Boomo Bugg Show 021726

[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 Tide, Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Good afternoon and welcome in to the Boomo Bugg Show. I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird. Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in where Alabama continues to add to the coaching style.

Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you? Happy Tuesday to you and the listeners. High School Boys and Girls Basketball Regional started this morning at four sites, including Wallace and Jacksville State. And Thomas will tell us more at approximately one o'clock. Morris Hill Bible has a new head football coach, Chris Hill from El Dorado High School in Arkansas. And Roger is here right now to preview Arkansas and Alabama basketball tomorrow night in Tuscaloosa and Alabama baseball at Samford this afternoon. The man has got more hats than Bush's has been.

He's Roger Hoover on the Alabama Crimson Tide Network. Roger, welcome in. What hat are you wearing today? How are you? Boomo Bugg. It is a Crimson Tide baseball hat, not football, not basketball, softball, soccer, anything like that. We are kind of focused on baseball here for the next little bit and then I'll start to turn my attention well to a little more baseball tomorrow before the next basketball game. But it's a busy time of the year and a good one for all of us. Hope you guys are doing well.

We appreciate you asking. You're the only one that's done that today, so we're very appreciative, Roger. So let's start with baseball. Obviously, they're the new kids on the block, taking on Washington State, and you never know what you're going to get, especially in that first series of the year. It's a starting point to measure things. Roger, before we get into so many things to talk about, what's your early take on this Alabama baseball team? I think it really improved across the board. I know that may sound strange considering we lost our first game 8-4 on opening day, but come back out the next day and you outscored the Cougars 19-2 in those ballgames in the doubleheader, including one that ended early because of the run rule.

So I think there's a lot of lineup flexibility that maybe we haven't had before with Coach Vaughn in place. And then the pitching staff looks really, really good. Tyler Fay in his Friday start, things just didn't go his way. Just a couple weird bounces and filled singles, a couple plays defensively not being made, and then walks always hurt you. But after that, Zane Adams, Miles Upchurch really were impressive with their scoreless innings and strikeouts that they collected on Saturday in their two starts. So I think it's a really intriguing team that we're still going to have to learn a lot more about.

We still have kind of no clue what the bullpen looks like for this group as we go forward over the next few weeks. And the countdown is on. And it's only now three weeks away from Alabama at Kentucky to start SEC play in mid-March. So these coaches, there's no such thing as really easing into the season for them. They're trying to figure out some key roles right now for this baseball team. But the good news is they have a lot of good options. Roger, a lot of folks don't follow baseball.

I'm a baseball fanatic, so I'm over in the other category. But the people realize how much talent is on this team. When the Major League Baseball draft rolls around, there could be a man whose blood runs crimson near, if not at the top of the class. Yeah, his name is Justin LeBron. He is outstanding. A junior shortstop who came on campus and, first of all, won a job as a starting shortstop in the SEC as a true freshman. Especially since the transfer portal era, NIL, and especially even when he started, there were still a lot of players that had COVID extra years of eligibility.

There were hardly any freshman shortstop playing in the country, let alone the SEC. So he kind of got our attention when he did that as a freshman, kind of handled everything brilliantly that year. And then last year was one of the best shortstops in college baseball. So that's why there is so much hype and buzz around him as we get forward this year. And already two days into the season, three games, he's got two home runs, so he's already showing off that power. And, you know, we're going on campus today to play Sanford.

I really hope there's enough seats for all the fans in their little grandstand, kind of right behind the plate, because you're probably going to have 30-something scouts there to watch him in person in a big city like this. So, again, if you're a Crimson Tide baseball fan hoping to sneak down there this afternoon, my advice is to hurry, because scouts are going to be demanding those seats just as much as you are. You alluded to several guys who had a very good weekend. Zane Adams, as you mentioned, allowing just three hits.

Not issuing a walk, which is impressive for opening weekend. Five scoreless innings, nine strikeouts. You mentioned Miles Upchurch had a great debut. Jason Torres, three of four, two RBIs. Luke Vaughn, a first career home run. Neil and Andrew Purdy, three RBIs in the final. And then, as you mentioned, Justin LeBron doing his thing. Very impressive, again, just across the board. Yeah, it really was. And I think it showed everybody what this group's capable of. Another guy, John Lim, is going to really factor into the catching equation or possibly at first base in Alabama.

[5:35] It's got three catchers so far. They've had three games played at three different starting catchers. I think that's a position of strength as opposed to one where you're just hoping to have Brady Neal and Will Plattner at the same time be helpful. That was kind of our situation. Healthy. That was our situation last year. This year, man, all three of those guys can play and contribute at a high level. That's why I think there's going to be some mixing and matching going on for the lineups over the next few weeks as we get closer to the start of conference play.

And, again, Alabama just seems like it's in much more a position of strength in terms of being able to match up some different players. I think there's some more speed and athleticism on this roster than maybe we've seen in the past couple of years as well. So I think that's going to make for a really dynamic offense to go along with the pitching staff that has experience at the front end of it and then backs it up with a lot of talent that may be young and may have to get their first innings under the belt before we really know what they're going to be like.

From bats and balls to baskets, Roger, your thoughts about the now top 25 team again, Alabama basketball team. Four straight wins now after knocking off the Gamecocks, 89-75. That's nice. And I would imagine you're going to say this next task may be a little bit tougher than the Gamecocks. Yeah, I think so. 23rd in Arkansas coming up tomorrow night. It's a great test for what Alabama has in front of it in its ending schedule that certainly will have its challenges with Tennessee on the road, Auburn at home.

But it's not too daunting compared to what Alabama had to go through, especially the start conference play. So I think things are trending in a really good direction for this program. Obviously, we'd love to still have Charles Bediaco being able to play, but I think even just him being around this team for five games and still being on the bench and just around the program for the rest of the year, I think it's matured this group a little bit and allowed them to see what life could be like down the road as a basketball player when you follow what Nate O's just trying to tell you.

I think this group still has everything in front of them. Now it's just going to come down to defense and making sure there are no off nights offensively. If Alabama is able to combine those two things, this is still that Final Four caliber team that everybody talked about early in the season. But this is the time of the year it has to come together. We've seen some tough closes to seasons, followed by really good runs in the postseason. I think this could be the opposite. I think this could be a really good close to the regular season.

This might be the most momentum Alabama's had going into an SEC tournament since they were number one in the country a few years ago. So I'm really excited to see about what's coming up for this group. But I've got to play defense, got to play tough, especially coming up tomorrow against one of the most well-paid rosters in the SEC in the country. I like that. Well put. Interesting way to put that. Reitzel doing a lot of great things. I tell you, Roger, when he averages 12 to 15 points a game, this is a very good team.

Went off and made seven threes a couple of games ago. Ane Sherell, much improved offensively, a real real protector. And somebody I don't think ever gets enough credit is Amari Allen. He is just a double-double machine. Eight points, ten rebounds, assists, steals. He just does it all. I'm like you. They can get past Arkansas. And, again, we're not making light of the next couple of games after that. But Alabama may have its seven-game winning streak going into a tough three-game stretch in the season. But if this team can once again stay healthy, Bud, I think this can end up being a special year.

Oh, I totally agree. Especially when you've got players like Amari Allen that have made such an impact as a freshman. He's going to impact this game defensively coming up tomorrow probably more than anybody. And then you mentioned Lantrell Reichel, Jr. I think the offense for him is honestly a bonus compared to everything he gives Alabama defensively. So if you've got those guys playing at a high level, if Aiden Sherell can stay out of foul trouble, defend pretty well in the post, and then just get a little more from Noah Williamson now that Charles Budiaka is not on the roster.

If you can just get a little bit more at that spot when Sherell has to be on the floor, and a little more may mean two or three more rebounds or two or three more offensive putbacks for points. If Alabama gets that, this team I think really is the complete vision that Nate had for this year. We'll finally be able to see it here as we close out the season. Roger Hoover, Crimson Tide Network. We mentioned it alluded to at the top of the show. Kaelin DeBoer is not taking any time off.

Adds to at least two more assistant coaches, former Arizona Cardinals. That's the Cardinals of the NFL scouting assistant. Steven Wise and Georgia Tech executive director of recruiting, Alex Mathis, coming over to be added to the staff. He's been busy filling holes. Still nothing specific as far as a role in Tuscaloosa. So, you take a step back and you look, this coaching staff and this roster now pretty much is Kaelin DeBoer's signed, sealed, and delivered signature, if you will. Would you agree? In other words, the Nick Saban Tide has washed out the sea almost completely.

[10:37] Yeah, almost completely I think is fair. And I think it's just something that happens as a coach. You definitely want to have some retention, especially from a staff that just won the SEC championship before Coach Ford got in town. So, you definitely want to have some familiarity helping with the current recruits. But the honest truth is now, you know, Alabama is not really talking to any players that that previous coaching staff was talking to. And with the way the transfer portal is now, it's all about right here in the moment.

You're saying hello and then hopefully getting a yes on the other line within two or three days of interaction. So, that's just how much recruiting has changed in the transfer portal era. So, I think it's a good thing that Coach DeBoer continues to, I think, outside the box and make sure he puts his own stamp on this program. And specifically getting some coaches to help on the offensive side of the ball to really run the football. Because I think we saw last year how much Alabama could have been a great elite team that maybe would have been in that final championship game as opposed to being one of the best eight teams in the country.

