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CFP Final Four
6 Plays14 days ago
Don and Russ talked about the college football Final 4 and how they got there. They also talk a little about college hoops.
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Transcript
Introduction & NCAA Report
00:00:00
Speaker
this is the fuel sports network
00:00:05
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a couple questions for you. Do you love college sports as much as I do? Are you always wondering where you can find the latest NCAA reports? Where you've come to the right place? Welcome sports fans to Fuel Sports Presents. The NCAA report with Don and Russ. You've got to get it done!
00:00:51
Speaker
Look at the air, look at the hang time, look at the flying motion. Look at his head above the rim.
00:01:19
Speaker
I need to win the game!
Casual Chat & Website Plug
00:01:56
Speaker
What the hell is going on out here?
00:02:39
Speaker
The moment you've all been waiting for, here they are, your favorite host, Don Glenn. and Russ Robinson. Well thank you very much Devin Tynan for that wonderful introduction and this is the NCAA report and we always as always with me as my partner Russ Robinson. How you doing tonight Russ?
00:03:06
Speaker
I'm doing fine, Don. How are you? Well, I'm not too bad. Not too bad. it but We survived the, uh, the snowmageddon as they called it, uh, which wasn't a whole lot of snowmageddon. I don't have maybe about four inches around our area, our area, but, uh, but you know, it it was it's still cold. It's still cold. Yeah. Right. It is here. Very cold here. And and we're getting, we're supposed to get ours on Friday. So you're making yours on Friday. Okay. Yeah.
00:03:36
Speaker
Well, I wanna remind everybody that the NCAA report is a proud part of the Fuel Sports Network. So go to thefuelsportsnetwork.com and check out all the podcasts and articles. That's thefuelsportsnetwork.com.
00:03:55
Speaker
All right, well, when last we left off, the playoffs are about to get started and we were looking at who was going to play who and who could play this and, uh, or actually the place that already started. We had the first round of games done, pardon me.
Playoff Surprises & Team Analysis
00:04:08
Speaker
And, uh, you know, we looked at it and we said, well, you know,
00:04:14
Speaker
Georgia, we figured would be in the final four and, you know, Oregon had a shot, you know, um, well, none of the four seeds, which were, uh, Oregon, Georgia, Boise state and Arizona state, none of those four, one.
00:04:34
Speaker
So it was all the, um, uh, non, so non, uh, by teams that won. So you have Ohio state and Notre Dame Penn state and, um, Texas, that one. So that means that Notre Dame plays pit or a Penn state and Texas and Ohio state square off. But, uh, we'll get to the, we'll get to those games, uh, in a minute.
00:05:02
Speaker
What I want to talk about though, is the, we'll, we'll talk about what happened and at least in the first few games. Um, and that's, uh, when you look at the, the we'll start with the Texas game, they went to double overtime to beat, um, Arizona state and, you know, Really should they, have should they have gone to double overtime? And what does that say about them? Um,
00:05:31
Speaker
going forward here as they so get set to face Ohio State? Well, you know Texas has always been a good team, but they're not it didn't strike me as being the elite team that's an obvious national champion contender to me all year long. Because you know they just they they don't play that well.
00:05:51
Speaker
oh They play OK. I mean, they're a good team. I mean, what can you say? I mean, you got Arch Manning as your backup quarterback. I mean, you know, you got you got a pretty good team there, but you know, it's it's just watching them all year in the same way with Georgia. Don, you know, it just didn't seem and I'm following it. I'm bringing up the SEC because those are the games I thought the most. ah They didn't feel like it neither one of those team were having were lead team to playing up.
00:06:15
Speaker
and elites were playing the best that they could. ah um So I think Texas has got people, I think people think Ohio State now, Don, is is the team that could go all the way because they played so well. All of a sudden after that Michigan game, they just kind of You know, it looked like Ryan Day, we're actually talking about his job security and he's, you know, he's all of a sudden he's, he looks like he could be the, uh, he could have a national championship on, he may be looking at a national championship. So, uh, that's, so that's the one team I've been, them and Notre Dame, I've been really impressed with, yeah but Texas, I'm just, you know, they probably go as far as they're going to go. That's my guess, but you know, who knows? Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, it, it was, um, I, I didn't get a chance to watch that game. I had to follow it on my phone and whatnot. And, you know, it looked like Texas had it in hand and all of a sudden Arizona state just was laying it on him heavy hard and heavy and like, okay. Um, now the, the question, the question though does become, you know,
00:07:26
Speaker
Cause I've you've heard, you have heard it like I've heard it. All the people griping about how they seated, you know, conference champion shouldn't have been given buys and it should have won with the four best teams to get the buy and yada, yada, yada. And all that happy, good, lucky. Um, but did this legitimize, I mean, the the Arizona state showing, even though they lost.
00:07:51
Speaker
Did it legitimize somewhat the idea of putting a conference champion as a buy seed? Well, that's a good, that's a good question. And, and you know, you might, you might have a point there. Um, I was kind of in with the group and saying that you just should see, take the first four teams, best teams.
