Spring Football Roundup, Big East Commish Retiring, NFL Draft Thoughts | Others Receiving Votes

All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes.

I'm Pat 40 joined as always by my Sports Illustrated colleagues, Brian Fisher and Kevin Sweeney.

Uh, gentlemen, quick question before we get started here.

Has either of you ever jumped out of an airplane?

I have not.

Yeah, not for me, and especially not after this week.

Yeah, you know what I'm getting to.

Uh, yes, I, I haven't either.

Not on my bucket list of things to do.

I'm not a skydiving sort, I don't think.

Maybe you guys one day will be, but no, thank you.

Um, and yes, I will not be doing that, trying to go into Lane Stadium on a windy day, uh, at any point in time.

Uh, we're gonna talk about that.

We're gonna talk about, uh, uh, the, the skydiving mishap at, uh, Virginia Tech as part of a, a spring football dive here.

Hit a few different programs of intrigue.

And uh we're gonna talk a little NFL draft, because we have spent a lot of time watching a lot of these players, and not just in combine settings or pro day settings, but in actual football.

Uh, we will hit, uh, latest portal news.

Kevin , of course, is all over the portal stuff, so we will, uh, touch base then again there and see who is doing well and who isn't.

Uh, we have, uh, let's see.

We've got, uh, we, we've got a few other topics here.

Sorry, I'm, I've, I've lost my place here.

Um, we have, uh, we're gonna hit, uh, the, the Stanford 50 straight years of winning a national championship, and we will close with some dodgeball.

Uh, not the movie, but the actual sport as it is played on college campuses.

So, let's dive in, guys.

Uh, So I said, uh we're gonna start with some spring football.

Uh, I am not a big spring football devotee because I think it tends to be misleading in general.

I know the players don't like it, the coaches love it, but.

Uh, players don't enjoy spring practice.

They see it as just another chance to get injured.

I don't blame them.

Uh, but, when there are new things, new people in new places, new things going on, it does spike early interest, and these are programs we're probably gonna be watching and talking about for, uh, quite a while throughout the preseason and then into the season.

And we'll start with Virginia Tech , not just because of the parachute jump, if you all didn't see it, um, They were having the, you know, the usual thing where the guys, uh, parachute in.

I don't know whether they had the ball with them or what, but before the, before kickoff, and uh there was a miscalculation.

Unfortunately, it didn't turn out worse, or else we wouldn't be joking about it now.

But uh the parachutist ran into the scoreboard and was actually hung up on the scoreboard.

Tough look, uh, metaphors running rampant for Penn State fans, saying that's what Virginia Tech was gonna get with James Franklin.

Uh, but then Franklin came out of the parachutist was OK.

They had the game and James Franklin during.

The game on the in-house video board said to the fans, we're going to shock the world together.

Are they?

Kevin Sweeney, do you have any thoughts on Virginia Tech year one, James Franklin?

I don't know if they're gonna shock the world, but I'm kind of drinking the Kool-Aid.

You know, the schedule is so manageable early.

Like, I don't know, VMI, Old Dominion, Maryland, BC, like we should be 4 and 0, and then Pitt at home.

All right, like, that's a winnable game.

At Cal, you're one of a new coach, that's a pretty winnable game.

Like, imagine if these guys are 6 and 0 heading into a home game against Georgia Tech in mid-October and what Lane Stadium would look like.

Uh, hopefully, hopefully we've sorted out the, the skydiver problems, the parachute problems by then, and we can have quite the intro, because I'm sure I Sandman would be be electric, but I don't think it's unrealistic.

Like, I think Ethan Grunkenmeyer is not gonna light it up, but he was solid down the stretch for Penn State.

Uh, got, got everybody involved.

I think they're better or good enough in the trenches.

They've beefed up with, obviously, the Penn State transfers, but also a lot of guys from, you know, other Big 10 and SEC schools, like, athletically, they'll, they'll belong, um, with the upper third of the ACC, let's say.

I, I, I'm sort of buying a, a strong start, if nothing else, that, that gets excitement really high in, in Blacksburg.

Well, you know, and the, and the good news, Pat, is this might be the last time we get to talk about spring ball given some of the changes to the, uh, football calendar that they're discussing in terms of, you know, maybe moving or, or spreading out some of those, uh, practice times and when you can push more into the summer for , for a lot of these coaches.

So, so congrats on that at least if, if you're anti-spring ball here.

As for the Hokies, you know, I think there's a pretty high floor type of team.

And, and I think not only from a personnel standpoint, but certainly from a coaching standpoint, they retained who they needed to retain, uh, from, from last year's roster on, on the Hokies.

Uh, Kevin, as you mentioned, a lot of Penn State influence and, you know, a pretty good recruiting class.

I, I think this is going to be a team that Depending on what we, we truly get out of Ethan Gruenmeyer in terms of like the, the, the ceiling and, and, and reaching that, uh, for, for him, in terms of showing those flashes and building upon them, uh, with, with the Nittany Lions, um, you know, it's all gonna come down to this is a team that's gonna be pretty solid, you know.

In terms of they're gonna run the ball, and they've got some options there at running back, uh, you know, defensively, I like Kamari Copeland, uh, getting some push up at defensive tackle.

I, I think they'll be pretty solid at corner.

So you, you have a pretty good base and in, in the ACC, you know, as you mentioned that schedule, I mean, that, Gives you a, a chance where you're in a lot of those gonna be fifty-fifty type of games.

And let's face it, that's been James Franklin's problem at, at times there at Penn State.

So can that can, can he kind of overcome that in, in a new league with some new, some new systems and some new guys?

Uh, we'll see.

But I, I do think the, the floor is pretty high there.

Uh, for Virginia Tech.

As far as shocking the world though, I, I think everybody's gonna have their eyes on this situation, given everything that went on last year in the offseason as well, uh, surrounding the program.

So, um, I, I don't know if they'll, they'll shock the world, but I think they could have a pretty good year in 2026.

It's all gonna come down to You know, can, can those quarterback, can the quarterback make those gains, uh, can some of those other weapons, especially a wide receiver, like I, I'm not truly convinced, um, they have a game breaker at wide receiver, but, uh, we'll, we'll see.

And, in the ACC it really is anybody's game, I think outside of Miami, uh, to, to make a run at the league, league, uh, championship there in Charlotte.

Yeah, this is interesting to me, I mean, for many, many reasons, but, uh, you know, the two coaches who got fired last year.

That were among the most successful of the last 15 years in college football were Brian Kelly and James Franklin.

And Kelly is taking the year off, maybe he's, he might be done, who knows, um, and rebooting, and Franklin jumped right back in.

I think he was stung by the dismissal and didn't really wanna go out that way.

He's, he's also fairly young, he's in his mid-fifties.

Um, and I think that in terms of a fast start, you guys pointed out, personnel there, schedule, there.

And if you fire early and hire early, or at least reach an agreement early, you can get a good head start on this thing.

And, you know, that, obviously, Brent Pratt was pushed out quickly in the season.

Franklin was out.

Early at Penn State.

He was announced November 17th as the coach, but Hey, he had plenty of time to perhaps check the interest of various people in terms of how, how much they might like to go to Virginia Tech.

Line up a transfer class, line up recruiting class, and be ready to hit the ground running.

So, you know, I think that they're in a good position from those standpoints there.

Uh, As, as you said, I, I, I like Gronkmeyer.

I think he's a good quarterback.

I, I liked what I saw out of him in a very difficult situation, uh, last season.

I think he's talented and has some moxie to him.

Saw him at Ohio State, you know, in a hopeless situation, actually played pretty well in person.

He's not bad against Indiana the next week, and then had some, some good games later on.

He's good in the bowl game, so, You know, I, I think that they've got a chance there with him.

Shocking, Brian, that you would say that James Franklin would not have, uh, playmakers at wide receiver.

