Boomo Bugg Show 021026

[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 Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in. And by now, I think you should know, a Tuscaloosa judge says no to Mr. Bediaco.

Good afternoon, welcome in, and how are you? Happy Tuesday to you and the listeners. By the way, tremendous promo. James, Harold, as you well know, we're blessed to work with two of the best producers in the business. Amen and amen. Blair and James came off with another good one. As you mentioned, Tuscaloosa County Judge Daniel Pruitt denied Alabama Senator Charles Bediaco an injunction against the NCAA on Monday, meaning he will no longer be allowed to continue playing for the Crimson Tide. We'll discuss the ramifications of this ruling during the show.

Las Vegas insider Bruce Marshall will recount the Super Bowl in preview of some college basketball. Roger is here right now to talk some Bama basketball on and off the court in preview. And he is, Harold, he woke up this morning dancing by the bed. Really? Wow. Because Alabama baseball's first pitch is Friday night against Washington State. Well, I was wondering if that was a reason or he just got in for the strip in Tuscaloosa. We can clarify that with the man himself, Roger Hoover, on the Alabama Crimson Tide Network.

Roger, welcome in. How are you? Boom, oh, bug. I'm doing really well. I may have woken up in that mood, Brett, but we had our annual call with the head of SEC umpires in baseball. And by the end of that hour-long Zoom call, I think my enthusiasm has been dampened a little bit after we heard about obstruction and collision rulings for about 40 of the 60 years we're on. So I am in this season mode now. Yeah, listen, if you've got to go back to that call or hear it again, just let us know.

By the way, we're going to talk about that because, correct me if I'm wrong, Roger Hoover, but Alabama's baseball's opening date is Friday against Washington State. Am I right or wrong, at least on that so far? You are correct. Four o'clock, we'll get the season started with the Cougars out of Washington State. Interestingly enough, I'm now a member of the Mountain West Conference in baseball. That may be changing as they start to build the Pac-12 back together over the next few years when new schools are hopping in.

But yeah, we can't wait to be out at Sewell Thomas Stadium. The weather, even though it's going to get a little cooler over the next couple days, should be really good for this weekend. Hopefully, we can dodge rain over the Saturday and Sunday games. But opening day is always special. And I know Alabama fans are ready to see this team back on the field. Yeah, in the meantime, let's go to the Judge Judy Special. In this case, Tuscaloosa County Judge Daniel Pruitt. I'm assuming the election is not tomorrow.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Roger. Not a lot of signs. I'm sure out in front of an Alabama basketball fan in charge right now for his re-election. But your thoughts about the ruling of Daniel Pruitt saying, sorry, Charles, we've got to put the brakes on, playing for Alabama this season. Yeah, it's unfortunate, as Coach Oates said in his radio show, hey, Coach, last night, kind of disappointing based on the precedent of all these different European basketball players that are, you know, former professionals that are now playing college basketball.

Definitely the Baylor case opened the door for what we saw with Charles Bediaco. But probably the main difference that seemingly was coming, you could kind of feel the momentum shift a little bit on this last week as we got closer to the hearing, the affidavit from Greg Sankey, come-backing the NCAA more than one of his member institutions, which is kind of interesting in itself. It didn't feel like the momentum was quite the same in Alabama's favor as it was when all of this first came about when he was eligible to play a few weeks ago against Tennessee.

So, definitely unfortunate because I think we saw how good this group can be with Charles Bediaco on the floor. He won the hard hat for the final game that he played in for Alabama against Auburn and just made this team more of a legitimate title contender, not just in the SEC or in the SEC tournament, but beyond in the NCAA tournament. So, that's the unfortunate thing. I think we got a glimpse of how good Alabama can be. Now it's just tough missing him, and now it's just up to guys like Joe Williamson and maybe Keaton Bristow is able to come back from injury.

Their role is really needed because Aiden Shirell, as good as he is, he is so much better if he has some help. Not only is he rotating off when he needs to rest, but Alabama is going to have somebody step up at the forward position. But Aiden and Charles Bediaco were so good playing together when Aiden was especially playing more at the forward position. So, I think it's back to the drawing board for this group. But I think, again, this was something I would say that was worth it for this team to go through and worth it for Alabama to try and challenge the rules to gain any competitive edge they can.

[5:18] Roger, let me add one more thing. We'll get back to on the field and on the court and the diamond. I've been asked for the last couple of days, will the NCAA now come back and try to vacate wins by Charles Bediaco? And the answer is no. And Sports Illustrated published an article last week with a quote from NCAA President Charles Baker addressing the topic of punishing Alabama. And he said, despite the NCAA's opposition to Bediaco's eligibility, the association is not in a position to sanction Alabama for breaking the rules for playing Bediaco.

For a lot of really good reasons, people who lose in court can't turn around and punish the people who won. A direct quote from Charlie Baker. So, I know you may have been asked that and I've been asked that. But answer the question that a lot of people has. And now, also the selection committee, I think they're going to look at what Alabama's doing on the court instead of factor this in. But any potential sanctions coming down for the NCAA in the future, if this quote is accurate, will not happen.

Yeah, it doesn't look like it'll happen, especially since what the NCAA ultimately wanted, they kind of got. And that's Bediaco stopping, you know, as soon as the decision comes in. So, you know, it's five games. Alabama was a tournament team before Charles Bediaco joined the roster. They're going to be a tournament team without him on the roster based on what happened this last month. And there's still so many games left ahead, essentially four weeks of a regular season still for Alabama to prove what it's capable of to the selection committee.

And I think Alabama will not be penalized in any way. And that's what kind of makes the NCAA tournament so good is that you have 64 teams or 68 with the play-ins. You're able to really not penalize a team in a situation that maybe in the college football playoff, if this were the CFP, and we're only talking about 12 teams and only about, you know, eight, seven at large spots, then maybe you'd have a little more worry if you're a team like Alabama in a similar situation. But this is not.

This is still the NCAA tournament, still a month to go in the season. I think everybody's going to come out of this just okay. And it's just going to be kind of an interesting chapter in the story of this season, but not the entire book. Yeah, but you've got to watch Charlie Baker in all due respect. We're just quoting here. He is the former two-time governor of Massachusetts. If everybody's ever been to Boston, you know the big dig up there. He oversaw it, only $300 million, and he ended up overspending a billion dollars.

He went to Congress, had to defend boys in women's locker room. He never gave an answer there. We're not sitting here being political. We're just saying this guy, he knows how to move the goalposts, so those are just facts. Roger, here's the bottom line. If you're going to do this in Alabama, a lot of folks says, okay, what criteria are they going to use across the board at Baylor and other schools? I know every crime quote has a different penalty box, but what is going to be the baseline to say here and say, since this happened in Alabama, sorry, Tennessee, sorry, Diego, sorry, Baylor, sorry, other schools who are playing guys from the, not the G League, but the European leagues?

I'm not sure, to be honest with you. I think what made Charles' case so interesting is that he had previously been a college athlete, had worn that uniform, and then, you know, announced when he was going pro that he's giving up his college eligibility and then came back. I think that's kind of what separates him from the Baylor case or a lot of these European players is that he was previously part of the college system, voluntarily left, and tried to come back. I think that's the main difference with all of this.

So how do they legislate from this moving forward? How do they kind of rule on Joey Aguilar, Diego Pavia? I have no clue, especially since, you know, those guys don't really have great pro prospects. They're just trying to argue that their JUCO time shouldn't count against their eligibility playing at a D1 level. So it's fascinating. It's part of what makes college sports away from the field as chaotic as ever. I still think it's a great product on the field and on the court that we get to enjoy that's similar to what we've always enjoyed.

But it's just part of the sports business mess that we continue to see with college athletics. Roger, moving back to the court, women's basketball, they had a great win, held on to win against Ole Miss last Thursday night, went to Texas A&M. But as you mentioned last week, you were only going up against the Super Bowl because the tip-off was at five. Unfortunately, Texas A&M hadn't won the better games they've had all year because they were 2-7 in the SEC, or 1-8, actually. But Texas A&M upset the Bama women, 72-69, Jessica Timmons, 19 points, Scott 18, unfortunately riding some momentum from a very good win, but could not break through.

[10:18] Yeah, it made for a tough end of the week and a tough way for the team to go into an open date. No game coming up on Thursday because Christy Curry, as soon as that game against Ole Miss went final, started preaching to her team. You know, kind of 2-0 is all that matters. You cannot have a letdown after you get a big ranked win like Alabama had against Ole Miss. And unfortunately got off to a really slow start, and I think a few things she was fearful of and kind of sensed from the team going into it played out.

And Alabama still had some chances to get a win in that ballgame, but definitely a lesson learned for this group, especially some of the younger players who have not, you know, had the kind of same playing time they've had before with, you know, Sarah Ashley Barker, Leona Isaac Green on campus. Now that they're in that role, now they understand a little bit what it's like to play back-to-back tough games, you know, go on the road after you've got a huge home win. Yeah, these are some of the lessons you learn playing SEC basketball.

So I hope it's going to be just a net positive for this team moving forward about how to approach playing on the road. And there's going to be some tough road games still ahead for this group against Florida, against Vanderbilt notably. So we've got to make sure that the level of intensity is there from the jump in each and every one of these. So for the women's team, yeah, just trying to bounce back from what was definitely a difficult setback, but they're home against a good Oklahoma team on Sunday.

And then I can't wait to see what's ahead with the men's team on the road at Ole Miss tomorrow and then home on Saturday against South Carolina. Well, besides listening about collisions at home plate, I know you are more than a little excited. Baseball is your favorite sport. You did such a great job of it with the Jacksonville Shrimp for years because I had about five people tell me about you before you got to Tuscaloosa. Listen, have a great weekend series. Hopefully the weather is not going to be a big factor there.

Crimson Drive this week. J. Michael Green, who did a tremendous job with the Auburn game, sitting in for Brian Passick, who is, quote, on assignment, as Chris Stewart called it. And he had a great game to call. It's on Crimson Drive. Who else is on Crimson Drive? And where can we get online to get all the great stuff? Yeah, we've got a lot of content coming up this week. Follow us online at UA underscore CTSN, the Crimson Tide Sports Network. Just search for that. Hit subscribe to all of our different social media platforms.

We have Crimson Drive coming up, of course, Tuesday and Thursday at 2 o'clock. We'll have basketball booth cam coming up for the men's game on Saturday. Baseball and softball booth cams as well over the weekend. And softball is going to be at home for the first time this year after dominating their opposition last weekend, outscoring opponents 51-5 in the five games they played in Atlanta. Yeah, that's eye-popping. So we're looking forward to seeing Coach Murphy and the girls back in town to start their season. This is a very busy week on campus.

