Boomo Bugg Show 030926

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the tie, Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where college basketball's regular season ends and spring football in Tuscaloosa begins.

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Monday to you and the listeners. Alabama routes, Auburn 95-83 and Auburn hopes to win two games in Nashville to get to the NCAA tournament. A little bit later, BenThomas of AL.com and Zach Pounders of the show's sports report where we count championship week in Birmingham. Adam is here right now, though, to preview the SEC, his SEC men's basketball power rankings and the SEC men's tournament that begins Wednesday in Nashville. Adam Spencer is busy there. He is basically the man, columnist, podcast host, the place called Saturday Down South.

Adam, welcome in and is this the best time of the year if you love yourself some college basketball? How are you? I'm doing great, guys. Yeah, this is the week before the main week, but there's something to be said for conference tournaments, too. So, always enjoy when there's good quality basketball on all day. Adam, obviously, if you indulge our zip code here, Iron Bowl, part two of the weekend in Tuscaloosa. What was your takeaway? If Alabama came out and played like that out of the shoes every game, they would be a mess to mess with down the road.

Your thoughts about Alabama and the other side of the coin, about Auburn, where are they relative to the proverbial bubble? Yeah, I mean, Auburn, you know, they better hope that a miracle happens because it's not looking good for them to get into the tournament. I mean, you can't get in sub-500 in league play, 16 and 15, and overall, I mean, that's just not enough. I mean, they're going to have to win it all in Nashville. I mean, I don't even think that a run to the final would do it.

I think they have to cut down the nets, get down to birth. You know, I just think that Auburn, the way that they've played lately, I know that the selection committee doesn't use last 10 games as a metric anymore, but, I mean, my goodness, they're just not the same team that we saw at Flashes this season. So, I think, you know, an NIT birth would be in line for Auburn, and we'll see if they would even accept that. So, I mean, yeah, not a great effort from Auburn, but Alabama, you know, I thought it was impressive.

You know, Wrightsell went 0 for 5 from 3. They only shot 26% from beyond the arc, and they still found a way to win. You know, that's not the way that we've seen Alabama win games in the past, and, you know, when you put up 96 points or whatever it was with only 7 made 3s, that's pretty solid. You know, they didn't shoot 3 well, they didn't shoot the free throws well, but they won. On the glass, they dominated Auburn in rebounding, and, you know, that was a really nice thing to see from a Nate Oates team ahead of March to show that they have different ways that they can win.

Adam, you took your words right out of my mouth because I think the script was, I think Auburn put their eggs in the three-point basket there. They did a good job shutting that down, if you will. But it also shows you when you put a veteran coach against someone who's still kind of young in their career, a smart coach is going to say, if the gate A is closed, gate B must be open, so just keep pounding inside and get to the higher percentage shot. To me, it showed you two things there.

Nate Oates said, let's go inside, pound, pound, pound, and I didn't see any B plan from Auburn to stop that as the game progressed. Yeah, I think there's going to need to be some high-level discussions on the planes down there, you know, this offseason about, you know, do they want to see what a second year of Stephen Pearl looks like? You know, I don't know what exactly his contract is like. I don't know what his buyout figure is or anything like that. You know, I know it would definitely anger his dad, Bruce, if he was fired after one year and might, you know, hurt some ties there.

But, I mean, you've got to do what's best for the school. And I don't know that a year or two under Stephen Pearl is going to be that. So, we'll see what they decide to do. But, yeah, there's got to be some conversations had on the plane. Adam, we'll get into your power rankings in just a few minutes. Some of the teams that may do well in Nashville. After the regular season, who is your SEC men's basketball coach of the year? Todd Golden, Mark Byington at Vanderbilt, Bucky McMillan, and Texas A&M and O, that other guy, Nate Oates.

[5:27] Yeah, I think it's a really tough race this year. I just, you know, I think that with the run that Florida's been on to end of the year, the way that they've dominated lately, I mean, it's going to be hard to vote against Todd Golden. I mean, you know, this team really found its way. You know, they won the league by three games. That's pretty impressive. And the league is deep and as talented as the SEC. So, you know, there were some questions about this team when they were 5-4 back in December and November.

And, you know, they'd lost to some tough teams. But they just kept their heads down. They kept working, kept working to integrate the guards with the front court. And, you know, it's working. And they're firing on all cylinders now. You want to be playing your best basketball when the calendar turns to March. And that's exactly what they're doing. And I, you know, we can mention this in a bit. But I think that my Missouri Tigers got a really tough draw by how much they fell in the last game of the regular season there.

Because now, you know, they potentially have Kentucky on Thursday and then Florida on Friday if they manage to get back to Kentucky. Let's talk about that. You know, the folks in Nashville who they're rooting for the LSU-Kentucky game. Anyone who's ever followed Kentucky, I mean to the moon and back, they're going to show up. Or if they get knocked out the first round, there's a lot of dust in the seats going forward. So, LSU and Kentucky, what, in your opinion, obviously, right on paper, you're right.

Kentucky's going to face the other Tigers, not LSU, but the Missouri Tigers. Your thoughts about Kentucky, this is a hard team to figure, is it not? Yeah, I mean, it's just going to come down to, can they get everybody playing together? Like, you know, ending the year losing 5-7 is really tough. I mean, you know, there's not a lot of, you know, there's winnable games there. You know, losing to Auburn is not great. Losing at home against Georgia is not great. Losing at Texas A&M is not great.

You know, those are not good losses. You know, they have the star power. You know, Otega Owey is still playing well. You know, Denzel Aberdeen, I'm not going to hold the Florida loss against him because Todd Golden, I don't think it was him being cocky when he was like, yeah, we know Zell, we know what to do to bluster him. I mean, I think that that's just true. They had him in practice, you know, for all those years, and he was a big part of that team last year.

So, yeah, they know what makes him uncomfortable. They know what he can and can't do. So, I'm not going to hold that against Aberdeen. So, you know, they have some talent. They have, you know, when they're at their best, they're really, really good. It depends on which of the Jekyll and Hyde Kentucky team that Mark Pope packs onto the bus to head down to Nashville. Adam, I think it's the first time in history for Kentucky to be playing on Wednesday. In fact, I believe they began the tournament, which is amazing.

They do. I think it's hot going into the SEC tournament. And, listen, about a month ago, Porter Moser at Oklahoma was dead man walking. They won four straight games, six of eight. As you mentioned in your power rankings, 17 and 14, 7 and 11, they've reinvented themselves. And, in a credit to them, Georgia's won three in a row, including beating Alabama. Texas A&M's won four out of their last five. So, and, of course, Alabama, nine out of ten. Four teams that are hot going into Nashville. Yeah, and I think that, you know, Oklahoma is exactly why March is so much fun and why it's called March Madness.

You know, we're seeing it in some of these other leagues. There's a Georgia Southern team or someone, I think, that has won six games in six days or something like that to make it all the way to their tournament final. You know, those kids have got to be exhausted. But, yeah, I mean, I think that Oklahoma is a team that could make things pretty uncomfortable for whoever they faced in the round two and maybe even, you know, maybe even a round three game and making it to the quarterfinals.

You know, we'll see. But, you know, I wouldn't want to face Oklahoma right now. I wouldn't want to face Texas A&M right now. Never want to face Alabama because if they get hot from three, it's over. But, yeah, I mean, that part of the bracket where it's, you know, a potential Oklahoma-Texas A&M second-round game on Thursday, that could be a lot of fun. And Arkansas is going to have it hands full. You know, that's a tough draw for a number three seed. Adam Spencer, Saturday down south, mentioning Alabama.

Obviously, they get the big coveted double buy. They don't play until Friday night at 6 o'clock. What's interesting about it is, I mean, if it goes as scripted, it's going to be the winner of the Georgia-Texas game. That is, if things go as scripted. We're not saying that right now, again, as scripted. The interesting thing about that is Alabama, two of their losses this year. One is to Georgia. The other is to Texas. Your thoughts about the rematch right now on paper with one of those two teams Friday night.

[10:35] Yeah, I think that, you know, I think that Alabama, you know, that would be a good chance to get some revenge. You know, it's good for NATO to have that as motivation. You know, hey, guys, we can't take these guys lightly. You know, but that Texas game was a long time ago, so it's a different Alabama team now. They lost at Georgia, kind of laid a dud there, cannon catching, who was insane and had, you know, the best game that he's ever had, which was a lot of fun to watch.

But, you know, money, smart money is on him not replicating that again. So, I mean, I think that, you know, whatever team makes it through that bracket, Texas or Georgia, I think that Alabama will be motivated and, you know, they'll have plenty of rest to get through that, especially if it's Texas. If it's Texas, I mean, three games in three days, that's a real thing. And Alabama should have the advantage, especially if Texas is that team that's waiting for them. Let me ask you about Texas.