00:08:16
Speaker
in the in the seedings and give them the bison of the conference champions automatically seem ridiculous Boise State should get one of those um and um I thought Arizona State was kind of ridiculous too but you know they almost pulled it out. So you might, I don't know if I had to say now, if I had to make my call now, I would say just give it to the first four rated teams now to fine tune it. You know, they said, you know, we've been listening to sports talk and you read bloggers, have you read, uh, sports analyst or whatever, uh, they're, you know, they're all saying that this is the first, this is kind of like the beta test for the college football playoff. So, you know,
00:08:59
Speaker
you know where they' They'll work out the kinks in it pretty you know as they go along. And I bet they will they will make some changes after this year. they're probably They may go to that that first four seating format, so just all automatically give it to the conference champs.
00:09:15
Speaker
You know, yes so see it more, see it more like ah basketball does when you just take the top. Yeah, you know, exactly. You know, it's it's okay to have your conference tournament champion there. But that doesn't mean that, you know, they should be ah one of the top seats, necessarily. Right. You know, we've seen that we've seen the best teams in NCAA tournament.
00:09:37
Speaker
in their conference tournaments get beat and some Cinderella team maker run for it. That doesn't mean they deserve to get the one of the top seeds. So, you know, I just, yeah, I agree. And I, and I can, I can see that because, you know, if basketball did it that way, I mean, you're, you know, you're basically saying you're your, your time and it, and some, some years it works out this way, you know, but it's show, you know, it comes out with your, your top four seeds or would be, um,
00:10:07
Speaker
ah like Big Ten, SEC, ACC, you know, teams that would all be in, you know, maybe Big 12, Pac-12 back in the day.
00:10:19
Speaker
Uh, but yeah, I mean, I, I do agree. you You would never see a, a Notre Dame as a number one, see, or I get one of the the four number ones or, um, you know, some, but you see Gonzaga, you see are these other teams. So, you know, I kind of agree with that. I do. Uh, even though I think, you know, the committee was trying to do the bet or the NCAA was trying to do something that I don't think.
00:10:45
Speaker
I don't think they put all the due diligence into the analytics of it, if you will, and I'm not you know me I'm not a real big analytic guy. But, yeah, I do agree with I think if if you've got a top four.
00:11:01
Speaker
you know Why, and actually it works out, it it works to Notre Dame's demise almost all the time, if you think about it, because if you're limiting the buys to only conference champions, Notre Dame will never see the buy. It just won't happen. No. Because they're not, no even though they play a mostly, this year they played mostly a, what was that? ACC schedule?
00:11:27
Speaker
ACC that's who they have a deal with. Play so many games, even though they played mostly in AC. They're not part of the ACC, so they weren't involved in the conference championship. No, so I mean, you know that that does hurt those a school like that. I mean, there's only three independents as there is anyway, but um but yeah, so I kind of see what you're saying and I do agree.
Playoff Expansion Discussion
00:11:47
Speaker
I think maybe they go with. You go with a a basketball type seating of you take the thought of the top four and those are your first four seats and I do think.
00:11:58
Speaker
It has made a case, although not the way some people were thinking because of, and i'll i'll we'll get into this later, because of Alabama, North Carolina, or excuse me, South Carolina um losing in their bowl games. But it it does does it does lend some credence to maybe let's do this as a 16 team ah playoff, because if you look at when the playoffs started,
00:12:29
Speaker
or that the top four seeds, they had three weeks off. Now you get a lot of guys back that are injured, but you are not playing competitively for three weeks. And these other teams have got one, maybe two games, one day you know, under their belt, under their belt, or they got a game under their belt and they don't, have they have, and they just played the last week. So it's, I don't know. I mean, to me,
00:12:55
Speaker
I think maybe that might lend some credence to this, to movement. I don't think they'll move to 16 games anytime soon or 16 teams. in you you know I think next year it's going to stay 12. I think that's what their format is for at least what, three years? I think so, yeah. yeah So they're going to stay with, I mean, I think it would take ah an act of God to move it to 16 teams before 27.
00:13:18
Speaker
so Yeah, but so the other game um that was that was there um was and I just lost it and I'll find out in here a second would have been um Notre Dame and did like Georgia. Yeah, I was noted. OK, if I if I remember right, it was Notre Dame, Georgia. um Get back to the football page here and I can take exactly what it was.
00:13:50
Speaker
It was, I mean, yes. ah Notre Dame took on Georgia and they, and you know, that game was also, that game was actually fairly close. Um, not quite like the Texas game. I mean, Notre Dame did win at 23 to 10. I mean, it, that it looks at only 13 points. Well, okay. Well, that's less than two scores. I mean, that's not a, not a bad game, but then you look at it and, um,
00:14:18
Speaker
the recap, you know, basically Notre Dame, um they had control of the game the entire way. I mean, they had 13 to three at the half, and then they just added 10 more points on and wrote it out. I mean, um so I guess that, you know, that game was close. Now, a lot of people are making, well, yeah, Notre Dame was playing Georgia with their backup quarterback, but Didn't they finish the season with their backup? Yes, they did.