I've also got gymnastics coverage coming up on Friday night after a couple innings of baseball. So it's all happening right now at the capstone. We just need that football team to get going. Let's bring the guys out a little early for spring practice. Your wish will be our command, I guarantee you. Roger, listen, man, enjoy the weekend. We'll try to plug the sun in for you down there, okay? That sounds good. Keep it on all weekend, please, Harold. Thank you. There you go, Roger. We'll do our best.

Roger Hoover on the Alabama Crimson Tide Network. He's Mr. Alper when it comes to basketball. The one, the only, Sonny Smith on deck. Stay with us. Silicon Carbide was discovered in 1893 when a meteorite crashed to the earth in Arizona. It was discovered by a French chemist named Henry Masson. And originally he thought it was a diamond. When he realized it wasn't, he named it after himself. That's right. Moissanite is meteor. I know we've all kind of been divided here lately, but I think we can all agree from deep down in our soul that we all hate Valentine's Day.

It is the most fabricated and made-up holiday ever. So in celebration of that, I'm now declaring Moissanite the official anti-Valentine's Day gym. And at Medford Jewelers, we are going to be running one-carat emerald-cut Moissanite bezel set in both pendant and earrings for $75 each. Or you can get the pendant and earring pair for $125. At Medford's, we wish everybody health and love and happiness whenever and wherever you can find it. And we are proud to be the anti-Valentine's Day headquarters since 1945. Hey, Joy. Oh, you are glowing. Oh, hey.

More like MiraJoid that Miralax helped me go. I was so backed up. Tried mega coffees, prune juice, everything. Then Miralax. And hello, gentle relief without the harsh side effects. Ooh, how does it work? It works naturally with the water in your body for constipation relief. Find Miralax today at your local retailer. Use as directed for occasional constipation. Shopping with your parents can be embarrassing. Why would they sell jeans with holes in them? I'm going to speak to the manager. Mom! That hoodie is giving. You should get it.

[15:19] YOLO. Thanks to the Chase mobile app, your kid can shop independently while you keep an eye on their spending. So you can go from… We can be twinsies. …to… How we're shopping. Saw you stayed on budget. Thanks, Mom. Freedom for kids. Control for parents. That's family banking from Chase. Account subject to approval. Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. Member FDIC. This is the story of the one. As the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, she knows the only thing more important than having the right safety gear is having it there when you need it.

That's why she partners with Grainger for auto reordering. So her team members can count on her to have cut-resistant gloves on hand and each shift can run safely and efficiently. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done. I'm Boomer Esiason. My mom died from cancer. She was only 37 years old. She didn't have life insurance, and that was devastating for my family. That's why having life insurance is so important to me. Ethos makes it fast and easy.

Get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage. You can get up to $3 million in coverage with no medical exam. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play. That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time span on application may vary. Online health questions required. Bundling your home and auto with Progressive could help you save without sacrificing quality. It's the smart thing to do. And as a hockey fan, you always know the smart thing to do. Shoot the puck. And you let the players know it.

Shoot the puck. All game. Shoot it. Come on, shoot. And sometimes even after. Man, rough game, huh? Yeah, they should have shot the puck. So bundle your home and auto with Progressive. It's the smart thing to do. But you already knew that. Get a quote at Progressive.com. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers not available in all states or situations. Rich Eisen here. As you all know, I care deeply about pediatric cancer research and awareness. That's why I'm proud to talk about Hyundai Hope on Wheels.

For over 27 years, every Hyundai Sold has helped fund life-saving pediatric cancer research. Together with over 850 dealers nationwide, they've raised more than $277 million, supporting over 25,000 kids in their fight against cancer. At Hyundai, hope isn't optional. It comes standard. Visit HyundaiUSA.com and search Hyundai Hope on Wheels to learn more. Get on your way of Northwest Alabama as thrilled to announce the return of its signature fundraising gala, Shoals Royale on Saturday, February 21st, 2026 at the Renaissance Shoals Conference Center. This black-tie optional casino-themed event brings all the glitz and excitement of Las Vegas to the Shoals, complete with live entertainment, gaming tables, prices, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar, and all for a great cause.

Now in its fourth year, Shoals Royale has become one of Northwest Alabama's premier charity events, uniting local businesses, community leaders, and residents for a night of luxury and purpose. Proceeds directly benefit United Way of Northwest Alabama and the 12 local nonprofit partners and 22 community programs and funds. Individual tickets are $125 or $200 per couple, or go in VIP style for $350 or $600 per couple. Shoals Royale, 2026, Saturday, February 21st at 7 p.m. at the Renaissance Shoals Conference Center. Tickets are available now at givebutter.com slash ShoalsRoyale2026. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

The Score. Welcome back in. Really appreciate it. We ride around the valley. And also, by the way, coming up just a moment from now, the latest from the Olympics here on 93.9 The Score. In the meantime, a pleasure for us to welcome in the legend, Coach Sonny Smith, of course. Former Auburn and VCU head coach. Coach, welcome in. How are you? I'm great. Hope you guys are. Hey, Coach. We're doing all right, Coach. Obviously, a pretty big game over the weekend. Before we get into the specifics, you've obviously been there on the sideline as a head coach.

What's it like, give the fan a perspective of what it's like being a coach and a player when Auburn plays Alabama, Alabama plays Auburn on the hardwoods. It's one of the most difficult things to really express how you feel and what you should do. I say this. Auburn's playing Alabama. Everybody has a different attitude about what you need to do to win. You have a different attitude. You don't really know what's next, but you have to make a decision. And the decision comes a lot of times on let the players make the play or have a set situation of are we going to box in one, triangle in two, or are we going to go zone?

You know, those type of things come in as a factor. But in a big game, there's always the defense is the first thing that's got to be settled on. Sonny, we talked about this a little bit on the phone yesterday. We had Brian Matthews of AuburnSports.com on the show, and we were talking about the game, and he thought Auburn got into a little bit of a three-point shooting match with Alabama, which, as you know, is Alabama's strength. Sonny, I think Auburn's biggest strength is inside.

[20:40] Now, they can shoot the three. Pettiford did in the second half, but Keyshawn Hall is just a monster. He had an incredible second half. Murphy had 12 rebounds. Sonny, would Auburn have won that game if they would have stayed in the post and gone inside more? Well, I don't know if they would have won, but there's no question that was something that should have been attacked right there. They should have used that more. I don't know who would have won, but I think their chances of winning was a little bit greater by attacking inside-out as opposed to outside-in.

Coach, obviously, we saw what happened. Auburn goes up by 10 in the first half of the modern era. If you're playing a team that can hit the threes when they get hot, there's no lead that's safe. Your thoughts about the impressions coming away from that game. What have we learned about, because let's face it, we're coming up on Nashville in March Madness here before you know it. What did that game tell you about Auburn and Alabama? Well, kind of like this. It's not total, but either one of them can beat anybody else in the SEC.

Either one of them. And who is the best between the two? I don't know. You'd want to see them play on a neutral court, and it would be close, I think. Sonny, who's the best team in the SEC right now? Florida ran Alabama out of the gym. Auburn beat Florida in Gainesville for the first time in 30 years. And they literally did something remarkable. They played Texas A&M Saturday night, and Texas A&M went one for 28. I don't know if I've ever heard that. To begin a game, shooting one for 28.

And Florida's got is tremendous in the post. Sonny, is Florida the best team in the SEC at just about midway point? From a talent standpoint, they're right up there with everybody else. I don't know about the depth of Florida. Is it deep enough to make a big run? I don't know that. But I know their starting five will be up there in the top four. Coach, talk to us about Kentucky. Obviously, they got off to a rough start, but they put a lot of money into that roster.

And now it looks like they're getting a return on their investment. Your thoughts about that, and something I think sometimes gets overlooked, whether you've got a payroll or not, it takes a while for these guys to gel as one, because all these kids come in. They're hot shots in high school. They're used to dating a head cheerleader and all that stuff, and they get all the love. Yeah, yeah. And now, all of a sudden, they're just one of the guys instead of the guys. Talk to us just about the situation there in Kentucky and how sometimes it takes a while for these guys to kind of finally realize and realize we're a team and not just one person.

You don't want to have a situation where one guy's got to have the ball before he can do anything. The rest has got to do their thing. You don't want to have that. You want to have the shooters that shoot better from the outside getting more shots, and you want to see who's the best rebounder getting those in position to rebound. And any time there's an upset, it should play on your mind because every game you play, you're going to shoot more three-pointers than you do twos.

And anything can happen. When you do that, anybody can make them. Now, I may be totally off on that because I don't watch that many college games anymore like I did. But I would assume this, that three-point shots are going to be the shots that are most taken by the better teams. Sonny, we talked about this last Tuesday when Alabama got beat by Florida. It ran out of the gym, as I mentioned. But Alabama turns around and beats one of the hottest teams in the SEC in Texas A&M, and then beats Auburn, and I know a lot of people talk about the Alabama three-point shooting because that's what they do best.

But you mentioned this earlier, Sonny, and you look at the scores, and you say, well, how in the world are you playing defense if you gave up 92 points? And also against Texas A&M, I think one of the reasons why Alabama's won two consecutive games is they're playing better defense and they're rebounding. Well, you certainly can't win the games with your offense. You've got to have a combination of defense and offense and out-of-bound situations, dead ball situations. You've got to have a little bit of each one of those.

And you've got to – this may sound a little crazy, but you've got to sell your team on your playing at home. This is your place, and you've got to make them think nobody can come in and beat us here at this place. You've got to play your best at home. And that's kind of the approach that I took, but I wouldn't want to look and see those records I had. It might have been good. I'm so old, I forgot. They are jumping the ball. Absolutely. Listen, Coach, it's always good to hook up with you.

[26:07] Thank you so much for your time today. We've got to get the latest on curling at the Olympics. Kick back and enjoy and stay warm down there, okay? Oh, I'm good on that curling. See you later. Only thing I can do is my hair and my toes. Western One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games. Eight years ago, the U.S. shocked the curling world as the American men's team won the gold medal. Chance for another U.S. gold in a sport that is hardly what the U.S. is known for, but out of Duluth, Minnesota, are Corey Teese and Corey Dropkin.

They're playing Sweden for the gold medal in the mixed event, and the U.S. has just taken a 5-4 lead. U.S. plays arch-rival Canada today in women's hockey. There will be far more on the line next week if, as expected, they meet to decide the gold medal. One nation or the other will win the gold medal in their major women's hockey tournaments. Michaela Schifrin knows about winning 108 World Cup wins, but a litany of disappointments in her Olympic career. And today, after her teammate Breezy Johnson raced the downhill, staked them to the lead in the combined event, Schifrin couldn't hold it in the slalom, which is her specialty.