I think those are the steps that Coach DeBoer realizes this program has to take. So, a new offensive line coach, a new tight ends coach who had previously been an offensive line coach. I think that's all an emphasis on how can we get better running the football? How can we have better balance on offense? And I think all of that is going to be really fascinating to keep an eye on as we get into spring practice here in a few weeks. In fact, you had our good friend Charlie Potter of Bama Online on Crimson Drive talking about that very subject today, about trying to run the ball more successfully.

Women's basketball, a tough loss to Oklahoma. Had a great third quarter and just couldn't pull it out. Scott, 17 points to Jessica Timmons. Ace Alston with 11. In essence, Cody coming back again after that injury. They played a tough schedule. What did they do to come around Thursday? Here comes South Carolina. It's just a very, very tough league. I mentioned Crimson Drive. Who else have you got on this weekend? Tell us about another busy week for Roger Hoover. Yeah, it's going to be busy starting this afternoon. We'll have the Crimson Drive show at 2 o'clock.

And then I'll hop over to Sanford for the baseball game at 4 o'clock. And then tomorrow we've got baseball at 4 o'clock as well against Alabama State in Tuscaloosa before the men's basketball game. And then, as you mentioned, women's basketball on Thursday night, 7.30 against South Carolina. And then baseball is going to be at home all weekend against Rhode Island. I'll only go to the Friday game. I've got to hop the plane and go down to your brother's territory down to North Florida to Gainesville for Alabama women's basketball coming up on Sunday against the Gators.

Always enjoy my trips back to the First Coast. So I'm going to look forward to all of that and full coverage available on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. We're keeping you locked in on everything that's going on with Crimson Tide. The king of the lids, a.k.a. Hats, Roger Hoover. Listen, man, thanks for your time, day, and safe travels to and from, okay? You guys are the best. Thanks for having me on. Roll Tide. Thank you, buddy. Roger Hoover on the Crimson Tide Sports Network.

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Welcome back in. It is an absolute pleasure. So, open the door and say hello to Coach Sonny Smith. That's right. Former Auburn head coach. Also there at VCU. Coach, welcome in. How are you? Hopefully, we'll be able to hook up by here with Coach Smith as soon as possible. One thing we need to ask him, B.B., and that is, I would imagine, after what happened this past weekend, he basically would not be sitting here and wishing he was still the head coach anywhere after what Stephen Pearl had to do over the weekend.

Well, sooner or later, coaches are going to have a dilemma about whether or not to suspend a star player, and he did that against Keyshawn Hall. You know, we'll see if that gamble pays off. Will he get his attention? Set him down for the final 12 minutes against Vandy, and he didn't even play against a very good Arkansas team. And that's always the dilemma with the coach. But when do you cross the line, and you've got to sit a player for a game or two to try to get their attention?

But unfortunately, with coaches now, they're going to have to cross that bridge at some point. Yeah, and you know, the easy reply and reaction to that is, I'd do the same thing, Coach, except here's the problem, B.B. These guys make a lot of money. The kids drive the bus now with all these NIL slash lawyer leverage deals. And if you don't win, at the end of the day, people are going to sit here and try to put the fire in your britches. So it's easy for us to sit here and say, I've done the same thing.

Personally, I would because here's the bottom line. I do believe until you draw boundaries, and more importantly, you can draw boundaries all day. But until you enforce the boundaries, it does no good. So to me, it's like going kind of the dentist. Nobody wants to go to the dentist. Tooth hurts. What happens if you don't go to the dentist? Tooth is going to hurt tomorrow. It's going to hurt next week. It's going to hurt next year. So go ahead and suffer the pain in the short end.

Hopefully, things will work out in the long end. I applaud what Steven Pearl did because you've got to send a message to the guys. Because if you let him get away with whatever it was, I don't have the specifics. But obviously, in Coach Pearl's mind, it was enough to make this action at the risk of losing a game that he needs to snap a streak right now. But to me, I applaud his decision. But your thoughts overall about Coach Pearl, if you will, part two, taking over this year, the job he's done.

I'm sure it's been a lot of on-the-job training for him. Well, he basically had this dropped in his lap. And I know that he talked with his dad, Bruce, about it. But Bruce, if you remember, resigned in late September. Yeah. But that was a Bruce Pearl schedule in the preseason. Again, we've talked about it. Auburn beat St. John. There's won, I think, 12 consecutive games. North Carolina State lost to one to Houston. They got a big game. We'll talk to Bruce Marshall about in a few minutes.

[21:03] But I think everybody knew the first year was going to be adjustment. Harold, I don't care if you're sitting six inches away from the head coach. Yeah. When you're the top dog, it's a little bit different. And John Summerall, just to allude to what you mentioned, somebody asked him about discipline earlier this week. And he said, look, these guys are getting NIL now. Some of these guys are getting a lot of money. That's right. And they can handle hard coaching or they better. And again, it's constructive criticism.

We're trying to make all these guys better. That's right. Now that they're professionals, they need to live up to the standards we set for them. You know, the guy that comes to mind when you say that is Coach Sampson at Houston. I like somebody who comes out and doesn't sit here and dilly-dally and play politics. He just, he lays it down. He basically says, and I like what Charlie Barkley said the other day. They asked Charlie, and I don't think he's ever been accused of being shy, how he would treat these athletes.

If he was in a position like a coach, you know, somewhere in that staff, I don't guess I can repeat exactly what Charlie said, but I agree with him. I would have, like Nick, I'd come in, I'd show you what I expect. This is what happens if you do. This is what happens if you don't. And then you, again, back to the enforcement word, you enforce it. He said he wouldn't put up with it because, in essence, what he was saying was, I'm not going to sit here and run a babysitting service because if you do it for one, you got to do it for two.

You got to do it for four, you got to do it for eight, and you end up with chaos. I like what Samson does because, obviously, it works for him. You look, now, I know last night I didn't see the final score. He was in a challenge there with Iowa State. I don't know how that game came out, but week in and week out, this guy, basically, he lays it down and he still gets results, which means, I think these kids are not, sometimes I think they get painted with a broad brush.

They're not that bad. They just want somebody who they respect. They don't care how firm you are, as long as you're fair and along with that firmness. Now, some kids are going to be the exception. Of course, they are. But I think, by and large, kids will respect a coach that lays down the law because there's a generation of us folks out there. We never had an option. If we played, these are the rules. Take them or leave them. Well, it's a fine line between knowing when you need to kick a player in the butt or you basically try to pat them on the bank and encourage them.

And a lot of talented coaches know that. That's one of the reasons why Kevin Sampson is in the top 10 every year and they go to the Elite Eight or the Final Four is his discipline on the team. And something else I noticed, I was watching him over the weekend, Harold, they've got a lot of veteran players. A lot of these guys, he's doing something right. He's got one of the more veteran players. Some of those guys have been with him now three or four years, which is something you don't see in modern-day college basketball.

Wait a minute. Veteran players. Where have we heard that before? Did we hear that with Indiana? Could you maybe see coaches, once they sit down now, instead of putting all this sweat equity and money into a 17- or 18-year-old that goes out and hires a handler to hype them up, could it possibly be that coaches now are going to say, hmm, it's working for Houston basketball, it's working for Indiana football, maybe we need to sit here and rearrange our thinking. Maybe we need to go for more seasoned players because, let's face it, guys, if you are, say, 65 and 61, people are pretty much on the same page.

But if you're 22 or 18, there's a major guff. There's not a guff. There's an ocean between an 18-year-old who's been with mama and a cheerleader and all that stuff and a 22-year-old who's now a young man. Give me a roster of 22, 23-year-olds, and I like my chances, BB. Well, that's the reason why so many of these mid-major teams go to the Sweet 16 is because they've got a roster full of veterans. By the way, Iowa State beat Houston last night, 70-67. Both of those teams are 23-3. Iowa State's one of the most underrated teams.

We talked to Bruce Marshall about that in the next segment. But, Harold, whether it's football, baseball, basketball, all these coaches want a veteran team, but that's the problem with NIL. You've either got these guys are so good they're going to the NBA or they're going to transfer because another school's offering a more NIL money. Would it shock you that I started watching that Houston-Iowa State game and I had to go to bed before the end? No, it would not. If you made it to halftime, I'd be impressed.

Quickly, BB, just in 15, 20 seconds, if you love yourself some high school basketball, we don't have time to go through the whole list right now. But we've got a ton of action. Some of the games coming your way starting at noon tomorrow right here on 93-9, the score. Yeah, Harold, we're going to be, in fact, I'm going to go through that beginning at noon, Lauderdale County girls at Feynmont, Lauderdale County boys at Locust Fork, and I'll finish it. In fact, we've got games going on from 12 until probably 6 o'clock, and I'll go over that list a little bit later in the show.

[26:22] And speaking of heading down the stretch, the Olympics are coming near the closing ceremonies. But first, the very latest from the Boots, Italy here on 93-9, the score. Westwood One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games. Team USA is still searching for its first-ever gold medal in the speed skating team pursuit. The trio of Ethan Seprin, Casey Dawson, and Emery Lehman own the world record, but lost to Italy today in the final and settled for silver after getting the bronze in Beijing. Here's Lehman, the oldest member of the team at 29.