Has that ever been the case before?

We could ask, or, or at Virginia Tech in the, in the last, uh, say, decade or so.

No, yeah, right.

Just like Eddie Royal, I think, you know, it's been a while.

Uh, so no, I, I, I, I am intrigued by the situation.

I, I, I do think this is one of those where.

Uh, high floor is a good way to put it.

You got a coach who knows how to win games.

Does he know how to win all the games, you know how to win the biggest games?

No.

But at Virginia Tech, you're just trying to get off the floor or raise the floor, and I think they'll do that very quickly.

So I, I, I like the situation there for them.

Um, you know, I think this all bodes pretty well.

Uh, Michigan, let's talk about the Wolverines.

Kyle Whittingham is there.

Uh, by all indications from the spring game, the defense is ahead of the offense, not a big shocker for a Kyle Whittingham program.

Uh, the spring game score was 7 to 6.

It was 1 touchdown, it was in the final minute.

Uh, but their, their backup quarterback, Tommy Carr, who is the brother of CJ Carr, uh, showed some flash in that game.

Um, so, look, Kyle Whittingham's teams often have come along a little bit slowly, particularly on offense, but with Oklahoma week 2, Iowa week 4, Bryce Underwood under center, and a lot expected.

Can the Wolverines fast track that offense and be in playoff contention?

Brian, what do you think?

Well, I think they'll be in playoff contention just simply because of Kyle Whittingham and, and, and just how, how he elevates and, and, and stabilizes this program.

And, and I think there's still a ton of talent .

I mean, this is not a team that, you know, like Penn State just lost a ton of guys when there was a coaching change.

So you can kind of build off of that.

And, and I think, you know, truly truly, you know, I, I don't think you can take much from Bryce Underwood's spring game performance because as soon as Kyle Whittingham understood that was gonna be on BTN and, and televised, he's like, all right, we're We're going the full vanilla playbook on, on both offense for the first team and, and the second team defense as well.

So, uh, I, I will throw that out there.

I, I do think though, Jason Beck, the new new OC, he did a terrific job last year with Devin Dampier.

I mean, you talk about not only going from, uh, you know, making the jump from the group of 5 into the Big 12, but like, you know, his completion percentage was up.

He doubled the number of touchdown passes he had.

He only threw 5 interceptions last year.

So I think, In terms of the development of Bryce Underwood, he can make a similar type of leap this year.

They're gonna need him to, uh, certainly in terms of carrying this offense, but, you know, they, they've got some pretty good running backs.

I mean, uh, Savion Haider looked really good in that spring game, showed some flashes.

They always got Jordan Marshall to lean on as well in terms of that running back room.

I think, I think the question mark is probably the offensive line and, and if they can get some guys, you know, to kind of solidify what, what they want to do.

I think they have an excellent offensive line coach that, that can, uh, go a long way.

So, in terms of program building, I, I think Michigan looks pretty good.

And, and that, I think not only beyond the, the Oklahoma game, but I think in terms of getting into the Big 10 play with the new coaching staff, you know, kind of attacking the league, a little bit different.

I think that could really help, uh, Michigan in terms of making this transition and it wouldn't shock me if they go, you know, 93, 10 and 2, and they're right in the, the thick of that playoff discussion right now.

I, I think you're right about Beck and his potential impact, but I'm a little worried about Bryce Underwood.

I, I think for much of last year, we sort of acted like the training wheels being on Bryce was a Sharon Moore problem, but maybe it's a Bryce Underwood problem.

Like, I think when, when, when they have let him loose, he has had issues with ball security.

Obviously the Northwestern game at Wrigley, probably the, the most obvious of those, um, he's unbelievably talented physically, don't get me wrong, more talented than.

Any quarterback that Kyle Whittingham has ever had, um, but I just, we haven't seen it come together for long enough stretches for me to be confident that in this league, with everything that will be in front of them, especially early, uh, that, that they come out, come out sharp.

And that would be my concern is, do you lose a couple early?

I, I think they'll be smart and disciplined around him, which will help, um, but Bryce has a lot to prove to me still.

Yeah, I think that's fair.

Um, you know, he, he obviously had his moments, he has incredible talent, and I think he has the confidence that you want in a quarterback, that he's going to figure things out and be really good.

And, you know, like against, uh Washington last year, I thought he was excellent, uh, I had some other good games, and then, yeah, he had some bad ones, especially at the end of the season.

Uh, he was kind of helpless against Ohio State.

He wasn't good in the bowl game.

Some people say they don't care about the bowl game, that's fine.

Um, You know, I, I, I think that he's got.

I, I, I, I do think Whittingham is a good coach in terms of, like, we're not just gonna say, go out there and throw it 50 times and, and be the superhero, because that's not the way he rolls.

Um, you know, I, I, I think Michigan will be fine here .

I, I do.

I think that when you have an incredibly competent coach, replacing somebody who was probably in over their head, Then just the automatic upgrade there of just how you operate will be tangible and significant.

And then we'll see if they can, if they can next level it, which is make the playoffs and be in contention in the Big 10.

But uh I'm, I'm not concerned about the 7 to 6 score in the, uh, the spring game.

I mostly brought that up just because it, it is rather in line with, uh, with a, with a Kyle Whittingham early, early install sort of uh situation.

Uh, the other side of that rivalry, Ohio State.

They had their spring game of sorts, uh, on Saturday.

They have their 3rd new offensive coordinator in 3 seasons.

They've gone from Chip Kelly to Brian Hartline to now Arthur Smith.

I'm not sure that necessarily matters because it's a Ryan Day offense, really.

So, that's gonna be the denominator there.

But here's what uh intrigued me, uh The place where it's truly an assembly line with the receivers.

They have the best receiver and probably the best player in college football for 2026 in Jeremiah Smith.

But lo and behold, here's the next one, Chris Henry Jr.

Yes, the son of that Chris Henry, the late Chris Henry, the former NFL player, former West Virginia player.

He shows up, he's been on campus, I don't know, like 2 months, 3 months, and has 4 catches for 96 yards and a touchdown in the spring game.

They removed the black stripe from his helmet, and if you know Ohio State, when you're a freshman, and you've actually made enough impact that you're going to be part of the squad, they take the black stripe off, and they did that for him and for another receiver.

Brock Boyd, who was a three-star freshman from South Lake Carroll in Texas, uh, who has kind of come out of nowhere.

I mean, you don't get a scholarship as a receiver at Ohio State if you're coming out of nowhere, but still, he was not the guy people were talking about there.

So, I am super intrigued by the receiving corps as usual at Ohio State, but with Julian saying, I think he will continue to take steps forward and get better.

Um, You know, last year, he, he had, shoot, I mean, he, he was a Heisman finalist, he had a great season.

But at the end of the season, he was not great.

I think he will continue to get better.

He's got poise, accuracy, understanding, and command, uh, very important details, and I can't wait to see now the, the, the rebuild, obviously for Ohio State's gonna be defensively, they're gonna have like 3 guys drafted in the top.

10, maybe, or top 15 uh on Thursday night.

We'll talk about that in a little bit here, but I'm, I'm liking what I'm seeing from Ohio State before they get down to business.

What do you guys think?

Oh, absolutely, you know, I, I, I think this, this Ohio State off and and you did have to do a little bit of a double take, uh, in, in those rainy conditions there at the Horseshoe to see Arthur Smith there as OC and you're like, oh yeah, he's, he's gonna.

And, and I think truthfully, he will add a little bit in terms of the, the run game element that, uh, they had a little bit last year, but, but I think they can incorporate a little bit more.

Um, you know, I'm gonna be curious in terms of how they're gonna protect that offensive line because that's probably the biggest question mark to me is if that offensive line can really hold up.

It's been a couple of years really since you can say that was the strength of this team, but they, they've, they've got the weapons like all over.