00:14:50
Speaker
ah You know, not done. I can't remember his name, but he's he was the heir apparent to the starting quarterback who is probably going to go to the NFL. He got hurt in the SEC Championship game, I believe, and then that the this kid came in and did a good job ah in SEC Championship game. ah Yeah, ah the Notre Dame defense just handled Georgia ah offense. I mean, it looked like from time to time that Georgia was going to
00:15:21
Speaker
You know, they were, they were keeping it, you know, it was kind of, they were keeping it within the striking distance, but that Notre Dame defense just really did a job on them. And, um, you know, the 2310 at the end, you know, it, uh, it just felt like that Notre Dame had control of the game the whole way. They weren't blowing them out, but they just had control of the game. And I think it's at the game, Don, that where they ran back, uh, Notre Dame ran back, uh, who said, uh, they'd run back a punt or a,
00:15:50
Speaker
or a kickoff or a touchdown, they got the offensively, honestly, Notre Dame didn't do a whole lot. yeah It was more i impressive than Georgia, but they just, I think they had a couple big plays that turned that game that made the difference. I'd have to, I'd have to look. and know there Yeah, there there was a defensive touchdown because they only have, they only had one offensive touchdown and that was, um,
00:16:17
Speaker
Nope, wait, I'm looking at the wrong side, sorry. Yeah, they only had one offensive touchdown on a pass play from Leonard to Collins.
00:16:29
Speaker
um So, but yeah, and and noted you know to Notre Dame's credit, they theyve people mean if you look at it, people have been doubting them all year, ever since they lost a year.
00:16:42
Speaker
no no to Northern Illinois. So I mean, to Notre Dame's credit, you really got gotta yeah to tip off the hat to them that they, after no after they lost to Northern Illinois, they didn't lose another game. um And they came in and won the battle of Indiana um quite handily. you know And now this beating of of you know Georgia, a top, well, they were top five team almost all year.
00:17:13
Speaker
um so I mean you know I think that that bodes well for Notre Dame now they've got to take on a uh a Penn State ball club that uh uh let's see what ah they who you know they they if anybody had pretty well They handled SMU and Boise pretty well. Yeah, I can say if anybody had a a easy run to a possible play, a possible championship, it's Penn State. um rock I mean, you know, they had a pretty easy game is against SMU, a fairly easy game against Boise and the you and I, you know, we talked does
00:18:00
Speaker
And we said earlier, you know dearly did Boise State belong as a bye team in that?
Team Performances & Predictions
00:18:05
Speaker
um you know And really, did SMU belong in the playoffs? I mean, I was a big proponent today you know me i was a big proponent of fairly late in the season. I was kind of um jumped on their bandwagon a little bit.
00:18:19
Speaker
Um, you know, but that lost a Clemson, I think, uh, I don't know what, if it did anything to him or whatnot, but, but Penn State came in, handled business, they handle business against Boise, but now they're stepping up a level. I mean, the way Notre Dame's playing, this is going to be a tough contest for that, for the, for, uh, Franklin and the New Alliance.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, I think so. And ah you know I watched Penn State through the year just kind of took an interest in now and you know there are a lot of games they they're kind of close. there A lot of games against teams that were they weren't particularly all that good, but they managed to pull them out. ah So I you know I didn't doubt that Penn State deserved to be in this playoff, but I just never thought. I thought they could get taken out, but they you're right. They thought a good.
00:19:08
Speaker
bracket, so to speak, you know, playing Indiana who got I felt like Indiana is, you know, as ah good a seasons they had, they just didn't play anybody, you know, and ah Boise State, you know, you just hate that, you know, they're, they're playing in a, you know, the Mountain West isn't what these other conferences are. So, I mean, you know, so they got a, they kind of got a gift there. And so it was SMU in their first game, not Indiana.
00:19:38
Speaker
ah sm you Okay, you talk about Penn State. Yeah, Penn State. That's right. That's right. Yeah, Notre Dame. Yeah. Okay, I take that. yeah Notre Dame played Indiana. Yeah. But yeah, but you're right. They kind of got to buy there. And so did they kind of got to get there. And so, you know, um oh yeah, we'll see what happens. But I tell you what, Notre Dame's a team that really impresses me. I would be You know, I would, I would, I would take, I would go with them if I was betting. Yeah. And he got the Ohio state defeated Oregon by 20 after losing to them very early in the season. Well, actually by midway through the season by one, um, you know, and Ohio state's another team that's been, you know, their their first two rounds, they've, they've left little doubt who was in charge of the game. I mean, they beat Tennessee 42 to 17. They beat Oregon. Yeah.
00:20:30
Speaker
41 to 21. So, you know, Ohio State's probably playing, as as we said, they're probably playing their best football that they've played it all year after getting their butt handed to them by Michigan. Well, you know, Don, and if they look back on the season, if they do go, if they do win it all, they may look at that Michigan game as a gift to them because that probably insulted them, motivated them. Ryan Day's job security was being questioned.
00:21:01
Speaker
as incredible as that was with his record. you know He hadn't beaten Michigan in a while, so that might have been a gift to that team to get there, right to go out and show people that they deserve to be to be there. you know So oh you know so ah yeah know we'll see what happens, but I'm impressed with the way they've played so far.
