's gonna happen. With that said, I still I mean, I mean, I don't know about I'm excited to play in a conference where every game is gonna be good, you know, I'm excited to play where every night. I mean maybe our two easiest games are two of the first three. Right then, I mean there's this periods there's a stretch where they play six straight ranked teams, brutal, six straight ranked teams in conference play. You never would have thought that would happen at Kentucky and the SEC. So I'm excited.

We got over the expectations a little bit with what the record looks like. Not selling a paid Ken palm guy. He has Kentucky losing the first three games in conference play, Florida at Georgia at Mississippi State, and his little predictions of scores.

Georgia, misisip stated arewo of the easiest games.

Well, Mississippi State's good, Georgia should be one of the Yeah, I mean it's gonna be quite a battle. Hey, thank you all very much for coming out. We appreciate it. Nice to see people from all over the state who come in. Nice to see my parents and my uncle over there. Thank you all. We will be in Glasgow tomorrow. Remember, Kentucky plays Brown at two o'clock on New Year's Eve. Our morning show that day will also be our pregame show. Uh, for the game. Thank you all very much. We will see you later. This has been in Kentucky Sports Radio.

In 1 playlist(s)

  1. KSR

    590 clip(s)

KSR

Matt Jones and the KSR crew bring you the latest in UK news and views Mon.-Fri. from 10 to noon.
Social links
Follow podcast
Recent clips
Browse 590 clip(s)