Yeah, it certainly has been an emotional rollercoaster. So I think we're definitely feeling very fortunate and happy and proud of everything we did this past three days with this event and over the past seven years together, and I think we can walk out of here with our heads held high. The U.S. women finish fourth in the team pursuit. Knockout round in men's hockey. Czechia held off Denmark and will face top-seed Canada in the quarterfinals tomorrow. The U.S. will take on the winner of Sweden and Latvia, which is coming up.

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Men's basketball action tomorrow 25th ranked Alabama set to host No. 20 Arkansas. The Crimson Tide is 18-7 of the year, 8-4 in the SEC. Arkansas is 19-6 overall and 9-3 in conference play. North Alabama home tomorrow as they play host to Queens. The Lions 3-11 in the A-Sun. Troy's on the road tomorrow. They'll play at UL Monroe. The Auburn Tigers are set to play at Mississippi State. Auburn is currently 5-7 in SEC play. 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.

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Ooh, not smart. And I drove off while still attached to pump number three. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. Potential savings vary. Subject deterrence, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Welcome back, Ken. What do you say we had Wes, young man, and say hello to another young man. He's Bruce Marshall. We're here at Las Vegas Insider. Bam, Sports.net.

Winners and Winers and also busy at Vegas Insider and CBS Sportsline. Bruce, welcome in. How are you? Hey, I'm a pretty good Carol. In your winter and, uh, and, uh, Brett too. In your winter Olympics update here, we have the, uh, Czechs beating Denmark 3-2 to move into the knockout round of the men's hockey. And, uh, we, uh, proceed along that run. And I also found out, I did not know you could cheat in curling, but I guess the Canadians have shown us that that is possible.

Bruce, you spoiled it. See, I taped that and I watched it five times. So, yeah, now I know the outcome, but, of course, I joke about that. But your thoughts about the Olympics, I think we're a certain age when you used to look. And who was it, uh, oh my gosh, uh, Jim, his name escapes me now. He was always the face and voice, uh, Jim McKay, I think it was, the voice of the Olympics. It was, it was pure sports. It was a chance to take a break from traditional sports, root for the country.

With the exception, maybe some over the years in Mexico City, but my, oh my, how things have changed with the Olympics. And I know there was a situation there with the Munich ones, but by and large, things have changed with the Olympics and politicians got too involved at the knock, Bruce. Yeah, I think so. I definitely think so. And, uh, though, uh, and you're right. I, I, I miss the days when ABC covered it with the Jim McKay. Although I, I wonder sometimes if that's just with, you know, us, us, uh, being, uh, nostalgic about it, uh, they, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm opening up my mind this year.

I, cause I had been sort of down on NBC's coverage of the last several, I mean, they've, they've been doing this since the nineties now with the Olympics. And, um, but I think that, I mean, this year they're actually striking a pretty good balance this year. And I liked the coverage a lot. And, uh, it's, um, I mean, they're giving proper focus, but not too, you know, too much on the U S team and we want to know how the U S team is doing, but that's not the only storyline at the Olympics.

[36:31] And I think they're doing a good job covering the whole width and breadth of it. Um, I do, by the way, if it was up to me in the name of human decency, though, I think they should outlaw, IOC should outlaw the two man luge and I'll just leave it at that. There's no room for that. And, uh, and, and I wonder those, the fellows who invented the drone, the drone, you know, that's like for national defense and you can, you know, nuclear warheads or then the surveillance and all that.

I don't think those guys envisioned the drone being used to cover luge flying behind the guys coming down the box. So, uh, anyway, I've actually sort of enjoyed it and they do a pretty comprehensive job covering it. Um, the first time in many Olympics, I'm actually enjoying the coverage. Do we have a preview of a potential final four in college men's basketball this weekend, Arizona 23 and two traveling to Houston, Kevin Samson, they lost a, a tough game to Iowa state last night, both those teams are 23 and three and then Michigan in Duke.

And I knew it'd been a while. It's the first time since 2013, Michigan's been number one in the associated press poll. And they've got a pretty tough game tonight against Purdue, uh, who they're hot. It's amazing. Purdue's got four seniors. I wonder how many teams in the top 25 have got four seniors, including Braden Smith, who I think's been on that team 10 years. They beat Alabama and Auburn. And we want, we want to aim tickly talk with you about the big game in Tuscaloosa to more Arkansas and Alabama, but very interesting, uh, potential final four teams Saturday, Bruce Marshall, Arizona traveling to Houston, Michigan and Duke.

Yeah, boy, that's a good, they're going to play that Michigan Duke game in Washington. So, I mean, that's a good neutral court there. I mean, these are some, uh, these are some, uh, good ones, uh, Purdue. You're right. I mean, uh, Braden Smith and Fletcher lawyer have each been there 10 years at Purdue. I think so they get to Michigan tonight and they are off a good one over Iowa on the weekend, but I think they're in a little trouble here tonight. Michigan is just so good that that's to me, when everybody's hitting on all cylinders, Michigan's still the best team I've seen this year.

Um, all these transfers that Dusty May brought in and especially, you know, I mean, those two, I mean, uh, Atlanta, Bark and Johnson, those two frontliners were rugged and they do all the dirty work down there and letting a day mirror, the UCLA transfer seven, three, just concentrate on blocking shots. And he's been really good at that. And the backcourt, they got a lot of guys who can, who can do things, could do a good transfer in there from, from a North Carolina. They, I mean, that team is a really good.

So I think they'll probably get Purdue tonight. Mentioning, you mentioned that Arizona Houston game. I think we might've seen a final four preview last night, Houston and Iowa state. Yeah. That was a real grinder. And I, I thought Iowa state was dead. I mean, they did, they couldn't buy a three pointer in the second half. And that's, I think how you have to attack Houston. You have to spread the four. You got to hit threes. That defense is still pretty airtight. It, the talk all year is maybe Houston's defense isn't quite where it was last year, but, um, you look at the national stats and they are second in scoring defense.

And they, as an Iowa state was really struggling. And then they finally started to hit some threes and Houston had some empty trips. I, you know, I think Fleming's gives Houston something else here on the offense, the freshman guard. He might be the best freshman in the country. We'll see about Arizona lost a couple in a row here and keep the star freshman. Now he is hurt and he's probably out for a bit. Uh, this could be pretty tough for Arizona getting in there, losing some momentum.

I mean, they knocked them out of the top spot. Um, it's, uh, excusable to lose, uh, at Kansas. And I suppose it's excusable to lose to Texas tech and home because Texas tech's good, but still Arizona was winning all those games earlier in the year. And you've got to wonder what's going to happen here, but I, on Saturday. So maybe, you know, Houston a little bit, they'll bounce them back. I still think that could be, Kelvin Sampson could still get back to the final four. So might Arizona is really good.

And so might Iowa state, man, the big 12 is just as good as any conference this year at the top. A lot of good games there. And, uh, uh, those good ones to look forward to later this week. Bruce Marshall, you can check him out. Tons of platforms, including Vegas in Saturday, since the name has been invoked. Your thoughts about Alabama and Arkansas and Alabama going forward, because this has been one of the most talked about teams, the entire country before Charles Mediaco, during Charles Mediaco. And after Charles Mediaco, we're now on this side of the equation.

They've done pretty good so far, record wise. Uh, first things first, uh, if you will, Bruce, Alabama and Arkansas in the battle of the eight teams and Alabama without Mediaco. It's been said maybe they're a better team because they can run like deer now. Well, yeah. I mean, I wonder, you know, are they going to put the total up there in the one seventies in this game because Arkansas can go pretty good to really, uh, you know, Calipari, once again, pulling rapids out of the hat with, uh, a cuff and Malik Thomas.

[41:57] I mean, uh, these new guards, they're, um, a cuff is really good. Um, high usage shorties scoring over 21 a game and Thomas is good. They have really, I mean, and a cuffs also, but, but over six assists per game. So, I mean, he is really good there. We'll see about Alabama. I mean, I think you're right. You know, maybe that was a, that was a gamble that I wonder if Nate should have taken, um, to put that. And I know at that point, he sort of, you know, maybe was obligated to play him before the last ruling came down.

I agree with you guys that maybe he slowed them down a little bit and that's what they've got to do. But I, I, sometimes at some point, we may not see this until March. We probably won't. But when Alabama goes out and if they don't win the whole thing, at some point they will. It'll be because of this insistence on these, these three point shots that they're just, they just won after another, after another, after another, after another. At some point, you're going to start missing some of those.

They can hit some and they will beat teams and they can outscore a lot of teams. At some point, that's going to get them. Um, so, uh, you know, Arkansas might, might get them tomorrow night. In the bigger picture, Jay Billis just wrote something this week, um, about what he hopes the selection committee does regarding Alabama and those few games that Betty Aco played. And he just suggested, just the selection committee should just talk, you know, no, don't, don't punish Alabama for that. Don't even figure, you know, the Betty Aco in there, it was just one of those things.