00:21:21
Speaker
Well, as far as match ups go, so we got Texas, Ohio state and the, um, the spread on that game, Ohio state's a five and a half point favorite. Um, now the money line, I don't never necessarily understand, but I do play it once in a while. Ohio state's a negative two 30 on the mining line. Texas is a pull is a plus one 89.
00:21:44
Speaker
Um, so um basically you, you, you win more money if, if, if Texas wins and you bet Texas. Um, so, but the over under to me, the way, I mean, if I were to say normally what I would have thought earlier in the year, I would say this is a high over under at 53 and a half, but the way Ohio state's playing, they can put up.
00:22:08
Speaker
let's ah about four fifths is that ball on their own. They don't need much to get over 53. If they, if they play like they've been playing. Right. They're going to, you know, both these teams can score. So yeah. Um, yeah, I would, uh, I wouldn't be surprised if it went over that dog, you know, yeah and you say Ohio state was a five and a half. Yeah. Five and a half point favorite.
00:22:34
Speaker
I might take it, you know, I might just take both those. Well, you're, you're, you're right in line with 65% of the public because according to ah um a sports line, um, 65% of the public betting is on Ohio state with the point spread of making the point spread. 18% say Texas will cover the point spread. Uh, the.
00:23:04
Speaker
Moneyline has it at 82% of the people say that Ohio State wins the game outright, 18% say Texas, and 61% of the people betting right now are betting the over.
00:23:20
Speaker
okay So there you have it as best I got it. And I'll have to agree with you. I think tech i think Ohio State I think they come in, they've they've got a purpose. They're playing with a purpose. I think they take the game easily by that five and a half spread. I would even say probably seven.
00:23:41
Speaker
maybe nine points would be a, would be probably what the Buckeyes will end up winning by before it's all said and done. Cause I just don't trust Texas. I mean, if you look at, if you look at what they, their resume to this game, they beat Clemson by 14. Okay. That's fine. But Clemson was a 12 seed. They were a five and Clemson, if they hadn't have won the ACC would not have been in the playoff to begin with.
00:24:10
Speaker
Exactly. And then Arizona State takes him to double overtime. So i you know I'm kind of like you. I don't trust this Texas offense to pull a game off of this caliber. Yeah, I don't. Honestly, if someone said, would you take Ohio State in 10 points? you know Would I give the 10 points? I probably would at this point. Oh, yeah. you know But I might kind of like you on this. that's kind of I kind of reflect the way you feel about this game. So, ah Texas is, you know, I feel like they're going to have to come out and try something different than they tried before and what that is, I don't know. Maybe give Arch Manning some reps, maybe throw in a alternate quarterbacks during the game at some point and just see how. maybe Yeah, maybe start with Arch Manning, give Ohio State a different look. I can, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah
00:25:09
Speaker
You know, no doubt, uh, you know, I, and you know, um, to me, I think if Texas has a shot at winning this game, they're going to have to come out hard and fast and score. Score first. I mean, they're going to have to score first and put Ohio state on the, on the comeback.
00:25:29
Speaker
Right. You know, and the only problem with that is they're going have to keep scoring to keep. Cause I don't, I said, I don't think the way Ohio state's playing, I don't think the, the, the, uh, the, uh, Texas defense is going to be able to to hold them back. Right. Exactly. So moving on to Notre Dame versus Penn state.
00:25:48
Speaker
uh the Notre Dame is a one and a half point they've got this one close Notre Dame is a one and a half point favorite uh Moneyline Notre Dame is a minus 121 Penn State's a plus 101 the point spread is 45 and a half um and a lot of people in the put betting public are betting Notre Dame on all counts and betting the over heavy um I'm not sure I buy betting the over, but then again, Notre Dame has been scoring, putting some points up. So it's entirely possible. Um, yeah, as far as the point spread goes, man, that's a, that, that's a dangerous point spread to bet. What is it again? One and a half, one and a half. I mean, yeah you're, you're talking basically a less than a field goal or a missed extra point. Um, you know,
00:26:46
Speaker
And that's a dangerous point spread to me. I think i think the way, I'm gonna be the same way with Notre Dame, I i am with Ohio State. I think the way Notre Dame is playing and the momentum they've got, I think they take the Nittany Lions, i I think they beat that point and a half spread fairly easy, but then again, you know as you so as you mentioned earlier,
00:27:15
Speaker
Penn State may not be flashy and winning games by a bunch of points, but then they've been able to to overcome a lot of things and get a win one way or another. Yeah. Yeah. um You know, because that Penn State defense is is this actually not a bad defense. No. um so I don't think this will be a big scoring game, Don. I think both defenses are pretty good. In fact, I think Notre Dame's defense looks like to me it's pretty elite.
00:27:45
Speaker
But they have a good solid offense. I i would still take Notre Dame and I would you i would take no i me um seven points. One and a half. Yeah, I know, but i would take I would give seven points. Give seven points in Notre Dame? Yeah, I think I would.