Texas is 18-13, 9-9 in the SEC. They lost Oklahoma Saturday, 500 in the league. As you mentioned, they lack that signature win. Will the Longhorns need to win a minimum of one game to ensure they make the tournament? Yeah, they absolutely have to beat Ole Miss. I mean, you can't go in, you know, having lost five of your last six. I mean, again, I know that they don't consider last ten anymore in the selection committee. But, you know, you've got to win that game at least. And then, you know, I think that even if they win against Ole Miss, then you're still looking at a sweaty selection Sunday for a guy in Sean Miller who has some pretty viral sweaty photos on Twitter and stuff because, you know, he's wet through his dress shirt quite a bit.

So, if they want to avoid that and save on some laundry costs down in Austin, they're going to need to beat Georgia, too. And I think if they beat Georgia in round two, then they're guaranteed a spot and they can wrestle a little easier on Sunday. So, Adam, switching gears just slightly, you know where we are. As we mentioned at the top, college football is regular season winding down. Spring football in Tuscaloosa starting up year three, DeBoer. What is your early take on year three of spring for DeBoer in Tuscaloosa?

Yeah, I think there's a lot of important questions that need to be answered. You know, I like the move that he made to replace the offensive line coach with the guy who has plenty of NFL experience because it all starts there. If they can get the offensive line right, then maybe they can have some semblance of a running game. And, you know, you're going to have a first-year starter under center, whether it's Austin Mack or Keelan Russell. I'd probably go with Russell, if I'm being honest, just more upside.

But, yeah, you're going to have to start everything up front. So, that offensive line has to be the lead. They have to be way more aggressive than they were last year and sitting on their heels and not pushing ahead. So, that's what I'll be watching for. I'll be watching to see what DeBoer says about his offensive line, you know, how they look in the spring game. But that's the biggest key to Tuscaloosa this spring. Adam, it should be an incredible two weeks leading up to the NCAA tournament.

The power rankings, certainly advocate our listeners get online reading that. But, Wes, can we get online, get your stuff, Joe Cox, and the rest of the game? Yeah, SaturdayDownSouth.com. I've got my basketball power rankings out now. I'm about to publish some of our bracketology so you can see kind of where we're at. And then, yeah, Friday, Joe has the SEC baseball power rankings. So, check it all out. Sounds great, Adam. Kick back, get a big old bag of popcorn. It's going to be a fun two or three weeks here.

Enjoy, and thank you so much for your time today. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. Always appreciate it. Thank you, bud. You too. Adam Spencer, Saturday Down South. Coming up, what a year in the shows. Looking back, looking ahead with Zach Pounders on deck. Stay with us. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them.

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Welcome back in. It is Monday all over the world, which means it's a great time to open the door and say hello to Zach Pounders. He's the founder and editor of the Shoals Sports Report. Zach, welcome in. How are you? Doing good, how are you all? Doing good. And we're doing all right. Zach, obviously a great season overall. Sometimes things don't always end the way you want them to. So, Zach, where do you start in describing the run that was, but basically coming up short pretty much across the board?

Yeah, we sent three teams to Birmingham for March 11th, and for the first time, it was 2011. Nobody from the Shoals played for a state championship in basketball, which is an insane stat on either of the boys on the girls' side. But after that, 2011 year, you had the Dexter runs, already coming to five feet on the girls' side, and March 11th had a couple of runs since then as well. Boy, what does that tell you? 15 years since a Shoals was not in a championship game. Let me ask you about Dexter.

He was one of the, in the Final Four, they lost to Fairfield 61-57. Fairfield's coach is a guy by the name of Maurice Ford, who coached to J.L. Johnson. I watched his teams play a good bit. Dexter lost a heartbreaking game, 61-57. Garrett Reed had 21 points. I knew this would be a game that went down to the final. In the last minute, Dexter was called for a backcourt violation on a murder pass intended for Thurkiel. The official who called that, I looked at that four times on Twitter, and I thought he had blown the call.

[21:39] Well, sure enough, Brian Pounders put on his Facebook post that the official did indeed blow the call, and I'll give him a lot of credit and respect. He called Coach Pounders and apologized. He didn't have to do that. He called, sent him a text, told him I'd call you later that night, and they had a 20-minute conversation, and he apologized because that was a critical call. Your thoughts on the game, number one, and number two, should high school basketball have a coaching challenge in the final two minutes of the game?

I do have one in the state championship games. I'm not sure on that, but I know there may be a timeout that's happening in the championship game, and they might have reviews in championship games also, but I do think a challenge will go away possibly in the next few years, but I do think it adds to the game times and gambling. You have coaches abusing it also because if they win a challenge, they get to keep their challenge, and then they keep using it or whatever, and then players calling for it, who gets to call for it, who don't get to call for it, and then what is challengeable, what is not challengeable.

You get games that are an hour and a half in the state already, and you get behind 30-45 minutes on the day by game three. You have that, and you get behind an hour and a half, two hours at a time, depending on how the challenge goes, they keep it, lose it, whatever. But really, for Desh, this game was lost in the third quarter, in my opinion. They tore five points in the third quarter, and, excuse me, they hit a three to three and a half minutes to go in the quarter, and they don't score again until the three and a half minute mark in the fourth quarter.

Spencer held the ball for three and a half minutes in the third to run the clock. They were up by two. After Desh hit that three, Desh was up by one. Spencer goes up by two, and then Spencer comes back down to the court, holds it off for three and a half minutes. The shot clock is a bigger issue than me, than the challenge, because three and a half minutes is a lot of game time. Now, you have the strategy and all that, and I get it, and I think it was both ways this year, with Wilson Hale of the girls, and with Ferrisville Desh at State, but, and I kind of guess Coach Banner's trying to use it as a, basically a timeout on the court, basically, to give the guys a breather, but it's almost in a few, holds the ball for three and a half minutes, and they took a shot, run it by five at the end of the quarter, and then Spencer stayed cold to start the fourth quarter, and scored 20 points in the last three and a half minutes of the game, to get within three and two at the end of the game, before that back court call was made.

And props to that ref, also, you don't just look into repping the Final Four, it's the best of the best in the state for a reason, and props to him for apologizing, reaching out, and all that, whatever, I'm going to show the rule, I think most people are going to show the rule as if it's a foot in the air over the line, or if it's down over the line, or if it's supposed to be one foot, whatever, talking about the catch rule of football, what is the catch, who knows, but very impressive game from Deshaw to get back where the end, three points at the end, and it was in two, really, before three points at the end cost it.

Zach Pander shows sports report, I'll tell you what's heartbreaking about this, these kids, they practice as hard as Alabama, Auburn, any team in the SEC, the same sweat equity, they've been doing it for weeks and months, and then, the reason I bring that up, you get a team like Red Bay against Lafayette, Lafayette, pick your poison there, they lead by one, down the stretch, and then they hit, the opponent hits a three spot, they lose by a bucket, talking about getting so close, yet so far away, that just exacerbates the heartbreak, 34-32, Red Bay, as it's well put, loses a rock fight by one bucket after all that sweat equity.

Yeah, this game kind of the same thing, Red Bay and Lafayette, the ball for a little bit, late game, couldn't get a shot in the fall, but third quarter, Red Bay had their best shooting quarter of the game, 55%, and Lafayette shot 20% third quarter, but in the fourth quarter, Lafayette Lafayette shot 56%, Red Bay shot 40%, because they're shooting that state, it's different than shooting in a normal gym, different times of the year, where sometimes your charts are falling, and sometimes they're not, you've got to play defense when that happens to stay in the game, but Khalil Lutzer had nine points, seven rebounds in the game, a down game for him, but Red Bay had a guy step up and give him a chance, that's what making the state is all about, too, it's having guys step up, or guys or girls step up and give you a chance to win, a chance to be in the game.

If one guy starts to not falling, maybe somebody else's is, and if they are not falling, you've got to defend. Well, we've talked with you a lot about Bell Hill, everybody knows how good the sophomore Morris Hill is, they ran into a buzzsaw, lost to St. James 76-51, St. James is a number one team, Mia Humphreys added seven points and ten rebounds, Bell Hill now has 3,219 points, which is 19th all-time on the Alabama High School Athletic Association list, again, they lost between you, there's no way to sugarcoat that, but they had a tremendous year, very good team, and Bell Hill, once again, with a heroic effort, Zach, 38 points, 16 rebounds.

[27:10] And a crazy part is, you have two years left. That's right. Amazing. But, this Marcelle game, I think what St. James did was, is the best way to beat Marcelle, you let Bell do what she's going to do, and take away the help. You take away a Malay right, Mia Humphreys, and anybody but Bell beats you. And Bell had 38 and 16, well, St. James had 38 points, I think at halftime. Wow. Yeah, they had 39 and a halftime. So, St. James kind of blitzed them from the start, they couldn't, they could not turn it ever in the first quarter, it felt like, and she threw 16 fouls also in this game.

18 free throws, free throw 10, made 14 of them. But, you look at other shots from Marcelle, Molly Wright was 2 for 8, Mia was 2 for 9, and two of those were 1 for 5, 1 for 3. So, outside of Bell, they probably shot less than 20% in the whole game. They shot better in second half, you can shoot better when you're playing from behind, because of other things, you can play let up or whatnot, but with St. James, 3 goals and had 10 plus points, one of them had 30, and wasn't the best player, in my opinion, on the team.

