Boomo Bugg Show 012226

[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 the question of the day is, has Alabama basketball opened up a brand new can of?

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Thursday to you and the listeners. Well, that can was opened a couple of years ago, and they're never going to get it closed again. We'll discuss that topic with our guest. Former Alabama Senator Charles Bidiaco was granted temporary restraining order against the NCAA by a Tuscaloosa County judge, making him immediately able to participate in practices and games for the Crimson Tide. Caleb Suggs of the Decatur Daily will update high school basketball and give us his thoughts on football reclassification happening tomorrow.

B.B. is here right now to recap his trip to Miami to cover the national championship game, and we'll look at his way too early opinions. B.B. is Bill Bender, the national voice for the supporting news. Bill, welcome in. How are you? Hey, I'm doing well. Thank you. Hey, Bill. We appreciate you taking time out. You get to cover a national championship game, and you get to do something very few people in the world do, and that's shake hands to the multi-billionaire, Mark Cuban, Mr. Hoosier.

Did he give you one of those – does a billionaire give you a $100 handshake, or does that just go up to a $1,000 handshake, Bill? Oh, you know, I said I think the only reason he, you know, talked to me was everybody was trying to get his picture, and I asked him if I could ask a few questions, so that ended up working out for me. You know, he was really good. He had good answers. You know, obviously this wonderful story that was Indiana football season continued Monday night and ended with a national championship.

It was something else. We want to talk about the team, but while we're on Mark Cuban, by the way, multi-billionaire, the man's got more money, probably he's got time to spend it. But what role did he play, and what role will that play going forward with all these teams, with these guys who basically now, let's face it, you can buy a team if you've got a guy with lots of money and the willingness to spend it on that team. How is Mark Cuban and that fraternity going to influence college football going forward?

Well, I think they feel like the owners, you know? Like, I'm not saying, I'm saying that loosely, right? Like, they're going to contribute a lot of money. It's pseudo. It's pseudo, Oliver, yeah. Right. And I watched a Mark Cuban throw a national championship t-shirt on. So, I mean, it is definitely one of those things where this is part of the story now. Yeah. And how much, but Kurt was, Signetti was quick to say afterward that, hey, you know, our NIL isn't what you think it is.

So, I think there's a balance. You know, I've kind of stuck on this all week, Harold, but Miami kind of had the roster you're going to need. You know, they had in-state recruits, they had experience, they worked with Portal, they had their Portal QB. And I think that path will be easier than what Signetti did. Well, and Signetti, look, he had to go to Miami's literally backyard to get his quarterback, who turned out to be the bad guy for his hometown. So, what it tells me is, yeah, you've got to have the bucks, but you also, Bill, got to have the brains.

Signetti took the money, knew how to spend it, and evaluated talent that could play as a team and as a we, not a me. And can you emphasize enough what Signetti did as far as identifying talent, landing, closing the deal, bring them there, and get them to do something that's rare in this day and time, let's play as one? Yeah, I mean, you know, when you have two-and-a-half-star players and then you have, you know, the 4.3 years of experience that we talked about last week, I just was more impressed, too, at media day, when Miami got off, and they're in media day, their offensive line was massive.

I mean, it looked like Alabama's old offensive line. They had big dudes on the line, and Indiana was still able to, you know, with a few exceptions, they gave up the long run and a couple pass plays, but man, that defense played well. Well, that's what happens in the national championship game. You had a very good recap article talking about Signetti, and again, the one thing we've heard of Nauseam, we heard this for 15 years with Nick Saban. Will other teams follow Signetti's model? Well, number one, they don't have offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan or defensive coordinator Brian Haynes, and they sure as heck don't have Kurt Signetti.

[5:18] I mean, they can look at the blueprint all they want to, but one of the things you put in your article was Signetti took all of those lessons from both sides of winning and losing and applied them in, as you put it, a spectacular fashion at Indiana, and once again, it's the old saying, this team was greater, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Yeah. Yeah, he really did. And you know what? Opinion's very uncurred. I'll tell you this. I think what he's been able to accomplish is obviously remarkable and uncharted and all those things, and he did take a lot of lessons from Nick Saban at Alabama.

I think the big one for me is before Alabama and before NC State, he was an assistant coach on a lot of losing teams. So, you know, I think he learned from that, too. And then he comes to Nick Saban and learns about, you know, some talent evaluation. I think he's the best talent evaluator in the game right now because Nick Saban isn't in the game. So, you know, and that's a high compliment. I think the way that Kurt Signetti evaluates talent, evaluates production, he stresses production.

There's no doubt some of those JMU guys that he brought with him were the guys that were producing on Monday night. You know, Bill Bender produces at the Sporting News. A lot of these teams go spend a dollar and get a 50-cent return. He spends 50 cents to get a dollar return. I think that's the way, pretty much the formula, you've got to have a special eye for that. It's one thing to win a national championship, Bill, as it's safe to say. The hardest thing to do now is win another one, especially in this era.

The way too early college football rankings are out. Bill, talk to us about the way too early college football rankings and where those mighty Hoosiers are. I mean, I have them number one, but I like looking at ours is, you know, subjective like anything else. But I think if you look at the composite one we did over at Sporting News, I looked at on three. I know Brett McMurphy and, you know, I know ESPN, Brian Fisher at SI. Looking at everybody's and kind of putting all the exams together, you come up with a pretty consensus look at it.

And, you know, that one turns up that Ohio State's one, Texas is two. You just flip the headline from last year. A lot of the usual suspects there in the top five with Georgia. Indiana lands about four. And that's probably a better landing spot for them. I've just learned not to doubt Kurt Cignetti again. I agree with you. The number one team should be number one, at least to be in the season. You've got Texas number four. And again, they had a debate about whether or not they should get into the playoffs.

But it's going to be the summer of March. We're going to be hearing about all nauseam. They brought in Hollywood Smothers, who Alabama couldn't close on. They've got very good receivers in Wingo, Mosley, and Kim Coleman from Auburn. I think their defense is going to be good. And I think Sark has learned some things. But, you know, I agree with you. We'll see about where this goes. But, certainly, Texas will be in everybody's top five. You know, Texas and that offense will be really good around Arch and those additions that they made.

You know, I think Oregon's a really interesting team. A couple people had them, number one. And if you're the Ducks, you're looking at this and you're saying, hey, there are only three losses the last two years were to the team that won the national championship. There are two losses the season before that to Washington, where the team that were the runner-up. Oregon's close. But, you know, obviously the blowout losses. But they picked up Coy Perich. They picked up a second quarterback in Dillon Riola. They're going to be loaded.

Notre Dame's working, too. I think Notre Dame's going to be very good next year. I really do. I don't think there's going to be any debate about them getting into the playoff next year. I think they're going to be very, very good. Marcus Freeman, very good on that thing called TV. How about that? Bill, I'm listening to you very intently here. And it's one team that's lived in the top five for, oh, gosh, a decade or more. I believe they're from Tuscaloosa. Did I miss where Alabama is in your way to early poll?

I have them higher than most. I have them around the 11-12 range, right? And I think their range varied from 11 to 20. They're in that consensus top 15 range, which, I mean, is probably where they belong right now. When you're 20-8 the last two seasons, they're going to be lumped into that. By the way, they were the team, I looked across these two, they had the third most variation, meaning highest ranking, lowest ranking. I thought it was ironic on some levels that the two schools that had like an 11-spot variation between their high and low was LSU and Ole Miss.

Two schools that are going to be tied to the hip for a very long time. Yeah, and Bill, one of the reasons why Alabama's been 11-21 is, again, they don't have a veteran experienced quarterback coming back. And that's, again, the old way, and I still agree with it to a large degree, that you judge preseason schools. But tomorrow, we will know or probably know if that will kick the can down the road again. I think ESPN has put a hard deadline on this. Whether the college football playoff committee will expand to 16 or stay at 12, I still think they've got about 20 other decisions they need to make.

[11:04] And you laid it out perfectly with starting at week zero, making round two, home games, two-year contracts for NIL. But hopefully, they will get to some of that soon. They're going to announce this tomorrow. Are they staying at 12 or moving to 16? I think they're going to stay at 12, Brett. I think, I just, it's a gut feeling, right? Like, I'm nothing to like, I just don't see them coming to an agreement knowing how this committee has worked in the past. I'm actually writing about this right now.

And if they want to capitalize on the momentum of, you know, what they're doing here. One of the things that the 12-team playoff, and the TV ratings, I'm going to be really interested to see. Those are objective, and we can spend those however we want. I think we've got to go to 16. That way, everybody that probably belongs in is in. I think we've got to push the season up. And if you look at, like, what the 16-team playoff could have looked like, as opposed to the 12, it's better.

So, I think we go there and put the first two rounds on campus. And, you know, so, like, theoretically, let's say Alabama was a 7, and they won. And then the other lower seed won. Hey, you get a home game in Tuscaloosa somehow. And the fans are going to be the ones along with the team that would love that. Bill, before we jump off, what's your take on the Bediaco thing at Alabama in the news of the week? You know, this is, again, I kind of subscribe to five years.