Coaching Trends & Analysis
00:28:04
Speaker
I can see I yeah um ah hope both these games are close.
00:28:10
Speaker
Yeah. I hope they're interesting. Yeah. I do hope that, yeah so, uh, no matter who turns out, but, uh, you know, yeah, I'm, uh, I may not be as ah as optimistic you as you on Notre Dame. Like I said, I do think they do win pen, they do beat Penn state, but I'm going to put the spread more to five um and then, then go any higher than that. I mean, um, and the over under.
00:28:36
Speaker
Yeah, the way the oh house Penn State is kind of like Ohio State. The way they've been putting up points they can match. They can do most of that spread on their own, um so I think they overs a good bet on that game. um So we're just going to wait and see. So so by my account that puts Ohio State versus Notre Dame for the National Championship. And that would be my pick in those two games. That would be who I think would be the National Championship. game Who do you think comes out on top?
00:29:06
Speaker
Ooh, that's a good question. let me Let me look at these next two games. far see but Golly, that's going to be tough. I got to tell you, I have a good friend who's a Notre Dame fan, and we've been texting back and forth during these games.
00:29:25
Speaker
and I said something to her. I said something that says, well, I guess you guys don't miss Brian Kelly. And apparently they they're really mad at Brian Kelly for leaving for LSU thinking he's going to do better. and know and And LSU this year went 10 and three, nine and four, something like that. So anyway, uh, they, uh, Marcus Freeman looks like he, I, you know, I didn't know if he, I didn't even know who he was. He was, uh, an assistant for Kelly. He took over the job. Sometimes those guys who inherited a job from a rather successful coach don't do very well, but he has, I don't know. Um, seems like he's, you know, he's taken this Notre Dame team and it's just taken off with it. So.
00:30:11
Speaker
You know, I thought Kelly was a good coach, but he he's struggling in LSU, at least by LSU standards. Oh yeah, by LSU standards for sure. You know, and yeah, we've said this. The funny thing we talked about earlier in this season about the the new head coaches that were coming into the end of the end of their own that you know more over at. Excuse me at Michigan and I can't think of the guys name took over USC or UCLA.
00:30:38
Speaker
Um, and then of course, Signeti over that at Indiana turned in just a phenomenal season. Um, but you know, we've already, got we've already seen some guys that like, is like we, so like we've said are in hot water. Um, and you know, there was a, I was watching what game was I watching the other as a pro game. Um, and they were, it was the, uh, oh, Minnesota, Minnesota game, Minnesota and slow game.
00:31:09
Speaker
And, um, you know, there's talk of, uh, those two defensive coordinators for those two teams looking for to go someplace. Now they may take an NFL job, but do you think seeing what's going on with, with coaches and whatnot, do you think more coach yeah and Bella check coming to the North Carolina?
00:31:30
Speaker
Does the NCAA teams that are looking for coaches, or are they looking pro now? Or do you think they're gonna stay with coordinators on the way up? I think they'll stay generally with their coordinators on the way up. I just don't know, go with a young innovative mind. I don't know that a NFL coach knows how to play the NLL, NILs in the transfer portal.
00:31:57
Speaker
like a ah ah college coach who's been watching it and participating in it. And I know Butchek got the North Carolina job, and it might be like ah we've talked about before. He brought some NIL money to their collective or something because of his corporate contacts. ah But he's a big name. yeah So he can he can do something like that. But I still think that the young, upcoming assistants who are watching how the transfer portal is played uh would be would be the would be who most schools would want to take a closer look at so right right sound yeah and i agree like i can see that it was just a curious question i have pop up yeah ah you know me from time to time i throw the i throw out the the ah wild pitch
00:32:45
Speaker
Um, okay. Well, well, I said, we're going to talk about it now. You may not want to, uh, be an adjourned sec guy, but Hey, Missouri did win their game. So you got that to look for you got that. yeah Yeah. You know, all the talk about the, the playoffs and Alabama got, got, um, jilted and South Carolina got jilted and, uh, but yet, you know, Alabama goes and loses to a seven and five Michigan.
00:33:15
Speaker
Right. Um, you know, now North South Carolina got beat by Illinois, you know, that nine and three, that's not as bad of a loss. I mean, you know, uh, but. I mean, and so all these people talking about the sec is, is God and all this and, you know,
00:33:34
Speaker
what does this say now? will Alabama gets taken down. I mean, it now here's the question. Is the boar in trouble? Do you think? Well, I don't think he's in trouble this year. I mean, I think, but he's going to go next year in the hot seat. I certainly believe Alabama is not going to take another being outside college football playoffs. They just they feel like they got too much talent. Yeah. And from what I understand that this town Alabama team that's safe and left behind was pretty loaded.
00:34:02
Speaker
Another reason to say, but the left is because he just did was tired of the transfer portal and playing that game and the N I L's. But, uh, uh, I think, uh, you know, so that, yeah, they're, they're pretty, he's in pretty well hot water. The SEC in general is pretty disappointed with the way everything is turned out. You know, only getting two teams in.