They wound up winning state by 50-ish, or 70, I'm talking about 70 or 20-something the other day, on Friday, but the team they played with Mogo Christian, had 7 points at halftime, and wound up like 20-something, but they wound up in the 20s, because with starters, I let the bench play some, so the bench had the points late, but it still won state by a huge margin. Before you jump off, Zach, you mentioned Bell Hill got 2 more years, it's one thing, it's all relative, you say, well, shut out for over a decade, as far as a team from our neck of the woods in the state championship, sometimes you don't know the whole facts, a lot of these teams are young, the question is, where collectively are the teams in North Alabama going forward?

I know, obviously, things are bright there for Bell Hill, but collectively, sometimes it runs in cycles, the talent pool is a little young, and takes some time to sit here and get the experience. I think one of the scariest teams for next year is going to be Lardy County boys, those done one impact player, basically from the senior group this year, Calvin Watkins, but they returned almost everybody else that played minutes this year, valuable minutes, and they lost by 10 in Montgomery Academy, kind of the same story as Deshler, they had a down third quarter, got down by 13, 15 in the third quarter, had to fight all their way back, but they outscored Montgomery Academy by four in the fourth, and they had a solid third quarter, they had a chance to win this game, they're going to be tough next year, I think Marshall, though, with the private school split, they'll be back next year, Bell said post-game, I thought they'll play them again next year, because St. James is also in the small school classification for the private schools, but Marshall knows, it's probably going to be Marshall St. James in some form of action next year, it's a mile full of extension game for the private schools, and Deshler lives in the lot, they're going to have to replace five starters, you can already see three to five of the possible starters for next year, running the bench rotation for this year as well, so it's not like those and everybody, but those and all the starters at least, and Lardy Kennedy girls are going to be loaded back next year, with a Kennedy Mollie back, Madison Mollie back, twins, and then they have a good stadium that's coming up next year, that should have a chance to get back to the state, without Marceau in the classification.

Yeah. Let me mention a soccer note, Florence Soccer is going after an Alabama High School Athletic Association regular tonight, they have, and this is again hard to believe, 10 straight shutouts. Wow. They go for the record tonight against Bob Jones to get to 11, Florence Soccer is 10-0, Colton Swift has been a scoring machine, this is what's even more amazing, they have outscored their opponents 48-0. Wow. Soccer, soccer, I'm not talking about basketball or football, soccer, so congratulations to the Florence Soccer team for having a, quite frankly, amazing season, I know a lot of people have begun to follow them, I know we've been inundated with basketball, great job at Legacy Arena, and Wallace State, Zach, you've been on top of it from day one, great wrap ups, great previews of the games, we'll be talking with you about some baseball and softball, Morris Hill baseball got off to a good start, but I know you're following that nearly every night, but where can we get online and get the latest scores, the stories, previews, the schedule, the whole running on yards?

Yeah, we'll have baseball, softball, great recap every night of games or the day after the games, and we also have some cancellations tonight already with baseball, softball, so stay on Facebook with that for the weather, overnight, whatever, and whatever we have to play, we'll have a recap of them, but Facebook, shows, sports reports, three words, and Twitter, at Loving Peace, at S-H-O-A-L-S-P-O-R-T-S. Sounds great, Zach, listen man, thanks for your time today, and stay safe, okay? Thank y'all, thank you, buddy. Zach Pounders, busy there at the show's sports report, coming up, interesting times down the plains, we'll talk Arbor with Brian Matthews on deck, stay with us.

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Really smart. Unfortunately, I didn't check if I took the gas hose out of my car's tank. Ooh, not smart. And I drove off while still attached to pump number three. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. Potential savings vary. Subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates. Northbrook, Illinois. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. If it's Monday, it's time to do a little musing with the king of Monday musings, Brian Matthews, senior editor at auburnsports.com.

Brian, welcome in. What are you musing about on this Monday? Oh, I just wrote a little bit about, you know, some of the coaches talking about how they'd like that 2014 playoff and how that's just really about their own self-interest and, you know, helping them, you know, with their employment and contracts. And, you know, anytime you can say you've got your team to the playoff, that's a notch in the belt there. So I just don't think that's really what's best for college football necessarily. I know it was Josh Heupel for Tennessee and George Discovery Smart that came out in favor of that 24 playoff.

And I also wrote a little bit about baseball to a terrific start since 2019. And, but it's been 50 years almost since they've won an SEC registration championship. So maybe this could be the year. Yeah. Well, I disagree with that 24, Tim. I think it should be 48 and then maybe 84 because these coaches, they need this. On their resume, we made the playoffs along with everybody else in their grandmothers. Brian, we want to talk more about that. But your thoughts, obviously, over the weekend, a lot of hopes coming in to Iron Bowl part two in the hardwoods.

[38:07] And by now, we know how it turned out. Brian, where do you start in reflecting on the game? And in some ways, was it a microcosm in some ways for the season? Well, I think it went the way most expected. I thought Alabama was in control from the very start and went handily. And, you know, I thought the 12-point difference at the end really, you know, shined a brighter line on Auburn than it needed, than it should have, right? I thought Alabama was much better overall in that game.

So, not surprised by the outcome at all. What is it? Eight of 10 Auburn lost down the stretch, something like that. You know, really, really, really, really tough finish for Auburn. I don't know if the stat's correct, but I saw something where only one other team has made the Final Four and then not made the tournament the next year. I don't know if that's correct or not. But, yeah, it's tough. Auburn's in position now where it's hard for me to say what position they're in because Sunday, I think I saw a tweet from Joe Lenore that still had Auburn in the tournament, which shocked me.

But, you know, we'll see, I guess, you know. You feel like Auburn's got to win some games here to have a two-shot, but I could be wrong. And I think we know from history that what happens in the SEC tournament or any tournament other than maybe, you know, a group of six tournaments where somebody unexpectedly wins it doesn't have a really big effect on the actual seedings and who gets in and who gets out. Brian, you brought up a good point, the history. And, obviously, we don't have the facts in front of us.

But let's just say, obviously, Auburn's had a good run of late, whether it was this or that. But what a difference if not one year, two or three years makes. We know the elephant in the room, part of the pun here, is just change of coaches. Any program that goes from a guy that's on his way to the Hall of Fame to someone who basically has very little, if any, head coaching experience, it goes without saying what maybe to expect. What is realistic there? We know Bruce is a proud papa, and any papa would feel this way.

But fans want to win. Where are you as far as your critique of Steven Pearl? What did he learn? And what can he do to benefit this team as a head coach to satisfy the fans starting next season? Oh, well, I hope he learned a lot. And he needs to rebuild this roster in more of his image. I think he needs to get guys who can defend better on the perimeter. He needs a guy inside that can be a rim protector, you know, block shots, intimidate people in there.

So those are two big additions he needs to add to this roster in the offseason, along with some other issues, too, with the three-point shooting of this group wasn't very good either. So he's got a lot of work to do with the roster, but he does need to ensure that four, five, or six guys return from this year's team because they cannot afford to do another almost full rebuild where they brought in 10 players last year. That did not work out well at all. There's just too much margin for error when you have to do that.

So they need to be able to get enough guys back where they only have to sign, you know, five or six or so, and they can spend more time in evaluating those guys and getting the right guys in. But Lenardi did mention, and I heard him, say that Auburn would wake up in our field, quote-unquote, as he mentioned. But he also quickly added Auburn would have to make a, to make the tournament, they would have to have a significant run at Bridgestone Arena. I mean, can Auburn beat Mississippi State, and Josh Hubbard went off on them for 35 in the first half.

Yeah, and if they get past that, they would play a Tennessee that's not exactly burning up the woods right now. Can Auburn win two games in Nashville? I mean, I think that's possible. I think there might be some motivation to beat State after what happened, you know, the last time they played them, after what Josh Hubbard did to them. And then, like you said, I think Tennessee is a really, really tough team at home. But they're not quite as tight defensively when they're on the road or, you know, on neutral court.

So there's a chance there. By the time you get to game three, though, and you're playing the third straight, and that team's a better team and has a double bye, that's when it gets really, really, really tough. Vanderbilt will be the next team in Auburn. They're a very, very good, solid, smart team that doesn't make a whole lot of mistakes. So, I mean, yes, Auburn could make a little run here. I'd be surprised if it was more than a couple wins. But you never know. I mean, there's always exciting stuff that happens in March.

Auburn doesn't look like a team that's ready to do something like that. But, yeah, I'm not going to say they won't. And if they do play Vanderbilt, where is the SEC tournament going to be played in their home city? So, I don't like those odds. You mentioned at the top of the interview, Brian, about this mess, about expanding to 24. Obviously, ESPN will love it. That gives them more opportunities to make even more money with college football. But at what point is enough, enough? Well, it's interesting because ESPN would probably like a 16.