And however it works, it works. Right, Harold? If you get injured, you get injured. I mean, they're trying to put in a rule about red shirts can play nine games. And at that point, just play five years. And you get your five years, and what you do with those five years, you know, with special exceptions, we do it from there. Five years to play five. They've only been talking about that for 30 years. 30 more. Yeah. By the way, your term as president of the Football Writer Association is up.

And, once again, you carried yourself with the class and professionalism you always do. Congratulations on the great year running that very fine organization. I'm glad to be a member of it. And also, congratulations on great coverage of the national championship game. Harold, I've been there and done our time with it. It's an incredible week, and you did a great job doing it. What else does Bill Bender and the crew have in store for us in the next week? Hey, you know, I appreciate it. It was a lot of fun.

The FWA is very valuable to me. And to be able to present the Eddie Robinson Award to Clark Lee, these are things I will never forget. We continue to push for journalists and young writers and writers of all kinds to be in this organization. So, it means a lot. Yeah, at Sporting News, I'm working on that playoff piece now. I may take tomorrow off. I may take a day off like you and Eddie. Oh, man. And then we'll get back to work, right? Even NASCAR needs a pit stop every now and then.

Bill, listen, man, I echo those sentiments from the other BB there. Next week, we're going to ask you how to drive in the snow, okay? Yeah, be careful this weekend. Sounds like we're going to get a lot up here. So, I appreciate you guys, and we'll talk next week. Thank you. Sounds great. Buckle up. In the meantime, the other BB, Bill Benton, to the National Voice, to the Sporting News. Does the yes in the shows? It stands for what's shaking or snow. Caleb Suggs on deck.

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Shoals Royale 2026, Saturday, February 21st, at 7 p.m. at the Renathon Shoals Conference Center. Tickets are available now at givebutter.com slash Shoals Royale 2026. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. It is a pleasure for us to say hello to Caleb Suggs. He's got it all covered over at the Decatur Daily. Caleb, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing good, guys. How are y'all? Hey, buddy. Hey, we're doing all right. Obviously, the weather folks say in portions of North Alabama, it's going to be stormy.

But just about all over Alabama could be a stormy day tomorrow with the reclassification news coming in the pipeline, affecting a lot of high school teams. Caleb, what are you hearing as far as on the eve of the news about reclassifications as far as teams in your neck of the woods? You know, I've heard a lot of rumors that I'm sure a lot of people have heard. But I will be honest with you. Everybody that I've talked to that I think would know really just has no clue.

And, I mean, this reclassification, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. I mean, people are just kind of waiting with bated breath just to see what's going to happen. And the crazy part is, you know, we could get something. I mean, I don't think it's out of the – it would be out of the realm of possibility that we could get something. And then with all these things kind of going on with politics and, you know, the state, something to change by the end of the day.

[21:37] I mean, it's just – it's going to be a crazy day. You know, public and private is kind of the big thing right now. Honestly, in my opinion, you know, it may – people may not like it. But I don't really think there's been anything that needs to justify the split there. I'm more interested to see how they balance out – I think I've heard a lot of rumors about trying to balance out the classes better. So, I'm interested to see if anything changes there. But as far as what's going to happen, your guess is as good as mine right now.

Yeah, the Montgomery Advertiser – and let me emphasize this – speculated. And I know you mentioned that Austin may be dropping to 6A. I've heard Florence and Elbervold may be dropping from 7A to 6A. Most of the shows may go from 6A to 5A, along with Coleman, Decatur, Columbia, and Jasper. Again, this is the Montgomery Advertiser speculating on that. And Harold and I – Ben Thomas is on every Monday with us. And he surveyed about 59 coaches. And the three of us hear enough complaints about public and private schools in competition and athletics for the last 10 years.

But I thought it was interesting. The majority of the ones that were polled or in the survey said, yes, we have problems. And as you mentioned, the balance thing needs to be looked at, too. But most of the coaches said, look, we know we have problems. But we do not feel like you need to split public and private schools. Yeah, I mean, there's not – things can always be fixed. Before they go full split, I would rather see them do something, you know, maybe change how competitive balance multiplier works.

You know, maybe instead of every two years, it's every year. Maybe just, you know, in fact, you know, if you want to say, you know, maybe someone like Mars Hill that's been so dominant in 1A, 2A, 3A, maybe they get 4A completely and go to 5A, you know, something like that. You know, that's just – you know, that's just an idea. That's not a saying that's what's going to happen or anything. But I would rather see something like that than a complete split at this point. Like I said, I just don't think that there's been enough of an impact to justify the split right now.

Again, that's just my opinion. I know other people may feel differently, but that's just not what I feel. And, again, when you're that arbitrary, the last thing a school like Columbia needs is to move up. They have enough trouble as it is. Caleb Suggs, the Decatur Daily, and one of those teams obviously has got a close eye and one of your neighbors there. Decatur Heritage. In the meantime, we'll have to wait and see what's down the road. But how about the boys, the Eagles making a big jump coming off that Final Four appearance last season and lately moving up to the number one spot in Class 2A for the first time this season, Caleb?

Yeah, I mean, they just continue to, you know, to be, you know, one of the – I've been in the best team in 2A. I thought they were the best team in 2A all year. You know, you look at their record, it's not as great as some of the other teams in 2A, like Cold Springs, for example, who was number one. They were around 18-1 or something like that before they lost this past Friday. But the difference is, you know, Decatur Heritage is going out. They're playing the Jaspers, the Madison Academy, all these real – you know, 4A.

You know, I don't think they've lost to a team below 4. I take that back. They did lose by 2 to Lauderdale County in 3A, a really good 3A team. But that just goes to show you, I mean, the kind of schedule they're playing. And they've beat some of these teams and they've lost some. But when it comes down to 2A competition, I have not seen a team, I think, that's going to – at least not at North Alabama, that I think is going far with them. And I really think they're the best team in 2A.

I think they're going to make another push to go to Birmingham. And, you know, I feel like they have a better chance at a state championship than they did last year. And I thought they had a good chance last year. So, this is a really good team. And I think they definitely have a chance to make a run. Let me mention some of the other teams in your area that have climbed or they're still very high. The West Morgan boys, we've talked about them. They're 17-5.

They climbed to number 3 in Class 4A. Once again, we keep talking about schools that have very competitive athletic problems across the board, Athens, in Austin and others, and West Morgan's a good example. You wrote an article in the last week about East Limestone. They're number 2. Number 2 in Class 5A. They're 21-5. Jake Moran has really got that program going. And we talked with you about a month ago about the Decatur girls having a good year. I'd say they're 20-4 now and number 10 in Class 6A. Yeah. You know, we've talked a lot about Decatur.

What Coach Rod is doing this first year has just been phenomenal for a program that's definitely had his share of down years in the past 10 to 15, 20 years. So, you know, the fact that they keep winning has been, you know, been great for them. But, yeah, I mean, East Limestone, that's really, you know, that's been a great story just because what Coach Brand is doing is that I already knew he was a great coach. But what he's doing is phenomenal. You know, it's not like they lost a ton of players last year.

[26:53] But when you lose a guy like Zach Cain, who is a player of the year, you know, just an amazing player, the kind of player that just takes over a game and, you know, and you lose him. And then all of a sudden, here you are a year later and you're better. I mean, they really are. I mean, they're two or three wins away from matching last year's win total in the regular season. I mean, they've been that good and they're very balanced. They've got six players that have led a game in scoring at least once this year.

Most of them have done it two or three times. It's not more. I mean, Coach Moran is just, I mean, he's definitely in the coach of the year category right now, not just for us, but for the state. I mean, what he's done has been phenomenal. And they're a team. They're out there just like what's Morgan Boys and the Dakota Heritage Boys. They're going to be a team that's going to push for Birmingham and push for a state championship. Caleb, before you jump off, Brent and I are big fans at county tournaments.

Talk to us your impressions of the Morgan County Tournament down at Falkville. Yeah, you know, I've been blessed to be able to cover the Morgan County Tournament, the Lawrence County Tournament. Unfortunately, it's not a thing anymore, but I was blessed to cover it when it was. It was a limestone, and I've been to all of them, and they're all fantastic. Morgan County's just as good. You know, you go to the different schools every year, and it's just fun to see that, you know, obviously, in the grand scheme of things, it don't mean anything when you come to postseason, but it means so much to these communities.

And, you know, that's really what high school sports is all about, just, you know, seeing kids, you know, that have that community pride and everything. And so it's always fun to see, and it's been a blast this week, and I'm looking forward to it. The finals got moved up to tomorrow because of the possible weather, but, yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing the championship and see what happens. Yeah, I bet Mother Nature's rearranged quite a few games lately. Also, the Limestone County Tournament is going on at Tanner High School, and we're blessed to talk to you on a frequent basis.

I know you will have Friday or Saturday or some point this weekend probably the latest on teams in the Decatur area, whether they move up or move down in the classification. Also, about the public and private schools, but also the scores, the stories. But where can we get online and get a recap of all the great action? Next time we turn around, we'll be in Hanceville. Where can we get the latest? Yeah, you can get them at DecaturDaily.com. We'll have, you know, all the stuff that comes out with the reclassification tomorrow and then plenty of basketball as well.