They finished fourth. With this Winter Games update, John Stashauer, Westwood One Sports. This is the story of the one. As the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, she knows the only thing more important than having the right safety gear is having it there when you need it. That's why she partners with Grainger for auto reordering, so her team members can count on her to have cut-resistant gloves on hand, and each shift can run safely and efficiently. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by.

Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly Check engine, ABS, or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning lights with O'Reilly Veriscan. The service is free and provides a report with solutions verified by ASE-certified master technicians. And if you need help, we could recommend a shop for you. Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today. Oh, oh, oh, O'Reilly Auto Parts Mugshot's Grill & Bar has a winning lineup with their limited-time offers. Choose from the smoky bourbon maple stack with two kid burgers, or the pretzel basket with four pretzel sticks sprinkled with kosher salt.

You must try the Chili Trio, which is a cup of cheesy chili, or the Nashville Hot Tacos, three flour tortillas with three Nashville Hot chicken tenders. Happy Hour is two to six daily, and get $3 mimosas and $5 Bloody Marys until three on Saturdays and Sundays. Watch the game with our game day pitchers. So grab your friends and head to Mugshots for beer, burgers, and ball in historic downtown Florence. Prohibition is over, and the good times will flow once again at the Florence Wine Fest, February 20th and 21st.

Friday night sets its tone with coops, cocktails, and velvet smooth live music. Saturday afternoon, taste your way through an unforgettable wine experience. Then Saturday night, the city comes alive with the Florence Wine Fest Free Block Party in Concert, featuring Atlanta's great grand finale band. Free block party tickets and full event details are at FlorenceWineFest.com. Proudly presented by Visit the Shoals, with support from CB&S Bank, Clearview Cancer Institute, and the Hotels of Florence. Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, Lionel Richie, The Swampers, Riley Green, Jamie Johnson, Ella Langley.

What do all these great music icons have in common? Well, they're all from right here in Sweet Home, Alabama. At the Alabama Music Hall of Fame, they invite you to come take a journey to see all the great music legends and future music makers that make us all so very proud. The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, located on Highway 72 West in Tuscumbia. Whether it's day or night, hot flashes due to menopause can be unpredictable. That's why there's Vioza, a prescription treatment proven to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes day and night that can start working in as early as one week.

Based on clinical studies measuring efficacy at 4 and 12 weeks, individual results may vary. Talk to your healthcare provider about what this may mean for you. For moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes and night sweats due to menopause. Vioza can cause serious side effects, including liver problems. Your doctor will do blood tests before and during treatment. Stop Vioza and call your doctor if you have symptoms of liver problems, such as feeling more tired than usual, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, itching, yellowing of the eyes or skin, pale stool, dark urine, or stomach pain.

Don't use Vioza if you have cirrhosis, severe kidney problems, kidney failure, or take CYP-182 inhibitors. Ask your doctor about Vioza. To learn more, call 1-866-239-1637 or go to Vioza.com. That's V-E-O-Z-A-H dot com. Do you owe $10,000 or more in credit card debt or personal loans? With credit card debt at all-time highs, Debt Relief Advocates is urgently notifying consumers of debt relief now being made available designed to aid consumers with out-of-control credit card debt. Those who qualify and enroll for this relief program will only have to pay back a fraction of what they owe.

[31:19] This is not bankruptcy or a debt consolidation loan. This is a relief program that credit card companies would rather you not know about as it ends your debt nightmare and saves you lots of money. Consumers owing at least $10,000 in credit card debt or personal loans can now take advantage of this debt relief as the cost of living skyrockets. Debt Relief Advocates has established a relief hotline for you to call to learn what debt reduction you may qualify for, so don't wait. For this free information, call the relief hotline at 800-606-8737.

800-606-8737. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9, the score. Mids basketball last night. North Alabama fell at home to Central Arkansas, 72-65. North Alabama is now 2-10 in the A-Sun. The Lions will play at home tomorrow as they take on West Georgia. Alabama plays tomorrow at Ole Miss, the Crimson Tide 6-4 in the SEC. 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 tax time, y'all. If you want to file free, this next one's for you.

Now taxes is so free. Triple tax, free edition only. Roughly 37% of fire is qualified. Triple form, top 40 returns only. Now this is tax-free. Love that jam. Up next, commercial. Into with TurboTax free edition. See if you qualify at TurboTax.com slash free. No schedules except for earned income tax credit, child tax credit, student loan interest, and Schedule 1A. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9, The Score. The Score. Welcome back in. When it comes to Las Vegas, it's always a good bet to open the door and say hello for the best.

Bruce Marshall, busy there at Las Vegas Insider. Bamsports.net, CBS Sportsline, Winners and Winers, also busy there at Vegas Insider. Amongst others, Bruce Marshall, you're a busy boy. Welcome in to one of the busiest weekends of the year for you folks there in Vegas. How are you? Yeah, pretty good. I'm being pulled away from watching mixed doubles curling at the Winter Olympics right now. And, uh, no, by the way, do you, do you, do you think that the people that, uh, that invented the drone, uh, envisioned it being used to cover rouge at the Olympics?

I think that was probably, you know, probably down the list for what uses for a drone, but actually, you can do that and you can also follow the, you know, the skiers down the slope. So, uh, pretty cool. Yeah, well, I, you know, the thing is, I, I know some professors and some smart people. They'll tell you, yes, they knew a hundred years ago. Cause Bruce, that's just how smart they are. You're, you're, you're saw in the high and rear view mirror now, the Superbowl, you need to go into local weather forecast and you said it would be so.

And it was, it really wasn't much of a show. Was it as far as intensity? No, it wasn't. Um, and it was the only game on Sunday, obviously, but normally, you know, if a Seattle game in the regular season, usually in the half late afternoon window. And if, had that game been played in November and up in, say up in Seattle and going like that by the third quarter, I would have switched it off and turn on, uh, you know, the Arizona, the Cardinal game probably going on at the same time against the Vikings or the Falcons or somebody.

I mean, it was that, uh, uh, anticlimactic. Um, it really, I mean, uh, we rarely does the game go the way, almost exactly the way I thought, but even this was a little, even more, uh, dominant than, than I thought it would be. And I was a little surprised, you know, Drake May was doing absolutely nothing until late in the game when, uh, Seattle started to really, uh, play softer on a defense there. But the way New England was not able to, uh, counter really anything Seattle was doing, uh, defensively again, they had the pressure.

They were just pouring in the way they blitzed in the first half of Witherspoon was really, I think he had a case, maybe as a player of the game too, the way, uh, Mike McDonald used him. Um, and you know, this, there, there was just a perfect recipe for Seattle and likely thought, I mean, I really think, you know, in the AFC, uh, I, but Buffalo probably, Buffalo would have given Seattle a good game. And I really think they're probably the only team that would have, um, Denver certainly without Knicks would have been in big trouble.

Uh, uh, but, but, and Buffalo really kicking itself. So I, I don't know about the whole Sean McDermott thing and getting rid of him and promoting Brady. We'll see how that works. But the last couple of years, I think it's unfortunate. We haven't seen Buffalo in the Superbowl because they would not have gotten run over by the Eagles last year. And they would not have gotten blown over, blown out by the Seahawks. But that's unfortunately, they can't get past those hurdles in the AFC. And we're left with matchups like we had Sunday, which wasn't much of a matchup at all.

[36:34] Bruce, I thought New England was a year ahead of schedule. And again, I applaud them. You brought up a good point last week. They played, pardon me, three or four teams during the course of the season that had lost their starting quarterback either for the year or for a significant period of time. And we also talked about defense and running the ball in for a lot of fans in the spread point a minute. When you run the ball and play defense, it's boring. I get that.

But Kenneth Walker, to me, was probably the best player on the team running for, on the field, running for 135 yards. The Seattle front four, and Chris Collins worth mentioning several times, they're only having blocked four, and they still couldn't do it. Again, running the ball and playing defense is boring sometimes, but it wins a lot of football games. Yeah, that's the old recipe, Brett. You're right. Defense wins championships. Running the ball helps win championships. Seattle did that a lot better than New England both ways. This Walker, you know, he didn't have more yards if they didn't call back that touchdown and, you know, just above the two-minute warning, that long one.

By the way, that was about the only drama in the game because I knew a lot of people who bet the under at 45-and-a-half, and they were feeling really comfy for about 54 minutes. And then all of a sudden, at Walker, they'd not call back that Walker TD. That scoreline would have got over 45-and-a-half, but it stayed where it was at 42. No, Walker was the best. He was an easy choice for the MVP. You know, and the one thing Seattle, they did walk kind of close to the flame in the first half.

Darnold, he didn't end up getting burned, but, man, he put a few passes in there that really could have been picked off, but they weren't. But he was not afraid. And you got the idea the other way that May just couldn't pull the trigger and was ending up taking too many sacks. And Seattle, this recipe really worked. They did not have to spend Mahomes-like money on the quarterback. They thought Darnold was good enough to do what they needed to do, and he was. Now let's see.

Clint Kubiak has probably got into the head coaching job with the Raiders. They're offensive coordinators, so McDonald has to get another coordinator. But at least I think they have got their quarterback for the next few years because Seattle will probably do similar things, at least stylistically, next year. Bruce Marshall, amongst other places, Vegas Insider. Bruce, obviously, the Super Bowl is always going to sit here and get clicks. Your thoughts about Roger Goodell. You can say what you want about this rascal, but he knows how to turn money.

He's the perfect CEO. Tell me what you want, boss, and I'll make it happen. I don't care how controversial it may be. Some's going to love it. Some's going to hate it. It seems like he is obsessed with moving this game across the waters and going to every market he can. There are those who say it's just good business. Others say, where's the America's game going with this thing? Bruce, your thoughts about Roger Goodell and his business model and some of the things that he does on and off the field.

Well, yeah, I mean, some, I think, unintended consequences. I'll tell you, the turning point USA guy, people are really happy that Goodell had bad money at halftime because it made their halftime show. They had a lot more people watching that couldn't even, so he's actually helping out other people make money, too. But now, you know, you probably mentioned this international. Now they're going to Australia next year. I think the Rams are going to be playing a game there, I think against the 49ers, maybe. Which I'm surprised they gave up a game against the 49ers at SoFi to go over there.

But that's a new frontier for the NFL. They've got nine international games, I guess, scheduled next year. They will have one in Paris, too. I guess it would be Stade des Frontes there in Paris. So, they, listen, what's interesting is, if you call it overseas soccer, there were a couple of leagues. Spain and La Liga was going to play. Barcelona was going to play a league game in Miami against Valencia in January. But there was such uproar in Spain about it, and the players didn't like it, and they ended up canceling that.