And, you know, whatever you do with Alabama, do it after the season, if there is to be any sort of a repercussion from playing. Uh, anyway, it should be fun. I kind of like Arkansas a little bit more right now. Uh, both these teams will be in the dance and, uh, Calipari, I've learned never to sit and sleep on his teams because it always seemed to improve down the stretch. Bruce, just quickly on that, let's just say hypothetically that they do decide to go to the courts.

Uh, at what point does Alabama bring Greg Sankey and say, this dude said it's okay initially. And then he changed his mind. Why don't we start with Greg Sankey and putting in this situation because he said, okay, he's the boss of this league. That's the boss of us. Uh, how do we figure this out? That's a good question. Cause Sankey eventually came out, you know, under the NCAA side in this thing, which didn't really surprise me. Uh, too much. I, I just wonder, Betty Occo's, uh, situation in his case, a little bit different than some of these other ones, like Trinidad Chambliss on the football side.

And some of those, um, because of, you know, actually, you know, getting, you know, playing in a pro game as he did. Um, I, I still don't think we've heard the last of this year. And if it's not Betty Occo, somebody else is going to challenge the road. And again, I think in common sense, and it's something much bigger has to happen in college or sports where you don't have these piecemeal cases here and there about eligibility and all that. There's got to be something more uniform.

And we mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, the indignation over the Betty Occo thing. And a couple of these other guys who have, you know, the Garland at Santa Clara and a couple of others who actually, you know, had been in the G League, but had, uh, you know, not, you know, dropped in the NBA. But I mean, in the era of nil, I mean, what, what are we complaining about? You've got these players getting paid millions of dollars a year. So that's supposedly good.

So somebody, you know, washed out of the early NBA and wants to come back. I don't know. I think common sense will prevail, but it ain't prevailing yet. I don't know. Sankey will do whatever is politically correct at a certain time. So I don't, I'm not holding my breath for Sankey to do anything other than what, you know, he's expected to do at any point and to make a real stand on this. But the whole, and this goes for football too, they're reaching a crossroads here pretty soon and they better figure this out or, uh, more of this mess will come.

The bottom line though is that the public, the fans don't seem to care. All the stuff that's going on in college football, basketball, they'll still watch. And that's bailing out the, uh, administrators on the college side who, uh, intended to make bad moves, but the fans like the products or what do you have? Yeah. Jay Bill was very, was a quite complimentary of how Nate Oates handled the entire situation. He thought it was mountain made out of a molehill in a mountain, uh, analogy. Let me ask you, uh, Bill Bender's a good friend of ours and he does mocks in his two seeds or Yukon, Iowa State, Purdue, Illinois.

All good teams. The Gators are on a roll. They beat the Cats 92 to 83 Saturday, even though Kentucky made several runs at them, uh, 19 to 16 and two. I know they're the best team in the SEC. Could they reach a two seed by the time we get to selection Sunday? I think they could reach a one seed, uh, if they, if they went out and I, uh, and, and I think, uh, if they'd have to win the SEC tournament for that and maybe one out the rest of the way, I think they're very capable of doing that.

[47:08] Poor South Carolina tonight has got to face them. Um, and then Florida's like a 22 point favorite. So, um, you know, say a prayer for South Carolina. Once the guards started to play and those new guards came in, planned and leaving from Princeton, um, and planned from Arkansas, this frontline is so good. And, um, they're the, that's the best frontline in the country. And I think, I think Florida might be the best team in the country right now. I really do. There's still time. We mentioned Arizona a moment ago.

They started to lose some games. Any of those teams in the top three or four could lose a few more. And if Florida keeps winning, I still think they could end up being a number one seed. I don't think they'll be worse than a two. But if they sweep out and go through the, go through Nashville next month and win the SEC tournament, I still think they could be a number one seed. I'm not sure they're not the best team in the country right now. We will see.

Uh, you're exactly right. They came into that Kentucky game. I think they were ranked 345th and threes. And then Lee started going, if they start shooting threes, uh, your, your, uh, theory is, has a lot of possibilities because it's a very talented Florida team. Who else are you looking at tomorrow night, uh, either tonight or tomorrow night? Tuesday has a lot of good, good, sneaky, good games. Who else are you looking at? And you're still the gold standard, uh, where, tell us about the 47 other platforms you are on, own each week.

Yeah. Well, thanks, Brad. There's one other one tonight. There's LSU, Texas game. We talked about Matt McMahon before at LSU. I feel a little bad for him because the, the one guy that LSU could not afford to lose this season. And they had a pretty good pre-league run. And it looked like McMahon might be having a chance to save his job was Deaton Thomas, the transfer of the guard from UNLV. He really made LSU go. And since he has gone out, LSU season has completely unraveled.

And they're losing games now by double digit margins. Uh, Texas, uh, give Sean Miller credit. I mean, all of a sudden now that was a big win at Missouri on the weekend. They, they look like they've got it going. LSU is in trouble. So tonight, uh, 11 and a half point favorite Texas. I might look that way tonight. And we'll just, uh, hold on to our hats for this SEC. Every game is good now. And as we move into later February, check me out online, same places as usual, Vegasinsider.com and CBS Sportsline, sportsline.com picks up there.

It's all college basketball now until the NBA comes back later this week and the NHL next week. Also catch me at winnersandwiners.com, picks and hardlays.com. Bruce, you're always busy, but thank you so much for taking time out of that busy schedule and joining us today again. Thank you so much. Enjoy the boys. Thank you. Thank you, buddy. Bruce Marshall, Vegasinsider amongst others. There's obviously a lot going on, but BB tomorrow, it's pretty much safe to say that, uh, Lauderdale County is going to take over, uh, water state.

Hansel, would you agree? Yeah, the boys, the boys at 12 against Vine, I mean, the girls. The boys at 12 against Vine, the boys at Locust Fork at one at one 30. And then the Wilson girls making history the first time ever to Wallace State. They're taking on a very good West Morgan team. And then the Brooks boys at approximately 4.30. West Morgan, too. West Morgan's got a very good athletic program. So, a lot of coverage tomorrow, beginning at noon, lasting to probably, uh, 5.30, 6 o'clock. And if you want to get out this afternoon, baseball at the brand new Mike B. Lane Field.

It's going to be U-N-A, take a nun, U-A-B. Again, that's at 3 o'clock. Get out and enjoy and maybe grab some vitamin D in the process. Coming up the next time, I'm going to be taking it all over the place. Speaking of letters, M&L, Matt Merchel is going to be on board. Joe Cox and Ben Thomas. It's all straight ahead here on 93.9 The Score. Did you hear? Allstate car insurance now costs even less. So, when you bundle with home, you can save even more. Check Allstate first to bundle and save with a new lower auto rate.

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Visit nu.edu to learn more. Rich Eisen here. For small businesses, every hire counts, and so does your time. Hiring can quickly become overwhelming, from sorting applications to figuring out who's truly qualified. That's where LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps. It streamlines the process so you can focus on connecting with the right candidates, not managing the noise. Hire right the first time. Post your job and get $100 off towards your job post at linkedin.com slash eisen. That's linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. 1819 News. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is expressing frustration with other Republican senators when it comes to working on legislation on behalf of Americans, as well as working to retain control of the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

Tuberville spoke to The Hill about the very little movement that he is seeing within the U.S. Senate. Tuberville is blaming much of the gridlock on the filibuster rule and is currently in favor of doing away with that rule. Tuberville says that Democrats will certainly do the very same thing should they regain power in the Senate. And when they do, they'll pass radical legislation as well as pack the various courts, including the Supreme Court, with judges who have no respect for the U.S. Constitution. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.

Brian Dawson here, CEO of 1819 News. I'm also the host of 1819 News, the podcast, and we'd love for you to join us by listening to our weekly show on all the top podcast apps, both in audio and video format. At 1819 News, the podcast, we are in pursuit of a free and flourishing Alabama. Every week, we're having important conversations with guests from across this great state, all with the goal of equipping Alabamians to be in pursuit of a free and flourishing Alabama with us. A man is facing multiple charges after attempting to elude police in Huntsville this past weekend.

40-year-old Tyrone Garner of Meridianville failed to stop his vehicle for the North Alabama Drug Task Force. A police chase ensued and ended near Interstate 565. Garner is now facing drug trafficking charges after authorities seized 2.2 pounds of cocaine and two ounces of fentanyl. The city of Trussville announced the upcoming retirement of their canine officer, Leo, which will happen this coming April 15th. Officer Leo has been working within the narcotics division of the Trussville Police Department for 10 years. Leo will retire to the home of his handler, Sergeant Nate Holloway.

I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. The Florence Kiwanis Club is having their 74th annual Pancake Day, Friday, March 13th from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, March 14th from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Florence Lauderdale Coliseum. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door, $9 for bundles of 10 or more, or $6 for children under 12. Tickets are available at Florence locations of Bank Independent. For more information, check out Kiwanis Club of Florence AL on Facebook.

Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores. Sports Radio 93.9, The Score. One in ten people age 50 and older in the U.S. have early age-related macular degeneration. Early detection and treatment are the best tools to save your vision. Take control of your eyesight. Go to stopamd.org to learn more. Westwood One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games. 29 women are competing in the figure skating short program, which is underway. The three Americans will all skate in the final six. Alyssa Liu, the reigning world champ, Amber Glenn, and 18-year-old Isabeau Lovito.