Caleb, stay safe and as dry as you can out there, and thanks so much for your time today, buddy. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me. Thank you, bud. Caleb Suggs, hanging up with us from the Decatur Daily. Coming up, Big Orange Talk with Ryan Callahan on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. Hello, my name is Adam Birchall, and I'm an attorney with a law firm of Johnson, Passeur, Medley & Birchall. Why use an out-of-town lawyer when you can call our law firm, which has over 100 years of combined experience in all areas of the law?

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At Hyundai, hope isn't optional. It comes standard. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. Hey, fans. Welcome back to Fansville's Cheers and Tears. Okay, so like everybody deals with losing, right? To a rival on a last-second field goal. Whatever. It's fine. I'm totally fine. But I cope with losing with an ice-cold Dr. Pepper. Mmm, those 23 flavors are like so delicious. They totally wash away the pain of your college football team taking a big fat L. College football, it's a pepper thing.

Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9. The score. Mids basketball yesterday. Troy's Rogents double overtime winners as they won at Old Dominion 83-77. Troy was led by Theo Tsang with 24 points and 14 rebounds. Troy improves to 14-6 on the season and 7-1 in the Sun Belt. North Alabama fell at Queens 87-62. The Lions are now 6-12 in the year and 1-6 in the A-Sun. Tune in tonight for high school basketball right here as Florence plays on the road at Austin. Pre-game coverage is set to get underway at 7-15 with tip-off set for 7-30.

It's Florence at Austin right here on the score. 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. My Lowe's Pro Rewards members go big during Lowe's Pro Savings Days. Get member volume discounts plus an extra 5% off eligible orders with a quote of $2,000 or more. Plus, buy more and save more with up to 25% off DWV pipes when you spend $250 or more. Lowe's, we help. You save. Valid through 123. Exclusions, more terms, and restrictions apply.

Can't be combined with any contract or special pricing. Loyalty program subject to terms and conditions. Visit theprodesk or lowes.com slash terms for more details. Subject to change. And Fury did something smart. He saved hundreds on auto insurance switching to Progressive. With that money, he bought a mini treadmill. Is walking on it during video conference calls more distracting than he thought? Yes. And is that because he overestimated his foot-eye coordination? Definitely. But it's Logan's savings, and if he wants to burn calories and any chance at a promotion, we say, good for you, Logan.

Switch and see if you could save with Progressive. And treat yourself. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. It is always a pleasure for us to open the door and say hello to Ryan Callahan. He's got the big orange cover there at Go Vols 24-7. Ryan, welcome in. How are you? Hey, guys. Doing well. How are you? Good. Well, just a big question, Ryan. It's not sports-related, weather-related. Are the folks there in Knoxville, are they going by the Euro model, the American model?

Or the Hollywood model? You know, probably different for everybody, and some are just going by the Euro model. So, you know, we'll have to wait and see how this plays out. But, yeah, we're kind of living in that area where we could end up with a lot of, you know, maybe a decent amount of snow, just an interesting mix of precipitation, some freezing rain. Maybe just something will push north a little more, and it ends up being just rain. I don't know. But we're still kind of waiting to figure out what this is all going to be in the next few days.

Yeah. Folks down here haven't tried to destined just to get a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk. So, good luck at Walmart, right, if you haven't made it yet. But in the meantime, the show, whether it is snow or not, goes on for basketball this weekend. Tennessee plays at Alabama. How much practice time has Tennessee been spending on getting ready for Bidiaco? Well, yeah, I think that you've got to make some midweek adjustments on that one. We'll see how they cope with that. But, yeah, it's obviously been an interesting week from that standpoint.

We'll see how Tennessee knows it's going to be a challenge. They've always had a hard time winning at Alabama, it seems like. And, obviously, Alabama is a tough matchup for anybody that plays in the style of ball they play and the way they can shoot from the perimeter. So, they knew it was already going to be a tough test, now potentially even tougher. So, we'll see how that goes. But, yeah, that's going to be a big storyline, obviously, for a lot of teams. And, now Tennessee gets to be, I guess, the first to see what it's really like to go against an Alabama team with that kind of mid-season addition, kind of on short notice, too.

[37:27] I certainly enjoy reading your recruiting chat where you talk about potential transfer portal or getting commitments from kids. And, also, you look at the roster. Tennessee picked up quarterback Ryan Staub, who a lot of people look at him and say, well, he's the depth piece that they may need down the road. The two young guys are the ones going to be doing it. One of the questions you were asked, what's the chances of Staub starting? And, you said, pretty slim. Obviously, they've got George McIntyre and friends who were there.

But, one of the other questions, you were asked, did Tennessee back off of Brendan Swordsby and Sam Levitt? Now, I know Bo Pribula was another part, but you mentioned and said no. Tennessee went after both of those quarterbacks seriously. Your thoughts on Staub and what Tennessee tried to do as far as adding to the quarterback room? Yeah, it seems like their approach from the start was sort of, and they were, as I mentioned, pretty heavily involved there with Brendan Swordsby. That just didn't really take off and didn't result in a visit because LSU and Texas Tech were so aggressive in their pursuit of Swordsby that I think the money side of things and everything else seemed to match up pretty quickly for them.

And, Tennessee just didn't get much of a chance once the portal officially opened. But, certainly with Sam Levitt, they obviously got a visit. He was in town for a couple days, and it was in Knoxville where Lane Kiffin sort of intercepted him on his way to Miami and got a chance to meet up with him there. But, yeah, they did their part to try to land one of those guys, but it seemed like their approach from the start was we're only going to go after guys that we think would be a clear upgrade or at least a potential upgrade over Joey Aguilar because the other part of that situation is Joey Aguilar still might be a possibility for them to play quarterback this season because he's still waiting as part of that Diego Pavia lawsuit against the NCAA trying to get the NCAA to no longer count junior college seasons toward a player's eligibility at the NCAA level.

And if that's successful, you know, he's only played three years at four-year schools, so Aguilar would get a fourth year next season at Tennessee. So that's still, you know, I think some people see that as an unlikely challenge to be successful, but we'll see if that's how it plays out. And if it's something that works out, though, Tennessee could very well still have Joey Aguilar as its starting quarterback in 2026. So, you know, I think they were only looking for guys that would be a clear upgrade over him.

That's where the pursuit of Bo Pribula was kind of just, you know, sort of a fallback plan, it seemed like, at the time. And Tennessee ultimately decided, I think, at the price they were looking at to go for a guy like that that it just wasn't worth it, and he ends up at Virginia. So, yeah, just an interesting situation. But after all that, you know, after all that happens in the portal, they end up, as you said, just going for a guy that looks more like a depth piece than Ryan Staub.

Now, you do like that he has one career start under his belt, has played in a few other games. So a little bit of experience, three years of experience at the college level, you need a guy like that when you've got a redshirt freshman in George McIntyre and a true freshman in Faison Brandon as your only two options that you know you're going to have aside from Ryan Staub. So we'll see where that competition takes them. You know, sometimes it plays out differently. You never know.

Maybe Staub just, you know, really clicks in Tennessee's system, takes a step forward, and ends up being more of a factor than we expect. But at the very least, at least they've got an experienced guy to throw in there. But, yeah, you've got a couple talented guys in McIntyre and Faison Brandon. They're just young guys, and I think Tennessee ideally didn't want to have to rely on them going into a pretty important 20-26 season. Now they're in a position where it looks like they might have to, and so it's going to be how quickly can those guys pick things up and continue to develop and can Tennessee get them ready in time.

How did that two-star out of Miami who begged to walk on at Miami wind up at Indiana? How did things turn out for that kid? Maybe we can turn the page and find out more. But, Ryan, you mentioned about the things hanging in the air. Ole Miss is in a similar situation. We saw this week's ruling about Mediaco in basketball. It may be a tough question. Are you hearing of any time frame? Because if the NCAA had any moxie at all, they would come out and say, let's get this done before spring training so these teams can kind of halfway make plans for the fall.

Yeah, and it's tricky, too, but with the one transfer portal window this year, Tennessee was hoping to get some sort of clarity on where things at least might be headed in that case. There was a scheduled conference call, I guess, before the portal officially closed. And it turned out to be just scheduling a hearing in that case. And so there is a hearing set for February 10th. So Tennessee obviously won't get any clarity very soon. And that hearing, that's not expected to be a date where you're going to have a ruling that day necessarily.

[42:47] That's just sort of where things will start. So we'll see. It's probably something they won't really get any clarity on until this spring. We'll see if it's in time for spring practice. But either way, it doesn't look like it's going to be wrapped up here very quickly. So if they're able to get Joey Aguilar back, it might be. We'll see. It might be after spring practice. That would be certainly strange to find out that, hey, you just went through spring. Now you've got another starting quarterback.

But that's kind of where they were last year. Joey Aguilar came in in May after spring practice and was able to pick things up in time. And in the meantime, he's sort of in limbo. A lot of other guys in limbo. Tennessee had a visitor from Florida, a defensive lineman, Brian Taylor Jr., who was a senior this past year. He's hoping to get another year of eligibility because he's a former junior college prospect. So a lot of other players kind of hoping for a sweeping ruling that will help their case to come back for another year.