And the Italian City A.A. had a match scheduled in Australia, and they also canceled that. So, soccer overseas is not, although it has been imported here, they're still reluctant to put actual league games overseas. The NFL is not reluctant to do that. And business-wise, these are new markets for the U.S. to conquer and for the NFL. A lot of memorabilia. Yep, yep, yep. It's all about the merchandising, and that's, at least Goodell sees that. I'm sure he's got people advising him about it. When I listen to Goodell, I don't get the idea that he's, you know, all that sharp.

But maybe he is. And this international company's working. He's a company man. He's a company man. It's written all over him, Bruce. He's a company man, man. What do you want, sir? Yes, sir. No, sir. He is. He's a bureaucrat's bureaucrat. But sometimes that's all you need. Yep. College basketball no longer has an undefeated team as of last night. Kansas, minus one of their star players, upset Arizona, 82-78, in Fog Allen Fieldhouse, which was on fire last night. Who are your top five teams right now?

[42:04] Everybody says Michigan, Arizona, Duke. I think Florida needs to be in the conversation sooner or later because they may be the best team in the SEC. Who's Bruce Marshall's top five teams right now as we go down the stretch to March Madness? Well, right now, I probably wouldn't put Florida into the top four, but I think they've got as good a chance as anybody to get to the final four just because they lost some games earlier. But this has come along really nice now for Todd Golden.

They've got that front line, which is really, really tough. Now the guards are starting to play better. And Florida is making a move here now. So in the end, they will be there right now. Arizona and Michigan have been the two best and most consistent teams this season, with Houston probably right behind. So those three. The fourth, you know, UConn just lost a game the other night. I probably would have put them in there and had a Duke, but Duke lost a game the other night, too.

Illinois has been hot lately, so, you know, I probably right now would say UConn would be four. One thing about Arizona last night, I think, you know, Frank Fischel was doing the color. I think we've heard this many times before. He said this loss is not going to hurt Arizona. He said he thought it would actually help them. And I buy that, and a lot of coaches would say the same thing. Get that much, you know, the pressure of being undefeated is just a little bit much.

He said in losing our game really close at Kansas, this might actually benefit Arizona at some point. They don't have to worry about the undefeated thing anymore. They're still a real threat for the Final Four. And Kansas without Peterson last night, you know, they, you know, listen, it's a tough place to play. Bill Self still got it. He's had some of his own issues this year with health, but he's back. And Kansas could be a factor, too. I'm really intrigued about the way the dance is sort of setting up right now because it looks like, you know, you go down that, you know, whole top ten there.

I mean, Illinois has been the hottest team in the Big Ten lately. And, you know, North Carolina, what a nice win that was for Hubert on Saturday. So it's looking like it could be pretty wide open when we get to March. Bruce, March was always on top of it there at Vegas Insider. Bruce, two words, Charles, Betty Oko, you know the news now. Your reaction, and from a Vegas viewpoint, what does that do for Alabama's balance of their season? Well, I don't know on the floor and the court because Betty Oko hardly played much.

And I wonder if he is going to continue this legal fight, you know, beyond this. But you're running this, the clock's running out. I don't know if they're going to penalize Alabama or not for using Betty Oko those few games. You know, last week we talked about this, and I think this whole brouhaha about Betty Oko, it's so, you know. Listen, I just don't know what the big issue is. I know the NBA thing with him or not, but if you're, these players are getting paid $4, $5, $6 million a year just because it's through nil to get so upset about the Betty Oko situation.

I don't see it. And I think this is another, you know, the NCAA, and I heard, you know, Greg Sankey was standing by the NCAA in this. There, we're going to, by the end of this decade, I could see the NCAA being further marginalized. And the big conferences might say, we just don't need you anymore. And it seems like most rulings they have are sort of anti-player. I mean, the Trinidad Chambliss thing right now, he's going to court. Agriar's going to court to, you know, we'll see where those things go.

But the NCAA's use, I think the conferences can probably police themselves better than having the NCAA do it. And I thought this Betty Oko thing the whole way is the mountain out of a molehill, and it's just gone too far. But I just wonder if Alabama's going to have to forfeit any games because, you know, those few they used, and we'll see. Well, it's in the hands of Charles, I mean, what's his name, Baker, the president of the NCAA. If you want to see this guy, we don't have time to go verbally here, but go watch some of his videos as far as testifying in front of Congress on some of the volatile issues, and you'll see one smug guy who came out of Harvard who knows it all.

So how do you know this guy is unpredictable? Because if he was as smart as he is, if he had brains as big as his ego, he would be unbelievable. Yes. I mean, he's another guy. I mean, I'll tell you, the guys coming out of academia who end up at the NCAA doing this, I don't know. I don't trust what they do. And by the way, I don't know that Congress should get involved in this stuff. They've got other things to worry about than college sports.

Let college sports, you know, police, they should be able to police themselves. They just got to figure out a way to do it. And this current model ain't doing it. I think that's for sure. I always enjoy asking about Tuesday and Wednesday night, the night games. They get overlooked a lot. Tonight, Vandy at Auburn. Tiger was coming off a tough loss to Alabama. Vandy got, came back for a ferocious rally against Oklahoma, but ended up losing by one. Florida at Georgia tomorrow. Could this be a letdown for the Gators after being so impressive, pulling A&M to 1 out of 28 to begin the game?

[47:28] Your thoughts on Vandy-Auburn tonight, Florida, Georgia tomorrow night. Yeah, I think, you know, Vandy was down, what, 21 late in that game? And then 19, inside of like three minutes left, they almost came back. Porter Mosher might have been fired on the spot if Oklahoma blew that game. They just couldn't get the ball in bounds, and that was ridiculous. But I think we've seen some of the air come out of Vanderbilt's balloon here lately. I mean, they've lost a four out of seven. Bynnington doesn't seem to make any adjustments whatsoever, and I like what he's done, and they're fun to watch and all that.

But, you know, you just don't see – I don't know that Vanderbilt can win, you know, the sort of grinders you're going to need to win in the dance. Auburn seems like it can do that a little bit better. Steven, Auburn's probably looking at an eight or nine line right now. That could move up a little bit. That's not a great place to be on Selection Sunday, because if you do win the first game, you're going to go against the one seed the second day. So Auburn would be well advised to move up, you know, to the six or so, six line if it can.

I kind of like Auburn here tonight. They get Vandy at home. Keyshawn Hall is even better this year than we thought he would be coming out of UCF. He keeps putting up monster numbers, so I would probably like Auburn a little bit tonight. By the way, the other one tonight, Arkansas's plan at LSU. Matt McMahon, we talked about Port of Motion may be in trouble. I think McMahon is in even bigger trouble with LSU. I mean, his AD has come out. You know, Virgil Osbury said, you know, you've got to be in the dance.

This is your expectation this year. He's out publicly saying that. And right now, LSU doesn't look like it's going to make it. So they haven't been getting destroyed. But the five-and-a-half point interdog tonight, we'll see what Arkansas are doing in there. Florida tomorrow, we will see. I agree with that. This could be a potential left-down spot. Everything just works so good against A&M on the weekend. I didn't see that coming like that. But I think this could be kind of a tough game against Georgia.

Georgia's another one of these teams probably looking, you know, eight or nine line probably. And they've got some pop. You know, Wilkinson can really score. It's an over 90, one of the top-scoring teams in the country, about 92 per game. I wouldn't play points with Florida tomorrow. I think this could be a really tricky one. Listen, the gold standard, whether it's curling, the NBA, the NHL, college basketball, football, unfortunately, done for a while. Of your 47 platforms, where can we get online to get all of the great stuff?

Yeah, thanks, Ray. Yeah, check me out. Some picks. We'll have them up there for tonight. By the way, I'll give you one for tonight. I think Duke can bounce back tonight. I don't normally lay this many points, but Ted is very beautiful. Two ex-coachs, K. Disciples, Shire and Jeff Capel. Pitt upset Shire two years ago at Cameron Indoor. Last year, Duke really got some revenge, but Pitt really is struggling this year, and I think Duke hasn't forgotten that loss two years ago, so I would like to lay the points with Duke tonight.

Anyway, other picks tonight at my old standbys, VegasInsider.com. Also at CBSSportsLine, SportsLine.com. And picks with a different twist at winnersandwiners.com, picksandcarlays.com. As always, good to hook up with you. We apologize for taking you away from Mick's curling. Enjoy and stay safe, okay? Okay. Have a good week, boys. Thanks. You too, bud. Bruce Marshall hooking up with us. Meet you there at Vegas Insider. Coming up the next hour, going to be going all over the place from Matt Murchill, Joe Cox, and Thomas Ashworth.

It's all for the heads. Stay with us. Indeed presents Hires You Can't Afford to Get Wrong, like Nuclear Reactor Safety Expert. I disabled the backup cooling system. It was making such an annoying noise. You heard it, right? It was like… We're on a countdown to core failure. And you're saying we don't want that? This is what happens when you don't sponsor your job on Indeed. Next time, get matched with quality candidates with Indeed-sponsored jobs. Visit indeed.com slash hire now and sponsor your job today. With the new IHOP value menu, six bucks is all it takes to go to your happy plates, where stacks of pancakes with bacon and eggs are just six bucks every day.

French toast, sausage, and eggs are, you guessed it, six bucks. And fluffy omelets come with a side of pancakes and only cost six bucks. Go to your happy plates every day at IHOP. Seven bucks in some locations. Available every day for a limited time at participating restaurants in the U.S. Hours may vary. No substitutions. Not valid with other discounts or promotions. Prices may vary. I'm Boomer Esiason. My mom died from cancer. She was only 37 years old. She didn't have life insurance, and that was devastating for my family.

[52:32] That's why having life insurance is so important to me. Ethos makes it fast and easy. Get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage. You can get up to $3 million in coverage with no medical exam. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play. That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time span on application may vary. Online health questions required. Every 40 seconds a child is reported missing. Find the Children is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping find missing kids. You can be a part of their mission by donating your unwanted car.

Call 1-800-294-0222. You'll receive the maximum tax deduction and we provide fast, free pickup. Call 1-800-294-0222. Donate your unwanted or unused car. Call 1-800-294-0222. This advertisement was paid for in partnership with Cars RS and Find the Children. I'm Boomer Esiason. My mom died from cancer. She was only 37 years old. She didn't have life insurance and that was devastating for my family. That's why having life insurance is so important to me. Ethos makes it fast and easy. Get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage.