[43:25] But after you go to 16, anything above that, they don't have all the rights to. So, that's why the Big Ten is still in favor of a 24 team because Fox, which owns the Big Ten rights, would have opportunities to get to the playoff. But I think 24 is absurd, personally. I really do. I agree. And I don't like the SEC's version of 16, which includes, you know, buys and double buys. You know, I hate that. But why does a team, a really good team, have to sit for a month and not play a game?

Look at Georgia this past year. They were rusty. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, good for Indiana that they were able to, you know, overcome that, so to speak. But I think we've seen in the past that most of the teams have struggled when they sit for almost a month and have to play a team that's just coming off a game like eight, nine, ten days earlier. So, yeah, I don't like that at all. I still think we have a leadership void in college football. We have a lot of people looking out for their own self-interest.

There's not a lot of people with a vision out there for what would be best for college football. And I just think it's going to be a struggle for the next several years or more until we figure this whole thing out. Brian Matthews, Senior Head of Traumersports.com. Brian, I never thought we'd have this question asked. In some ways, are Auburn fans rooting for Nick Saban to get involved to be the bad guy? Yeah, I know they had a big, powerful huddle last Friday with a guy named Trump in Washington to try to sit here.

There's a lot of talk up there, but I don't see a lot of talking. I just don't see a lot of walking. Are Auburn fans, did they ever think they'd say this, we are for Nick Saban to take over and try to bring back some sensibility to this game? Yeah, that's just not going to happen. No. And that whole thing, no offense to anybody, but that whole thing was just a big waste of time. It was so cool. The core act is not going to get through Congress at all.

No matter what people say or are threatened to do, what matters is what the courts say and what they can agree on as far as if they could ever sit down with the players and have some collective bargaining. That's the only way we're going to get to the point where we have some sensibility in this sport. And there's just too many people unwilling to do that right now. Too many people trying to hold on to the pass, and that's gone. It's not coming back. You mentioned baseball trying to win a regular season.

First time in nearly 50 years. Did a pretty good job beating Winthrop over the weekend. Six to nothing, eight to one doubleheader win. Saturday night, Jackson Sanders threw a seven-inning shutout. That's impressive to go seven-innings this early in the season. They swept the three-game series, outscoring Winthrop 24-1 and improved to 13-2. Pitching has been amazing. Alex Petrovic threw four innings in game two. And then the McCrane boys keep hitting the cover off the ball. Fralick had a great week. Auburn has got UAB tomorrow night. And then a three-game series to begin the SEC season in Columbia, Missouri, starting Friday.

Pretty good start for the Tigers in baseball. Yeah, best start since 2019. Their pitching's been incredible. Those four starters last week, you talked about 0.41 ERA, 26 strikeouts, and four walks in 22 innings last week in four games. So that's really, really, really impressive to me. And I think the bats are really starting to come around now. And you're seeing more and more. You've got three freshmen in the lineup, just like they had three freshmen last year. And those guys are really coming on. And, yeah, this is an exciting team.

This team's got a real shot to compete pretty high in the SEC and have a shot to host once NCAA tournament play gets here. And we'll see how far they can go after that. But, yeah, ten big weeks coming up, starting with Missouri. Missouri was the worst team in the conference last year. But I think they're off to a pretty good start this year. So that'll be interesting to see how Auburn can do on the road to open it up. You know, the last time, that's a good point.

Almost 50 years since Auburn won the SEC regular season championship in baseball, bell-bottoms were probably popular then. But for young Auburn baseball fans, they realize how proud and deep this tradition is. I mean, we're talking both Jackson, Frank Thomas, and a host of other folks who've come through this program over the years. Yeah, a ton of major league baseball players have come through. Some really quality coaches, like Bush, like Hal Baird, a couple. But 78 since the last regular season championship, and then 1998 since the last SEC tournament championship.

[48:26] And that's a tournament that's played right here in the state of Alabama. So, yeah, that's a little bit surprising. I don't necessarily think that's, you know, because Auburn's not good. It's just because the rest of the SEC is really, really, really good. But I think this team, more so than a lot of the teams I've covered in my 25 years, is really built to be a team that can compete just because they're pitching, and they're pitching depth. And they're hitting depth, too. They've got three or four guys that aren't swinging the bat great right now, but they have in the past.

And they get a couple of the guys going. And, you know, that makes life even tougher. Absolutely. Coverage of Auburn in Nashville. Coverage of Auburn in Columbia, Missouri. Recruiting. Football going to get started with spring about, I think, a week from today. That's a week from tomorrow. A week from tomorrow. Where else? Where can we get online to get all the B-MAT and the crews good stuff? Yep. I will be at baseball tomorrow night against UAB. Justin Hoganson will be at basketball versus Mississippi State on Wednesday, right?

And we'll have full coverage of both those and much more coming up all week at albertsports.com. Check us out. You can sign up right there online, and then you can follow me on Twitter, slash X, at B-MAT-AU. Sounds great. Brett and I will be at Krispy Kreme with a hot nail sign. Okay, Brian. That sounds awesome. I'll meet y'all there. Yeah. See ya. Stay safe out there, and thanks for your time today, buddy. Y'all take care. Thank you, buddy. There you have it. Brian Matthews, senior editor, Auburn at sports.com.

Quickly B-B-Day. Well, week one, Alabama football rocking and rolling. Your early thoughts. Well, again, they spend the day in shorts. A lot of the guys certainly look good. Mariah Edwards out of Maryland, 6'2", 220 safety. Kind of reminds me of Mark Barron. Yeah. We'll see. We'll know much more about the football team in another week. But, again, they got off to a pretty good start. Everything seems to be. Yeah. What about the Alabama basketball team heading into March, man? It's the man you hear here on 93.9 The Score, Brian Pax.

It's going to be on board in the next hour. Tennessee, the up-and-down story from Knoxville with the V-Man, Vince Rohrer, and Ben Thomas all over the state called Alabama, all straight ahead of the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. Shoals drop everything. This is not a drill. Lost Pizza Company Shoals is running the full-court press. The full-court press Cuban sandwich inspired by Coach Tony Pujol. This sandwich brings championship flavor, and it's only available at Lost Pizza Company Shoals. And coming off the bench hot, our brand-new buffalo chicken dip.

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Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play. That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time span on application may vary. Online health questions required. Empower. Tim collects bobbleheads. A lot of bobbleheads. Baseball bobbleheads. Race car bobbleheads. Little chihuahua bobbleheads. He's got an entire room strictly for bobbleheads. Does he need them? No. Is his wife mad about it? A little. But Tim works with Empower, and he got good at money. So he can be a little bad. Ooh, horse bobblehead. Classy, Tim. Empower. Invest well. Live a little.

Start today at Empower.com. Harry Douglas here to tell you about Confetti Craze 5-Hour Energy. It tastes just like the best birthday cake ever. Vanilla, buttery, frosting vibes. It's basically a party in a bottle. And here's the best part. All cake, no sugar. And you know I love my cake. So I get that big birthday energy without any sugar guilt. The bottle's small, easy to toss in my bag, and perfect when I need a quick, tasty caffeine boost to cakeify my day. The Funfetti flavor is back on 5hourenergy.com or Amazon.

[53:52] Crack open a Confetti Craze 5-Hour Energy shot today. Spring deals are popping up early at Lowe's. Right now, get four bags of Stay Green 2-Cubic Foot Mulch for just $10. Plus, save $20 on an Ego 56-Volt String Trimmer. Now just $199. Spring starts better when you save early. Don't miss out. Our best lineup is here at Lowe's. Ballot to 318. Mulch offer excludes Hawaii. Selection varies by location. While supplies last. Need to sell your house fast? Whether you're facing foreclosure, stuck with bad tenants, or just ready for a fresh start, House Buyer Network can help.

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Ledbetter was on Capitol Journal, which is on Alabama Public Television. He compared his statements made to the House Republican Caucus to that of a coach speaking to players in a locker room. I apologize if it would come out the wrong way for them. It had nothing to do with that. It was just saying, and I would, you know, it's kind of like a coach talking to his kids in the locker room. That's kind of what I was trying to do is just to ensure them, you know, don't worry about what's going on with the party.

Those people will do a good job. They'll pick who they think they need and we'll work with them. But the fact of the matter is my job is here. My job is to be Speaker and be over the House and to help you get reelected and to make sure you got the available funds and everything you need for the campaign. So that was it. It was just reassurance to them that you're my focus. This is it right here. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.

Are you enjoying 1819 News? If so, consider joining 1819 News as a member. As a nonprofit news organization, we depend on the support of Alabamians like you. Memberships start out as little as $5 a month and you'll get access to exclusive content only offered to our members. You'll be supporting independent journalism done by people who cherish Alabama values. Become a member today by visiting 1819news.com and clicking Become a Member. That's 1819news.com and click Become a Member today. The 61st year anniversary of the Civil Rights March over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma was held this past Sunday.

Hundreds took part in the crossing. Despite the gunfire that erupted in downtown Selma on the Friday night and Saturday afternoon that was leading up to that event, eight people were injured from that gunfire. I'm Andrea Tyson. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. Like most years, the 2025 NCAA Men's Tournament delivered a round one bracket buster. Passing to Copeland at the rim. Lost the handle. Bats it out to Shumate. He'll shoot a three. Scored! Oh, Shumate!