00:34:21
Speaker
And the the two teams Georgia going out so early or going out early after i get they got three. Yeah, like they got three at Tennessee, Texas. Oh yeah, Tennessee. Tennessee hardly showed up. Yeah, and they were attending to unfortunately. And yeah, and that' that's what's and that's what's wrong with the SEC. There are a lot of teams.
00:34:40
Speaker
10 and two, nine and three teams. And there were no, no great teams. I just just don't think they're really great teams this year in the SEC. In the past, they've had Alabama and Georgia, you know, who were both in the, when they had the 14, they were both there. ah But the Georgia had back-to-back national championships a couple of years ago.
00:35:00
Speaker
right only a couple of years ago, and so and so did Alabama. So so they're disappointed. And you know I don't know what everybody can do, but I heard an interesting concept on why the SEC may not be as dominant this year in these playoffs as maybe in the past.
SEC's Challenges & Bowl Game Recap
00:35:19
Speaker
And one of them was, and this made sense to me, one of them was the transfer portal has evened things out.
00:35:26
Speaker
I think it is. A team like ah Indiana can go out and bring in a bunch of players and be competitive. um you know and and you know A team like SMU, all of a sudden you're you're you're you and you pick players away from these elite schools who these players might not get ah as much chance to play as they would if they went to somewhere else, you know, they can transfer out right away and play right away. So ah that was one theory. And I forgot who presented that. But I was listening on the radio the other day, and that's what they threw out. And I think that makes sense. I think it does maybe be if you look at Indiana, I mean, in Indiana didn't go and get a lot of
00:36:15
Speaker
power five guys. I mean, I think what 13 of the, of the 29 transfers they took in were from non power five schools and they got they got sick. Yeah, yeah, Madison. He took a lot of good players with him. Yeah, yeah, he said the players with him. So I think you're seeing. I think you're right. I think you're seeing a lot of that where you're you're seeing these guys that play at James Madison that play at Marshall that play at Miami of Ohio.
00:36:50
Speaker
You know which are normally good programs for their level of competition. You seen these good players. They know they can step up to that division or that power 5 level and I think maybe that's what you're seeing a lot of. I think you're 100% right.
00:37:04
Speaker
Yeah, I think they're they're getting play and I think that's even in out the conferences a bit. Georgia loses players. Alabama loses players. Texas loses players so ah to the portal so it kind of you know ah kind of even something is even in things out of it. That's the theory and I believe that's a good point. Whoever came up with this. I can't remember where I heard this from, but anyway, yeah, I think it's very much. You said there was a couple of what was the other theory?
00:37:32
Speaker
Well, I don't know what I see. Did I say two theories? You said two. I don't know. I've already forgotten if there was a second theory, but that was the theory that that um that kind of opened my eyes a little bit. It made sense to me, you know, that what would balance out like it did, you know, so. Oh, yeah. and i and And I think I do. I agree. I do think there's a lot to that. I think it's a lot harder, though, in in football. I think that's why you've seen it a little bit show up a little bit later in football than in basketball, because, you know, I mean, there's basketball. You'll need maybe one or two impact players to come in the transfer.
00:38:12
Speaker
Right. Whereas basketball, you need a whole lot more and you need the right positions to come in. And I think it's taken football a little bit longer to get that that mix working. Right. But I think that I think you're 100% right on that. Yeah, you know, I now the question becomes that I don't know um see Missouri you got the You took down Iowa, right? In your bowl game. Yes. Yes. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah. so our That kind of puts the, cause I was going to, I've been kind of tracking the whole big 10 versus SEC thing. And I think.
00:38:49
Speaker
This year the big 10's got a slight edge in bowl wins and then matchup wins. So OK, OK, yeah, but I really haven't kept it up that way. I just know the SEC if last time I counted their bowl wins and bowl losses, it was a post season wins and losses. There's about a 5050 split. That's a pretty. I think it's like seven, either seven or eight, seven and eight or something like that. Yeah, yeah, and.
00:39:17
Speaker
You know, the teams that won Missouri, one Florida, one Ole Miss, one, you know, Texas has one too. And I'm trying to think, but you know, some teams that you didn't expect to lose of old games. I thought South Carolina, ala of Illinois would be a good game and it turned out to be a pretty good game. Yeah. We thought Alabama would win their game. They did.
00:39:41
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I, I did not, I did not expect Michigan to come in and take down Alabama. That just, yeah, I didn't, I saw that score that floored me when I saw that score. Yeah. That was, I watched that game and it was, uh, Alabama just played around. I don't think they were motivated. Um, you know, what impressed me, Don, we talk about the first few rounds of this, uh,
00:40:06
Speaker
college football playoff and it's been some blowout games. But what impressed me, to other the other bowl games, there were a lot of close games, a lot of good games, and these players cared. You could tell they were just playing hard. i did I just really wondered how coaches, you know, if you didn't get in, if you were expecting to get in the playoff and you're you didn't get in and then, you know, how would you respond?
00:40:28
Speaker
ah Missouri players really cared. The Ole Miss players really cared. ah You know, you just saw some really players go out and give it all they got and that Illinois.