You can get up to $3 million in coverage with no medical exam. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play. That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time span on application may vary. Online health questions required. This is the story of the one. As the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, she knows the only thing more important than having the right safety gear is having it there when you need it. That's why she partners with Grainger for auto reordering. So her team members can count on her to have cut-resistant gloves on hand and each shift can run safely and efficiently.

Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. I'm Boomer Esiason. My mom died from cancer. She was only 37 years old. She didn't have life insurance and that was devastating for my family. That's why having life insurance is so important to me. Ethos makes it fast and easy. Get a quote in seconds, apply in minutes, and get same-day coverage. You can get up to $3 million in coverage with no medical exam. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play.

That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time span on application may vary. Online health questions required. Are you 50 or older? This news is for you. The CDC recommends you get vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia. Even if you're healthy, your age puts you at risk. People 50 or older are over six times more likely to be hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia compared to adults 18 to 49. Just one shot can help protect you. Learn more and schedule at vaxassist.com. That's vaxassist.com. Sponsored by Pfizer. Hi, I'm Michael from the Warren Treaty.

You know the jingle. Now discover the facts about Ozempic, a GLP-1. Only Noble Nordisk makes FDA-approved Ozempic. Learn about the real thing. Talk to your healthcare professional today. Call 1-833-OZEMPIC or visit ozempic.com to view the medication guide and to learn more about Ozempic. I knew that no one ever received a bill from St. Jude, but I in no way understood how completely they take care of their patients and their families. Finding cures, saving children. Learn more at stdude.org. Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.

Westwood One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games. The U.S. has won four medals today, including a silver in a sport where Americans have had virtually no success in men's cross-country skiing in the individual sprint. Ben Ogden collected just the second U.S. medal ever won and the other was in 1976. A silver for Alex Hall and freestyle ski, the slope-style event, a bronze medal for the alpine skiing team of Jackie Wiles and Paula Molson, but also in that combined event, a very disappointing fourth-place finish for the team everyone expected to win the gold.

Breezy Johnson and Michaela Schifrin. Johnson was first after the downhill, but Schifrin was 15th in the slalom, which is incredible because she's won 71 World Cup slalom races in her career. In the curling mixed gold medal game, it came down to the last rock and Sweden won 6-5, U.S. settles for silver. With this Winter Games update, John Stash Hour, Westwood One Sports. O, O, O, O, O'Reilly Protect your vehicle's engine with Syntac at O'Reilly Auto Parts. Syntac Full Synthetic Motor Oil is formulated for today's engines.

Right now, get five quarts of Syntac Full Synthetic and a micro-guard select oil filter for just $32.99. Plus, receive two times O rewards points. Limit supply. Choose Syntac exclusively at O'Reilly Auto Parts. O, O, O, O'Reilly Auto Parts. Pizza's here. Oh, great. I'd love some, but I'm worried about my stomach issues. If you're worried about having diarrhea, gas, bloating, stomach pain, or loose oily stools, it may not just be stomach issues. It could be a condition called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency or EPI. With EPI, the pancreas doesn't release enough enzymes to break down food, but EPI is manageable.

[58:11] Use the symptom checker on identifyepi.com and talk to your doctor. That's identifyepi.com. Sponsored by AbbVie. High school basketball season is here and is your home for Florence Falcons athletics. 93.9 The Score is proud to bring you a select lineup of games. This Thursday, the Falcons take on the James Clemons Jets in the area tournament. Airtime is 6.15 with a tip at 6.30 here on 93.9 The Score. Florence Falcons basketball is brought to you by Florence Utilities, Florence City Schools, the law firm of Johnson, Pasture, Medley, and Virtual, North Alabama Bone & Joint Clinic, T&T Fireworks, Yogurt Mountain, Whataburger, Singing River Dentistry, Bank Independent, Walsh Pizza, Irons Electric, Cypress Creek Range, and Hinegar Johnson and Layton Insurance.

Florence and James Clemons in the area tournament this Thursday at 6.15 on 93.9 The Score. Hey, Florence Falcons fans. Can't make it to the games? Join Kevin Johnson and the rest of the Falcons radio crew streaming live on the 93.9 The Score app. Available for both Apple and Android users. Live streams are also available on your Amazon Alexa devices. Just ask Alexa to tune in to 93.9 The Score and go Falcons! 93.9 The Score weather. Today mostly cloudy with a high around 75. It's night cloudy with an 80% chance of showers overnight.

Possible wind gusts up to 15 miles an hour and a low near 50. Tomorrow partly sunny with a 50% chance of showers and a high around 60. Tomorrow night mostly clear with a low near 35. If you're Thursday partly sunny with a high around 60. 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 Tide. Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC.

Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in our tour of the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us a ride around the Tennessee Valley. And the fellow with probably one of the best jobs in the entire state of Alabama over the next few days and weeks is Thomas Ashworth at AL.com. We will explain. Thomas, welcome in. How are you? Doing good. How are y'all? We're doing all right. Thomas, we were joking there. You get to cover a lot of good area play in North Alabama and we emphasize the word North because Birmingham South gets to have bragging rights normally in football.

But how good is your job to get to cover these respective area tournaments in North Alabama over the next few days? Yeah, I mean, y'all know better than anybody that basketball is better than North Alabama. And right now it's looking like a really good season especially for some teams in the Shoals area. I know Deschler's girls have a chance. Lauderdale County's girls picking up steam. There's some really good teams over there. And then you go to the Sand Mountain area. There's teams like Albertville and North Sand Mountain and Pisgah's girls.

And there's so much good basketball and that's even besides Madison County. But it's a really great year for high school basketball. There's not really a super team this year as I've said before. You know, last year it was Huntsville High. That was kind of the best team in North Alabama just loaded with talent. But I mean, now Huntsville's really good. Sparkman, James Clemens are all really good, really solid teams. Hazel Green's boys, Lee Huntsville's boys. Madison Academy is really good this year. There's just a lot of really good teams in North Alabama.

And the margin is pretty close between some of these teams. I mean, Widespread Christian had a really good run in the Huntsville City Classic. There were just a lot of teams that have been really impressive. So, I mean, it's been a really great year so far. I'm looking forward to it continuing. Yeah, most of the shows won last night and they advanced to the sub-regional. They can be playing Decatur. Most of the shows won 14 and their last 17 games the Musher Shoals boys and the Hazel Green girl just picked up off where Demetrius Miller is there replacing Tim Miller and I think they're 24, 25, and 2 which is, again, they just keep going.

Let me ask you about two areas that you're going to be covering I'm sure closely on Thursday. Area 7 at Huntsville. Huntsville versus Grissom and Jack Dawes winning 900 games at 6 o'clock. Spartman at Elberville at 7.30 and then at James Clemens area 8 Bob Jones in Austin at 5 James Clemens at Florence at 6.30 and I know James Clemens is in your boys' power 10 and Florence beat James Clemens earlier in the season. Man, you've got two tremendous areas in your backyard. Yeah, we really do. I think that starting with the first one you said that Albertville-Sparkman matchup is really brutal for both teams.

[1:03:34] I mean, those are two really solid basketball teams and those two teams are probably top 10 in this stage in my opinion. I mean, Sparkman has some really young talent. I don't want to say overachieved because they were really good. They looked really good but I mean, that's a young group of a lot of really physical players that I mean, I think everybody just kind of thought Huntsville was going to be really good. Albertville was going to be really good but you know, just kind of Sparkman was, you know, was just kind of there but they've really made, had a great season.

A lot of really good players. I mean, I've seen them play before. They play tough. They really do play a really good brand of basketball and they're going up against an Albertville team that's, you know, really broken out this year. I mean, last year the girls were really good final four potential if they didn't run into Hoover and then the boys made it to the regional but it looks like they can really take that next step this year and I mean, I think it's going to be a really good battle for either team that, you know, that gets in that regional spot but yeah, and then I mean, I'll throw in a third one.

Oakwood Academy has been reinstated into the state basketball playoff. What now? Oakwood have been reinstated? Breaking news! Yeah, the Montgomery County Circuit Court just now this morning, I guess, filed a TRO, a temporary restraining order against the HSA, ruling that Oakwood will play reportedly tonight against Woodville in a playing game. Wow. So they're in at least for now, which adds another layer to the HSA playoffs. It really does. So we're continuing to monitor that right now. The TRO just kind of looking at it right now.

The court is ruling that the HSA can't enforce its original ruling and pretty much that they have to alert officials that hey, Oakwood is in good standing and they're able to play. So as of right now, if they win tonight, they're in the regional, but that's the TRO. So you never know what happens over the next week. I mean, they could rule against it again when they're back out and they could rule for it and Oakwood can compete for a championship, but we'll see what happens.

They are eligible to play as of right now. Well, we take it, Greg, thank you, was not involved with that case. So I don't think so. Mr. Wishy-washy there. Your thoughts about going to the other side of the coin. It's something that if it's this point on the calendar, you can almost bet on. First of all, tax season's coming around the corner and traditional powers like Lauderdale County and Deshner Girls are going to be there. Your thoughts, what makes these two teams, it's almost like you take it for granted, but every year at this point, here we are talking about them being hot and getting ready to go back down the interstate and bring home yet another chance for a blue map.

Your thoughts about just, and they're not the only two. We're going to talk about more, but those teams are there year in and year out. What is the secret to the sauce? Yeah, and you throw a Marshall Bible in there and you've got a really good for you of Satan right down the road from y'all. So, I mean, when you get to the regional round, you really do see kind of that experience that, I guess, tradition kind of pay off like it usually does, like it always does.

I mean, you can always count on a lot of these teams to get there, like you've said, and it creates some really good matchups. I mean, look, for North Alabama, it's kind of like football in a way where with North Alabama playoffs, you get to outside of North Alabama and some of these teams start to struggle in the playoffs. It's kind of the reverse. When you get to the 5-4, sometimes it's the North Alabama teams, the Shoals teams, the Sand Mountain teams that are picking up steam and are beating some of these South Alabama teams and teams like that by like 30 points.

I mean, we've seen it a bunch of times. So, I mean, it's really just a show of kind of the tradition that's shown. I mean, this isn't a Lauderdale County team that's at its peak like it has been. I mean, this is a really solid team, but far and away from the best Lauderdale County teams that we've seen, and they're still really good, and they genuinely do have a chance in a really tough Northwest regional. So, I mean, it's going to be really interesting to see kind of how those teams pay off.

I know that Deschler has a really tough road ahead. I know that they have good hope against them, and that's a really good, good hope team as well. We'll see kind of how it plays out, but I mean, it's just kind of that year with the tradition and the experience of coaches and players who have been a part of really good programs kind of shine. No question. Deschler, girls won its 18th straight game last night, beating Wilson, Reese Davis, 33 points. Boy, that's a shock. Launderdale County girls beat Convert County 73 to 57.