It's all going right for the Cowboys. A 20-point lead. They're largest to the game. The 12-seed McNeese Cowboys picked up their first ever tournament win, holding off a late comeback by the six-seed Clemson. Hear Westwood One's exclusive coverage of this year's NCAA Tournament right here. Can't get enough of your favorite sports talk? Now you can download 93.9 The Score's free mobile app and stay connected to the station 24-7. Miss an episode of the Boom-O Bug Show? Not a problem with the 93.9 The Score app. All of our local shows can be listened to anytime, anywhere alongside the live stream feature.

The app also connects you instantly to our Facebook, Twitter, and website. 93.9 The Score's app is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores. Sports Radio 93.9 The Score. Tide fans. Here comes the Tide. Let's roll. At one for the win. Ball game, ball game, ball game. And the win. Grab your hard hats and tune in for blue collar basketball with the Crimson Tide all season long on your home for Alabama basketball. This Friday, Alabama is in Nashville for the quarterfinals of the SEC basketball tournament.

Airtime is 5 p.m. with a tip at 6 here on 93.9 The Score. Brought to you locally in part by The Law Firm of Johnson, Pesher, Medley, and Burchill. Page Borden Insurance and M.J. Carter & Company Insurance. J.C. Hammond Sons. Lost Pizza. First Metro Bank. Alabama Health Guidance. Story & Lee Furniture. Valley Credit Union. Cypress Creek Indoor Range. Ray Miller GMC. Hittaker Johnson & Layton Insurance. And Mugshots Grill & Bar. Alabama in the SEC tournament. This Friday afternoon at 5 on 93.9 The Score. 93.9 The Score weather. Today a 50% chance of afternoon showers with a high around 75.

[59:05] Tonight mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers overnight and a low near 60. Tomorrow mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of midday showers and thunderstorms and a high around 80. Tomorrow night mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers overnight and a low near 65. And for your Wednesday mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers and a high around 80. Your weather from 93.9 The Score. Now, get ready to roll Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show.

Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Bibi, I can't think of a better way to, I guess, in this case, tip off the second hour of the show than saying hello to the man who covers the state of Alabama like Sherwin-Williams covers your bathroom wall. That is BenThomas at ale.com.

Ben, welcome in. How are you? I'm tired. I bet you are, man. Do you ever get any rest? I mean, your wings are flying like a hummingbird. Do you ever get any rest, Ben? Oh, yeah, I do sometimes. I'll tell you, the state basketball finals is one of the fun weeks, but it's definitely grinding. I mean, we saw 42 basketball games last week from Monday to Saturday, and good news. Next year, we'll likely see even more in the state finals, the separation of public and private schools.

But it was a fun week, a good week, and always good to try and give these student-athletes their due when they get to this point. So it was fun. Ben, let's give us some due here. Obviously, we see numbers. We see scores, and we don't always put faces and people with this. But to me, there's all kinds of good stories coming out of this, the big state dates. But let's talk about a wildcat from Guntersville by the name of Addison Reese Hammond. You may not have known that name before now, and we may not afterwards, but what we can say is the guys, in some cases, could learn from this girl, Addison Reese Hammond.

She tested positive for the flu on Thursday, but played more than 30 minutes in the Wildcat 68-62 comeback win over Moody, and that's after she suffered a back injury. That is one tough wildcat, Ben. You know, one thing, I think one storyline that came out of the week was there's a lot of good young girls basketball players. Boy, yeah. I mean, obviously, we all talk about it, and it's heard a lot about Bell Hill for years and years, and deservedly so, the sophomore from Mars Hill. But Guntersville's got three very young players, including Addison.

Yeah, I mean, I just can't imagine it. I mean, I had the flu in January, and it knocked me out for a couple of weeks, and that was funny. You know, the coach said that, yeah, she didn't stay with the team hotel. She would put it on the back of the bus when we went to Birmingham. I can't imagine playing. You know, this update, there's only 32 minutes in a high school basketball game. So she played, and I think she probably would have played them all, but I think she fouled out in like the 31st minute or something like that.

But, yeah, great performance, just a tough performance for her. And she was also trying to guard another young player, Serendi Rutledge from Moody, who just is almost unguardable. But she took her chance to try and guard them and finish, I think, finish with a good day. And then you've got Bristol Cook from Guntersville, who's a freshman. She had 12 points and four rebounds. And so that whole team was impressive. But, yeah, you've got to take your hat off to Hattison for weathering the sickness to get out there and win a state championship.

Boy, what a surprise. The Hazel Green girls won another state championship. They're eighth in nine years. Now, this was with a different Miller. But Hazel Green beat Park Crossing 67-47 tournament MVP, Madison Eddings, leading with 17 points and 14 rebounds. And Park Crossing is a good team. But the revenge tour, as it was coined, is over with for the Hazel Green girls. Even with all their success, they thought after losing last year, we're going to make up for it this year. And they did. Yeah, I mean, you know, you thought that that was kind of one of the points going into the season, I think, that we may have talked about way back a couple months ago was, you know, what is Hazel Green going to be without Tim Miller, the Hall of Fame coach who retired?

[1:04:09] And, you know, and it turns out they're going to be Hazel Green, right? I mean, you know, whether they 31-2, they finished, I think. And yet, you know, that's eight out of nine is unreal. They're seven in a row, you know, before last year's loss, which I think they lost in overtime. So, you know, they're right there again. They've won seven straight is a record for boys and girls in the state of Alabama. Now, Hoover girls can tie them next year if they win again because they just won their six straight.

But, yeah, congratulations to Coach Demetrius Miller. Mark Carphing was a good team. You know, they're the defending champs. They're the team that eliminated Hazel Green last year. But this year it was a different story, just a 20-point victory for Hazel Green. And that's a story, too. Stacy Long and I from the Florence Times Daily were talking about it. It just seemed like there weren't very many competitive games. And Stacy, going to give some credit to Stacy, he did some research after we talked about it and went back.

And I think the margin of victory overall in the championship games was 19.7. And that's a shame. Now, a 60-point victory by Winona probably skewed that a little bit. But still, there were some games that I'd like to have seen been more competitive. Guess what was on the tip of my tongue. The good news for Sylacauga, they make it. They get this close to doing it, except the aforementioned Winona Dragons, Lil' Lot Dragons, first team to score over 100 points in the state championship game. And they win by 61 points.

I think they did it in spades, did they not, Ben? Yeah, that's just, I mean, I don't know what you say about it. I mean, there was obviously some talk about, you know, Sylacauga coach, Coach Joel Jones, I think had a question or two for Coach Cedric Lane from Winona after the game about was he happy about the way he turned out, the way it turned out. And, you know, certainly Coach Jones was not thrilled, I think, that they scored 101 on him. I don't know. You know, to me, that's too much.

I mean, you've got to draw it back a little bit. He only had nine players. And it's about kids from both teams. You know, you don't want to hear some kids. So, people are on both sides of that argument, you know. They only had nine players on the bench. They played them all. So, I mean, you know, it's hard to put a young player out there who doesn't play much and tell them just to dribble around and not score. So, I mean, but just, you know, a great performance by Winona.

They beat LaFleur in the semifinals by 20-something. And we thought, boy, you know, this is going to be a really good game in the final. And it turned out to be not a good game, unfortunately. We talked about this game a little bit earlier. Dessler lost to Fairfield. Maurice Ford, former J.L. Johnson coach, gets a blue male 61-57. Dessler scored 20-something points in the last three minutes to make that a real game at the end. There was a controversial call, a backcourt violation that was called.

And Ryan Pounders, the head coach at Dessler, put on his Facebook that the official who made the call actually called him and contacted him. He said, I blew it. It was not a backcourt violation. I looked at the replay four times, and I didn't see it. But to his credit, he called and apologized for it. Again, would that have made a big difference, it may have, because Dessler really had a lot of momentum then. But Fairfield won the game in the third quarter. I think Dessler only scored five points.

But something you rarely hear about, an official admitting he made a mistake, called the coach to apologize for it. Yeah, well, you know, that may happen more, and we just don't know about it. You know, I don't know. Okay. The coach might not tell us about it. But who knows? But, yeah, I mean, I hadn't heard that, but good for him. I was right there. I mean, I was pretty close to center court, along with Randy Kennedy. And, yeah, when that happened, we were both like, whoa, you know.

And then some people, my friend Josh Bean said he thought it was a good call. I thought, Randy and I thought right away it wasn't a good call. And obviously the official agreed, and that was a, you know, 61-57 victory. So, you know, that is a key. When you make a call like that, that is a key call like that. Yeah. And then Parapil goes on to win it pretty easily, win the state title with Milton Jones, their star. So, I hate it when that happens.