I mean, this is a team that is going to be able to outscore pretty much everybody in the country, uh, this fall.

I mean, you not only have the have the quarterback back in Julian Sale, you forget Brandon Ennis there as, as the senior, uh, at wide receiver as well, uh, to go along with, you know, the best player in in college football in Jeremiah Smith.

You have Chris Henry, uh, Junior there, there in, in the mix as well, who, uh, phenomenal talent .

I, I mean, he, he was a star at Matter Day, polished, you know, like you can understand why, um, the, the, they were, they were raving about him even before he stepped onto campus is not only being kind of next.

In line after Jeremiah Smith, but like, maybe he's as good or better in terms of the polish coming in that maybe Jeremiah Smith didn't have, uh, coming in.

And, and I think you mentioned, uh, you know, Brock Boyd.

I mean, a polished guy, uh, great route runner, like he's, he's gonna just feast, you know, in the middle of the field, I think for, um, for, for the Buckeyes as much as he's gonna play.

I, I think in terms of the, the overall speed, that's probably the, the biggest question mark on him.

That's not gonna be a problem, you know, in terms of the defenses that he's gonna face because of so much attention.

is gonna be paid elsewhere.

So, I, I, I love the Ohio State offense and like you said, Pat, I, I think it's all about, uh, if this team wants to win a national title, which is the expectation there in Columbus, it's all gonna come down to, all right, which of those 4 or 5-star guys that they, they, they're churning in defensively is gonna make that leap.

And I think if, you know, you mentioned the draft, I mean, Arvell Reese was a guy who was kind of bided his time, bided his time.

All right, then he exploded last year.

So I think that that is kind of gives you a little bit of of an expectation level that you can raise a little bit around that defense saying, all right, yes, they, they still have some guys and, and they can develop them, they can make them play well, and yeah, it might take a, take a while, but, uh, the, the schedule or certainly early on, um, you know, outside of the Texas games pretty manageable.

So even if you end up losing that one, you can go into Big 10 play, um, you know, being pretty confident that, you know what, if you get into a couple of shootouts, you, you can count on some of those guys making a play or two to where you can get the, get the offense back on the field.

Yeah, I, I know that fantasy college football isn't as big as NFL football, but if I was, I think I'd be buying a lot of Bo Jackson stock because I think, number 1, he's gonna have a huge year, but number 2, like, I think Arthur Smith brings some of the creativity back to their run game that they had with Chip, and I think that's, that's very intriguing, especially with this wide receiver room that they have, and with saying who can take the top off the defense defense going, going deep.

Like I, I, I really believe that.

They're gonna be able to get pretty creative and and allow those phases of the game to, to feed off of each other and, and pound people with the run the way that they probably didn't enough down the stretch last year.

Uh, obviously, part of that's the offensive line, which was in shambles by the end, but if they can, if they can stay healthy upfront, I think Bo could have a monster year and, and that will open things up for just about everybody else in this offense.

Yes, I, I will say, I, I saw Bo Jackson in an August scrimmage up there and he jumped out.

I mean, you could tell the talent with him, so I expect him to, to keep getting better and become a bigger part of the offense as we go.

Uh, Florida.

New head coach John Summerall.

They have been in the malaise there for approximately forever, going back to the, um, Urban Meyer days, there was a, you know, a couple of blips of good seasons with other coaches, Jim McIlwain, Dan Mullen, but really nothing sustainable.

It has to be sustainable now or people are going to, it's gonna get ugly down there.

He, uh, Summerall brought in Georgia Tech's offensive coordinator, Buster Faulkner, and Georgia Tech's quarterback, Aaron Fio, to enliven the Gators.

Kevin, what do we think about the, uh, the rebuild at Florida?

I'm a Summerall believer, you know, I think he brings like an edge that they've lacked, but also a discipline that they've needed, right?

And I think that balance is, is critical.

I do think the Faulkner hire is really smart, but I will say, like, it's a, it's a huge bet on, on Aaron Philo to be the guy, and by all accounts, it doesn't seem like he has completely separated, uh, in spring ball.

That's not necessarily the worst sign in the world, but.

Um, it, it's not the best sign in the world either, and especially given the way the Lagway situation went down, it seemed like maybe DJ wanted to be there in some form or fashion.

Like, if Aaron Fo doesn't win this job or struggles early, I mean, it could get, get pretty toxic pretty early for year one end game, so it doesn't mean his tenure would be, be ruined, but.

That was a big bet on a guy who's played some football, but hasn't played a lot of it, and, um, you know, they, they, they are believing big in, in what Buster has seen in practice here the last couple of years.

Well, I'm, I'm not ruling Trammell Jones Junior out at, at all, you know, I, I think in terms of the upside that he brings athletically, um, you know, so show, showed some flashes and some limited action last year, certainly, um, you know, I think he's, he's a guy that they, they, you know, could surprise me in terms of picking up the offense and, and kind of being that guy at quarterback and Um, you know, frankly, that's kind of the MO for, for John Summerall, right?

You know, you know, he's had a lot of quarterback battles over the years and done, you know, as much as there's been some terrific success, he's, he's just found guys, you know, and Darren Mensa was like a 4th stringer there at Tulane before he ended up getting the job as, as a freshman and, and exploding and going on to his, his career.

So like, uh, you know, I, I'm not ruling out either guy.

I think the, the big Question mark, and John's kind of hinted at this a little bit is, is the offensive line, you know, can they find some solutions upfront, which, you know, you can cover that up a little bit with, with, uh, Buster Faulkner's offense and, and the way that they want to run the football and they got, they got Jordan, Jaden Baugh, excuse me, there .

So like, they, they're gonna be good at running back.

You're gonna have to account for , for Dallas Wilson, who's hopefully, um, gonna be healthy.

You know, I think I, I like the Eric Eric Singleton pick.

Uh, they're at the portal as well at wide receiver.

So like, I, I think if, if the offensive line can hold up, and they will get tested certainly later in the season, when they got to play Texas, and they got to play Georgia, some of those teams, um, you know, if they can hold up, I, I think Florida can be pretty good.

I, I think the defense is gonna be really, really good.

That's, that's not only a hallmark of John Summerall's teams, but I, I think they bring back enough talent that they should be pretty solid on that side of the ball.

So, This could be a team that I'm not gonna say they're gonna make a run towards Atlanta, but you know what, I, I think they're gonna surprise a lot of people out there in terms of this is gonna be a team that's gonna go out and they're gonna execute, you know, they're, they're, they're not gonna make the mistakes that we saw in terms of special teams issues, uh, you know, running guys on at the last minute, um, you know, like just the, the, the Number of issues that uh they, they were there on the field, you know, you know, during in-game management, um, under Billy Napier.

I, I don't think we'll see as much of that, uh, there from the Gators.

So I think that's gonna help raise the floor there.

And, and truthfully, you know, cause some of those 50/50 type of games, you know, in, in the SEC they're able to knock off one or two, you know, I think they can kind of make it a November to where they can go into that month and say, Hey, we, we, we've got something to play for.

And I think that would be a huge step forward for John Summerland.

I, I think truthfully, he's kind of got the fan base kind of rallying around him a little bit more compared to when he was first hired.

Everybody was so disappointed that he wasn't Lane Kiffin .

I think those that, that, that has dissipated quite a bit there in Gainesville, and I think they're gonna be excited going into the swamp this year to, to cheer on this team.

We just had a little bit of breaking news, we'll get to this later in the show, but Val Ackerman has announced her retirement as Big East uh commissioner.

That's a big shoes, big job, did a great job, uh, in that role, in my opinion.

So we'll get to that.

But, uh, I agreed on what you guys are saying about Florida.

Um, I think, I think better times are ahead and better, are, are ahead soon.

Not sure who will be the quarterback was Tramel Jones or Fio.