So, yeah, a lot of guys still waiting, and that makes things kind of messy in the meantime for guys who are still waiting to see what might happen with that ruling. Tennessee could not hire Kurt Signetti, but they did hire his strength and conditioning coach, Derek Owens, for a reported $1.2 million, which would make him, and I'll let you confirm this, according to reports, the highest paid strength and conditioning coach in the history of college football. That's correct. Yeah, that's a pretty aggressive move there by Tennessee.

And the way it went down seems kind of a little bit different from what you would expect in a situation like that. Apparently the deal was done days before Indiana even played in the national championship game. And, you know, he informed some people that he was headed to Tennessee, but maybe, from what we understand, maybe didn't inform Kurt Signetti that he was headed to Tennessee until after the national championship game. So next thing you know, they win the game, and he's off to Knoxville early Tuesday morning to take over that program and start their off-season workouts.

So, yeah, really, really interesting hire there. And it sounds like, you know, Josh Heupel kind of knew where he wanted to go with that opening as soon as he made the move to part ways with Kurt Schmidt, the former strength and conditioning coach that had been in charge of the program since Heupel arrived. There was a connection there. Heupel had worked with Owens one year previously at UCF. So having that previous experience, you know, might have made a difference, obviously, and the chance to go to an SEC program like that, you know, maybe appealed to him as well.

But, you know, making him the highest-paid strength and conditioning coach in the country might have had something to do with it, too. So, yeah, definitely a move that's been well-received by Tennessee fans just to see that you're getting a guy like that that's obviously coming from a national championship program this season. And, you know, we'll see if it pays off. You know, there were, you know, kind of rave reviews about Kurt Schmidt for a few years, and suddenly, you know, there was talk within the program around midseason that maybe Tennessee needed to go in a different direction there.

They do. We'll see what kind of different results that might result in. One of the things that he might be tasked with right away is at least contributing to the continued growth of George McIntyre. We mentioned the young quarterback. He's a guy that needs to put on some weight. He's a taller, lankier guy who's, you know, maybe in the 200-pound range now. Needs to get a bit bigger in time for this season if he's going to be ready to potentially be Tennessee's starting quarterback. And he's got to win the job, obviously.

But that's one of the things people will be keeping a close eye on. So, a lot to get done with this team that he's taking over in Knoxville. But that's certainly one of the things people will be watching is his continued physical development throughout the offseason. Brian, don't believe the folks who tell you that Brent and I need to put on a few pounds either. Do not believe them, okay? The portal now, obviously, it's amazing. It's closed, but we're still seeing people coming in because of the paperwork and all that stuff.

There was a holiday this past week. We talk about what was there. In your opinion, where maybe did Tennessee not strengthen themselves in the portal, if any position at all? Yeah, and they're actually still getting some work done in the portal as we speak, because classes just started at Tennessee on Tuesday. They've got a couple visits that we're wrapping up today. Mostly looking at depth, guys, at this point, though. And you see a little bit of that where it looks like teams are just sort of essentially swapping special teamers and swapping backups.

And that might be where Tennessee's at at this point in the portal, just kind of looking for some additional bodies at certain positions. But maybe at cornerback, I think, is a position where Tennessee came up a little bit short of what they wanted, at least to this point. They still might add another depth piece there. Obviously, you lose the former starters in Jermod McCoy and Colton Hood to the NFL draft. And then you lose Ricky Gibson to the transfer portal. And they made a couple of additions there, led by Kay and Lee, the Auburn transfer.

[47:54] But I think, ideally, Tennessee would have gotten at least another guy that was a little more proven at the cornerback position to see if they could sort of patch things up there a little bit better. Because that's three really good cornerbacks they lost, and two of them obviously headed to the draft. You can't fault those guys for leaving. But that's not ideal for Tennessee to not have some more ready-made options there at the corner position. I think they did a nice job at linebacker and at safety.

At linebacker, certainly it looks a lot better now for Tennessee with Arian Carter having withdrawn from the NFL draft. And after talking about entering the transfer portal and ending up staying in Knoxville, now the defensive line, I think, would be the other position where I think Tennessee needed to do a little bit more, and to this point at least has not done enough. They got the Penn State transfer, Xavier Gillum. That's a four-star transfer, a guy that our analysts are high on, that had a nice year this past season in kind of a rotational role.

But Tennessee's got a lot. They've lost a lot across the defensive line from this past season. They did okay at the edge position, I think, adding Chaz Coleman and Tulane transferred Jordan Norman, but now not having some of those bigger-bodied guys after losing three really important pieces in Bryson Easton, Dominic Bailey, and Jackson Moy, along with Tyree West, who played a lot. That's three or four big, big rotational pieces and starters in some cases, and they didn't get a lot to replace those guys. So I think that's the one position, aside from cornerback, where I think they're maybe not quite as well off as they would like to be coming out of the portal.

But they did get a lot done, and nearly 20 additions so far on scholarship guys out of the portal. That's a much bigger number than Tennessee traditionally has had under Josh Heifel. So they did some things well, but still some areas where I do think they came up a bit short of what they ideally would have liked to have. Well, there should be a lot of people watching that Alabama-Tennessee game Saturday night. They may be snowed in or iced in, but to see if Betty Ico is going to play in the game, it was going to be a good game to begin with.

Both these teams having a bye week, a mid-bye week. In Tennessee, Rick Barnes has not been happy with some of the performance, lost a tough game to Tennessee last weekend. Do you still have any of the transfer portal specials? And you've got a lot of stuff going on, transfer portal, believe it or not, recruiting is still going on, baseball is around the corner. Where can we get online to get all the good stuff? Yeah, GoVols247.com. And yeah, we do have a sale right now, two months for $1, or you can get 50% off an annual subscription.

So still a great time to check out the site and as you said, still get all that transfer portal coverage. It's not completely over just yet. And Tennessee, if the weather permits, might have a junior day this weekend. That's very much on the fence right now, but still some recruiting going on, coaches on the road and things like that. So a lot happening and plenty to check out at GoVols247.com. Ryan, listen, man, it's always good to hook up with you. You can transfer all that bad weather up north if you can for us too.

Listen, stay safe if you can up there. Thanks so much for your time today, Ryan. Yep. Same to you guys. Appreciate it. Thank you, bud. Ryan Kelly, Henneke with us. GoVols247.com. Tough night for UNA on the road, BB. Yeah, they're in a little bit of a slump. They lost to Queens 87-62. Close game for 30 minutes, but Queens pulled away in the last 10 minutes. Tony Pujol trying to change up the lineup a little bit, and it seemed to work for a while. I know Cornelius Williams, 12 points, 5 rebounds.

Jefferson added 11 points. But again, a tough night, and UNA does not play again. Due to the impending weather, UNA will not play this weekend, and the next scheduled game will be Thursday in Florida Gulf Coast. That'll be a 6 o'clock tip-off. So, unfortunately, UNA, bad news, losing on the road to Queens. I think the weather might be better down there coming next week. In the meantime, the next hour is right ahead. Going to be checking in with Logan Fowler. Going to be talking about the Auburn Tigers.

Craig Stevenson talking about what's going on this state from one end to the next at AL.com. And Ryan Fowler, the latest Tide Talk and more. Straight ahead, stay with us. Hi, I'm Dr. Brady Citizen with Treehouse Children's Dentistry. Our teens in Tuscumbia, Killen, and Madison are so excited to welcome you and your family to our treehouse. We know that choosing a dental home can be a stressful experience. That's why at Treehouse Children's Dentistry, we've created an environment that kids and parents love. Our team is experienced in caring for every child, from infants to teenagers to children with special needs.

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[53:23] Again, that's 256-648-5710. Hello, folks. Mark Humphrey, new car sales manager at Ray Miller GMC, where we treat you like family. We understand that buying an automobile is the second largest purchase you'll do in your lifetime, and just like all the Alabama athletic programs, we take pride in what we do. So, if you're looking for a new or pre-owned automobile, we have you covered. Also, don't forget to schedule your next oil change or any of your mechanical issues with our award-winning service and parts department. So, remember, folks, we're at 246 Cox Creek Parkway, Florence, Alabama, right underneath that bigger mega flag.

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Hey, fans! Welcome back to Fansville's Cheers! And Tears! Okay, so like, everybody deals with losing, right? To a rival on a last-second field goal. Whatever, it's fine. I'm totally fine. But I cope with losing with an ice-cold Dr. Pepper. Mmm, those 23 flavors are like so delicious. They totally wash away the pain of your college football team taking a big fat L. College football. It's a pepper thing. 18-19 News. An Alabama pastor just got a shout-out from President Trump. Mobile pastor Travis Johnson was recently featured in a New York Times article about how President Trump has put Christ back into Christmas.

President Trump posted that article on True Social this week with a lot of Alabamians noticing Johnson has traveled with President Trump for various events and also serves on the recently established Religious Liberty Commission. Johnson credits Trump for bringing faith, family, and freedom back into the White House and to the forefront of our country. Johnson says it's important for Americans in all situations to be able to express their faith without fear of persecution or retribution. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Some of the greatest blessings is just having the people that care about you.