They're also known as the Blade Angels. The U.S. has not medaled in this event in 20 years. Also three Americans competing in the men's free ski big air final in the heavy snow. Mack Forehand was first in qualifying. Also Connor Ralph and Troy Podmilsack for Team USA. Three jumps for each, and the top two scores will be combined. Curling, the U.S. men lead Italy 2-2 in the fifth end. That was after losing to China earlier today. They are 4-3 in round-robin action. The U.S. women bounce back with a 10-3 win over Denmark.

[57:29] They're 5-2 in the round-robin. With this Winter Games update, I'm Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports. Your immune system weakens as you age, making it harder to fight flu, pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, and COVID-19. Ask your doctor or pharmacist which vaccines you need. Sponsored by Pfizer. Time is valuable. That's why Lowe's Blueprint Take-Offs turn blueprints into quotes faster. Bring us your plans, and we'll generate itemized material lists to make quoting easier so you can get back to building. Plus, at the Lowe's Pro Desk, you get access to thousands of building materials not sold in store.

And when your order's ready, we'll deliver everything to the job site. Improving is easy at Lowe's. It's Northwest Regional High School Basketball Tournament time, and you can catch great action from a select lineup of local teams here on 93.9 The Score. This Wednesday, the Lauderdale County girls take on Vinemont at noon. The Lauderdale County boys take on Locus Fork at 1.30. The Wilson girls take on West Morgan at 3 p.m. And the Brooks boys take on West Morgan at 4.30. And this Friday, the Florence girls take on Hillcrest Tuscaloosa at noon.

Coverage of the Northwest Regionals on 93.9 The Score is brought to you by The Law Firm of Johnson, Pesher, Medley & Burchill, Lawrence Utilities, Lost Pizza, Alabama Health Guidance, Northwest Shoals Community College, Irons Electric, J.C. Hammond Sons, Cypress Creek Indoor Range, Singing River Dentistry, and the town of Rogersville. Atlanta Braves spring training is back, and this 2026 Brave squad's out to remind the league that the road to the postseason runs through Atlanta. Just left that thing smoking right out of the yard. Saturday, Braves spring training is back as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays.

Then on Sunday, it's the Braves and Twins from Cool Today Park in Northport. Airtime Saturday is 11.55, and Sunday following Alabama women's basketball, right here on 93.9 The Score. 93.9 The Score weather. Today cloudy with a high around 70. Tonight mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers overnight and a low near 60. Tomorrow partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and a high around 80. Tomorrow night mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight and a low near 55. 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. The Boomo Bugg Show. 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 free ride around the Tennessee Valley. And did James just say something, Brad, that brightened the spirits of a lot of folks who've been like a bear in hibernation.

Is it through, is it through that Braves baseball returns this weekend here on 93.9 The Score? That, that, listen, that rumor can be confirmed, yes. I think if my old ears heard right about 11.55 for the pregame Saturday here on 93.9 The Score. But something else that says it's a great time of the year is a lot of high school postseason play. And nobody's got a better eye and handle on that than Ben Thomas at AL.com. BT, welcome in. How are you? Well, if the Braves are going to start playing, but do they have anybody left to pitch is the question.

Really? No. Really. Yeah. Gotta have Hawkeye. How much, what have you got on your fastball, Ben? How much have you got on that thing? Oh, I might be able to get past 50 about right now. That's about it. And they'll take it. But, yeah, they haven't even played a game yet. And they've got two starters out maybe for the year. So, that's a little eerie. But, yeah, busy time in high school sports, obviously, with the regionals starting today across the state. And baseball and softball starting on Thursday.

Soccer already started. We had a big tournament down here in Foley over the weekend, 103 teams competing. So, it's kind of that, maybe the busiest time of the year for high school sports right now this week. Ben, if you've been there and done that, you know this. We've touched on it before. But for the brand new kids on the block, is it not the best time of the year if you love high school basketball? Because, as opposed to getting into the old jalopy and driving to 1,000 places, you go to one place, you park that old jalopy, you go inside, and basically, from morning into night, you get to see good high school basketball.

[1:02:29] To me, if you love it, this is the best time of the year for a fan. Yeah, you know, for a sports writer, it can be a little bit difficult because you've got all these games going on at, you know, eight games a day at four different regional sites. And so, planning for that's a little hard. We get to the state tournament, it's a little bit easier because we're all at the same site. But I enjoy it. I mean, I don't get to go, you know, we don't get to go as much as we used to.

When we first went to this model that we're in now at AL.com, we covered each regional with two people every day. And we just don't have the manpower to do that anymore. But we'll be out and about this week. Thomas Ashworth is in Hanceville today covering the action. And, of course, we have a live update score post and highlights post every day. And then, you know, we'll get around to the state finals in a couple of weeks, and we'll all be up there, and I'll be excited to.

By the time I watch all those games, I'll be tired of basketball. But it'll be fun for that week. B.T., Thomas Ashworth had a very good preview of some of the best players in the regionals. And this gives you a little bit of an idea, just in the Northeast, at Jack State and Northwest and Hanceville, some of the talent that we've got playing in these games. For example, in the Northeast, Lanny Smallwood from Albert Bowl is a Mississippi State basketball signee. A young lady by the name of Sawyer, Kate Hogan, from Plankview, broke the state and national record for the most threes made in a career.

She's made 589 three-point shots. Chloe Ford from Hoover signed with Missouri. And two young ladies that we're quite fond of up here. Bell Hill from Morris Hill is already a star. She surpassed 3,000 points last week, is averaging 32 points a game. Reese Davis from Dessler is an Ole Miss commit. She surpassed 2,000 career points. And young lady, Kenaday Bowie from Gundersville, she is an eighth grader, averaging 16 points and has already lived to 1,000 career points. And I haven't even gotten to the boys, such as Evan Toms at Huntsville. We'll talk about them in a few minutes.

But it is amazing, BT, when you look at the SEC signees, milestones, record breakers. There is some incredible talent playing in these regionals. It really is. And Todd did a good job of selecting it. And there's a lot more Plankview Lanny in each regional, which I'm sure was hard for him to do. But like you mentioned, Kennedy Bowie, I like her. She spelt her first name K-E-N-N-A apostrophe D, Kennedy. There you go. Thank you for bringing me. Common, as Roy D. Mercer would say, common spelling on Kennedy.

Bell Hill is somebody who's very interesting and means only a sophomore. You mentioned her, Brett. Already the three-time Class 3-8 Player of the Year. She's been a three-time. She's already trying to get missed basketball. You mentioned Lanny Smallwood, who probably is the frontrunner for missed basketball this year, averaging 25.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists for Albertville. And sorry for Kate Hogan. I don't know how long it would take me years to make 589 three points. It might take me years to make three, five. But we got a lot of talent.

You know, last year, I think Ace Austin stole so many of the headlines for Spring Garden. You know, she's such a great player. Two-time missed basketball now at Alabama. And everybody knew that she was the presumptive missed basketball winner and all that stuff. And it was just a joy to cover. And a lot of these other girls, young ladies, I guess we should say, same way. But I'm looking forward to seeing these ladies. You know, down in the south, we have an interesting story. Twins at Alma Bryant.

Maddie Marie and Mary Margaret Grayson have Alma Bryant in the regional final. And they average over 20 points a game, I think. And so they're an interesting duo to watch. But, yeah, girls basketball is certainly as good, I think, as it's ever been here in the state of Alabama. Look out for those twins, because back in the day at Walker County, they had twins by the name of Beard. They won every pizza-eating contest that was ever thrown their way. So be careful of those twins out there, Ben.

You know, as you mentioned the talent on the girls' side, they don't rebuild. They just reload when it comes to boys in North Alabama, do they not. I mean, there's a long list. One that's kind of close and could even be even closer is Khalil Luster down at Red Bay. He's 6'8". He's a sophomore. 6'8", sophomore. He's just not in his growth spurt. Got offers now from right down the road, UNA and Alabama A&M. Your thoughts about Khalil. And another, to me, obviously, this guy, Evan Toms at Huntsville, is stealing the thunder.

[1:07:48] But Lee High School, do people realize what a factory Lee High School is? You go up and down the list. This place, all the time, it's putting them in, putting them out. Dillon Anderson, the latest in that class. But North Alabama is blessed again with great boys' high school talent. It's kind of that time of year for North Alabama. You know, we talked in football season about, you know, why can't those 7'8 teams win? You know, can't they get to the football championship? Well, this is the time of the year for the North Alabama teams.

You mentioned Khalil Luster, 6'8 and only a sophomore. I mean, I think some of the best days are still ahead of him. Evan Huntsville just keeps producing players. I mean, Evan Toms is their latest guy. They've ever done a double-double for Coach Schweres there. Jalen Alexander from Oxford is a guy to watch. He's one of the best players. Many consider him the best senior in the state. And, boy, later in the last week, I think it's Friday morning, Oxford and Gadsden City. That's two of the best players in the state.

Alexander against Jacoby Sharp from Gadsden City. So, those are – that's going to be – there's some good games. Just look at the schedule. There's some really good games. Just like – remember last year we had – everybody made a big deal. We had Huntsville and Hoover boys playing in the regional final instead of in the final four. And we're going to have some of those matchups again this year in the regional. BT, Huntsville and Hoover Monday at Jack State at 1.30. And everybody was hoping, please, put these two teams at Birmingham.