You know, I'm sure the official, you know, people are trying to think, oh, he cheated. You know, the officials are trying to do a good job. You know, every time I see him out there, I'm like, man, I wouldn't want that. I wouldn't want to be in that position. So, credit to him if he, you know, I don't know if that made Coach Founders feel any better or not, but credit to him for owning up to it and moving forward. Something I learned a long time ago, never be an official and never be a judge at a beauty cup pageant because you cannot win.

[1:09:31] I promise you, no matter what you do, you ain't going to win. Ben Thomas, AL.com. The nice thing about these tournaments is don't always count your chickens before they hatch. Hoover was rocking and rolling, taking on Tuscaloosa County boys. And what happens, Hoover trying to keep their streak alive, and Tuscaloosa County wins the first state championship for them since basically Eisenhower, 1960. These kind of stories only happen when you get in these situations. It doesn't always happen, but when they do, they're incredible stories, are there not, Ben?

Thankfully, yes, because that was the last game of the week. And, you know, we had not, that was championship Saturday, as we like to call it. I think we had two good games. The Gunnersville game that we talked about earlier was a really good game to start us off with. And then we had four non-competitive games, really, unfortunately. And then we had Tuscaloosa County and Hoover, which was a great, great basketball game. Two coaches I really respect. Kurt Weeks is the coach at Tuscaloosa County. Obviously, Scott Weyer at Hoover had won three straight titles.

But credit to Hoover, I mean, you know, you think, oh, they're always there. Yeah, I mean, but it takes something. I mean, they lost five starters in the last year, including Dwayne Brown, who's playing at Tennessee, and Selene London, who's at UAB, really the only guy we knew they had coming back was Jackson Sheffield, who's going to Vandy. And they were there right there again. I mean, they had a chance to win that game, put some pressure on late. Tuscaloosa County, great crowd from Tuscaloosa County.

I mean, that's really what you would hope every high school state championship game would be like that, the back-and-forth game with a crowd that's in the game the whole time. And I was impressed. Tuscaloosa County, great team, very well-rounded, some great athletes on that team. And so that was a really fun game to end the week on, I thought. B.T., the Hoover boys did not make a get another blue mount, but the Hoover girls did. They clinched her a six-straight title, beating Bob Jones, 61-43.

Chloe Ford, who is a, again, we've been talking about the youth. There's so much talent. She is a Missouri basketball signage. So she's going to the SEC. Jay Smith led the Patriots with 14. Hoover girls now move into sole possession of second place for the most state championships with 12. Who are they trailing? The Launderdown County girls, who have 14. But congratulations to the Bob Jones girls. They had a great season, but the Hoover girls keep rolling. Yeah, no sign of them stopping either, I don't think, Brett. I mean, they've got, you're right about Chloe Ford graduating, but they've got plenty of great young players behind her.

And that, you know, by credit to Bob Jones, they were kind of, you know, they would, it was always kind of a double-digit game, but they would cut it to get within maybe 15, but just, Hoover's just too much. I mean, they got all these scars, and like I said, there's no sign of them slowing down, and they're almost taking, you know, it's fun for them, but it's not fun for many other people, because you just almost think there's no chance of beating them at this point.

I think they finished, what, 35-1. They lost the first game of the year and then won the rest. I mean, credit to Crystal Johnson. I mean, they were emotional at the end. So, it really is a, I think it really is a, and you hear people say, well, they're all special. When you won six in a row, you wonder if that's the case, but just seeing the emotion, I mean, they weren't like, oh, home, we win it again. They were fired up to win it. So, credit to Hoover and credit to Bob Jones for getting there, but I just, I don't know when we're going to see somebody beat Hoover.

Yeah, finished the season 35-1. That's quite a season. Besides getting a couple of naps in this week, baseball, softball, Randy Kennedy doing his recruiting thing. All these tournaments, Thomas Ashworth and Randy did a good job helping you. On AL.com, baseball, as I mentioned, baseball, softball, and the ball now in full swing. Randy Kennedy will be following recruiting. What else have you got on the agenda this week there, Ben Thomas? Well, I just posted a little story. I'm about to post more on our buddy Steve Savarese being inducted into the National Hall of Fame coming up in a couple of months.

So, congratulations to Coach Sav, well-deserved. As you mentioned, softball, Mike Perrin starting today and running for the next four days is doing a list of the top softball players in the state by position. And Thomas and I are still kind of finishing up basketball. He's going to have a post shortly on what champions came out of what region. I think it's going to be interesting. And then we're going to have our players of the week and our final power tens and all that. And then, as you mentioned, Randy will be doing his position-by-position look at recruits starting, or it'll be on Thursday at 2.

[1:14:50] I think he may do offensive line this week. Look out there. And I keep going, Jameson Roberts, also in the midst of all this football, all this basketball, the Sarah Land quarterback, commenced to Oklahoma last week. So, that was a pretty big deal. So, we've got some stuff going on still on AL.com. Ben, it's always good to hook up with you, man. Listen, keep the coffee strong, and let's do it again soon, okay? All right. Thanks. You guys have a good week. Thanks, buddy. The BT Express, BenThomas, AL.com.

Coming up, speaking of big, let's go to the big orange country and the B-man, Vett Sorara on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. Did you know about one in three people with plaque psoriasis may also develop psoriatic arthritis, which causes joint pain, stiffness, and swelling? Does this sound like you? Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away. Trimphaya, gusocumab, taken by injection, is a prescription medicine for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who may benefit from taking injections or pills or phototherapy, and for adults with active psoriatic arthritis.

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For 50 years, Canine Companions has been teaming dogs together with those who need them the most. Visit canine.org to change lives. From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today. It's a daily update on Bama sports and it's brought to you by Guthrie's, America's original chicken finger restaurant. Proud partner of the Alabama Crimson Tide. For more information, visit guthrie'schicken.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Huber. Here are postgame thoughts from Nate Oates after Alabama defeated Auburn on Saturday. A lot of positives out of the game.

The student section was great. I want to commend them before I even get into the game. But I think the best student section in the SEC. Cheer hard for the right place and do it the right way. Thank them. Really appreciate what they've given us all year. It's great to get a win on senior night with three of the best seniors. As far as culture-wise go, Houston Millett, very disappointed. I'm very disappointed he didn't get to score on senior night. He doesn't really care. And to me, that's why he's so great.

[1:19:50] You know, I typically wouldn't try to go score. I'll have more in a moment. This year, we honor the most important anniversary ever. An event that reshapes civilization as we know it. A day that would lead to something so flawless that nothing could ever really compare. People have tried to match it, but have failed. This year, we celebrate the 60th anniversary of Guthrie's. The home of the original Chicken Finger. Just talking about it gets me all choked up. And hungry for a chicken finger. Guthrie's. An original obsession for 60 years.

Join us tonight for Hey Coach and the Nate Oates Show, presented by Alpha Insurance. Live at 6 p.m. Central from Baumhauer's Victory Grill in Tuscaloosa. You can listen to Hey Coach on our full radio network and the Varsity Network app. Plus, watch the video stream on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN. Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Guthrie's. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score.

The score. Welcome back in. He's always got the big story when it comes to the big orange. He's the V-Man, Vince Rohr, 99.1, the sports animal in Knoxville, Tennessee. V-Man, welcome in. How are you? Good, gentlemen. It's warming up. Sun's out. We got spring practices about to start. We got postseason hoops. We got conference play and baseball and softball. It's a fun time of year. I hope you guys are doing well. It's Christmas in March. V-Man, Tennessee and Vanderbilt fans is the jalopy on autopilot. Tennessee goes to Vandy.

Tennessee wins. Vandy comes to Tennessee. Vandy wins. And now, Tennessee fans are heading back to Nashville. Are you guys on autopilot between the two locales? Well, not only that, you're absolutely right about that, H-Man, but both teams won by four points on the other's home court. So, they scored the exact amount of points. So, that won't work or won't happen if they meet again in Nashville. They're not going to score the same amount of points or we're going to get really backed up in the tournament schedule.

They can't separate. But, yeah, it's crazy the way the bracket kind of played out. Tennessee will play the winner of Auburn and Mississippi State, as you guys know. Tennessee beat both of those two teams. Then, if they beat them, then they would face Vanderbilt, who they split with. And then, if they beat them, then more than likely we know who is waiting for them in that top part of the bracket for the semifinals. But, any of the other teams that are in that top part of the top bracket, for the exception of LSU, they lost to everybody else.

They lost to Kentucky twice. They lost to Missouri. So, if it's someone other than Florida who they lost to, they're going to play somebody else that they also lost to if they happen to pull a crazy upset. But, work to do, and then the biggest question is, you guys, you know, probably going to ask me, is the availability of Nate Amen. Yeah. Maybe I was going to ask you about the availability. What is the latest there? Because, let's face it, it's all relative. You've got to play and dance with the one you've brought.

And, he brought Tennessee a long way. But, when he's on the sidelines, it's a different Tennessee team. A lot of folks say, what's wrong with Tennessee? Well, I guess the answer to the question that we just posed there has a lot to do with it. Your thoughts, what is the status? Yeah, and, you know, he went out in the first half against Alabama. He tried to come back, and it just didn't work in that second half against Bama. You know, they just weren't able to adjust on the fly.