00:40:39
Speaker
uh, South Carolina game, you know, those, those two teams really played hard. So, uh, but there was that little blow up between the two coaches in the game. I've never really quite understood it, but anyway, it was, uh, it was, yeah I mean, it depends on which who who you listened to on that. I mean, I guess.
00:41:01
Speaker
The way I understand it is earlier in the game, uh, cause I didn't get to watch the entire game earlier in the game. Um, uh, South Carolina player acted like he was calling a fair catch.
00:41:22
Speaker
because he put what they call the T bar where your arms are just extended out. Okay. Okay. And I guess the Illinois kicking team took that as a fair catch signal, but he caught the ball and then lateral did a backwards lateral to another guy in the corner of the end zone who took off oh with the ball. And I guess, um,
00:41:47
Speaker
ah So but according to what and i what's the South Carolina coaches name? I can't think of it right now. Yeah, yeah, Linda Linden or no, it's a his father was a coach in the. Well anyway, I guess he checked it out ahead of time with the refs and told him we're going to do this right? And the refs said OK, that's fine. um I guess Bilema for his part.
00:42:17
Speaker
Although it's not necessarily illegal. He just, he considered it a kind of in poor taste. Um, now that whole him doing the whole T-bar thing is as with the ah injured Illinois player and all that, I think it's just, may I think only because of the South Carolina coaches reaction. Did it, did it? I mean, if that coach hadn't reacted and said, nobody would ever would have ever thought anything about what Beelama did.
00:42:46
Speaker
Oh no, I didn't know they weren't talking about it until till till Shane Beamer Shane. That's a Shane Beamer. That's right. Yeah. Beamer when he when he went ballistic. That's when it's that's when it drew the whole thing. And you know, yeah and I've heard a so few people say it's kind of a shame because it, you know, so after the game, people should have been talking about, you know, Josh McCray and how he ran and and the fight that Sarah, you know, they did the the fight and the team South Carolina had and how good their they were.
00:43:15
Speaker
um You know i'm but it's now to to maybe i'm listening to the wrong podcast of the wrong news news reels but i didn't hear a lot of that until like two or three days later.
00:43:29
Speaker
I mean, you know, I was hearing about Luke Altmeyer and, and the way he came through in that game and, and Josh McCray, who's had, like he's been on, he's been on injured reserve more than he's been playing the last couple of years, uh, to have the game he had. So I don't know, but, uh, that was a good game for Illinois. Uh, it was one that I, I, I think they needed to legitimize the season. Um,
00:43:55
Speaker
And nothing, and no disrespect to South Carolina. I mean, they played their butts off, um, you know, uh, but I think, and, and it's, it's actually, uh, we've had some really good news after that game is we've got like four or five main starters who could jump or go transfer portal said, Nope, they're coming back. He said that one, one player said one player made the comment. and He says, uh, we're not done yet.
00:44:22
Speaker
Yeah. So, you know, like you said, that goes to the the legitimacy of how those players took that game, you know, even though rock off game. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Well, we'll get back to some basketball here right after we talk about, right after I talk about liquid IV.
Product Promotion & Basketball Highlights
00:44:40
Speaker
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00:44:57
Speaker
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00:45:28
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:47:20
Speaker
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00:48:22
Speaker
Yeah. But, uh, so let's shift real quick for the last 15, 20 minutes here about basketball. Um, we talked about the bragging rights game before and, um, well, the, the, the trophy came to Illinois this time around. rob it sure did yeah So you, what did you, did you get a chance to watch the game? Well, I didn't get to see it all. Uh, but I saw parts of it. Um, you know, my tank on it was Missouri played and both teams played really well.
00:48:52
Speaker
ah And what what Missouri's concern was going into the game and what it turned out to be was the rebounding difference, ah rebounding margin. Illinois just to going into the game as a better rebounding team. and They did out rebound Missouri, you know, significantly and, uh, you know, Missouri hung in there. They had a chance to win there at the end. Uh, three pointer didn't go in the three and the later three pointer didn't go into tie the game. Uh, so they did, you know, considering the rebounding margin, they hung in there, but it to me it was the rebounding margin. You know, it made the difference. Uh,
00:49:27
Speaker
Uh, I know Missouri got a lot more free throws, but, uh, Illinois, I think Illinois, incredibly only missed one free throw eight. Yeah. I think that, I think, I think so. I went to the wrong page. Yeah. I'm trying to pull up the stats to that game right now. Uh, there it is. That's the thing is though. I mean, um, I, that to.
00:49:47
Speaker
Tennessee the way they did. um That was I think that game yeah know that that Chicago State in between. So they had a little bit of a of ah ah a get better game in between, but. um And I think that was a game that after losing to, uh, Tennessee, they just Illinois just had to have that one. And, uh, I don't think they were going to be dealing with the other, um, you know, I, I was impressed with, um, uh, cause I didn't get to see the game, but listening to it on the radio, you you know, I was impressed with, with, uh, Mitchell from Missouri. Um, you Yeah. Yeah. He's a good one. the He's a, he's a, he's one of the transfers of ladies. The guy came over from Duke. Yeah. Oh, he came from Duke. Okay. Okay. So yeah, I think so. Yeah. yeah I think in, um, I, I, you know, I.