I really liked Fio at Georgia Tech, and so did Georgia Tech, and I think they were ready for Philo to be the guy, uh, until he up and left, and that left an opening, which they have filled.

Apparently, for now, with Alberto Mendoza.

You may have heard of him.

Back up to a guy who was his older brother, who won the Heisman, led a national championship season, and is poised to be the number one pick in the draft.

So, Fernando is on his way to go pro, and Alberto may be on his way to the starting lineup at Georgia Tech.

Um , what are we thinking there, Brian?

What's, what's your read of the situation for Bert and for the Yellow Jackets coming off a really good season?

Well, you know, I, I think, uh, in an ideal world, you know, he, he's still they're, they're in Indiana, you know, and, and, and going for it, but this is a great situation for him to step in there at Georgia Tech, and it is a bit of a rebuilding year, uh, for, for the Yellow Jackets after losing Hanks King, losing Buster Faulkner, losing all those guys, but kind of a Big 10 flavor there, you know, on, on, on the flats a little bit.

Uh, you got Mendoza, you got Justin Haynes at the running back, you got, uh, Jordan Walker has got.

And some, some rave reviews, not only from the coaching staff, but he's flashed, uh, in terms of the defense and, and coming off the edge.

He's a Rutgers transfer.

So, um, I, I actually kind of like Georgia Tech going into this year .

You know, you kind of overlook them a little bit, but you look at the schedule in the ACC and it's like, you know what, it's not crazy to think they could win 9 games, you know, especially if Alberto Mendoza is as good as kind of everybody expects in terms of just going out and executing.

You know, like that, that's the one thing about you.

really kind of trust, uh, about the both Mendoza brothers at this point.

And we'll talk certainly more about, uh, the, the draft prospects of his older brother, but like, um, you're going out and executing, like that, that's, that's the key thing you want from a quarterback.

Don't turn the ball over, all right?

Get, get the ball out to your playmakers, run the football, take care of the things.

Um, you know, most, most things will, will sort itself out, you know, in college football.

And, um, I think with what Georgia Tech is, is kind of building there.

You know, you kind of give them a decent enough chance they're in the ACC despite all the losses, all the big names that are, you know, so, so pivotal in terms of turning around the program.

Uh, I, I think they've really raised the floor in terms of what they, they want to do.

Um, you know, they're, they're on the flats and, and, uh, gonna be interesting.

That's, that's one of the teams in the ACC.

You could say that, that, that could be one of the surprise contenders to make in Charlotte.

Uh, all right, yeah, so let's, uh, hit a couple other.

Football topics here before we, we divert, but I want to talk outside of uh spring ball and spring games about Oklahoma.

For one, they seem to be counterprogramming their roster.

At a time when everybody's jumping in the portal with both feet, the Sooners have the number one freshman recruiting class for 2027, with commitments from 20 recruits.

Here in April.

8 more than any other power conference team.

Brian, what exactly is the strategy here?

Go heavy on high school?

These things can change, uh, offers can vanish, players, you know, things, things can be moved around as needed.

But still, this is, uh, eye-opening to me.

Number one class, heavy on high school.

What's up with Oklahoma?

What are they doing?

Yeah, you, you, the usual caveats there in terms of this is, this is very early in the recruiting rankings and, and obviously it's high school, so, uh, a lot is gonna change, but, um, you know, 35 stars there and 11 4 stars, you know, included in, in that bunch, and I think they've hit only their own state pretty well, but obviously reached down into Texas, kind of spread things out, gone into California, um, so other areas and, you know, frankly with, you know, this kind of really the first true, I think high school recruiting.

Class, you know, their, their new front office personnel staffing can, can really kind of get their hands into and, you know, that, that not only do they want to evaluate well, uh, with a lot of those guys, but like, it's, it's cost-effective, you know, in, in terms of landing some of those high school recruits compared to reaching out into the portal.

And and we've obviously seen, um, you know, in terms of the, the pushback in terms of, all right, well, these, you know, these guys could jump in the portal and you're expecting to pay, you know, 12 $3 million.

For an offensive tackle.

All right.

Well, it's probably more cost-effective to, to go out of the high school ranks, assuming there can be some development there, assuming, um, you know , Bill Biedenb can, can get his hands on some of those guys and really mold them into some, some top-tier starter.

I, I, I like the strategy we're seeing others, you know, USC is another one, you know, with the Lincoln Riley connection where they've leaned heavily into high school recruiting as well, not dipping into the portal as much as say, compared to earlier in the tenure.

And I think You know, for, for Brent Venables, this is kind of uh more of a, a reflection on the, the program being pretty stable right now.

You know, it was definitely some rocky up and down times there early on there in Norman.

Now there's a little bit more stability.

You can kind of build off of that, and I think they want to make this much more of a sustainable thing where you're not having those wild swings from year to year.

All right, that means you're gonna be leaning on, on your high school recruiting, leaning on those high school evaluations, and that's certainly an area where I, I think they think they're, they're, they're gonna have an advantage, um, compared to maybe some of their peers in the, in the SEC that are frankly gonna have to be overly reliant on, on those portal, which you never know, um, what's gonna, what's gonna be in that portal class.

And I think that now there's a little bit more shrewdness in terms of what, here's where our roster is gonna stand, and then we'll supplement here and there with, with the portal.

Yeah, I think the other thing on the portal front is like I think everyone's realizing.

It's just not sustainable to have to throw money at 30 guys every spring, like, you need some development guys, and when you look at this class, like, there is a lot more developmental guys.

This isn't just 5 star blue chip city that that Oklahoma is bringing in, it's, it's a balanced group, and I, I think.

You know, identifying like kind of your Moneyball guys, your special teamers, your guys that can develop is is critical, because if you try to live in free agency, you're gonna, you're gonna have a tough time building any sort of continuity or sustainability in your program, and you're gonna spend a whole lot of money as well.

Yeah, it's, you know, I, I, I, I do think, well, obviously, Oklahoma.

In theory , is going to spare no expense chasing a national championship.

They're also in an era of financial pragmatism in terms of, like, where can we get the most bang for our buck, and that might be a way to do it, is if you're, you're not overpaying for uh parts that you feel like you need right now, and instead, you're actually developing players.

What an old school concept there.

Uh, all right, I want to hit this one, guys.

Indiana defensive coordinator Brian Haynes versus Alabama.

The fans, the program, the whole dang thing, uh, pretty fascinating, fairly entertaining.

Bit of Twitter crossfire over the weekend here .

Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson, who's preparing for the draft, was on a podcast with Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, and the conversation turned to Indiana, which beat both of their teams.

And the background on Ty Simpson, he's a coach's son, who, to my knowledge, has never said anything controversial in his life.

And I don't think he really did here either.

He said, we knew everything that Indiana was going to do, but we still couldn't move the ball against them because they were so buttoned up, they were in where they should have been, they were ready, blah blah blah.

Haynes somehow took that as an insult and chirped back.

Uh, he, I guess, thought that they were saying that they were predictable, and I do know that Indiana prides itself on not being predictable, so maybe he was just pointing out.

Something of an inaccuracy, I don't know.

But the back and forth was interesting, uh, with Haynes, you know, firing, uh, at, at Alabama, and then the fans jumped in, and then he fired back at the fans.

At one point, he said, that's all it took to break your entire fan base?

Wow, maybe I should have just said boo.

No apologies, no compliments.

Grow up, folks.

He had a bad take and I said the painful truth, bounce back better, #IUno compliments.

Woo! Indiana, Indiana, uh, feeling itself, I think at this point.

That, that now that Haynes is he, he is not shy on Twitter.

He's not afraid to, to get into these things.

But, uh, my question for you guys, I'll start with you, Brian.

Uh, you know, this is a guy who theoretically should be a head coach at some point in time.

He's a brilliant defensive coordinator.