Now, you know, after that, they beat South Carolina. But, South Carolina is woeful. So, and then, obviously, they didn't have him against Vanderbilt. So, it sounds like Rick Barnes says he thinks that he will play in the SEC tournament. Because, you know, now you're going to play on Thursday. That's, you know, that's a longer stretch than what you would normally get during a regular season when you're playing Tuesday or Wednesday. So, it would have been more helpful had they been able to get the double bye and wait until Friday.

But, based on what Barnes said in his last avail in the postgame after Vanderbilt, he said that he thinks he'll play and that it would be a good thing because he needs to get some games back under him before the tournament. And he said he hadn't practiced yet. So, you don't want someone, I mean, it's not like he's a veteran of four years where you can just run him out there. He's been there, done that, and he needs to throw him out there. He needs to get back to practicing, get rushed off, and get some games in.

And so, Barnes, because he pointed that out, that tells me that if he is cleared to play, that he will probably play him so he has a little bit of time on the court before you get to the NCAA tournament instead of having to work through a rest during a tournament game. And he said that from the jump that Amen has wanted to play. So, it is a little bit of a risk if they bring him back. But I also get needing him to practice and play a little bit before you get to the tournament.

[1:25:19] Nate, Amen did not play in the game because the injury suffered in the Alabama game. Jacoby Gillespie did score 17 points, but I noticed he had five turnovers and was only five of 22 shooting. One guy that really helped Tennessee was Amari Evans. 24 points, six rebounds, three steals. He stepped up when Tennessee needed it. Yeah, big time. Before you get to Evans, though, Gillespie is a big story because four of those five turnovers came in the first half and as important as Gillespie is, Rick Barnes sat him on the bench for a while in the first half.

And he could not have been better. He didn't score double digits against South Carolina, but he had 12 assists. He could not have been better in that game with his defense and his distribution running the team. That's what Rick Barnes is looking for. They don't need him to shoot a whole bunch of threes. So, Barnes has been trying to get him to work on being a three-level scorer because he can finish really well when he gets to the rim and he's confident. He has a pull-up game, a float game, and he can shoot the three, too.

It's just when he's overly reliant on the three-point shot, then that's when his efficiency goes south and he's not as good. And that's not what's best for the team. So, they're still trying to get him to be consistent and playing the way they want him to. He is so explosive and can go out for, you know, 25, 30 points. But they need him to play the right way to help everybody out in the team. As far as Evans goes, that was clearly his breakout game with his career day.

He's starting for Nate Amen, and he was really aggressive. He was by far the most aggressive guard in getting to the rim. He's a physical guy for just a freshman, a great, you know, thick, muscular body. He's only going to get better in being more advanced in the basketball IQ and everything. But he plays hard, he defends, and he is not afraid. And so, Tennessee needs more of that kind of attitude among this group because they don't have that. They had that in Ziggler and Meshack and Ganey and just refusing to give in to the opponent.

He's got that mentality. There's not enough of that throughout. So, it'll be interesting to see when Amen comes back how they utilize Evans. Do they keep Evans in the starting lineup and maybe sit one of their two posts like Carey, who hasn't been effective. He was sick the other day, too. And then maybe play Amen at the four to keep Evans in the lineup. Or do they go back to bringing him off the bench and just get him more minutes? It'll be interesting to see how they blend that.

And then they run different lineups throughout the game just like everybody does. But I'm curious to see if Evans can keep that going or if it was a one-game-out-of-necessity type of deal for the talented freshman. Well, you jump off me, man. You mentioned earlier, in your opinion, lots of them. What is the big story for the Big Orange as they get ready to pull the curtain up on spring football? Well, certainly the quarterback position. But if I had to give you something besides the obvious quarterback position, I would say what the defense looks like and where the pieces are with Jim Knowles and that new-look Penn State-heavy Tennessee defense with three assistant defensive coaches and a whole bunch of off-the-field assistants and then four transfers from Penn State, eight in the secondary that are new.

How does the linebacking group work with Martin Campbell from Penn State, who's a green dot guy, had Arian Carter back along with their other starters. Do any other young defensive linemen rush through and break out and develop? They have several five-stars there, but guys that just haven't played. So what does that defense look like under Knowles in year one, spring practice one? That, to me, is where I think the most eyes will be outside of the quarterback competition. Football about to get started, basketball in Nashville, Tennessee.

Hope you're able to come to Nashville at least for a day or so. Baseball rolling. How can we get online to get all of these good stuff? Yep, absolutely. A week from today for Tennessee and spring practice, I appreciate that. And there's not being the overlap with the SEC tournament because, as you mentioned, starts Wednesday. I am driving right after the show to Nashville and we'll be there the whole week as long as Tennessee is there. So always love those events. So hope I get to see you or your brother or any of you guys out there.

[1:30:25] Always a fun time. So you can follow me on the socials, bit sports, B-I-N-C-E, sports includes Instagram. I am taking Daphne, too. Pet-friendly hotel, what I'm saying. And I took her every step of the way in the postseason last year. So excited to bring Daphne as well. Dog days of March to the V-Man. A whole new meeting. Listen, man, safe travels to and from me. Thank you so much. Good time, Dave, buddy. All right. Always great to be on with you guys. Have a super week.

Appreciate you. You too, bud. The V-Man, who is going to be co-starred with Daphne, his sidekick in the music city. Move over carry and all the other guys up there. Coming up, he's got the best seat in the house in Alabama plays basketball. You hear him on Journey Games, and you'll hear him next, right here on the Boomer Bunk Show. Brian Pasek next. Stay with us. Hi, this is Christy with J.C. Hammond Sons. Did you know that J.C. Hammond Sons is the oldest family-owned heating air business in the shows area?

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Time span on application may vary. Online health questions required. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9. The score. Mids basketball action yesterday. Troy advanced to the championship game of the Sunbelt Tournament as they beat Southern Miss in the semifinals 78-70. In the victory, Jarrell Bellamy had 22 points, three steals in six blocks. Troy is 21 and 11. The Trojans are back in action tonight as they take on Georgia Southern for the right to go to the NCAA Tournament. Alabama State will play Alcor State today in the first round of the SWAC Tournament.

On the women's side, Troy beat Arkansas State in the semifinals yesterday 83-73. That means Troy will play for a women's championship today against James Madison. Bundle auto and home, renters or condo and save with Progressive. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash presented by Progressive on 93.9. The score. St. Patty's Day's Day is here, so come and see. Total Wine & More is the place to be. Cabernet Smooth or Guinness Tal. We've got the best. Come grab it all. A Chardonnay crisp and bright or Sauvignon Blanc pure delight.

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[1:35:44] So, swing by Wendy's and try the new Thin Mints Frosty Fusion. Limited time only at participating U.S. Wendy's. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in here. Every time Alabama plays basketball, you hear his golden tones. You're on 93.9 The Score as part of the Crimson Tide Network, but we simply can't wait that long to bring you Brian Pasek out of your dashboard. Brian, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing great, guys. How are y'all? Good, man. Trying to confirm or deny, we're hearing reports that you had a pretty good weekend.

Can you confirm that, Brian? I can confirm it. It was a really good weekend. Parents weekend for the Coyotes at Alabama. So, of course, that was the highlight of the weekend with my daughter Sarah. So, did that, and Saturday night, we both went over to Coleman Coliseum. Turns out there was a basketball game in Alabama. The home team beat a rival. So, pretty good weekend. Pretty good weekend all the way around. Congratulations for spending some time there with the daughter. And then putting a cherry on top with a win.

It never gets old when you win any ball game, especially with your friends down the road, does it, Brian? Oh, man. I mean, the Alabama-Auburn rivalry in men's basketball has been off the charts in recent years with Nate Oates now against the Pearl family. And he had a winning record against Bruce and now is undefeated against his little boy, Steven. So, for Alabama to sweep the Auburn Tigers this year is a great accomplishment. Alabama has been able to overcome so many obstacles this season with too many injuries to name.

Weathered the storm, ended up finishing second in the SEC. Always one of the top leagues in the country and the deepest league in college basketball this season. didn't win a championship which was the goal but all things considered an incredibly successful year for this program. I thought there were several reasons Alabama jumped out and really never looked back and the score at the end of the game was nowhere near indicative of what how dominant Alabama was. I thought the defense particularly coming off of the loss to Georgia for at least the first 30 minutes was much improved.