To have someone that's just going to love you and make you feel important. They encourage you to be in church. They encourage you to be in prayer. They encourage you to be in your Bible. Now it's a part of my day every day. My house parents planted seeds in me that you can see where those seeds have sprouted in my life and helped change my life. Big Oak Ranch, a Christian home for children needing a chance. A drug kingpin out of Mobile has been found guilty by a jury of running a criminal drug operation.

Glennie McGee is being charged along with multiple other people who assisted him in this criminal enterprise. That includes his wife, Echanzda Maxey, who is found to have used her own children to transport the drugs in their school backpacks. This is the same case that blew up national headlines when McGee's lawyer was reprimanded by the judge for using artificial intelligence in his brief. The AI turned out to have created false case citations. Police in Ozark have arrested a Florida man for possession of 81 gallons of moonshine. 61-year-old Learndes Hamilton was pulled over in a traffic stop on January 9th where the jugs of liquid were found.

I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. 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 Saturday, Alabama welcomes the Tennessee Volunteers to Coleman Coliseum. Airtime is 6.30 p.m. with a tip at 7.30 here on 93.9 The Score. Brought to you locally in part by The Law Firm of Johnson, Pasher, Medley & Burchill, Page Borden Insurance and M.J. Carter & Company Insurance, J.C. Hamm & Sons, Lost Pizza, First Metro Bank, Alabama Health Guidance, Story & Lee Furniture, Valley Credit Union, Cypress Creek Indoor Range, Ray Miller GMC, Hedeker Johnson & Layton Insurance, and Mugshots Grill & Bar.

[59:01] Alabama and Tennessee, this Saturday night at 6.30 on 93.9 The Score. 93.9 The Score weather. Today partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and a high around 50. Tonight mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers overnight and a low near 35. Tomorrow cloudy with a 20% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 40. Tomorrow night cloudy with a 70% chance of showers overnight and a low near 20. After your Saturday freezing rain and snow showers likely with a low near 32. 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. And for Logan Fowler taking time out of his busy schedule. There coming the Auburn Tigers for 1819 News and Tailgate Auburn. That's T-A-L-E-Gate Auburn. Logan, welcome in. How are you?

I'm doing well, guys. How are you? Well, we blinked three times, Logan. What did we miss when it comes to the latest transfer auditions at Auburn? If you blink these days, you miss some action. What's the latest Tiger talk via the portal? Yeah, yeah. Look, Auburn's up to 35 commits in the portal. 247's got them ranked just outside the top 10 at the number 12 spot. Portal closed last Friday, but Auburn's still keeping their efforts strong. They added an offensive lineman last night from Miami. So, the portal efforts are continuing for Auburn and Alex Golesh.

They're filling spots, filling needs. You know, they have, you know, close to 50 outgoing players, 37 through the portal. So, they've almost matched that number. Lots of departures. But I think Alex Golesh and his staff have done pretty well, all things considered, throughout this transfer portal cycle. You know, it's an interesting question, Logan. It'd be interesting to hear and see the roster now, at least going forward, compared to where it was two years ago. How many kids are on the roster? We posed this question the other day.

How many of Nick's guys are still on the roster at Alabama? How many of Hugh's guys are going to be left at Auburn after the dust settles? Oh, goodness. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, you know, when you look at the offensive line specifically, you know, and this is a position that they hit really hard. You had three guys from last year's class. That's right. Remaining after the transfer portal. You know, that obviously, you couldn't live with that. They were all freshmen. They weren't probably going to contribute this year anyways.

You know, Auburn's coach, Tyler Hudenix, going out and added 17 guys in that room. So, I mean, it's just a completely new, just an influx of players every year. It's something that we've got to get used to. It's something that us and the media, you know, probably after spring, we'll begin to get a good grasp on this roster and start, you know, remembering names. Probably going to have to have the roster sheet out for a couple games to start off the season next year. But, yeah, I mean, you know, again, it's something we're going to have to get used to with, again, 40-plus guys coming in through high school and the transfer portal year in and year out now.

It's like going to one of these seminars and they've got these badges. It says, hi, my name is Logan. And it's going to be one of those situations where they report to camp. But, Logan, at the other side of the coin, back in the day, a lot of certain age groups always look forward to those preseason magazines. Is there any possible way these guys have any idea, especially a team like Auburn, with all the change they've got there, for that matter, many teams, how in the world can you put an answer to the question, how is Auburn going to do this season?

That's almost an impossible question for anybody anywhere to answer about any team now, at least at this point on the calendar, is it not? Yeah, no, totally. There's no way to know. You know, you hear people talk about expectations right now, and there's just, yeah, you expect Auburn to make a bowl game. You expect them to obviously win more than five games, which they haven't done in the last two years, and five straight losing seasons. You obviously want to see that improve, but again, until the spring is over, you just don't have a good grasp.

Now, the good part about this portal window being, you know, the single portal window in January, 15-day period, is that you do know what your roster is going to look like after the spring. You know, there's not going to be too many departures, just no incoming guys, so you do know what that's going to look like. But again, when you talk expectations, you have obviously an Auburn situation. You've got a first-year head coach on the Plains, well, not a first-year head coach, but in his first year on the Plains.

[1:04:11] Obviously, half of that offensive staff is just new, and defensive staff as well. These guys have to mesh together. They've got to get familiar with line numbers. They've got to implement a new offensive scheme. Thankfully for Auburn and Alex Golesh, they've brought in a lot of USF guys who know the culture and know the scheme, know the calls, know what's going to be expected of Alex Golesh and Joel Gordon on the offensive side of the ball. And obviously, it helps when you have the leader in total offense last year in Byron Brown that's going to be manning your offense.

But again, you know, you've got to mesh up front. You're replacing all five starters on the offensive line. Complete turnover in the wide receiver room. So, obviously, it's going to take some time to mesh and kind of get the ball rolling. So, yeah, expectations. Obviously, Auburn fans are going to set them high, but you've got to kind of, I guess the word is cautiously optimistic about how things can go for Auburn next year. Derek, I think it's Derek Plaz, P-L-A-Z-Z, is the latest commitment from Miami.

It was in and out of the lineup, but again, it seems to be developed pretty well. And, Logan, I saw where Tommy Kinsler IV, another Miami offensive line transfer, visited yesterday. Tell us a little bit more about Plaz. And was there another Miami transfer in yesterday or today? Yeah. Derek Plaz, it seems like he's going to be, you know, obviously he can never have too much depth in the trenches. He was a former three-star recruit. I think he's coming over with, I believe, three years of eligibility.

Six-foot-four, 3'10", got him in last night. So, that's another guy, you know, when you think about the losses of guys like maybe Broderick Scholl, you know, DeAndre Carter, who you lost through the portal. Didn't contribute last year, but maybe those were guys you were going to depend upon to be in the two-deep this year. You know, Derek Plaz kind of fits into that mold and could provide some depth for Coach Hoodie in that offensive line room. Tommy Kinsler, he was another one who was on a visit today, I do believe.

He, I believe he started 10 games, if I remember correctly, for Miami in 24, he was in and out of the lineup this year. So, he wasn't, you know, I guess as impactful for this national championship contending team this past year. But, again, he's a big guy. He's 340 pounds, 6'6". Obviously, you're not going to turn that away. This is another guy who could come in and play guard or tackle for you. And, I mean, again, in the SEC, man, you can never have too many offensive linemen, especially, you know, you can't teach size.

So, I think that would be another big pickup, give Golesh and Coach Hoodie quite a few options there to play around with in that offensive line room. They seem to be pretty well said offensively. They went from questions at running back to one of the best running back rooms in the SEC. Tied in, looks much better. Receiver, what's left, Logan? Is it defensive line? I know they're pretty well off at linebacker. As far as remaining targets or positions, what's left in the portal for Auburn? Yeah, yeah.

I think Auburn, like I said earlier, I think they've done a pretty well job of filling their needs. I think that, you know, if you get this Kinsler from Miami, that's awesome. If you miss out on him, you know, it doesn't necessarily hurt you on offense. I think you're okay offensively. Maybe add another wide receiver if you can, if you think that he can come in and contribute right away. That way you don't necessarily have to depend upon, you know, the young USF transfers coming over.

You don't have to necessarily depend upon a Sam Turner to make an impact in year two. So maybe a top-notch receiver. They've missed out on quite a few names at that position. So if you get the right guy and feel the right fit there, I think that's something you can look for. Obviously, defensively, the North Carolina transfer, and I believe his name was Deontre Robinson, who was on campus last week. You missed out on him, it seems. And so maybe if you can get another top-notch guy like that to kind of fill up the middle, kind of fill up some gaps and disrupt the interior there on that defensive line, I think that's something you could look for.

Linebacker, you're pretty well off there, linebacker. That's a room that you didn't really even have to hit hard in the portal. Maybe you could go get a guy there if you, you know, want some more depth, if you just want to feel comfortable. But I feel good where things are sitting there with Xavier Atkins and Elijah Melendez, Bryce Diaz, DeMarcus Riddick, all of that young talent there in that room. And then they got some guys on the back end of that defense that are going to come in and contribute right away, and Andre Johnson from UCLA, Fred Gaskins from USF.