Hoover, I believe, was number eight in the power pole. Huntsville has been either one or two. I think there are two right now. I just think Huntsville wins that game this year. Hoover and Dwayne Brown last year. And they made a few mistakes at the end. I just think this year Huntsville gets them. Well, I think probably Christian Schweres is hoping that's the case. I mean, you mentioned Hoover. You know, Hoover was 35-0 last year. But not only did they lose Dwayne Brown, who was Mr. Basketball, and you can see him now playing in the SEC at Tennessee.

They also lost, I think, all five starters. They do have Jackson Sheffield back, a big guy who kind of, I think he came off the bench for him. And he's a good player for Hoover. They're still, you know, still not going to be an easy out, Brett. But I do think Huntsville will be favored in that game. And, you know, maybe it's their time to get to the final four. Yeah. Man, obviously it's not immediately in their backyard, but a lot of high school coaches and fans are watching the Scottsboro case for obvious reasons.

They challenged the big boys down in Montgomery. What's the update for the Wildcats from Jackson County? Yeah, so they announced that was a weird situation. I don't know all the ins and outs of that situation. Basically, Scottsboro, you know, they got, I think, the reclass by the HSA gets the enrollment numbers from the State Department of Education, and then they sent out an email, you know, before they reclass saying, hey, are there any changes that we need to look for? And apparently at that time, Scottsboro said, yes, you know, we have a different number, a lower number than what you have.

And for whatever reason, the HSA went ahead and reclassified with the old number they had, and it looked like it was going to stick that way. But just on Monday they announced that that was not going to be the case. They were going to reclassify Scottsboro down to 4A. Wow. So, you know, I guess it's good. I mean, you know, obviously we want to be right in the numbers, in the enrollment numbers, and I don't know, like I said, I'm not sure what the HSA side of that was, why they didn't just correct that mistake before it happened.

But it's good to see it corrected now. I think Scottsboro is happy. Hopefully that will be the end of that grievance. You know, we had the Oakwood situation that lasted all week last week, which really shouldn't have. I mean, to me that was – I don't know why that was a controversy. I mean, they played too many games. And, you know, the precedent was always, you've got to forfeit the next game. And they never – from my understanding, that's what was interesting to me, guys. They never debated that they didn't play too many games.

It was that, well, the punishment was too hard for an administrative player or whatever. I just thought that was a strange situation. But I think the HSA had got that one right. I agree with you. By the way, I mentioned Mars Hill Bible occasionally during this segment. They have a new football coach, BT, as I believe you probably know by now. Chris Hill coming from El Dorado High School in Arkansas. I hear he's more of a spread guy. Of course, Darryl Higgins ran the wing tee to perfection.

Darryl moving on to Russell. We certainly wish him a lot of luck. But, along with basketball, a little bit of football, Chris Hill, the new head football coach at Mars Hill Bible School. What else is on the agenda this week? And tell us about your coverage of the regionals. You've got write-ups, scores, I mean, nearly by the minute, certainly by the hour. Tell us about your coverage of the regionals. Well, I think if Coach Hill is going to bring the spread to Mars Hill, that's going to be quite a different look from what we used to do with Coach Higgins.

[1:13:13] And those two big running backs they had last year running through all those yards. But, yeah, we've got a lot going on, obviously. As I mentioned, every day we'll have a schedule and score post that we'll update with some highlights. We'll have some breakout games along the way from all these regionals. We are also, I don't know if I mentioned, but we're starting a look at, as we build to our new best in Bama, the top recruits in the state. We're going to take all the class of 2026 guys out now and re-rank them.

But we're going to, in order to get there, Randy Kennedy is going to start ranking, or not really ranking, but recognizing by position some great players in the state. And this Thursday we'll have some of the top running backs to watch of any classification. So, look for that. We're also going to have some baseball and softball storylines in the next couple of days as that season gets ready to open. So, we've got plenty going on, and you can find all that at AL.com. Ben, you don't have to go to a gym.

You lose wages trying to keep up with everything. You're a busy boy. Keep it up, and thank you so much for your time today. All right. Y'all have a good week. You too, bud. That's the BT Express. Ben Tellis, AL.com. Time to rock with Joe Cox when he comes talking NCC on deck on the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. 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.

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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 thoughts from Alabama baseball head coach Rob Vaughn following the season opening series win against Washington State. Results, obviously much better, but just execute it at a better level. You know, you even saw it early in the game today. I mean, Zaner was as dialed in as it gets there in that first game, and we needed that because you could even feel the dugout.

[1:18:47] Like, we go first and third in the first and kind of jam job F4, don't end up scoring in the first, and you could feel kind of some tightness in the dugout. You could feel like, oh, man, we got to do this. We got to do this. And luckily, he was dialed in. It was just zero after zero. And then when Luke Vaughn finally hit the homer, it kind of let the boys see the ball go through the net, you know, and it felt like they loosened up a little bit and started running off really good at bats.

And we went from, like, no quality at bats at the beginning of the game to pretty elite as it went on. And then had the young pup in the second one. Upchurch did a great job in his first start, and hitters were great, so much better at Daytona's. Tide fans, are you ready for game day in Tuscaloosa? Don't miss the ultimate pregame experience this season at Vector Security Champions Lane, opening four hours before each home game. This Fan Fest has everything you need to get pumps 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. 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. The rumor is our next guest is the only man on planet Earth that spends more time, at least he and his family, at the dentist's office than yours truly.

His name is Joe Cox. Bees you there at Saturday down south, and his book's called A Fine Team Man. Joe, welcome in. How are you? Well, you know, no disasters to report afresh. So, I think for the moment, we're all hanging in there. We won't even bring it back up because it may come back in honest. Joe, good job. You come out with your basketball power rankings, and I don't think anybody's shocked that the Florida Gators are there again. We say, again, they are the defending national champs and living up to their billing.

The interesting team to me is Arkansas. We'll talk why in a minute because that's who Alabama's got next up. Is Arkansas number two on your list because of John Calipari's talents or the fact they've got a lot of money in NIL or maybe a little of both? Well, you can't go wrong either way there. I mean, they've really had a pretty remarkable season putting things together. You know, the question mark, I think, after Calipari's struggles the last couple years at Kentucky was, you know, would a new school bring a turn of the page from him?

And largely, I think it has. I mean, it's not going to be a situation where you can have a run like he did in his first five years at Kentucky where you're really in the hunt for the national title every year. But that aside, you know, I think he has done a good job of adapting and showing a little bit of a change, and that, I think, was the concern. And so, you know, even for a Kentucky guy who, you know, was kind of ready to see the end of the Kentucky Calipari thing, I'm glad to see him flourish in his new spot.

So, it brings up the aforementioned Battle of the A-teams, Alabama, Arkansas, intriguing, nobody Yaco to beat on there. What gills in Tuscaloosa when the two teams come together? How well Arkansas's guards play, I think, will be a key. Can Alabama harass Acuff, get him out of his comfort zone a little bit? That, I think, is going to be the big thing for Alabama. You know, the talent there, you've got to just get more consistent on the defensive end of the floor. You've got to be able to kind of set your watch on that.

And, you know, Calipari's saying the same thing over at Arkansas. You know, you hit the point in the year where, you know, your freshmen, they're not even freshmen anymore. They're really just really sophomores at this point. So, they've got to step up and show that for him. And then, you know, at Alabama, you know, see if they can get Phylon off on a tear, as he's very capable of. It should really be a good game. Looking forward to it. Joe, Tennessee won Rick Barnes' 250th win at Tennessee.

And a lot of people thought, well, he'll be there a couple years and retire. 18-7, 8-4. Now, Kentucky's had their number. The worst thing Tennessee can do is get a double-digit lead on Kentucky, and then they come back. Nate A-Mint has probably played his way into the first round of the NBA. Bobby Gillespie is playing well. Estrella has made some key baskets. Joe, your thoughts on Tennessee going down the stretch? Yeah, they're dangerous. I like that one-two punch with Gillespie and A-Mint. You know, to step back a little bit and take a look at Barnes, I think because they haven't had that breakthrough year where, you know, they make the final four, there's a tendency to say, you know, Barnes over there at Tennessee.

[1:23:50] Hey, you know, I'm old enough to remember where just, you know, making the tournament, winning a game or two was a huge deal in Knoxville. Yeah, Bruce Pearl certainly changed the culture there a little bit, but it wasn't really sustainable. You know, I think he's one of those guys who, whenever his time comes and he's done, he will be one of the all-time underrated coaches because he's just quietly put his team in position to have a chance year after year after year. And one of these days, they're going to break through and finish for him, but even if they don't, he's a remarkable coach who has been a brilliant hire there and really, I think, has elevated it for everybody who will come after him.

Joe, before we jump off of the Olympic update, how big is it safe to say that Auburn's at a crossroads? Four wins, now four losses, and we're heading into March Madness. Yeah, you don't want to be one of those teams that heads to Nashville needing to win a couple games. And I'm afraid they're playing their way there. I know they've got Kentucky coming up, and that could be a chance for them to really gain some ground. Need to finish strong. Need to string together a couple of Ws.