To advance, let me ask you, you've done more reporting off the field than on. Scottsboro is the Oakwood thing. We'll see how it works out, and I agree with some of these decisions and don't. Sometimes the Alabama High School Athletic Association comes back, and does change the rules. They did that with Oakwood a couple of years ago, but Scottsboro was denied a request to change an era. The Alabama High School Athletic Association overstated the average daily enrollment for Scottsboro. They wanted to go down to 4A.

[1:09:17] basically the answer was yes. We did make a mistake, but you're going to stay in 5-0. And Scottsboro is trying to decide if they're going to sue the Alabama High School Athletic Association. Look, I'm not trying to put you on the spot here, but once again, this seems to come up every week. Your thoughts on the Scottsboro situation? No, I mean, you're right. It's just kind of par for the course, I guess, nowadays. Like you said, the Oakwood thing, and now there's just been so many disputes with what the postseason is going to look like for the playoffs, for football, and then never mind the public and private split.

But you really don't know. It's kind of head-scratching what the HSA's basis is. This is true. It's really weird. I mean, I know a few years ago, I mean, I think Brooks was one of the teams that a couple of years ago, there was an error. And they corrected it. So Brooks moved down a classification. I think it was Brooks. But there were other teams like Aniston moved where they were in 5A and they moved down to 4A. So, I mean, this is a really unprecedented, you know, thing or uncharted territory for the HSA to correct, you know, an issue like that.

So, I mean, just kind of reading everything. I mean, they submitted it in time. There was even an issue that was corrected. The flag football team wasn't on their, you know, the HSA's radar, but they corrected that, but didn't choose to correct the other. So, I mean, it shows that Scottsboro did turn in something on time. So, kind of a head-scratcher there from the HSA. I mean, you really don't know, you know, kind of what, like I said before, what basis they have to, you know, make that decision.

So, it'll be interesting to see what happens. I mean, you know, taking the HSA to court at this point seems like an uphill battle just because, I mean, there's probably like 30 cases against them, you know, at this point within the last 12 months or so. I mean, it's ridiculous, but I mean, you wonder what happens there. I mean, you really do, just considering that decision and kind of, you know, what happened before with some of those teams. So, I really don't know. I think Scottsboro has a pretty solid case there.

I mean, if everything is what they say that it is, a really big head-scratcher there for sure. Absolutely amazing. But listen, you're going to be on top of it. You've got quite as Harold said. It's going to be quite a two weeks heading up, going to Wallace State and then going to Birmingham. Where can we get online, get your stuff and the teams? Yeah, we've got a bunch of stuff over on AL.com. Obviously, this is a developing situation with Oakwood Adventist Academy and Scottsboro and the basketball playoffs all looped into one.

So, certainly an interesting time to be keeping up with all their own high school sports right now. Yeah, I get a feeling that the folks in Montgomery got a call from Oakwood's attorney. I'm sure that had somewhat of an influence on that. Thomas, listen, it's always good to hook up with you. We know you're busy, but thanks so much for taking time out of that busy schedule and joining us today. Yes, sir. Appreciate you guys. Thank you, bud. All right. Thomas Ashworth, AL.com. BB. It's crazy out there in the sports world, is it not?

Yes, it is. College or high school. Coming up, what do you say we'll go across the SEC? Without Greg thinking, but Joe Cox on deck. Stay with us. For 26 years, Sam's Sports Grill has been a Florence favorite, known for quality food, friendly service, and consistency you can always count on. From game day to lunchtime, Sam's is the place locals keep coming back to. Monday through Friday, from 11 to 3, you can enjoy our $9.95 lunch specials, dine-in only, big flavor, great value every time. Join us at Sam's Sports Grill in Florence and make our place your place.

This is Miranda Haddock with the Florence Education Foundation. We invite you to support our Friends of the Foundation campaign. As a friend of the Foundation, you can contribute any amount to help fund classroom needs in Florence City schools. Please visit our website at FlorenceEducation Foundation.org to explore our new giving levels and the added perks available. We want to wish Coach Burleson and the entire Falcon basketball team good luck this season. At North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic, our Shoals roots run deep. We provide quick access and familiar friendly faces so you never have to feel just like a number.

From sports medicine to joint replacement, expert care happens right here at home. As UNA Athletics choice for orthopedics and the trusted orthopedic team of the show families for over 30 years, North Alabama Bone and Joint Clinic is here for you. Learn more at nabjc.com. Hey, Joy. Oh, you are glowing. Oh, hey. More like MiraJoid that Miralax helped me go. I was so backed up. Tried Mega coffees, prune juice, everything. Then Miralax and Hello Gentle Relief without the harsh side effects. Ooh, how does it work? It works naturally with the water in your body for constipation relief.

[1:14:20] Find Miralax today at your local retailer. Use as directed for occasional constipation. Shopping with your parents can be embarrassing. Why would they sell jeans with holes in them? I'm going to speak to the manager. Mom! That hoodie is giving. You should get it. YOLO. Thanks to the Chase mobile app, your kid can shop independently while you keep an eye on their spending. So you can go from… We can be twinsies! …to… How was shopping? Saw you stayed on budget. Thanks, Mom. Freedom for kids, control for parents.

That's family banking from Chase. Account subject to approval. Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., member of DIC. Empower! Tim collects bobbleheads. A lot of bobbleheads. Baseball bobbleheads. Race car bobbleheads. Little chihuahua bobbleheads. He's got an entire room strictly for bobbleheads. Does he need them? No. Is his wife mad about it? A little. But Tim works with Empower and he got good at money. So he can be a little bad. Ooh, horse bobblehead.

Classy, Tim. Empower. Invest well, live a little. Start today at empower.com. Access to education changes lives. That's why National University provides flexible online and hybrid programs from associate to doctorate degrees. Since 1971, NU was built to serve non-traditional working and military learners nationwide. NU understands the demands of work, family, and service. Each year, more than 130,000 learners trust National University to move forward. visit NU.edu to learn more. From the University of Alabama, this is Crimson Tide Today. It's a daily update on Bama sports and it's brought to you by Vector Security Champions Lane, the best pregame fan fest in college football.

For more information, visit championslane.com. Hello again everybody, I'm Roger Hoover. Here are postgame thoughts from Nate Oates after Alabama's win at Auburn on Saturday. I thought our guards made some big shots. Bigs made some tough defensive plays. I thought Aiden Shirell kind of really bounced back at four blocks tonight. He was pretty good there late when we needed him. We, coaching staff kind of screwed up the challenge when we did. It would have been nice to have one there in a goal 10. We got to do a little bit better.

I thought Phylon Holloway played really well late. The four-point play Holloway got was he scored his 1,000th career point. So I'm sure it was nice for him to score his 1,000th point back here in a win. I thought Phylon made some big shots. We made free throws. We kind of go down with our guards. Mario didn't miss a free throw. Phylon didn't miss one in the second half. I'll have more in a moment. Tide fans, are you ready for game day in Tuscaloosa? Don't miss the ultimate pre-game experience this season at Vector Security Champions Lane, opening four hours before each home game.

This FanFest has everything you need to get pumped for kickoff. Located next to the Walk of Champions, you'll enjoy live music, player autographs, the best food trucks from all over Alabama, and ice-cold beer in our Legends Lounge beer garden, where there's never a cover charge. Check out ChampionsLane.com each week for the latest updates. Roll Tide! Join us this afternoon for Crimson Drive driven by NASCAR, streaming live at 2 p.m. Central on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN. Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Vector Security Champions Lane.

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 in. You are just moments away. I'm getting the latest on curling in the rest of the Olympics, but first, a pleasure for us to welcome in Joe Cox. He's got everything covered there when it comes to Southeastern Conference. It's Saturday down south. Also, his book is called A Fine Team Man. Joe Cox, welcome in. How are you? Well, I'm going to be on pins and needles waiting for that curling update.

You know, the funny thing, I used to go to church with this real sweet lady who was from Canada, and I asked her about curling, and she's like, oh, yeah, we did it all the time. My dad used to do it, so since she moved down in your neck of the woods, I don't have my update on curling, so you guys will have to catch me up, too. Hey, you're a nice guy. We'll make sure we give you all of our knowledge, which should take less than five seconds, Joe, but in the meantime, the latest on the hardwoods, it looks like the NCAA and Judge Judy's brother and Greg Sankey, it's three, and Alabama Mediaco zero.

Joe, your thoughts about the news out of Tuscaloosa? Well, the question I think here is going to be what does it mean, and Joe Lenardi, I guess, was ahead of the rest of us and saw this and says, you know, in his predictions, he liked the NCAA is going to vacate these games that they played with Mediaco. Now, does that come to pass? That's going to be the interesting thing. I mean, I think Alabama's got a real good defense here in that they say, look, a judge said we could do this.

[1:19:31] Why could we not do this? But I also think there's an element that probably not due to Alabama's fault, probably having about ten different stories in the air. The NCAA's just gotten tired of getting kicked around, and Alabama might be the victim of their wrath here, so that's what I'm going to be watching for as much now as what happens on the court. The story will shift to what's going to happen with the NCAA, and if they were slow back in the days when they held all the power, imagine how speedy they'll be now that they're just hanging on to their fingernails.

Joe, the only thing consistent about the NCAA is the fact that they're inconsistent, is it not? Do they ever sit here and what's saying the most uncommon thing is common sense? Do these guys ever use this flat country common sense? Oh, absolutely, and for years now, I think there's been a strong argument that the power conferences would be wise to put their heads together and try to come up with some kind of alternative situation, whether the NCAA, you know, becomes the governing body of the mid-majors and the Big Four go it alone or something along those lines.

This is probably, if you're Alabama right now, this is the time to start having some of those backroom conversations and start to see if you can drag a few of them into the light of day and, you know, we could have a whole different world here in five years in terms of how this is set up and handled. No question about that. Joe, I saw something Saturday night, I never thought I'd see a team come out in the SEC and miss 26 of their first 27 shots, which is exactly what Texas A&M did against Florida.

I've never seen anything close to that. The Gators are playing awfully well. Their front court with Chenilu and Hawk in Condon are really, really good. Alabama fans can testify fine to that. But Texas A&M had been playing really well, lost a tough game to Alabama mid-week in Tuscaloosa, and the Gators just basically ran rampant. Joe, right now, where we are, are the Gators the best team in the SEC? Well, they're the team that I think has leaned the most into their identity. I think they've figured out who they are, and they can out-rebound you, play physical on the block.