[1:09:27] So I think maybe just a few more spots could be filled. Obviously, Auburn's going to continue to fill them, you know, as long as they feel that they can get the right fit, wherever that is on the roster. Logan Fowler, with us, talking to Auburn Tigers at 1819 News and tailgate Auburn, S-T-A-L-E-Gate Auburn. Logan, wouldn't it be interesting to go back five years, certainly 10 years ago, and could you imagine the people responding to the conversation we're having today? What are you guys talking about? What about the old-fashioned route of recruiting?

Your thoughts about this staff, how they're going to approach the traditional form of going to the high schools and trying to land talent, particularly the relatively new in the state of Alabama. It's all about relationships. We saw it the first year when Auburn squashed Alabama in DeBoer's first year. Now the shoe's on the other foot. Your thoughts about Goldish and his approach to the traditional route of recruiting? Yeah, it's something he mentioned in his introductory press conference. It's something that he wants to do is build this thing through the high school ranks.

He said that, you know, the 200-mile radius where Auburn is positioned has elite talent, so that he's going to go out there and he's going to find it, and they're going to attack the high school ranks as hard as they possibly can. Now, you know, this situation this year, I believe he had, what, three days before National Signing Day, so that obviously was not feasible for him and his staff he didn't even have in place this year. So the transfer portal was obviously going to be a necessity in your words, no doubt, and it's going to continue to be a necessity.

You have to build your team nowadays through the transfer portal. There's just no denying it. But I do think that Alex Goldish is going to hit, you know, especially the southeast region pretty hard. They obviously have a lot of ties in the South Florida area, you know, coming over from South Florida. I think you've got tons of SEC experience and Coleman Hedzler and Tim Banks and D.J. Durkin, Montreal King-Williams. I don't know how you can mention recruiting without mentioning his name. You know, that defensive staff is full of hungry recruiters who are going to go out and kill the trail and try to develop and make relationships with those high school kids.

I think that's ideal. I think that's how every coach would love to build their program is, you know, creating relationships years in advance with these high school kids, bringing them into your program, developing them, turning them into, you know, men off the field. So that's how all of these coaches learn, learn the game, learn the, you know, how everything, how the process is recruiting. That's what they still admire. And I think that's how they want to do it. Hugh Freeze, that's how he wanted to do it.

He obviously did, you know, very well in getting the talent to the planes. Now it's just a matter of can Alex Goldish and this staff get the talent to the planes and develop them. So, yeah, I don't worry too much about Alex Goldish and his recruiting efforts right now. Logan, I don't think there's going to be any ice and snow Saturday afternoon in Gainesville is the good thing for the fans. But the bad thing for Auburn is they're playing one of the hottest teams in the country in the Gators.

They started out five and four. Now I think they're eight and went eight of their last nine games. Auburn owned a little bit of a role. They beat Ole Miss 78-66 on the road, and I believe they've won three of the last four. But we'll find out Saturday because Florida is a stout competition. Great stuff again. Alyssa, where can we get online and get all your good stuff? Yeah, you can find some game coverage over at 1819 News covering football and basketball over there. Got a bunch of columns, profiles, podcasts coming out with a bunch of Auburn legends and figures over there at Tailgate Auburn.

You can go check that out again at tailgatesports.com and the Tailgate Auburn podcast on YouTube. Logan, it's always good to hook up with you. Thanks so much, and keep up the good work, okay? Yes, sir. Thanks for having me on. Thank you, bud. Logan Fowler, I've got the Auburn Tigers covered. It's called 1819 News and Tailgate Auburn. Coming up, time to go from the shows to the shores with Craig Stevenson next. Stay with us. You still thinking job change in the new year? Yeah, I need something that's in high demand and more stable in this economy.

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I think those two losses with Vanderbilt on the road was a winnable game. Alabama had a lot of momentum going into halftime, but, you know, some cramps and injuries that took place without having Aiden Sherell and LeBaron Phylon not being able to participate in the second half, I think played a significant role in Alabama pulling that game out. And they still could have won. The game against Texas was something that caught them off guard. But it was the response to go on the road at Mississippi State, a team that was playing really good basketball.

You have one of the leading scorers in the country and in the league and Josh Hubbard, who's been playing at an elite level to bounce back the way they did in that second half and win that game in Starkville was huge. And then the resiliency once again on the road in Norman against a team that really needed to win and to hold on and down in the stretch of the game. I'll have more in a moment. Hey, Bama fans, each Tuesday and Thursday at 2 p.m. Central join us live for Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR.

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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. Welcome back again. Time to say hello to Craig Stevenson. He's got it all covered there at AL.com. Craig, welcome in. How are you? Oh, doing pretty well. I appreciate you guys having me on. Why? Is something happening in the world sports we need to talk about? I guess there is. Absolutely. Now, we're now weather people up here, Craig. We're all into the weather stuff, you know.

But, anyway, when you saw this story, there are a few things happening, Craig. When you first saw the story about Charles Mediaco, what was your initial reaction to this news? I hate it. That's what my initial reaction is to it. I mean, you know, Alabama, if Alabama is working within the framework of the rules and the law, you know, I don't blame them necessarily for trying to take advantage of it. But I think it's bad for college sports, obviously, when you have pros coming back and playing.

[1:19:49] And I know a lot of people have said, well, there's all these European guys that are in college basketball, including one at Auburn, I think, that have played pro basketball before coming to college. I guess it's a matter of degree or of distinction without a difference or whatever it is. But I don't have to like any of it. And it just seems to me that it's kind of against the spirit of the rules for Charles Mediaco to leave for the pros three years ago. When you turn pro, you give up your college eligibility and then try to come back just because he's within that five-year window.

I don't like it. I hope it – I mean, it sounds like they're planning on playing him. That's the latest. They're going to play him Tuesday or play him tomorrow against Tennessee and – or, excuse me, Saturday against Tennessee. And then the hearing is on Tuesday. We'll see. I don't know. I don't care for it. Here's the thing, Craig. Obviously, there's a thing called Pandora's box. Once you start this, how are you going to put Pandora back in the box as far as college sports? And the other thing is, my understanding is, it is, quote, a temporary injunction.

We've already seen the pushback. I think the folks up in Connecticut where they talk funny has already said, don't count the games relative to the tournament that he plays in. You know this is not done legally. And what does it mean, a temporary injunction? In other words, if they got it penciled in, you practice all week for Tennessee, and then the powers that be come to Nate Oates 10 minutes before the game say, well, we changed our mind. It's no longer temporary. He can't play. I mean, how do we interpret that part of it?

I'm not a lawyer, but I do have some experience with temporary injunctions, unfortunately, having to do with a property dispute I had. But basically, you get the temporary restraining order until you can have a full hearing, which is what's coming Tuesday. And then when they do that, they'll decide if there is an injunction put in place that will make the temporary restraining or the force of the law. So basically, they're just waiting until whoever is complaining gets a chance to respond, which will be Tuesday. I mean, whoever is resisting this, which will be the NCAA.

But if you read the wording of the ruling yesterday in Tuscaloosa, it says that the NCAA is not permitted to use Petey Aco playing against Alabama in any way. In other words, they can't come back and say they have to forfeit games. They're not allowed in the NCAA tournament and all that. So it seems to me, you know, that's not going to happen. Well, it's going to be interesting to see where and, you know, we've heard a lot of debate. I know you had an article on Trinidad Chambliss, the Ole Miss quarterback, trying to get a six-year of eligibility.

Of course, Diego Pavia started all of this. He has filed a suit in the state of Mississippi to try to get one more year of eligibility. The NCAA hasn't ruled on that yet. Now, the NCAA has actually won about half of these eligibility suits. I think there have been 50 to 60. Anything new on Chambliss that you're hearing? No. I mean, only that they have appealed it to the NCAA. They have appealed the initial ruling that said he is not eligible next year. And then the backup is to take it to court, obviously, if they get turned down again.

And, you know, they filed this thing, just like, you know, Alabama filed it in Tuscaloosa County. Ole Miss filed it in Lafayette County. Duke filed theirs against Derrick-Mensi in Durham County. And I believe the judge in the Chambliss case is an Ole Miss law grad. Obviously, the judge in the Chambliss case is an Alabama athletic booster. The Durham case is a Duke basketball or Duke season ticket holder or something. So, you can always find a favorable court for these things. And, you know, it sounds like to me Chambliss is going to get the – I mean, just based on what we've seen in the past, Chambliss is probably going to get the year back, which I don't care for again.

I mean, it's hard to argue that he was denied the opportunity to play college football. He played five years. It's not, you know, college football's fault that he wasn't good enough coming out of high school to go somewhere he would – There you go. Great point. Great point. But, you know, with the way the NCAA has operated and exploiting their athletes for so long, you know, legally, it's restraint of trade is what the rulings keep being done and keep saying. And until there is congressional intervention of some sort, this is – it's just going to be a matter of each individual case, the parties go to what they consider a favorable state or local court.

[1:24:53] And I don't know that there is going to be congressional intervention. It doesn't sound like anybody has the appetite for that, especially in a midterm election year, by the way. Craig, is it true that the judge in Tuscaloosa has a crimson white striped gowl? I'm just saying. Yeah, there's no question. Yeah, I mean, well, of course, every – well, think about it this way, though. Just not even to be, you know, an athletics homer. Right. What is the biggest law school in the state of Alabama? The University of Alabama.