He's the Broyles Award winner, he should have been.

Didn't have overwhelming personnel.

It's not like we're gonna see a bunch of those defensive guys going in the 1st and 2nd rounds.

And he, and they still were great, but is this a great look for an aspiring head coach?

Well, it's, it's great for all of us that there's uh finally some offseason content uh beyond Kurt Signetti, uh, saying something about his, his quarterback.

So like, and, and I think it's truthfully, I mean this is nicer reflection of where Indiana is, right?

Like trying to manufacture the, the chip on their shoulder in this offseason after they won the national title, uh, by, by chipping back at Alabama fans after they, they just Ran roughshod over them in the in the Rose Bowl.

I mean, like, that's like that that's almost as as big of a pinch me moment for some of these Hoosiers fans following along, like, wait, wait a minute, our, our coaches clapping back at at at a possible first round quarterback and the the entire Alabama fan base?

Like what, what world are we living in?

Oh yeah, the one we're national champions.

Like that's, that's like just, just like the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae for, for the Hoosiers fans, but like, you know, Brian, Brian, he's, he's a fiery guy, right?

Like he, he, he doesn't hold back, you know, a lot in terms of some of his comments, which probably is probably the reason why he's he's still back there at IU and look, he's the highest paid assistant.

He's probably making more than he would, uh, in all but a handful of, of Power Five jobs at this point.

But, um, you know, maybe these things get brought up in those interviews next offseason.

Maybe he'll tone it down a little bit, but, you know, kudos, kudos to the Hoosiers for making the offseason interesting because, um, you know, we have not talked a whole lot about the defending national champions, but, um, here, here's, here's a good opportunity to remind the world that, uh, IU is, is on top of the world right now.

I, I think traditionally we'd say, yeah, like log off, be a little more buttoned up.

I don't know.

In this, in this era, are we sure that's what wins?

Like, are we sure that's what people want?

Like, I think people want fighters.

They want guys who are, are willing to stir it up.

I mean, I'm not sure everybody wants Lane Kiffin.

I'm not sure everyone wants to hire Lane Kiffin, but some people do.

So, I don't know.

I, my, my advice to Bryant would be to log off, but I don't know.

It's, it's working for him so far.

So who am I to throw stones?

It is working for him, that's for sure .

Uh, just an interesting look.

That's, uh, that's, uh.

That's pretty clear.

All right, one more thing here, uh, I touched on this earlier, obviously with the Virginia Tech parachute guy.

Uh, those things can end badly, but my bigger question.

For the, you know, the , the parachuting in the game ball or whatever the case may be, and the fighter jet flyovers.

Is anybody else tired of those by now?

Haven't we kind of jumped the shark on, on that?

Like, to me, I don't know how many times you have to see a plane fly over the top of the stadium and say, whoa, that's awesome.

I don't know, after the 1st 200 or 300, maybe I, I maxed out.

But tell me, am I, am I being an unnecessary curmudgeon?

I've been accused of that before.

Or is, is this something we need to, do we need to find new ways of pregame entertainment?

I, I mean, I'm, I'm open to new ways, but I think I guess my take is that college football should be such a spectacle that the international students going to their first game, go home and call their parents, they're like, what in the world did I just get into?

Like that should be the bar.

So if we need flyovers, we need parachutes, we need whatever chaos we gotta create, like, we, we need to be in a situation where, where this is so crazy and so absurd, that people are like, yeah, this is distinctly American college football, you won't see it anywhere else.

So, uh, if that's, if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

Absolutely and pet for a curmudgeon.

Come on, come on.

Uh, I, I actually love the flyovers, like the, the , the more the merrier.

Like the, the parachuting thing, I think that has been done enough.

Like, all right, we see them.

My, my biggest question on this whole thing is like, what was he doing even near the scoreboard?

Like if, if you're, if you're windy, I, I think that the, the wind, uh, carried him.

I, I get that, but I'm like, I'm, I'm like pulling the handles and I'm going, I'm trying to turn as much as possible and like we, we still have not had an update as, as, as we, we've gotten an update that the parachute diver is, is OK.

What about the scoreboard?

Have we had any checks about the scoreboard?

Those things are expensive.

I, I know Virginia Tech has raised a bunch of money to commit to the roster and all that.

Some of that has to be diverted to uh repairing that sucker before, before the fall.

Those are the questions that are still left unanswered, but, um, you know, kudos to college football.

It never, it's never not interesting, uh, in like ways like this.

I, well, I guarantee with Babcock and some assistant AD in charge of facilities we both are like, oh, is he OK?

All right, now, how much damage did he do to our scoreboard?

How much do we got to pay to fix that thing?

So I'm sure that was a concern.

Uh, Kevin, your point is excellent.

The, the international students to come over and see their first football game .

Yeah, yeah, like you're at Colorado.

There's a giant buffalo they let out and it runs around the field before the game.

You know, I mean, the stuff that that we put out there, if you're at Purdue, they have the world's biggest drum, and they go out and they beat this drum, except it's not the world's biggest drum, which is actually in Korea.

That was a falsehood that has been perpetrated by Purdue.

Uh, but yes, the, the, the spectacle, the, the drama, the overkill, I guess that's all part of it.

I'll back down.

I'll bring on the flyovers, have as many as you want.

I'll parachute in the entire 101st Airborne.

I don't care.

I've seen the light.

Uh, all right, let's talk about the draft real quick, which obviously starts Thursday.

And again, we have seen a lot of these guys play perhaps more than, certainly more than NFL fans, and maybe more than some of the NFL GMs that are making the picks.

I, I don't want to say that they're not well-informed, but We've watched them actually play other than in controlled environments against actual competition in full pads with people trying to tackle them or them doing the tackling.

So, let's do a quick, uh, tout and doubt.

It's gonna do one player each that we think, uh, is really gonna be good, maybe has been a little bit underrated.

And then we'll do somebody who might be a little overrated.

Kevin, you got somebody?

Yeah, I mean, Gabe Aus from Illinois is just a physical beast.

He's someone that's gotten better every year, you know, from 3-star to first-team All-Big 10.

He's powerful.

He's productive.

People, this seems like a guy that people say, oh, is he quite quick enough?

Can he, can he move in space?

Can he?

Like, I don't know, man, like you, you put on the film, that guy's impactful every snap he's on the field.

I, I think he finds a way to be a pretty useful player, probably as a day 2 guy, 2nd, 3rd round, I like him a lot, and he's been a big reason why Illinois has, has grown as a program here over the last couple of years.

Love that pick.

I'm, I'm gonna cheat a little bit and, uh, because it's also my podcast, I'm gonna go with the defensive tackles and, and touting some of them because I think everybody's like saying this is one of the worst defensive tackle group in, in, in a long time and I'm not gonna argue against that in terms of the depth, but I think the quality of some of the guys at the top, you know, has definitely been overlooked.

I mean, I, I love Christian Miller at defensive tackle out of, out of, out of Georgia.

You know, I think injuries certainly hampered his season.

Caleb Banks, I think people are coming around to a lot.

Obviously, he's got the foot injury to deal with.

With, but like, in terms of the upper tier talent and what he could potentially be at the next level, uh, big fan of him.

I, I like Lee Hunter, who's, uh, certainly a combine darling, but, uh, seems, uh, people are kind of backing away.

Kayden McDonald, the Ohio State guy, like, I, I, I think that's a guy that, um, you know, I, I would be shocked if he doesn't have like an 8 to 10-year career just making plays and, and stuff and runs, just, uh, given his size, what he's able to do.

Um, I know Peter Woods was kind of bandied about as a first-round guy, you know, back in the day, but, uh, I, I still like his talent.

I still like his upside going forward.

Um, give me the defensive tackles.

Like I, I, I think that, you know, especially on the first and 2nd day, uh, if you can get one of these guys, I think you can really solve some issues, especially against the run.