And, yeah, make that Nashville trip as stress-free as you can because you really don't want to go there and have to approach it as a life-or-death thing. By the way, next week, Joe Cox, we will be talking about your power rankings for SEC baseball. And I think Arkansas with Dave Van Horn, we've been saying this for three years. Is this finally the year? I think he breaks through this year, and we will talk about that. Joe, where can we get online? How do you get all the good stuff?

Well, Saturday down south, we'll be on it. And, yeah, it's hard to believe we're talking baseball, but let's just multitask and see if we can figure out these round balls for us. Joe, this man kicked back. Stay away from the dentist's office, and thanks so much for your time today. Thanks, guys. I always appreciate you. Thank you, bud. Joe Cox hooking in from Saturday down south. BB, obviously, quickly, your thoughts about John Calipari in the sense there at Arkansas? He's doing a good job, Harold. One thing he always does, and Jalen Rose was a good example.

He always gets a good point guard. And believe me, our listeners are going to see one tomorrow night. The battle of the 18s, and guess what? You can catch that game also right here on 93.9 The Score. The same place you can get the very latest from the Olympics. They're straight ahead of the Boomo Bugg Show. Stay with us. Westwood One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games. Sponsored by Straight Talk Wireless. Free 5G phones, great prices, no contracts. Straightforward, always. Heavy snow falling for the men's free ski big air final right now.

Three Americans in the mix. Mack Forehand, who was first in qualifying. Also, Connor Ralph and Troy Podmilsack. They're finishing up the second of three jumps. The lowest score of your three is dropped. The Blade Angels headline the women's figure skating short program. Americans Alyssa Liu, Amber Glenn, and Isabeau Lovito will all skate towards the end. Glenn and Lou helped the U.S. win gold in the team event last week. In speed skating, Team USA taking silver. In the men's team pursuit behind Italy. The updated medal count, Norway leads the way with 30 medals, 13 gold.

Italy next with 24, then the U.S. with 20. With this Winter Games update, I'm Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports. Tech 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.

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[1:29:22] 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. Getting the kids to practice on time. Remembering if it's your day to bring snacks. Making it to the game with a clean jersey. Why are simple things sometimes so complicated? Thankfully, with auto owners, insurance doesn't have to be one of them.

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Get your free quote at ethos.com slash game. That's ethos.com slash game. Paid spokesperson. Time spent on application may vary. Online health questions required. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9. The score. In college baseball action tonight, Troy is on the road as they play fourth-ranked Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are 3-0 on the season, while the Troy Trojans are 1-2. Auburn Tigers are back in action tonight against Cincinnati. The Tigers 3-0 to start the year, while Cincinnati is 2-1. North Alabama set to play today against UAB.

The Lions are 2-1. UAB is 1-2. Also in baseball action, Alabama will play Samford in Birmingham tonight. Both teams are currently 2-1. South Alabama on the road at Nichols. The Jaguars are 2-1. Men's Hoops yesterday. South Alabama lost at Marshall 84-80. 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. Welcome to guided meditation. Close your eyes. You're at the beach. The seagulls are calling. You take out your iPhone 16E you got from Cricut and use Apple Intelligence to clean up that selfie you just took.

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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Welcome back again. It is a pleasure for us to welcome in the original M&M, Matt Murcia. He is busy there as a college insider with the Orlando Sentinel. His podcast is called The Gridiron 365 Show. Matt, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you guys doing today? I'm good. We're thinking about giving up sports and going into being a sports lawyer, Matt. Do you think we'd have any business out there?

What a run it's been. Your thoughts about the latest over in Oxford. I got offended. The NCAA found out that Oxford is pretty much down home after dealing with that judge over there. Your thoughts about the case and how that may influence the SEC next season. Well, you know, I guess it's just a wait and see. You know, I mean, it seems to be that, you know, all these cases that are coming up, what it costs about eligibility, whether we're talking about, you know, players getting another year.

I mean, it all really kind of comes down to, you know, what judges are willing to come up with. And it could change the variable look of the SEC next year. I mean, we talk about, I think there's about three or four quarterbacks that can definitely find their way back on the field coming up. And, you know, I'm sure that's also going to open the door at some point down the road for other players who feel like they've got an opportunity, you know, maybe to come in there and, you know, have a way to get an additional year.

[1:34:38] Juco players now, there's a lot going on with that right now, you know, about the viability of Juco players, you know what I mean? And, you know, that's just, you know, a situation where that could really kind of change how things go. You know, the Joey Aguilar case is a big one right now, you know what I mean? So I think what we're looking at is just, you know, what's going to happen and can the NCAA find a way to win some of these cases if they really want to?

Or is it just going to come down to these players finding a way to kind of get those extra years and hoping that down the road maybe the, you know, the government or someone will step up and find a way to put, you know, to make some sense of how everything is going right now? Speaking of making sense, what if you're a head coach right now? Let's just use Pete Golding for an example. Obviously, Channels was all that in a bag of chips. He was a Cinderella story many ways last year.

And then we know what happened as far as putting the big question mark. Golding comes in at the last minute, controversial situation there with Lang Kiffin, of course. And he says, okay, Channels may not be able to come back, so I'm going to go and promise the moon and more to Deuce Knight, who has just buddied with potential down at Auburn. He is a state of Mississippi native. He comes to Ole Miss. There's reports out there that he was promised a starting job regardless. We'll see how that works out now.

And if he was, and there's legal documents out there, what happens is terms of a court case turning there. In other words, what a myth this is, in some ways you want to sit here and blame coaches, but the system says, I may or may not have my guy back. And let's face it, spring camp's opening up here in the relatively short period of time. Yeah, and that's a good point. You know, I mean, again, you don't know exactly. You know, if you're Ole Miss, I mean, and you're Pete Golding, I think you have to move forward with the idea that Tristan wasn't going to be back.

You know, I think you can never go with the idea that you're going to win a lawsuit or get an injunction. So, I think that's why they made the move with Deuce. Now, if it's true, and yes, he was promised to be the starter no matter what, that presents an interesting scenario for Chambliss. Because, again, the transfer portal window has already closed. You know what I mean? I mean, he can enter the portal window, I guess, but I mean, he'd have to wait. I'm not sure how that would work, you know, if that would allow him to go play somewhere else.

I mean, it looks like probably not. So, I mean, that causes all sorts of headaches that go in there. And it really does open the door on this idea of, like, okay, is it really a good thing to have these injunctions, to have these court cases? I mean, are we really doing justice to the game of college football? And I think, you know, it's the same case for Joey Aguilar. You know what I mean? You know, if you're Tennessee, you can't sit around and wait. You can't sit around and wait for these guys and hope that maybe a judge decides that, you know, rules on your side.

You've got to move forward. And when you've got a player and you've been told, okay, you're going to be the guy next, and then all of a sudden this happens, they could really throw things in chaos. And I think there's a lot of coaches right now who could be facing a lot of difficult decisions. And there are a lot of coaches outside of this wondering, okay, is this going to happen to me? You know, am I going to face a player who's going to decide to put up some sort of lawsuit together when it comes to these kind of situations?

And how is that going to really kind of affect what I'm trying to do to build teams? It's already tough enough to build a team with the way things are right now. So to add in court cases and injunctions and things like that, I think it could really kind of cause all sorts of headaches and that coaches don't want to deal with anymore. You're exactly right. Angular is going to be a tremendous impact, but that's huge for Chambliss coming back at Ole Miss and Angular, those two come back.

Angular probably won't participate in the spring with that benign tumor in his shoulder removed, but that'd be huge for Tennessee. We followed, talked a little bit about the Pac-12 or the Pac-10. They went down to the Pac-2. Now they're the Pac-8 with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, Texas State, Utah State, all the states, joining Oregon State and Washington State. They got the schedule. It's going to be interesting. We've gone from two teams to eight. We'll eventually probably get back up to the Pac-12.

They announced the schedule, I believe, last week or it's coming out shortly, but your thoughts on the Pac-2 going to the Pac-8? Well, you know, it could happen at some point. You know, the Pac-12 obviously had a little bit of money, you know, when all the schools left. You know, they had to pay exit fees and everything like that. You knew the Pac-12 was going to try to find a way to build itself back up. And so what do you do? You go after the schools that were maybe fringe schools on a lot of, you know, a lot of conferences, you know, wish lists, like the Boise State, like you mentioned, Colorado State, Fresno State.

[1:39:41] You know, you bring in some areas where you think, okay, we're going to build this up again and we're going to see that we can kind of elevate these schools and elevate our league to the next level. It's not going to happen overnight, believe me. I mean, there's going to be challenges that they're going to face, but I think it's an interesting league. You know, it almost feels like the Mountain West, you know, I don't want to say light, but, you know, I mean, you have a lot of the Mountain West in there as well.

I think Oregon State and Washington State have a clear advantage having already been at a Power Five conference for a long time. They understand exactly what's going to come from there. So it'll be interesting to see how these other schools are able to adjust and to play at this level and how the Pac-12 can assert itself when it comes to dealing with these other conferences. You know what I mean? It's not like they can walk into the room now and tell the Big 12 or the SEC or the Big Ten and ACC, hey, we're back, baby.