And it's the same for Ole Miss. Auburn doesn't have a law school. There's one in Samford. Yeah, same thing in Mississippi. Look, I'm from Mississippi. Every lawyer and every doctor in the state is at Ole Miss. You know? Yeah. I mean, it's the same way. Absolutely. Tomorrow is a big day for a lot of people, including AL.com, as far as covering it. High school's got reclassification. Ben Thomas and his cohorts are going to be following which schools go up, which schools go down. And then the big question about will the Alabama High School Athletic Association split public and private.

Ben Thomas has done a great job of trying to stay on top of that. And then tomorrow is the deadline that ESPN has imposed for the college football playoff selection committee to say we're either expanding to 16 or we're staying at 12. And it appears that Greg Sankey and Tony Patati of the Big Ten are not in the same room, much less on the same page for this. Craig, your gut feeling, will they stay at 12 tomorrow? Yeah, I'm not sure I have a real good – I mean, I think we're trending towards expansion, if not immediately, then in the future.

And they've really got to work on this calendar, though. I mean, the season's already too long. You know, next year, the championship game will be on the 25th of January. I don't know if anybody really wants that. You know, and I hope they figure out a way to start the playoff earlier. You know, I think that, obviously, the conference championship weekend is the big impediment here, along with the Army-Navy game, by the way. And you've got the president getting involved in that, so who knows what's going to happen there.

But, you know, there has always been a feeling that the conference championship games will never go away because they make so much money. But I think there is probably a way for the TV people to kind of, quote-unquote, make the conferences whole by paying more for the playoff to make up the financial money they would leave on the table by not having conference championship games. I think conference championship games have kind of outlived their usefulness, you know, because you've got, when you get in a situation where Ole Miss was better off not playing in the SEC championship game.

Thank you. Or they had played in it, you know. Just one example, there are others. But Miami is another one. You know, I just think we're probably trending in that direction. What I don't want to see is the season to start earlier because, you know, we don't, I don't want 11 a.m. kickoffs in, you know, in Miami and, you know, Athens on August 23rd and people dying in the stands. I don't think anybody wants that. Well, it's going to be interesting. And I know your staff will be on top of it, both high school and the announcement from the college football playoff committee.

Craig, a lot of stuff going on in the state. Where can we get online to get it for your team? Yeah, al.com slash sports is the best way to find it. You know, we have tabs for Alabama, Auburn, high school sports, South Alabama, Troy, senior bowl, senior bowl is next week. Yeah. That's a big thing. So, come check it out. Christmas in Mobile for NFL folks. Craig, listen, stay safe. And thank you so much for your time today, buddy. All right, man. Y'all take care.

Thank you, bud. Greg Stevenson, al.com. AL is in Alabama. Talk with Ryan Feller on deck. Stay with us. Get fit and fab this new year at YMCA of the Shoals with 24-7 access and no joining fee if you sign up before January 31st. The YMCA has leading edge fitness equipment, year-round swimming, dozens of group exercise classes per week, and a family atmosphere. Elevate your fitness journey with YMCA of the Shoals, where health meets community. Join before January 31st with no joining fee. And start 2026 off right.

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The Tigers are 3-3 in the SEC. 17th-ranked Alabama will host Tennessee. The Tide is 13-5 of the year and 3-2 in conference play. Tune in tonight for high school basketball as Florence plays on the road at Austin. Pre-game coverage at 7-15. Tip-off at 7-30. 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. It's game day. Are your moderate to severe Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms keeping you from the action? Sky Rizzy, Risen Kizumab RZA, could help you get back to the game.

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Learn more at SkyRizzy.com or 1-866-SKY-Rizzy. The score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. He's warming up the vocal cords to drive you home this afternoon down to a place called Tide Town. Ryan Fowler hosts the game on Tide 109 FM weekdays there in Tuscaloosa. Ryan, welcome in. Ryan, how are you? You guys some milk and bread? Is that an option? Are you guys good? There's nothing left, Ryan, in the stores. It's amazing. I remember one day a friend of mine was a meteorologist, and he forecast like 8 or 10 inches, and of course he missed it.

So we joked with him. We went outside and said we've been shoving 8 to 10 inches of invisible snow, so we'll see how this baby goes. But Ryan, has Alabama done anything controversial this week across the country? You know, I had to come in kind of a slow week here in T-Town, but they have got the world in an uproar. And, you know, I want to ask you guys something, if you don't mind, because you guys are much more in tune. Did they have the same reaction when Baylor did it a couple of weeks ago?

Did they? And I put this up on my Twitter account earlier. It was actually late last night. And I put it up, if you really want to light the fuse, let Alabama do something that creates leverage. And I talked about fixing NIL. If you really want to fix NIL, and I know we're talking about college basketball, we're just talking about college sports in general. It's all a soup bowl, though. Let Alabama go fund like what Cody Campbell's doing out in Texas Tech. They will literally, they will blow a gasket.

[1:36:00] And Alabama just hits different. And for those out there that are reacting, I really haven't seen too many positive articles. I'm just applauding Greg Byrne and Nate Oates. For too many years, I covered Alabama bowing at the feet of the NCAA. I just applaud them to stand it up. Because really, Alabama's pattern, and really, I've often said this, I've always been jealous of the way that Auburn defends themselves in front of the NCAA. I mean, they look at you and say, prove it. Show me. Show me what we do.

Spend the money and time to prove it. Yeah, and really, you know, and Auburn, the other thing is they don't ask permission from anything. I mean, do you think they called Greg Sanky and said, hey, we're going to hire Hugh Freeze after Hugh Freeze had been blocked multiple times? No, they just did it. Don't ask for permission. Ask for forgiveness whenever. But I just like Alabama having a mindset of standing up and standing up for Alabama. I also have mixed emotions. I understand why people are so upset.

I do. Because I'm right there. But this is a new era. We're all going to have to recalibrate, as I tell Alabama fans every day, your expectations. This is a new college sports arena that most of us have never even thought that we were going to get to. I never thought that we would have, you know, a contract with a player and then somebody else buying the contract out and then you owe Duke University for Mensa. I mean, I'm literally trying to wrap my head around what we've seen in the world with college football.

And this is what happens when you go to sleep at the wheel. And our commissioners and our administrator leaders, the hierarchy of the NCAA, they went to sleep at the wheel. And that's where we're – this is where we're at. Ryan, there is a precedent in this case. And I'm like you. I've got mixed emotions about this. But BD alcohol is still within the five-year window. And I still say that they just need to say, look, you've got five years to play five. But the NCAA's already granted eligibility to Baylor's – his last name is Nanji – who played for the premier European league in Barcelona.

And he was the 31st pick in the NBA draft. But did not sign it with a team. And then a lot of people said, well, if they play him, can the NCAA come back and say at the end of the season, well, either you're forfeiting games or the selection committee, which is not their purpose, will not allow you to play in the NCAA tournament in the way the judge has worded the injunction, right? They can't do that. No, no. And this is going to be either a fight.

We know that Nate Oates is planning on playing Charles Badiaco. So we'll see. I mean, when you step back – but listen, you know what this is really about to me? It's not about the NCAA and about one player. What's it about is the college basketball and this partnership that they've had with the NBA. Because what would happen, okay, if this case follows through, and we believe that it will, because the judge ordered a temporary restraining order, he believes that there's merit here behind the case that he's going to give a full one next Tuesday at the hearing at 9 o'clock.

But what this tells you is this partnership that college basketball has had with the NBA. Because think about it like – look at it like this, okay? Now the baseball – college baseball players have always had leverage, right? You come out of high school, you're grafted. Like, you go and you can negotiate. Well, I'll just go to school. Forget it. I'll just go to school. I'll go to school. I'm just going to go to school. All right. Then third year, you can go pro, but then you can also go back for your senior season.

Okay, I'm going to lose leverage. Okay. Here in this, what's going to happen is a player that's not drafted where he thinks he's going to be drafted now has leverage. Because he can just say, you know what, I'm not going to sign the contract. I'm going back pro. I'm going back pro. So if I'm drafted and I don't like my team, I'm just going to go back pro. So I think that's where you see this. And listen, I would also love to see it on the college football side of things too.

Because to me, well, and look at it. How many times do these guys get bad advice and they go out or they have an injury? Like say next week at the senior bowl, which I'll be covering. You have an injury and that player's not drafted at the level that he thinks he's going to be drafted. Well, then, you know, give the guy, if he's got eligibility, his clock has not run out, allow them to come back. I've often thought that there was a lot of discrepancies between the three different major sports to go.

[1:41:03] Okay. If he goes pro, he's not eligible to come back, but, but you can do it in so many other areas. I think this is all about covering for their buddies in the NBA. I think that's what a lot of this is about. And legal, legals, if it doesn't fit, they got to acquit. You mark it down, right? Your thoughts about that football team in Tuscaloosa, the power of a lawyer right there, right? Brian, let's talk about those boys across the hall in the football room.