I, I know there's some, some question marks in terms of, all right, can, can they rush the passer, right?

In, in today's NFL, especially as, as many teams are going to too high and saying, all right, beat us with a run game, you're gonna need one of these big defensive tackles that can stuff the run.

So, uh, give me the defensive tackles as, as my doubt.

All right, fair enough.

Uh, I'm going with Elijah Surrat, receiver, Indiana, who, he's gonna get picked, he might be third round, I don't know, we'll see, but I, I just think that he has several things that will make him a successful NFL player.

First of all, size, 6'2, 213.

Secondly, red zone monster.

He's got 23 touchdown catches the last two years, and a lot of those were small space, tight window, contested catch, touchdowns with guys draped on him.

He is big, he is strong.

Uh, the, the pros are worried, his arms aren't long, well, fine, he'll catch the ball.

He will get.

Open, even if he's not open, he's gonna catch the ball.

And I do think, I, look, I love Mendoza, and I think, I hope Mendoza is good, because I, I just, I like everything about him.

But I think one of the reasons he was so successful, his receiving corps was unfreaking believable.

Omar Cooper's probably gonna get picked ahead of Serrat, maybe deserves to be faster, he's faster than Serrat is.

Um, and, but those two guys and, uh, Uh, Charlie Becker, who's still in school, just made great catch after great catch after great catch, and they never dropped the ball.

So, I think you draft Elijah Surrat, you're gonna be pretty happy, and you're gonna be lining him up for those fades in the, in the red zone that we all hate, but he'll make the catches and, uh, and make plays.

All right, who are we doubting?

Who wants to go first there?

I'll, I'll go, I mean, Caden Proctor to me is the guy that I just can't quite get there on, right?

He's unbelievably talented, just seems like the classic kind of underwear Olympics warrior whose tape never quite matched up, and, you know, I just worry it might be too late for his career by the by the time he figures it all out, and I think there's other offensive linemen in this first round.

That have been more consistently good, uh, that will go below Caden Proctor because of the tools and because of the ceiling, and I don't know if that's, that's not how I would draft, especially on the lines, but, um, I, I, I get why he's the, the, the name of intrigue because he is so physically gifted, but just, just wish the consistency had been there, um, at Alabama.

Uh , we, we are simpatico on that one, Kevin, cause that was, that's exactly who I was gonna go with.

You know, like, I, I, I love the athleticism and, and you, you love that profile and you see him catching passes and you're thinking, all right, he's, he's one of those dancing bears, right?

You know, just mammoth guy, he can move around, he's good.

I, I'm just curious, you know, for, for all the athleticism that he does bring to the table, is he, is he?

Polished enough to kind of be that franchise tackle that, you know, you're gonna have to be almost right away if you're going to be top, you know, taken in the, let's say top 15, you know, I, I know a lot of people, he's kind of been all over the board in terms of how teams value him, but like, um, if, if you're getting picked in the top 15 as a tackle, you're not only going to be playing early, but, you know, you're gonna be entrusted to be like, all right.

You know, get, get out there, take care of those edge rushers , and, and like on your, on your own, and, and I'm just not curious, you know, yes, he has the athleticism to do that, but is he polished enough?

Is he ready enough to kind of do that on a more consistent basis?

Um, you know, that, that's where my question mark would be, uh, with Proctor.

I, I do understand, um, you know, if, if he's in the right system, if he's with the right team, but like if you're talking about like, you know, going to San Francisco and, and replacing some of the legends there, like, maybe if, maybe as his own zone team, like you can kind of Uh, adjust around him a little bit, but like, um, you know, to say, hey, you're, you're gonna be out there on an island against some of the best pass rushers, um, you know, in the NFL, like I'm, I'm, I'm questioning that a little bit in terms of being a top 10, top 15 type pick for, for Proctor.

Yeah, fair comment and criticism on him.

He's got, got a lot to prove still.

He does have the world's greatest cologne collection.

They said he had like 150 bottles of cologne.

He said, big guys, you can't stink .

You've got to smell good, so.

He's, he's ahead of the game on that.

We'll see how well he can , he can block.

I'm gonna go with Cassius Howell, defensive end for Texas A&M.

Good player, I just don't know whether he's a first-round player.

His production was in spurts, and he would come and go.

He had 3 sacks in 3 plays against Utah State, 2nd game of the year.

Then he didn't have, he didn't have another second, either the 1st or the 3rd games.

He had 2.5 against Mississippi State, he had 2 against LSU, but he only had 11.5 for the season.

It's not a bad total, but when you have those individual games, you're like, well, OK, where's the rest of it?

And yes, part of that might be being game planned against.

But I would just like, if I'm gonna spend first-round pick on an edge rusher, I'd like somebody who, you know, is gonna be showing up in the backfield every play of every game, or as many plays as humanly possible.

So, I'm not 100% sold on Cassius Howell's production.

We'll see how it all plays out.

He'll probably be a 10-time All-Pro, and that'll be that.

But, all right, we're gonna talk some basketball now.

And before we get to the portal, let's work in Val Ackerman here.

Uh, just announced during the show here as we were taping, the Big East commissioner is retiring.

Uh, kudos to her.

I thought she did an outstanding job leading a league in transition , taking over.

I talked to her at some point here, you know, but they, they didn't even have an office, they were moving from Rhode Island to New York, and she was like asking to borrow office space and a desk.

You know, to get things up and running, and the partnership with Fox was great, got the, the conference stabilized, back up to a level that you expect from the Big East.

They certainly had some kismet with the ascendance of Villanova with Jay Wright, and then Dan Hurley with Connecticut, carrying on the tradition there.

But a Woman commissioner in a major power league who I thought did a really good job and made a great impact.

Uh, what are you guys' thoughts on Val Ackerman's tenure at the Big East, Kevin?

Yeah, I, I think stabilizer is probably the best way of putting it, right?

Like I, I, I, I see a lot of criticism now of the league, you know, are they falling behind?

Can they keep up?

Can you it's like, the fact that the Big East exists in this current form, and has the brands it has, and has won the national championships it has won over the last decade is a credit to Val, because, again, that this was by no means guaranteed.

I am curious about what her replacement will look like and how aggressive they will be.

I know there's been a lot of talk about, should the Big East be expanding, should it be growing?

Does it need to be, you know, a 14 to 18 team league, like the other power conferences are at this point.

I think, you know, obviously Val, Val leaving and someone else coming in could change the, the tenor of some of those conversations, but, you know, I, I think for the most part, you know, she deserves a ton of credit and Even as she leaves, I mean, look around the league and you see the investment that, that these schools are making, and part of that is, you need people at the commissioner level to make clear to the presidents, like, this is why this is important, and this is what, like, DePaul is spending like there's no tomorrow on a basketball roster right now.

The demons are hot.

Like Xavier, after spending $6 million last year and getting kind of embarrassed, went out and probably spent $6 million in a day and a half in the portal.

Like, this is like the.

She has done a good job and everyone kind of administratively throughout the league has done a nice job of, like, communicating why this is important, both for the Big East standing, for these schools of standing, etc.

And so, um, curious to see what's next, but certainly to get to where they are is, was not guaranteed, and, and she deserves a lot of credit for that.

Yeah, you know, stabilizer and a trailblazer.

I mean, like you talk about one of the, the legends.

I mean, there's a reason why she's, she's in the Hall of Fame, you know, right?

You know, 4 decades around the sport of basketball, and she's done so much.

I mean, you want, you wanna have some fun, you know, talk, get, get Val talking about David Stern, you know, and, and some of the stories that she had.

They're in the NBA office, you know, and, and coming up through the ranks there.

Um, obviously, the, the first president, I think the first president of, of the WNBA and obviously instrumental in terms of getting that league off the ground.