They have talent in the backcourt, it's just not always the most consistent talent, but the beauty of it is when you control the backboard, you don't have to shoot great, you probably want to go better than one of 27 or whatever it was, but it doesn't take, you don't have to shoot the lights out to be competitive, and that's kind of where they are. In a league where there are a lot of good guards, there aren't as many good guys in the frontcourt, and I think Florida will really lean into that down the stretch.

So, Joe, are you and Kentucky fans starting to warm up to the ideal of maybe shaking the hand of Mark Pope and patting him on the back more so than at the beginning of the season? You know, the thing is, he's always been an incredibly likable guy. He's in a life. He says all the right things. He kisses baby. He does well in press conferences, but there is that small matter of winning games, and, you know, again, I think ultimately he's going to end up this season kind of where he was last year.

He went to the Sweet 16, and people said all things considered, that was a really successful season. If he could do something similar down the stretch this year, I think people would say much the same thing, but the question is going to be when is he going to get, you know, a Phylon type player, somebody who is just a difference maker, which seems to be kind of what they're missing. Oway has been a heck of a player. Boy, if you put Oway with another guy who is a dynamic scorer, Kentucky would be right there with anybody, but until then, you know, they're in the middle of the top of the league, which is good for a lot of people, but in Lexington, it's just what have you done for me lately?

Thank you. Joe, we'll close on this with the Olympic update coming up. Auburn hosting Vandy tonight, Alabama traveling to Oxford tomorrow night after two impressive wins. Joe, who's going to win tonight, Alabama Vandy, I mean Auburn, Vandy, Alabama Ole Miss tomorrow night? You know, Vandy comes off of a bad loss, lose to Oklahoma in a game where they really just got run over early and then they came back and just about pulled the thing out of the fire. I like Auburn, I do think Vanderbilt has kind of caught up to its limitations a little bit and it's a good spot for the Tigers.

Alabama, you know, gosh, we talked about the chemistry damage of putting Betty Occo on the floor, maybe now what's the chemistry damage of taking him off the floor. Thank you. That'll be the next question, or the big guys who suddenly saw their minutes cut, I know Bull Bowen was one of those guys, that was the name that jumped out at me. So now you're back, here you are again, so how ready are they? I think that's going to be the story there. Ole Miss isn't a particularly big threat, I think the Tide could do it, but the story now is that chemistry we just messed about, let's shake it up again and see where we come out.

[1:24:46] Absolutely, great stuff as always my friend, where can we get online and get a Super Bowl recount, basketball previews and all the great stuff? Saturday down south, we'll be there throughout, I don't know if we've got any curling, but I'm going to be over here working my broom and trying to figure it out. If you behave yourself, we'll take care of that, we'll scratch that itch for you, it's the latest coming up. In the meantime, Joe, I echo BB Cinema, thanks so much and have a great week, okay?

All right, you guys take care. Thank you. Brett Beaird, are you getting sweaty palms and palpitations of the heart? Well, sometimes, yes. Yeah, well, you're going to get more if you love curling, the latest from the Olympics right ahead, you're on 93.9, the score. music. music. music. Best Friends Animal Society is working to ensure that every dog and cat has a safe place to call home. Visit bestfriends.org to adopt an out-of-this-world pet near you. Together, we will save them all. West Whitelan Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games.

Yankees, Red Sox, Army, Navy. How about the U.S. and Canada in women's hockey for great rivalries. Expect you to play next week for the gold medal they always do. They're playing now in Milan, and the U.S. got a goal 345 in from Caroline Harvey. They're midway through the first period. The U.S. has a 1-0 lead. The Canadians are playing without their captain and best player, Marie Philippe Poulon. She's injured after a crash into the boards. They don't know whether she will be able to play later in the game.

Some U.S. medals won today. The U.S. team of Jackie Wiles and Paula Moulton in Alpine skiing. Alex Hall won a silver in freestyle skiing. Wiles and Moulton won a bronze. A silver for Ben Ogden. It's just the second ever by an American male in cross-country skiing. The other came 50 years ago. And a silver for the U.S. in the curling mixed event. John Stashauer, West Whitelan Sports. And Doug. There's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

Hey everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date? Oh, no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird. Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways. Only pay for what you need at libertymutual.com. This is the story of the one. As an HVAC technician, he and his digital multimeter are in high demand. So when a noisy office HVAC turns out to be a failing blower motor, he doesn't break a sweat.

With Grainger's easy-to-use website and product information, he selects the product he needs to keep everything humming right along. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Whether it's day or night, hot flashes due to menopause can be unpredictable. That's why there's Vioza, a prescription treatment proven to reduce the number and severity of hot flashes day and night that can start working in as early as one week. Based on clinical studies measuring efficacy at 4 and 12 weeks, individual results may vary.

Talk to your healthcare provider about what this may mean for you. For moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms or hot flashes and night sweats due to menopause, Vioza can cause serious side effects including liver problems. Your doctor will do blood tests before and during treatment. Stop Vioza and call your doctor if you have symptoms of liver problems such as feeling more tired than usual, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, itching, yellowing of the eyes or skin, pale stool, dark urine, or stomach pain. Don't use Vioza if you have cirrhosis, severe kidney problems, kidney failure, or take Zip 182 inhibitors.

Ask your doctor about Vioza. To learn more, call 1-866-239-1637 or go to Vioza.com. That's V-E-O-Z-A-H dot com. Individuals and businesses with tax problems, listen carefully. Do you feel like you're losing control of your finances? If you owe over $10,000 in back taxes or have unfiled tax returns, we can help you take back control. VIRS is the largest and most aggressive collection agency in the world and they can seize your bank accounts, garnish your paycheck, close your business and file criminal charges. Take control of your tax problem now by calling the experts at U.S. Tax Shield and take advantage of the fresh start program and new laws that may allow us to negotiate a settlement for the lowest amount possible.

[1:29:55] Our team of tax attorneys and enrolled agents can stop collections and get you protected so you can take control of your financial future. U.S. Tax Shield offers a price protection guaranteed quote to get you protected today. U.S. Tax Shield is A-plus rated with the Better Business Bureau so call now. 800-687-5192. That's 800-687-5192. U.S. Tax Shield Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. In the latest top 25 poll for women's basketball, Alabama is down two spots to number 23. Alabama is 20-5 on the season.

UConn remained at number one this week receiving all 31 first place votes. There's 25-0. UCLA, South Carolina, Texas and Vanderbilt are in this week's women's basketball top five. The Alabama men's basketball team is receiving votes in both polls just outside of both polls. Arizona number one this week. They lost for the first time this season last night at Kansas. Michigan and Houston are in the top three. In the AP poll, it's Duke and Iowa State at 4-5. In the coaches poll, Iowa State-UConn, 4-5. 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. Working as a dedicated Fidelity advisor, I always ask, what's important to you? I'll look at those priorities and goals alongside your full financial picture to build a comprehensive plan designed to help grow and protect your wealth. With proactive portfolio insights and an eye on taxes, I'm here to help you make the most of your money. I'm Laura Maxwell and I'm a dedicated Fidelity advisor. Learn more at fidelity.com slash wealth. Investment minimums apply.

Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE, SIPC. Straight Talk Wireless presents Pickup Truck Wisdom. If you're only good to your new friends, you're not going to have any old ones. Straight Talk gets it. That's why new and existing customers get free 5G phones on Verizon's 5G network. Pretty simple, really. You keep good people by being good people. Find us at straighttalk.com and Walmart. Straight Talk Wireless. Straightforward. Always. Taxes and fees apply. Plan purchase required for free phone offers. Copyright 2026 Verizon. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.

The Score. Welcome back in. It is an absolute pleasure for us over the door and say hello to Matt Merchelle. Checking in from the Orlando Center. Hey, Matt, welcome in. How are you? Doing well. How are you guys doing today? Man, we're doing all right. We need you to be the judge here and render a verdict. Matt, that seems to be what we are in the world of sports. Everybody's about legal issues and judges and lawyers and all that stuff. Who got it right in the Betty Yacco case?

The NCAA says, Alabama, you broke the rules when it's time to pay. Or is Alabama right saying, well, NCAA, everybody seems to be breaking the rules. They seem to be bending it. We're going to try to bend it, too. You've got the final word and now we know what the final word is. Matt, who got it right and who got it wrong? Well, I'm not sure if anyone got it right or anyone got it wrong. I think the NCAA was looking for some sort of clarity and since they can't provide it themselves, they were hoping to get some, you know, have it come through the court system.

And I think that they felt like but no secret that NCAA president and Charlie Baker has been against the idea of, you know, players, especially in the basketball realm, coming back to school and this idea. And so, but, and able to do something on their own, able to come to rules that would prevent it, they're just continuing to hope that and then the federal judge or circuit judge or whoever will come up with some sort of, you know, ruling that they can use as an outline to maybe help them out in the future.

So, I mean, I don't think Alabama did anything wrong. I mean, the rules weren't there in place and they went ahead and tried to do what they can do. I think the, what is happening is this isn't going to be over, obviously. I think they're going to continue to look at legal ramifications and see what they can do. But this is the challenge right now that the NCAA and its teams are facing. I mean, because you have this ambiguity with all this ruling and you're not sure whether or not, you know, players can come back from, you know, the NBA or football players can come back or we can get guys with seven or eight years of eligibility.

I mean, this has just been a mess and this is just the latest example of how the NCAA is how to try to deal with it. Matt, your thoughts about Baker, the aforementioned president of the NCAA, this guy, he's a Harvard grad, two-time gov up in Massachusetts. He's no stranger to controversy, whether it be Title IX in front of Congress, whether it be boys, the issue of boys and girls' locker rooms. He is a controversial figure. Somebody may have a different opinion, but ask the folks who he had to face there in Congress with his hearings on stuff like that.

[1:35:07] Your thoughts just about going forward as far as ramifications, do you think Alabama will have to sit here and be behind the eight ball as far as vacating wins? Because let's face it, like you just mentioned, as much ambiguity as there is out there, how do you know at this point? It's basically, they show up one day, have two cups of coffee and say, I'm the NCAA, this is the rule. Yeah, you know, that's going to be interesting. You know what I mean? It's going to be, I think this is going to get really sticky now.

If you go in and decide, okay, well, you know, Alabama's got to forfeit these games that were played, I mean, then that really kind of starts getting in the idea of like, you know, Alabama, you know, maybe coming out and wanting to come against the NCAA, go head and head against the NCAA. It's happened before, but I think right now, you know, again, we've got a lot of, we've got a lot of NCA officials who really want this to be fixed. And even school presidents at this point really want the government to step in and fix these kind of issues.

And I just don't think the government is at a position right now to do that. You know what I mean? I don't think they're in a position right now. They can't even make socks. Yeah. You're asking them to come in and settle this kind of issue. Maybe down the road, maybe something will happen and you'll see this happen, but I just don't see this happening right now. I think that's why the NCAA is just saying, fine, we'll just continue to put this through and to get it into the legal system.