They pick up some help down Highway 82 from Mississippi State, start Vegas. At least that last report, that was the last one I saw in the class. Brian, where are you as far as Alabama football with this roster now compared to where it was just a few short weeks ago? I mean, think about what we were talking with you guys last Thursday. There was some real concern around the line of scrimmage. They really, they had a, they've had a good momentum run right here with pick it up competition at the offensive line.

If you notice that they've got guys that are going to be able to compete, they've got guys that they can add depth. When you look at this, it seems like they've got multiple options at left tackle, right? I mean, you've got a Ty Haywood. You've got a JV and James. You also have a Jackson Lloyd that you, you know, obviously came in last year with a highly sought after guy. So you feel pretty comfortable there. And then if one of those guys, like a Ty Haywood, he can play interior as well.

So if he can't start at left tackle, he's probably going to start at one of the guard spots. So then, and then when you look at the right side, the guards, it just seems like you've been able to check a lot of these boxes that you've been able to add some, some beef. And if you've noticed, and I wonder what Kalen Aboer has learned two years in the SEC that you can get by with in the Pac-12, the old now, the Big Ten, that you can't get by with in the Southeastern Conference.

Well, you better be a man. You better go man to man. You better be able to sit here and take a lick and keep on ticking for one thing. It's not everybody gets a trophy here. Right. Well, this is a lot of scrimmage, too. This is a lot of scrimmage league. You've got to be able to win the trenches, and look at what Kalen Aboer has been able to do from adding some big bulk on the offense and the defensive line. Because the guys that you can look through, you know, we talked about JV and James a couple seconds ago, 6'5", 320.

Nick Brooks, 6'7", 349. Terrence Green, 6'5", 330 on the defensive side of the football. Evan Fields, 320, 6'3". Ty Haywood, 6'15", 6'5", 316. I mean, you can go through here. Kendrick, Billingsley, Jones, 6'4", 320. Now, they did sign a smaller defensive lineman. It's probably going to be that bandit spot, 6'5", 270. But everybody, it seems like he's going after the bigger guys because initially, I thought the fit for DeBoer's system was probably smaller, more athletic, defensive, excuse me, offensive lineman. And I think we're seeing a little bit of shift in that.

It's just what it looks like on paper. You're right. And Ryan, they've got another possibility. I saw this today. Miami is losing a running back. Hello, Hollywood's mothers. Gerard Pringle, 62 carries, 375 yards, ran for 123 against North Carolina State. I think they're kicking the tires on that. They need another linebacker, particularly an inside linebacker. And HaHa Clinton-Dix's younger brother at West Florida would, to me, is somebody that they're interested in. And they've got two receivers, Nicole Brown, the Yale receiver, who's very productive, and Ian Duarte from Idaho State.

They need another receiver, one more linebacker. But I agree with you that they've had a stronger finish. They have. And I think they've also had to shop around, right? I don't know about you guys, but I kind of have to shop around when I'm looking for deals or I'm trying to buy something. I don't just shop at one store and I pay the highest price. They've had to go out and really be thrifty. And I think a lot of schools have had to do this. I saw Ohio State a couple of days ago was looking at an offensive lineman from Dartmouth.

And so it's just something that I think that we're all having to adjust to. We're having to look at it and say, okay, if I can save $300,000 here, that can add it to here to get a better wide receiver. I mean, it truly is roster management at a general manager level. That's what this is. I mean, this is truly – you're a NFL GM and I think sometimes – I mean, think about this. I know people are mad right now at Kalen the board because he didn't do this or whatever.

[1:46:10] He finished in the top ten. He won a playoff game. I get all that. It's the loss that matters, the way that they lost. But when Kalen the board got off that plane and we said, who's that guy with him? Who is that? Is that his media relations guy? Is that who that is? No, that's a general manager. What do you mean general manager? What is a general manager? How brilliant does that look? Because now you've really got to be able to do that roster management stuff.

You've got to be able to sit down and to be able to have a roster management to be able to say, okay, guys, this is what we're looking for. Because you've got to have a scouting department that can go out and find guys like the guy, you know, Rayson Delgati from Cal Poly. It's now the ones who have a leg up are the ones who are able to scout. And I describe it as the NFL's back end of the NFL draft, four, five, six, and seven.

Sometimes it's what defines an NFL team. It's the back end of that NFL draft. And knowing somebody who knows how to invest money as opposed to spending money. Ryan Fowler, host of the game, tied 109 FM in weekdays down in Tuscaloosa. Ryan, how would you describe, what adjective would you describe this upcoming spring drills for the Alabama Crimson Tide? You've got a brand new quarterback. I'm looking at the preseason polls. I don't know how the world they're going to make this determination. Ranked anywhere from 11th to 21st.

Ryan, how would you describe the upcoming spring in Tuscaloosa? Oh, competition. I mean, whether it's quarterback competition, whether it's running back competition, right? I mean, you're going to have some running backs that are going to try to crack into that rotation. Wide receiver. Yeah, it's pretty competitive right there. Offensive line, defensive line. I mean, that offensive line is going to be, I would literally pay money just to watch the competition at the offensive line. And where, I mean, the quarterback. And listen, I was in debate yesterday with some of the audience members because a couple of the guys that said, Austin Mack.

You know, I'm not giving up on Austin Mack. I mean, there's a reason why this young man has avoided the portal twice. Back in the spring, everybody thought that coming out of spring practice that he would get in the portal. He chose not to do that. He looked at this portal period here. I'm sure he was probably getting a lot of phone calls. Probably getting a lot of phone calls. I thought Nick Sheridan at Michigan State would be an option for him. I thought DeMarcus Shepard out at Oregon State might be an option for him.

And still, he decided to stay right here. So, obviously, he believes that he has a role on the football team and a battle. And he's got a chance to win this thing. Because, remember, there is no spring portal period opening. So, Austin Mack will be on your football team 2026. And I think that's a strong quarterback room when you can look at these two guys and then the guys that they added. So, that with it itself is going to be a battle. But you're going to see who, you know, who can even step up behind those guys.

Some of the future of this Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback room. And, you know, everybody you talk to, the Keelan Russell sensation is going to be fun to watch. But is he ready to take those full reins and be that quarterback? Because Taylor DeBoer expects a lot from his quarterback. You saw Ty Simpson. He had to do a lot of checks. A lot of checks. A lot of audibles. Understanding what they're wanting. It's a big part of it. And we'll see if these guys are ready for it.

Ryan, let me ask you real quick. Auburn is going, they're going to have a traditional spring game. I'm beginning to see more and more teams announcing that now that they don't have a spring portal. According to your impeccable sources, will Alabama have a traditional spring football game? You know, I've got to be honest. I've not heard anything and I haven't asked anything. I have not. Maybe I should. I will be down to the Senior Bowl next Wednesday for his media availability. But I've got to be honest.

I don't know the answer to that. I wish I did. I should. But I guess, you know, it was last year. It was pending the depth concerns, right? I mean, they had concerns in a lot of different positions. Really, if you think about it now, I mean, I think they've got a luxury at a lot of these key spots. So maybe we would have. I mean, maybe you would. Because it would be a good test to see these guys in real-life competition. Absolutely. To see what these guys are all about.

But, you know, I would, I mean, I would assume, you've got to keep in mind, that's also a sponsorship opportunity. And that's a lot of money. But now they are doing that concert. What is it? Morgan Wallen? Is that what it is? Yeah. You know, that's going to be one of those big weekends there. So, you know, that was a big fundraiser for the University of Alabama. They've got to pack that thing out at 100,000. People have already started calling me for concert tickets. I don't have anything to do.

[1:51:27] But it's a big demand. Oh, it's a huge amount. It'll attract, you know, people from all over the state and through the southeast to come to Tuscaloosa. Bryant, any stadium, to see Morgan Wallen. So they are going crazy over that down here. Oh, man. Well, listen, have a great show. I know it will be a riveting discussion this afternoon. Where can our folks get online listening to your guests, callers, et cetera? Yeah, Todd109.com. We start it here at 2 o'clock. And I've got to do a big show for you.

We're going to try to update some things, talk about the reaction that this has been. And we'll do it starting here in about six minutes. I always appreciate you guys. Hey, you guys be safe. Seriously, though. Absolutely. I hope you guys are prepared because I do see that weather is going to be a problem for you guys. It looks like it, according to the models. Hang in there, guys. I'll talk to you guys next week. Thank you. Appreciate that, Ryan. Appreciate it so much. It's going to be one of those deals where it depends where you live in North Alabama.

I don't think it's going to go coast-to-coast. But it could be bad news if you're in the wrong pocket up here, B.B. B.B., speaking of the weather, a lot of folks might have missed it. UNA is scheduled to play the basketball game this weekend. Quickly, that has been rescheduled. Don't make any plans to watch UNA basketball this weekend, B.B. Yeah, they'll be at Florida Gulf Coast next Thursday. But no weekend games for UNA and, believe me, for high school and a lot of other athletics.

Probably going to be a very slow weekend. Yeah, stay tuned. That's going to take care of B.B. For now, on behalf of B.B., Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Harold Bogg, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow on noon to two for the Boom on Bug Show. Back here on Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.