And we've seen what that has now become, you know, nowadays, you know, a driving force certainly in terms of some of the changes in, in women's basketball in the college level, you know, in, in terms of, uh, bringing that along and, and, and, and the equality issues that have been at the forefront of the NCAA these last couple of years.

Uh.

Um , you know, Val's been a huge part of that and pushing the game forward and, um, you know, just, just a tremendous job, you know, like, um, dealing with everything that's been thrown at her, thrown her way and, and, and, and being calm about it and rational about it.

And, and I think, um, you know, she'll definitely be missed, you know, like in terms of how she operates, uh, how the Big East has operated under her watch, you know, and, and I mean, you, you mentioned, uh, you know, some of the administrators, I mean, she's got, uh, I think 3 commissioners at this point.

Um, you know, that have, have gone on from kind of their, the, the role leading the Big East basketball onto other commissioner jobs, you know, and so , you know, guys like Sue Jackson at the WCC, uh, being one of them.

So, um, just a tremendous influence on, on the game of basketball collegiately, professionally, um, certainly from, from the Big East standpoint, that this is a, a, a huge loss in terms of just the leadership void.

And, you know, truthfully, it probably does come at, at an interesting time for the league in terms of, all right, You, you, you're stable, you, you got the media deals done, um, you're probably, you know, pretty, pretty settled in terms of expansion.

We'll see where, where that goes in terms of some of the other things coming up, but, um, you know, there's, there's gonna be a lot of talk about, you know, 2030, 2032, that time frame in terms of big changes to the NCAA landscape.

Um, do you want somebody in that's, that's ready and and able to kind of sink their teeth into what's, what's gonna happen there and how that's gonna impact the Big East?

Probably.

You know, and, and somebody that can kinda learn on the job here in, in the next couple of years from very interesting search uh to replace him , but uh that will certainly be missed, uh, in terms of all of us who cover college basketball, cover college basket, uh, college sports, and cover the Big East, um, you know, big, big loss for her and, um, you know, I, I think, uh, you know, she, she will rightfully be saluted over these next couple of months in terms of the impact that she's had, uh, not just on her own conference, but really in, in general in college sports.

Yeah, and basketball in general, as you said, the NBA, the WNBA, and then obviously at the college level as well.

And it is interesting, if they want to expand, There are several A-10 schools that are like, right now, right now, we, we will, we will change our logos by noon, just let us know.

Saint Louis, Dayton, etc.

So, that will be interesting to watch where that league goes in the post Val Ackerman era.

All right, a little more basketball.

Portal never sleeps, uh, draft, let's see, draft.

Entry deadline is the end of the week, right, Kevin?

April 24th?

OK.

And then, obviously, uh, players would have into June, well into June before they withdraw, but that's the entry date, um.

Let's hit a few highlights here, and we will chime in briefly, but you take the lead here.

UConn keeping Braylo Mullins seemed to have firmed up the rest of their core group.

How good does UConn look for 2026, 2020207?

They look very good, and, you know, on the Mullins front, and a lot of these draft decisions, you know, I think there will be a lot fewer guys going to that end of May deadline than in the past, mostly because schools can't afford to wait.

Like, you can't sit there with a $4 to $6 million dollar budget slot, waiting to see whether your guy is gonna be there or not.

So, um, the UConns of the world with a guy like Brandon Mullins have to know.

Uh, he decided to come back.

I think it was trending this way since the Final Four.

he could explode in year two.

Get him, get, get some muscle on him, get him a little more physical driving to the rim.

Uh, he, he will be a game changer cause he's an elite shooter and , and has some real toughness, like, you saw him rebounding, I thought in the Final Four, especially flying in on the glass, he's great.

Nick Kamenya from Duke, or excuse me, yes, excuse me, from Duke, yes, uh, is the theoretical caravan replacement, they're different, but he has size and skill and feel for the game.

And then you replace Terrace Reid with Naihai Hines from Seton Hall, who's uh nicknamed Baby Shaq.

He's a, he's a giant human being who can really jump and, and block shots and dunk everything.

Yeah, Emery back.

They will be, they'll be very, very good.

Uh, I, yeah, I, I'm, I, Danny Hurley is always gonna put together a good team, but I really like the makeup of this one.

And you, you pointed out a couple of things about Mullins there.

The Final Four, he, he was not just, let me catch and shoot.

He wanted to put the ball on the floor, and he went to the glass hard, uh, and I think shows a willingness to diversify and, and an aggressiveness.

I, I do think making that shot to get them to the Final Four probably will unlock some confidence in him.

That uh we haven't necessarily seen up to this point.

All right, uh, the opposite end of the spectrum.

I looked at the LSU.

Uh, roster online of their, their website today, and here's the words that came up.

The roster of players for the selected season is not available at this time, because there is no roster.

They have no players at this point, unless something has happened here recently or they're doing something that the rest of us have not heard about yet.

Kevin, the great Will Wade, General Will Wade, has rode in with no army.

What is going on?

Yeah, I, I'm a little surprised it's been a little slower.

I do know that they are being very aggressive behind the scenes.

There has been some, uh, tampering rumors with guys who are not in the portal yet for the final 48 hours.

I know, we're all shocked to hear that, um, but, you know.

They are targeting some big fish, they have money to spend.

Uh, they're prepping a monster push for Allan Graves, who's from Louisiana, was at Santa Clara last year.

Analytically, he's like the number 1 player in the portal.

Realistically, probably more like a top 10 guy, but he's very, very good.

Um, but yeah, look, it's great that LSU has tons of money and claims they're gonna give him, whatever, $15.

18 dollars, $20 million whatever it is.

That goes by quick when you are doing all your work late and when you need to sign 12 players.

So I'm curious how this all shakes out.

And look, I think a lot of us all, most of us all agree Will Wade's a very good coach.

Ignore the other stuff, like very good.

This past year was a disappointment at NC State.

Let's be, let's be very clear.

They were not as good as everybody expected to be.

They were not as good as Will certainly positioned them to be.

And now he's got a lot of work to do to make sure that LSU doesn't do the same thing in year one.

The good news.

They not only You know, like, I will say this, Wade's teams usually are pretty tough and play hard, and that could not be said of NC State several times late in the season.

They lost by 40 to Louisville, 29 to Carolina 29 to Duke, 29 to Virginia, and they just folded tents.

So, uh, he's got some work to do.

He's got to get some players, and he's got to get them to play with an edge.

All right, Kentucky, you would have thought, you would have thought though, Pat, that he, he was already working on the roster too when he was at NC State.

So like it's, it's a little disappointing that he still has 0 guys, but, you know, the good news is it's football season there in the bayou, and it doesn't really matter until, you know, next spring.

So that, that'll be really when the, when the hay is in the barn there for, for Will Wade.

Yeah, the number of people that are paying attention to LSU's men's basketball roster right now is probably not, not large.

So that gives him time to conjure up something.

All right.

Kentucky, that is not the case.

They're always paying attention to the basketball roster, and it is not what the Wildcat faithful is accustomed to.

They have landed a couple of guards.

That's nice, but they're playing catch up.

Kevin, what is going on with Mark Pope and the roster?

Yeah, they've got Zoom Diala from Washington, who's a big physical kind of truck of a point guard, and then Alex Wilkins from Furman, who's a skinny, shifty, incredibly talented bucket getter.

Um, they're good players, they're not sure things, and they also will be interesting to see how they play together because both need the ball in their hands.

Um.

It just, everything feels a little chaotic with the Kentucky offseason.

Oh, we're all in on, we're we're, we're all in on Rob Wright.

Oh, that flops.

OK, now we're all in on Alex Wilkins, we're all in on Donnie Freeman, who was supposed to get done last week, it still hasn't.

Now Rick Pitino's circling the waters.

It, it just doesn't feel super organized, and maybe they'll still land the plane here, um, but.