They deflected a lot of passes, got steals, won the rebounding battle 42-28 including 19 offensive rebounds and 24 second chance points and as Nate is several people have noted for the Alabama lives and dies by the three crowd they got inside and were not hitting the threes hopefully they will in Nashville but they got to the paint got to the rim and scored repeatedly no question I think Alabama learned a few things from that Georgia loss. Yeah I agree great bounce back win and listen I love the live by the three die by the three crowd but I think we can all agree they don't follow it too closely so love when the threes go down but definitely this team is built on efficiency and if you don't if you guard the three line they're going to take what the defense gives them and that's why the points and the paint differential was so good in Alabama's favor and listen Nate Oates wants if he can get a wide open layup that's first choice get to the free throw line and if you lay off the three point line he's going to take that these guys are going to take those so this is a highly efficient offense one of the best year in and year out in college basketball defensively they haven't been great all season but with the exception of the Georgia game I thought they were trending in the right direction this team needs to improve rebounding the ball on both ends of the floor I thought they did that on Saturday against Auburn and with the way this team plays offensively the firepower that they have the best backcourt in college basketball if the defense continues to improve and they improve on the defensive backboard they have a chance to make a really long run in March it starts this week at the SEC tournament but really excited about the postseason for this team because I do feel like they're getting healthy at the right time they're peaking at the right time and you can't ask for anything more to be playing your best basketball going into March and this team seems to be Brian Passer Crimson Tide Sports Network you hit on something there Brian because the so-called smart people in this game say March is all about guard play a lot of teams have good a good guard but does anybody anywhere have anything better than good guards with an S for Alabama they spell it with an S on there your thoughts how important it is to expand on your point about March being about guard play yeah several S's I think we really need one S to say multiple players but in this case there's a bunch of guys in that backcourt that can play obviously LeBaron Phylon first team All-American caliber player I think those teams are starting to be announced now and LeBaron will be first second team All-American I think he shouldn't be the SEC player of the year I think there's a couple guys two or three guys that are in the mix for that LeBaron Phylon is certainly one of them but Bama's backcourt is far from a one-man show Aiden Holloway has had an all-SEC caliber season Latrell right soul I think if he was healthy all year long he'd be in consideration for all-SEC he was last week's SEC player of the week playing the best basketball of his career coming back from an Achilles tear last year he's had so many different little injuries this year seems to be getting healthy and he's playing great on both ends of the floor and then you've got Houston Millett who's done a great job doing every little thing that you ask for a great teammate so good on both ends of the floor Jim Lill Bathea had his maybe best minutes and meaningful minutes in an important game on Saturday so this is a backcourt and I feel like I'm forgetting somebody a Murray Allen I mean you know a guy that's probably going to be a first round NBA draft pick this year you've got so many guys you know I forget one that is on every NBA draft court is a potential one and done so this backcourt is incredible they're deep they're talented they're getting healthy and the front court is not deep but they've got some guys that are starting to get healthy and play well and Taylor Bowl Bowen some guys that are getting experience and obviously Aiden Sherell may be the most improved big man in the SEC you go back to a fellow that may not have the same NBA cachet if you will as some of the guys you mentioned but I thought Nate Oates sounded the best in one of the post game interviews senior night always an emotional night and he highlighted Mlett no points he said I was rooting for him but he said you know what he didn't care to me that's the glue that helps tie all these rock stars together to have somebody with that kind of selfless attitude yeah man I already miss Houston Millette and the season is far from over he's in two years become one of the all time favorite players among people who you know follow his program who know him yeah just an incredible young man you know to hear Nate Oates speak about him just in glowing terms always I think he has a basketball future you know and I'm not sure what level professionally but I think he can continue to play there's a professional league somewhere for Houston Millette but when he's done I can't wait to see what the future holds for him whether it's as a coach as a future CEO he's going to be ultra successful because of the way he goes about his business but terrific player does every little thing you want hustle plays high IQ plays and talented I mean he can shoot the three a really good perimeter shooter defender but I thought Saturday Saturday night was just the ultimate Houston Millette game he didn't score he didn't need to score but he made an impact on the game and what he does yeah I mean what he does is contagious so when he's out there diving on the floor for loose balls and making plays cheering on the sideline or on the court encouraging teammates it's not just him that sort of thing feeds over to his teammates it's contagious and he's such an important part of this team and one of the reasons I'm so optimistic about March you mentioned you mentioned Amari Allen we talked about this on Friday I thought the number of points he scored might be the difference in the game and it nearly was he's been a double double machine all year 16 points 5 rebounds he got back on track you mentioned Matthias he had one of the plays of the year took off from the free throw line and in one motion went up grabbed the rebound and put it back in and the player we haven't even talked about who has gradually improved throughout the course of the season and I think they're really going to need him is London Jemisin he had 11 points and continues to make some plays hopefully Bo Bowen will get healthy and be able to do something in Nashville but to get Allen back Matthias if he can improve and then London Jemisin to me he's come a long way in the last two months yeah I agree on all of those points I'll start with Jalil Bethia I've been so impressed with his attitude a former five star McDonald's All-American high expectations hasn't gotten the minutes that he would like and still has an incredible attitude he's cheering on the sidelines working hard every day in practice earning more minutes and was happy to see him have some success on the floor Saturday night and yes I agree one of the most athletic plays you'll ever see the tip follower that he had made a big three early in that game as well and two guys that I was really hoping would have great games because they're young players that had not played their best in the last couple of games and that was Amari Allen in London and London Jemison they struggled at Tennessee they struggled in Athens you kind of wonder if they're hitting the freshman wall so I was really encouraged to see how well both of those guys played Saturday night against Auburn and now when you have a double bot and you have almost a week off it gives those guys and the entire team a chance to rest get healthy get their legs back under them and get ready for hopefully a long run in March before we talk about next week let's talk about this week Brian obviously you're right the chance to get healthy you're sitting watching the games Friday night at 6 it looks like right now we're not sitting here and saying this in all due respect to Ole Miss but there's a good chance it could be either Georgia or Texas and we talked earlier Brian two of Alabama's losses has been to both those teams this season that can go one of two ways you can say wow the odds are against them or you can say you know what that was then this is now this team's fired up that's just extra fuel for the fire your thoughts about the potential matchup with either Georgia or Texas yeah I mean I would say right now those are the likely opponents you know one of those two I guess Ole Miss can factor in but I would be really surprised if we didn't see either Georgia or Texas on Friday night two really good teams two NCAA tournament teams that played two of the best games of their season or each of them the best game of their season against Alabama when Texas rolled into Tuscaloosa that was a surprise Alabama doesn't lose many home games but I was equally surprised with how good Texas is I mean at that time they had struggled they had dropped a couple in a row and were not playing their best and after about five minutes I'm like man this is this team is legit they're talented they're playing well Sean Miller one of the top coaches in the country in his first year and he's done a great job in Georgia man they they were really good last Wednesday or last Tuesday against Alabama very impressed with them two teams that could make a sweet 16 so it's not going to be easy Friday night no matter who it is and it's not supposed to be when you get to the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament fortunately Alabama begins play in the quarterfinals and that's because they had an outstanding year earning the double bye I mentioned this last week to be able to win nine of ten games to end the regular season and to navigate the injuries that this Alabama basketball team has endured during the course of the season this isn't Nate Oates best team but I think it is his best coaching job yeah and the good thing is as Alabama fans there's a lot to choose from when we talk about NATO's best coaching job but this is up there I agree with you and I don't know if he's going to win SEC coach of the year but if you're paying attention he might I mean the things you named are the reasons why Alabama began the season preseason number 15 in America you in the regular season I just saw the AP came out 15 in America now that sounds really good hey you started with high expectations and you met those expectations if you would have told me all the rash of injuries to key players and key missed games and guys not being healthy and missing practices and just kind of hodgepodge putting this roster together over the course of the season that they would finish second in the SEC and 15th in the final national poll of the regular season I would not have believed you an incredible coaching job by Nate Oates his staff these players and but the best part about it is I do think as you mentioned a 9 out of 10 they're playing their best basketball of the year at just the right time absolutely well listen tell you why if you need some extra clothes for an extended stay in Nashville in fact instead of eating at one of the exquisite meals Saturday night maybe you're going to be at a laundromat washing some more clothes because Alabama has made it to Sunday to face maybe the Gators safe travels to Nashville hopefully I'll see you there later but listen you and Chris and Tom and Roger have done a great job broadcasting the games and I can tell y'all are having fun Saturday night well it is hard not to have fun and listen I hope I'm in a laundromat somewhere or I over pack or either one I hope it's a long day in Nashville and even longer stay the following weeks to come in the NCAA tournament but listen guys I appreciate y'all having me on it's always a lot of fun sounds great there you have it the one the only Ryan pass to get ready to pack the quarters for the laundromat maybe anybody can survive the iron bowl of basketball and a coyote powwow I'm not going to mess with him he mentioned there Duke the final pole number one Arizona Michigan the top rated team in the SEC shot shot Florida they get that number one not a lot of SEC teams to go around because traditionally the second best team in the SEC Alabama all the way down at 15th Arkansas at 17th that's a potential opponent and then Vandy at 22 in Tennessee at number 25 it's going to be a fun week Brett Beaird yeah there are five SEC teams in the top 25 they don't have three in the top six like they did last year but yeah this is a deep league yep there you have it get ready for a lot of March Madness and where else but right here on 93.9 The Score we'll keep you up to date it's going to take care of business for now on behalf of BB Greg James Blair the entire crew here Peril Buck thank you so much for your time today that's doing it again tomorrow on noon to two for the Boomer Buck Show back here on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score