We'll just figure out when judges make rulings, we can hope that these rulings go for our side and we'll find a way to make this work. And it hasn't gone the NCAA's way for a lot of years, but I think now they're starting to get some here and there. So it's going to be interesting. And listen, I think Steve Spurrier said it back the other day to Jabo Tweeney. There are no rules in all of this. That's right. That's right. Or are they? Or are they?

That's just what we talked about. All of a sudden there's a rule, but like Steve said before that, that's the whole point. one day there is a rule, the next day there's not a rule. I mean, yeah, I guess. I mean, we've been talking about this for years. The NCAA doesn't have any sort of backbone. It has no teeth at all. You know, believe me, if they had teeth and they felt like they could come in and hand out a judgment and say, this is the rule, you cannot allow players to do this, then we wouldn't even be talking about this.

We'd be like, okay, that's the rule. They can't even make that one. But they can't do that because what happens is players get lawyers lawyers start filing lawsuits, lawsuits go forward, schools start filing lawsuits because schools want to get involved in all this. And that becomes a mess. And I mean, I'm not blaming NATO or not blaming what Alabama's doing. I just think this is what we continue to see is there are cracks where players can try to do things and get through and one judge in one state says this is great and one judge in another state says no it's not and it becomes a giant mess.

And I don't know what's the answer to all this. I mean, everyone keeps pointing to the government saying they're going to fix this. It's not going to happen. So I think at some point there needs to be it's hard to get everyone on the same page but there needs to be someone on the same page to say this doesn't make sense guys. We really, you know, I mean, listen, I get it. I get why you did it. I get why the player wants to come back.

I get why football players want to have additional years of eligibility because it's a profitable opportunity. Thank you. But this needs to go back and if we're going to go back and be all about amateurism then we need to fix this. I think that horse has left the barn. Yeah. Man, there are three quarterbacks in the SEC that by the time we get to Friday we're going to know or at least have a little bit better ideal. Will they be granted another year of eligibility? Diego Pavia has got his injunction hearing this afternoon.

Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has got his Thursday and Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar has got his hearing on Friday. Now, we'll see how again the preliminary injunction hearing is just that. You're kind of starting a process but think about this for a minute. If all three of these are granted one more year of eligibility what an impact that would have on the SEC for the 2026 season? Well, not just the SEC it would have an impact on everybody. If they get the injunction all of a sudden you've got a lot of players around the country going, whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, now I can come back for another year and I can get another year of money and I can get it all of a sudden opens the door for a lot of players to invite I'm going to try to come back and play another year whether it's transferring for a school or playing at the school and all of a sudden it changes everything.

Yes, the impact of those two players has to be huge when you're looking at the quarterback rate. But I just think in general across the country I think it would open up a big door and allow people to start running in and say, okay, I'm willing to come back for another year because I know I'm not going to be a first round or second round draft pick in the upcoming NFL draft. I can make more money with this team than I can do that and I'm willing to do that.

[1:40:20] So I just think that that's what I mean earlier about this is such a slippery slope right now. I mean, all of a sudden every court case comes out and then you've got guys running to their lawyers trying to figure out how to get a player to jump in and add and it's just going to be it's just a mess and I think I could see why fans get so frustrated with this idea of where's the sport that I was used to watching. And just to put some faces to this Matt you look at Diego Pavia you look at Carson Beck you look at you know Ty Simpson in Alabama you compare what they could be making next year in college what they may be making in the NFL you see why they want to come back and I'm going to ask you about that Matt at what point because right now fans were so in love with the sport and you sit and you fuss at the NFL for what they're doing but what do people do they fuss and they still watch which means they're going to feed the money machine as long as that happens as long as the numbers are there the management doesn't care how you and I feel as fans as long as we support them with their advertisers but where will the sport be in five years from a fan standpoint if this trend continues?

You know I don't know I mean you're right I mean people are going to continue to watch college football college sports in general I've had I've talked to many groups and people will stand up and say I'm tired of it I'm not going to I'm not going to I don't like this I'm not going to support it but they're going to still watch you know and I say that's what I say to everyone are you going to turn on and watch football games? Yes well there you go so you know if you're going to protest you've got to protest all the way you're feeding the monster though you're feeding the monster you know yes I mean that's just true and you buy tickets and you support your school you do all that and your hope is that maybe someone will step up and find a way to make this all make some sense and it just hasn't happened I don't know in five years I don't know where we'll be I mean because I think that right now we're still dealing with the stuff we started two years ago you know I mean that we're right now we're trying to figure out what's the best way maybe it is better a situation that you know that conferences like the SEC break away from the NCAA maybe it's better to have almost like a semi-pro you know professional league like dance when it comes to college football maybe there needs to be some of that maybe there needs to be maybe you know maybe there needs to be an idea of considering athletes and employees I know presidents turn on that and coaches turn on that maybe this is what needs to happen if you're going to get to this point because I'm not sure what else is going to be done like I said you can go to Congress you can go to the government you can say you know make a rule make a rule and they can't get together on one rule you know one bill I mean there's like six bills in Congress right now trying to look at this kind of thing so I'm just the point is you know we've got to find a way to get everyone on the same page and no one wants to do that maybe it needs to come from the conferences themselves maybe if the SEC were to say and I'm just throwing it out there hey we've created our own rules this is what we're going to do we're not going to allow this to happen and if everyone else wants to do it we'll see what happens but again they can't do that because if you're in the SEC and you put it draw the line in the sand and no one else is doing it well you're just you're going to end up losing out you know maybe because all these other conferences and schools allow that to happen so it's really it's just it's an unfortunate situation and it's something that I just don't think even if fans are upset about it it's not going to be enough to really make them make a major change without if they don't decide to watch the game does Greg think he had the backbone and other things to do that no no and I like Greg I mean I'm not I just don't think he can do that I think if he were to say that's what we want to do I think every school president and every coach would say that sounds great on the surface but if I'm out recruiting and let's say someone in the Big Ten doesn't follow these rules or someone in the ACC doesn't follow these rules and they're getting players that we can't get and we're losing games well then that's not going to work so I just I mean you almost have to get everyone on the same you almost have to get the power you know the power forward to get together and decide to do that and they can't even agree on whether to expand the college football playoff so I mean let's not act like this is going to be a group that's going to sit down and make it happen and I just think that until there's some sort of unity involved until everyone gets on the same page I just think we're going to be kind of rudderless for a while in this sport and you know it's it's bad and it's frustrating and you'd love to see more being done but I just feel like right now everything just falls in the court system everyone's hoping the court system can figure it out man two things that caught my attention today North Dakota State yes in a mega dynasty in FCS is finally moving to FBS they're going to be joining the remodeled Mountain West what caught my attention was that North Dakota State is going to have to pay $10 million to join the Mountain West so they got $10 million going to the conference they got to pay the NCAA $5 million that's the move that's basically the entry fee to go from FCS to FBS and I noticed that their last year their athletic department operational expenses were $30,000 the school that is closest to them in San Jose State is $47,000 boy you're talking about an expensive move to FBS and one that people need Matt was you cover the Big 12 very closely BYU played Oklahoma State Oklahoma State hosted BYU the other night and the fans you know you can you know you hear this all the time and I know you've covered so many games but probably the best way for me to put this is the Oklahoma State fans use some inappropriate language to describe BYU and Brett Yormack the Big 12 commissioner said not only are we not going to tolerate this but we're going to fine Oklahoma State $50,000 for a no tolerance policy as far as chance and Oklahoma State said yeah well we won't appeal it so Matt to close here North Dakota State moved FBS in the inappropriate chance being fined $50,000 well I think the North Dakota State situation I think it's it reminds me a lot of what James Madison did you know I mean coming in you've had some success you obviously can think about the number of FBS national championships North Dakota State has built its powerhouse and they feel like okay what's the next step where do we go from here so I think as long as you have support financially and you feel like you've got the structure to come in and do it I feel like yeah go for it make a move it's going to be a challenge to win obviously at the next level they've been able to prove they can do that they've beaten some FBS opponents so it's going to be a little bit of a challenge but they don't get to play in the Mountain West championship until 2028 they don't get to play in the college football playoff until 2028 and they don't get to play the bowl game until 2028 unless there isn't enough bowl eligible teams and then they can find their way in but I think they're going to have a good smooth transition I think they can get in there as long as they can continue to keep the financial aspects going as a lot of these schools have I think in regards to the Big 12 fine I mean listen that's something the Big 12 has been trying to do you know I mean BYU has had this issue at other schools where the students decide to heckle them using inappropriate language so the Big 12 is saying listen okay that's fine we'll fine you $50,000 I think that's a message to all the schools basically saying we're not going to tolerate this if this is going to continue to happen we're going to keep raising the fines and putting them out there it's you know it's easy for some big power programs to say sure I could plunk down $50,000 but there are some schools like Oklahoma State where maybe they don't have that kind of money in their basketball you know their basketball revenue and so they got to find a way to make up I know UCF got fined $25,000 for a support storming a few weeks ago and they're trying to crowd fund you know I mean at some point they're asking fans to pitch in whatever it was like $9 you know each fan pitch in $9 and you can pay for it so I'm glad the Big 12 is doing something about it I just think that it's going to be interesting you know if that's the case and you see more and more of that you know it's going to be interesting to see how schools at games can prevent that from happening I mean once it happens it's hard unless the coach gets on the microphone and really starts blasting your fans I mean it's really hard to thread that absolutely it's going to be fascinating it's amazing where college the direction college football is going in right now on and off the field man great stuff buddy where can we get online and get everything you got yeah you can go to Orlando Sentinel.com check out the latest or you can follow me on social media OS Matt Michelle Matt as always good to hook up with you listen man have a great rest of the week and thanks for your time today alright sounds good thanks a lot guys take care that's a lot of Buffalo chips for North Dakota State to move on up BB UNA trying to bounce back on the hardwoods it's a sandwich day they lost last night and they bounce back tomorrow night at home Harold they've had a lot of problems with injuries and turnovers they had 19 turnovers last night they've got to correct that after being one of the leading schools last year but yeah hopefully they can get some other guys healthy and rebound tomorrow night against West Georgia 72-65 last night to Central Arkansas coming up tomorrow night home cooking again against West Georgia top offset for 6 o'clock at CB&S Bank Arena that's going to take care of business for now on behalf of BB Greg James Blair the entire crew here Peril Buck thank you so much for your time today let's do it again tomorrow noon to 2 for the Boom on Buck Show back here on Sports Radio 93.9 the score you're welcome to be