And look, maybe Indiana will flop, but you compare those two builds, two teams with a ton of money.

Indiana went out and signed 6 guys in 3 days or 4 days, and they were done, pretty much.

I mean, they need, they need 1 more big, but for the most part, Indiana, they, they had a plan, they went out and executed it , they spent all the money, they got the guys to commit on the visit.

Kentucky's has not been that so far, and I think that adds to the the concerns about whether Mark Pope can recruit at the level that people expect at Kentucky, right?

And You need elite, like there's an expectation, especially after Cal, to have elite players, and right now they, they, they do not have that, and they certainly need some help here in the next next couple days.

All right, let's hit a couple others here that you pointed out, uh, give me Illinois, which, as you said, they've done a phenomenal job of retaining.

Yeah, they're, they're bringing everybody back.

Yeah, yeah, and then they bring in, yeah, so now a, an Estonian, Stefan Vox, so they, they're, they're keeping the European theme alive.

Where would you put Illinois?

I know it's, it's, it's hard to know where everybody stands, but they've got to start the season top five, right?

Yeah, I think that's, that's about right.

You know, some people will have questions about the point guard spot.

I think it'll be sort of a by committee approach , which is always scary to hear.

Uh, but they have a freshman in Quentin Coleman, who Gets a lot of comparisons to Wagler, as far as a guy who was underrecruited, blew up late.

I mean, he was going to Wake Forest, he wasn't, you know, he, he, he, he wasn't, you know, nobody saw this guy, but he, he's gone from fringe top 100 recruit to top 30 recruit.

Uh, he could start, Vox is terrific, and then, again, just bringing back these guys.

I mean, Mirkovich could be an All-American, uh, they go back, go back to the well with Stoyakovic, he finished the year really strong.

I think he could have a big, big second year at Illinois, so.

Uh, they certainly look like a team with Final Four potential, um, and I, I think it's cool, you know, in, in this era to have teams like Illinois kind of run it back and have, uh, real continuity, guys that the fans love.

I mean, this is good for the sport to have a team like UConn with a ton of continuity, a team like Illinois, it seems like Florida will have a ton of continuity as well, to be some recognizable faces around college basketball, um, with their respective teams, which is, which is rare to say this day and age.

Yeah, it's great to, yes, that you can look out there and say, I remember those guys, they were here last year, and they're still good, and it'll be fun to watch, so good for Illinois.

All right, one more, Kansas, uh, The The big men are all out, they're leaving.

Um, what's coming in?

Where do things stand?

Bill Self took a long time, well, a relatively long time to decide he was coming back to even coach this year.

What is going on with the Jayhawks?

How do they look?

Yeah, they've got a couple portal pickups, uh, neither that flashy, Keanu Dawes from Utah, who was a starter there, Leroy Blyden, who is sort of similar to Alex Wilkins going to Kentucky, like mid-major superstar freshman that clearly did not belong at that level, um, but yeah, it's, it doesn't feel like a, like Kansas is not dominating the offseason by any stretch, even if they get Tyronne Stokes, which seems like they're probably still the leader for.

I just, I don't know how much this is what Bill really envisioned, right?

Like, uh, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's weird to be in this spot and say, oh well, you lost a guy to Louisville, a guy to your rival in Missouri, that like, we're key pieces of the future, and now we're just gonna kind of retool with guys we pick up in the portal, like, it doesn't feel very Kansas-like, and, and I wonder if that informs Bill's decision making long term of, do I wanna keep doing this, do I wanna keep banging the drum.

They're signing a lot of freshmen this year.

I'm curious to see if they can keep some of them long term, but I mean, the, the signs with Florey and Tiller don't make it seem overly positive that they will, uh, into the future.

Yeah, I, uh, I was just, I was there in San Diego and watched both of Kansas' last two games, actually their last 4, cause I saw them in the Big 12 tournament too, and self just looked like.

Like he's still trying to figure out if this is what he wants to do to a degree.

Like, yeah, this is the way the world is, and I don't really like it.

I'm not gonna complain because that's not what I do, but I think if you shot him up with some truth serum, he would have said, what, what, what exactly am I doing here ?

But he's gonna do it again, so we'll see how it turns out.

All right, uh, last thing, let's hit this.

Uh, there was another national championship decided.

I did note, I noted that Stanford has won a national title 50 straight years.

They won men's gymnastics over the weekend.

Uh, 50 straight years is incredible.

I wrote about it back in December when they were on the verge of getting it done.

They did do it.

The 2nd longest streak in Division One is 19, which tells you exactly how ridiculous that is.

But anyway, beyond that, another national championship, not an NCAA Division One championship, but.

The National College dodgeball championship was contested over the weekend at Ohio University.

Uh, epic showdown, and here's the bracket.

I'll tell you the bracket, actually, I'll just point this out.

16 teams all go to Athens, Ohio.

I, I would imagine there was some drinking going on.

I, I don't wanna impugn anybody, but it's Athens, Ohio, and you bring 16 teams of dodgeball guys in there.

OK.

Anyway.

Outside of Virginia, North Georgia, and Maryland, everybody is from the Midwest.

The champion, this all boiled down to #1 seed over #2.

It was a blue blood clash of titans for the title.

Michigan State defeated Ohio State.

So good for the Spartans.

They don't win titles in much these days, but they did win the National College dodgeball championship.

My question for you guys, start with you, Brian.

Why is dodgeball a Midwest power sport?

That was, that was a good question, cause I'm, I was thinking about the same thing as, as you in terms of like, you, you see those list of schools and you're like, is this like because this is a winter sport, you know, everybody's like indoors, you know, this is a good, good thing to play indoors.

That was kind of my, my initial thinking, but um, maybe they're just just practicing the five Ds of dodgeball a little bit more, uh, they're in the Midwest and, you know, those, those south of Mason-Dixon line gotta pick up, pick things up, you know, I mean, you thought the athleticism would have leaned that way, but uh look, those, those, those kids in uh some of those Midwest schools .

I understand how to get it done, so I'm, I'm, I'm very curious about the, the sport of dodgeball, and I know there's been a lot of talk about like women's women's flag football and some of these other emerging sports, you know, acrobatics and tumbling.

Dodgeball seems like it would be a pretty good sport for, for, you know, the NCAA to kind of start taking off , you know, you can throw a lot of kids out there, like paying full tuition, like, let's let's start elevating dodgeball.

I'm, I'm all for that.

I'm, I'm just disappointed that Tony Pettitti wasn't there to, to, to flex his muscle.

I mean, you get, you get two Big 10 teams in the championship.

I mean, it's been quite a year for the league.

I, I wish he was there to, to really, uh, celebrate the accomplishment of his conference's success on the, on the dodgeball court.

True, that does put it over the top with everything else they've won.

Um, Kent State and Grand Valley State were the other two semi-finalists.

So who says Cinderella's dead?

Come on.

It is, it is very Midwest.

And yes, Brian, I think you're probably right that this is a case of uh It's lousy outside, let's go indoors and throw balls at each other.

Um, great sport in, like, elementary school, high school, at least it was when I was in school then, and it was.

Kind of, uh, tinged with bullying to a degree, you know, I mean, you, the, the bigger, stronger, faster would just find a way to maul the slower and smaller, and, you know, blast them with, with fastballs from like 10 ft away if you can get close enough.

But uh it was a, it was a sort of a, a gauntlet you had to get through if you were gonna get through elementary school and high school, at least back in the dark ages when When I was around.

We'll see, we'll see if dodgeball can make a run and become the next great college sport.

If not that, then maybe meat judging.

We're open.

There's a lot of possibilities.

Send us your, send us your recommendations for what we should have for the next great college sport.

Thanks for listening.

Uh, give us a review.

We'll be back next week.

We'll find something to talk about.

Talk to you later.