Let's get to the table. I don't think that's going to happen. I think everyone's going to look at them and be like, well, you're almost dead. You know what I mean? As a conference and you've found a way to come back. So, you know, it's going to take a while, I think, for them to kind of, they're going to have to win some games. They're going to have to look, they're going to put together a pretty impressive run for a while and hope that none of their member schools decide to eventually leave if there is some sort of expansion down the road with other conferences.

Yeah, Michelle, the Orlando Sentinel. Here's the name. I don't think it's a house of words. Shalik Mills. Shalik Mills. Now, why haven't we heard of this name? He is a middle Tennessee offensive lineman. So, why are we talking about this, Matt? He's been granted his eligibility. I hope you're sitting down, Ripley's Believe It or Not, for an 11th season of the NCAA. In other words, the kid that started in the first grade is now in the 11th grade during his college tenure. He was recruited two things during the Obama administration, and I had dark hair.

Shalik Mills in the 11th season of the NCAA, Matt Merchell. Now we're getting, now we're getting just, this is ridiculous. I mean, now we're getting just way too much. I mean, I'm sorry. I mean, you know, I go by six, I can't even get to seven, and think, okay, I get it. You've got to give it to 11. When you start talking about getting to 11, I mean, now we're just, I mean, this is just ridiculous. Just move on, you know what I mean, at some point. I mean, I'm, of all four people having opportunities, you know, especially if they've been injured or had difficulties or whatever's going on.

But to get to this point to have the 11th season, it's just too much to me. I mean, and I mean, you're getting the idea of, you know, imagine being a teammate, you know what I mean? You've got this guy comes on, you know, and he's been around for a while, and it's like, you know, yeah, exactly, you know what I mean? I mean, I thought when Australian punters would come over, you know, these guys were 25, 26 years old, you know, and had family, that that was pretty crazy.

But, you know, now we're talking about guys that could really be, you know, like, okay, you know, let's see what happens. So, again, this is what happens when the NCAA doesn't have a clear plan in place, doesn't understand how to make this true. And it was never meant, waivers like that were never meant to be for, let's continue on, you know, it was always meant to be a situation that, in case something happened, like you had an injury one year, and you didn't come back one additional year, it wasn't meant to be used like this.

I mean, again, I guess, you know, hey, more power to you, but at this point, I would just say move on. And they used the word Grecian in the locker room. He said, no, I'm not Grecian, that's what I use on my hair. So, speaking of crazy things, Matt, your thoughts, I mean, let's face it, the NCAA in the world of football, especially when it came to coaching, you know, recycling's big in a lot of neighborhoods, that's all the NCAA coaching world's about. Your thoughts about the impact of new, slash, old, slash, kinda, Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp.

Yeah, you know, I think Will, it's an interesting hire. I mean, I think Will has had moments, you know, I mean, obviously, he had some moments of success. I think if people think about years ago when Mack Brown was leading the Texas program, you know, I think, I think it wasn't Will one of the coaches. He was either a coach in waiting or he was going to be one of the next big leagues. He was hot. He was hot. And, you know, he went to Florida and, you know, he had some struggles at Florida and, you know, went elsewhere and, you know, went to coaches, you know, Georgia and had some success there.

And now, you know, I think Texas comes back and says, okay, let's bring him back. You know, I know Will took a little bit of time off to be in the family, but it's going to be interesting being one of the highest paid coordinators in the country again and having some success. It's not like he's not, he's not a good coach. I think Texas would enjoy having someone who's got head coaching experience at Florida, South Carolina. I think they understand, you know, what he brings to them.

He's got experience at Texas, so he knows exactly like I mentioned, he knows exactly what he's getting into. And I think for Texas, you know, again, it's all about surrounding yourself with coaches who maybe have that head coaching experience. Because when something happens, you can lean on somebody and say, listen, man, you know, I mean, when this happened to you or has this ever happened to you, what did you do? You know what I mean? And that's easier to have those guys. I've talked to a lot of coaches that have wanted to make sure they brought in guys who maybe had that coaching experience for that reason.

[1:45:04] You just want to lean on somebody and say, what can I do and what can I make in this situation? And it helps maybe ease that where a younger assistant maybe doesn't understand exactly what's going on. And there's a story out there that back in the day when Coach Bryant would interview young coaches, he'd bring them in and you had to understand the psychology. He set up higher, had a couch. He looked down on him. And one of the questions that he always asked, he said, son, are you smarter than me?

Well, every coach would sit there and cower and say, of course, I'm not coach. He says, then why do I need to hire you? I need somebody smarter than me. Yeah, I mean, I think it must have worked. And I think in today's day and age, you know, I mean, I'm not saying there's anything against bringing on a young coordinator or a young assistant coach. They want to learn. They're eager to learn. But I think there is a little bit of having some coaches around that have been around for a while.

You know, understand what's going on. You can understand what you're experiencing as a head coach. You know, whereas maybe an assistant doesn't understand. A younger guy maybe wouldn't understand that because they've just been coming up where they were a player and then a GA. And then all of a sudden they're coaching special teams. And now all of a sudden you're maybe a coordinator job. But when you've had a guy who's been around and you look at some of the coaching staff that have had success over the years, there's usually one or two guys on the staff that have been around for a while that can help maybe, you know, give advice.

That can help when the coach is looking for maybe what should we do here? What do I need help with? You know, I mean, that can be huge for a team, you know, I mean, to have that. Because you can rely on a guy like Will Muschamp and say, what do we need to do at this point? Or Will can give an advice and just say, this is what we went through at Florida or we went through at South Carolina or Georgia. And I think for Steve Sarkeesian, that's something you enjoy and you want to lean on.

Yeah, I think he was one of the most underrated hires. Now, it's going to be the summer of March. That's all we're going to hear about is March coming back. But Muschamp's three-year deals worth $8.4 million. He is just below. Patricia at Ohio State, he's got three for $3 million. And Blake Baker, who came from Missouri, to LSU, now with Lane Kiffin, three years for $3 million. And I also noticed Mike Helko at Texas A&M basically said the same thing you did earlier, calls out the NCAA and says, we need to put somebody in charge of college football.

And then I noticed Mike in the last two weeks signed a new six-year, $69 million deal that will – he's got an automatic $300,000 raise per year going up to $12.25 million in the final year. These coaches work hard, but, Matt, they're paid well, too. Oh, yeah. Most of them, especially at a certain level, are paid really well. And they make sure that they get paid well. And their agents do an amazing job of making sure their clients get paid well. And they get paid well. Exactly. And there's a reason why Jimmy Sexton is one of the top agents in college football because he knows exactly what he's doing.

And I think, you know, you want to make sure that these coaches – you know, that you – especially if you have a level of success. You know, Texas A&M obviously had a good year this year. You want to capitalize on that. You want to lock in your – you know, make sure that you've got your coach for a while. You can see how much losing a coach can really decimate a team and a program. You know, if you lose a coach and a staff and you lose players now going to the portal, the portal window automatically opens up.

That could really, you know, devastate a program. So you want to make sure you bring in a guy, especially if you feel like he's making the right moves. You feel like you're in a good direction. I mean, think about where Texas A&M has been over the last few years. Jimbo Fisher – they spent a lot of money on Jimbo Fisher believing he was going to lead them to a national championship. He won, I think, more than eight games in a season. And they were – they wanted more and they got rid of him.

They were willing to pay 70 – what was it, 75, 78 million dollars to get rid of Jimbo. So Texas A&M knows that they've got the money and they want to make sure they invest it properly. And they feel like Mike Elko is the guy who's going to do that. I mean, Mike's made come up for a couple jobs here and there now, and it'll be interesting to see what happens over the next couple years. If they can continue that run because they know the SEC is ripe right now.

They know there's good teams there in the SEC, but they're also – there isn't that dominant team like Alabama was, you know, when Nick Saban was around. So they have an opportunity to try to make their way of being that dominant team over the next couple. Absolutely. Great stuff. We always enjoy the conversation. We'll probably talk a little college basketball with you, too, in the next couple of weeks. Matt, where can we get online and get all your good stuff? Yeah, you can go to OrlandoSentinel.com to check out the latest or follow me on social media at OSMattMirchelle.

Sounds great, Double L. Listen, man, stay safe down there. Baseball coming this weekend to your backyard. Enjoy it all, okay? All right, take care. Thank you, bud. Double L, Matt Mirchelle, hooking up with us from the Orlando Center. Quickly, BB, if you love yourself, some high school basketball. We've got your coverage starting about, what, noon tomorrow here on 93.9 Score. Yeah, Lauderdale County at Vindemont. Harold the Girls at 1.30. Approximately Lauderdale County at Locust Fork. The Wilson Girls at West Morgan at approximately 3. And then at 4.30, Brooks. Mm-hmm.

[1:50:24] And Wes Morgan for the boys. And then after all of that, Alabama hosting Arkansas. You can hear all of it on 93.9 The Score. And the cherry on top coming up Friday. It's the Florence Girls taking on Hillcrest, Tuscaloosa. You guessed it, right here on 93.9 The Score. It's going to take care of business for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here. Carol Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again next time right here, noon to two for the Boom Up Buck Show.

Back here on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score.