00:50:36
Speaker
it's It's hard to make anything of that game as far as what what the teams are supposed to be like. I will say after that game, we played two really good teams back to back in Oregon washington um and We destroyed Oregon, beat them by 32. And then we we've we had to kind of survive against Washington, but they did manage that one. So I don't know if that game pushed Illinois. um But I don't think Missouri has got anything to hang their head about though. I think they're going to be in the tournament for sure, easily. I think they're, I don't know, how are they sitting in the SEC? Are they? Well, they just, all the SEC teams just played their first game last weekend and Missouri played Auburn.
00:51:22
Speaker
There's an Auburn attendance to the two elite teams in the country. Two elite teams are really good. And Missouri got beat by 16 points at Auburn, um which went in the SEC that first weekend. The home teams won significantly for what, you know, so it's gonna be one of those top it's gonna be a tough slug fest in the SEC this year. If Missouri can just split even,
00:51:42
Speaker
go 500 in the conference. They'll be doing real well and that might give them the tournament just that alone because it's going to be really a rugged SEC season this year. I think everyone's expected it. So, oh, they did beat Alabama State or all current state or someone after the Illinois pretty easily, but that didn't count for anything much. But to not to play an LSU at home, so they really need to win that one. Yeah, they really do. Well, I mean, you know, I guess that it's ah Oh, they were, you're looking at, uh, I mean, SEC's got some, got some really good teams in there. I mean, you know they do tend to see it. Number one, I mean, Missouri may not be ranked, but you know, uh, I don't think you can, you can, um, uh, I don't want to say at the, um, dismiss them as any kind of a, uh, of a, of a non factor. Cause I think they're going to be a factor. Um, you know, just like, I think, you know, people that are going to try and dismiss Illinois in the big 10 are going to be very sadly mistaken when everything said is said and done.
00:52:36
Speaker
Uh, I'm trying to find where, where, where it is now. Let's see here. There's the SCC. Yeah. Right now. Yeah. Missouri's kind of down there and, uh, and own one for the conference, but you know, they're, they're 11 and three. They've only lost three games. You guys have, like I said, you guys have only played one, but you know, you got Tennessee, you got Mississippi state. I think a lot of these teams, you know, Alabama is going to be tough, I think in the SEC.
00:53:00
Speaker
Oh yeah yeah, you know, so I think this. I think it's going to be. It's going to be a ah conference that I don't think you want to overlook. No, oh no, I don't. I don't think so. I really think with Tennessee and Auburn and it looks like Alabama be a a top team again this year. Oh yeah. You know, we'll just have to see how how it plays out. You know Kentucky Kentucky will be there again. I mean they got a new coach this year and he'll.
00:53:27
Speaker
They're already beginning to look good. So, you know, it's going to be ah just an a very competitive. Just an AP top 10 alone. Right now, you've got Tennessee one. Auburn is two. Alabama's five. Kentucky is six. Florida is eight. And Texas A&M is 10. Yeah. I mean, the SEC is kind of controlling the top 25 in basketball right now. yeah they got a lot of They got a lot going on. and I wouldn't, you know, you'll have to but see how the season plays out. But yeah, these teams in the non-conference so far have played pretty well. So we'll see.
00:54:04
Speaker
Right. No doubt. and No doubt in my mind on that one. So anyway, well, Russ, it has been fun as always. And, uh, by the next time we get together, we'll have a new national champion crown. And, uh, we can discuss the four, the three games that'll, that'll, uh, result in that. And then we can move our attention to the hard court and start looking at, uh, um, the national thing there.
00:54:29
Speaker
So, um, as always Russ, where can we find you, my friend, when you're not talking to me on the, on the podcast?
Social Media & Show Conclusion
00:54:38
Speaker
We don't find me on Twitter at FR Robinson, one nine five seven. I'm uncle Frank. And then, uh, uh, you can, follow like I always say, I'm floating around some of the, uh, Mizzou Facebook groups and Facebook groups. So that'd be the best place to find me.
00:54:53
Speaker
All right. Well, and you can find me on, on X at TSOTB GCS. You can find the, this show as well as my other show ah on Facebook at talking sports on the bleachers. And you can always find both of us. We do tend to write some stuff every once in a while for the fuel sports network, where you can find other podcasts like the two for three with Moose Michaels, the team of rivals with Ron, Pete and Elliot. Ron also of hosts the, uh, at the park with about city soccer.
00:55:29
Speaker
You can tune in and check out Arlington lanes, a train show, and of course my show talking sports on the bleachers. And finally, the piece de resistance, the Derek King show with a one and only Derek King. And that's at the fuel sports network dot.com.
00:55:48
Speaker
Well, for my broadcast partner Russ Robinson, this is Don Glenn. We want to thank you guys for tuning into us tonight. And we will be back in a couple of weeks with a whole new set of things to talk about. So until we see you again, you have fun, you stay safe. We'll talk to you again when we are coming up with the NCAA report.