Boomo Bugg Show 052626

[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. New 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 a street ride around the Tennessee Valley. Brett Beaird, welcome in to day one of the SEC Beach Party. Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?

And the listeners, yeah, it's going to be a very interesting week in Sandation and we'll be talking with a lot of the guests about that this week. 12 SEC baseball teams and regions, including seven teams who are hosting regionals. Las Vegas insider Bruce Marshall previews the SEC meetings in Sandestin. Roger is here right now to talk some postseason Alabama baseball and softball. Roger that, Roger Hoover. He's busy on the Alabama Crimson Tide Network, baseball, basketball, football, you name it. Roger's got you covered amongst other places. You're on 93.9 The Score and the Crimson Tide Network again.

Roger, welcome in. How are you? Boomo Bugg doing really well. Hope you guys are as we say goodbye to May and say hello to June. There you go, my friend. So, Roger, what's going on, man? I mean, you have to be like a Swiss Army knife. You've got baseball, you've got softball, you've got all kinds of balls juggling in the air. What a season has been for this Alabama athletic program. I guess the trivia question is, if you're going to Jeopardy, how many schools have had somebody this deep in the playoffs, whether it be baseball, softball, football, you name it, gymnastics, you name it?

Yeah, it's been pretty special. It kind of brings to mind some of those teams around 2011, 2012. It was kind of another stretch where Alabama athletics kind of across the board, you know, had some national championships in sports other than football, like softball, men's and women's golf, baseball. I had a rolling back then at that time, too. So, this is a very good era, what we're seeing right now for Alabama athletics. And I think Greg Byrne deserves a huge tip of the cap for the coaches he's hired and everybody he's kind of put in place and giving everybody at Alabama in this brand-new era where everyone said, oh, Crimson Tide, you know, athletics, they can't keep up in the NIL world with all the money that's out there for these Texas schools or anything else like that.

I think we're competing pretty well across the board and doing some really special things. So, I think it's a great time to be with the Crimson Tide and hopefully the team I work with the most, baseball, can really start to do its part later in the week. Absolutely. Rhonda, speaking of baseball, they did not have a great week at Hoover losing to the Gators 13-3, but because of their strength of schedule, RPI, Alabama ended up being a national number seven seed, got a regional in Tuscaloosa.

By the way, they'll get a super regional if they can advance through the regional. Oklahoma State, USC Upstate, I believe is going to be approximately one o'clock on Friday. And then Alabama with the night game against Alabama State, 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Roger, talk about the teams in the regional. Well, you start with Alabama State, the first opponent for the Crimson Tide. They've done a tremendous job in getting players in unique and interesting ways, especially for a SWAC school. They have a head coach that is from Puerto Rico, and he's able to use his connections from Puerto Rico to really build up this roster and, again, give these players a chance that often get overlooked in the college.

Recruiting a landscape he knows where to find talent, and they've been able to really consistently have some winners in SWAC over the last few years. They play, of course, in Montgomery, have a good on-campus ballpark where Alabama's been the last few years, and Alabama knows just how tough they can be because earlier in the season played them to a tight 2-1 game when the offense was not doing well at the beginning of the season in Tuscaloosa and then broke out the bats a little bit more in Montgomery, scored over 13 runs, had a good win against the Hornets later on in the season.

And what I was most impressed with in that game, Alabama stole a lot of bases. So I think you're going to see Alabama, once again, be very aggressive going up against them, and we'll see kind of what it looks like with now as opposed to this being a midweek game where both teams are kind of saving their best pitching for the weekend. What does it look like when it's Tyler Faye going up against Alabama State? What does it look like when their ace goes up against Crimson Tide as opposed to sometimes in these midweek games a parade of relievers and freshmen just getting their feet wet in college baseball.

[5:02] So fascinated by that aspect of it. And then still learning a little bit about USC Upstate and Oklahoma State. You know, the Cowboys have done some really good things playing in the challenging league in the Big 12. They can hit a lot of home runs, but their pitching has been kind of their weakness throughout the season. So if Alabama plays them on a Saturday or a Sunday to continue in that tournament, what does their staff look like once you get beyond some of their three or four really key arms that you know they're going to have to throw against USC Upstate in order to get a win?

And then for the Spartans as well, still kind of gathering some information on them. But another team that's battle-tested, having played a lot of the good teams in the Carolinas in their midweek games, and they won't be intimidated at all coming to Tuscaloosa and this regional environment. Roger Hoover in the huddle with us. I appreciate you bringing it up because fans sometimes, they look at the front of a jersey and they go ahead and say, okay, let's look past that and talk about down the road.

I think some fans did that with football when they took on Indiana last year. We saw how that turned out. That's a very good point. In this modern era, take a deeper dive into things before you draw any conclusions. But, Roger, your thoughts overall about the path? Everybody starts once they get the news. Two things on that. It shows you sometimes the tournament, I think, is overrated. Everybody was poo-pooing Alabama and Rob Vaughn after getting blown out. Ron ruled in the SEC tourneys. It turned out that probably is a good thing in terms of resting everybody up.

Arkansas's coach had a good point. We go to the tournament. We do our diligence. We don't get to host. It's hard to argue with that. But at the same time, that strength of schedule is so important. Your thoughts on that? And back to the original point of the question, Roger, your thoughts about the path of Alabama navigating to get to the next round? Yeah. I like the fact that the regular season was respected. Alabama didn't have any games canceled throughout the course of the season, trying to make sure their RPI was good.

The RPI was good simply by the caliber of opponents they're playing. Now, it helps to have, you know, some in-state schools like Troy and Jacksonville State, South Alabama, put together some good years. You know, we're blessed. And some other states, you don't get that, especially for SEC schools. So, the fact that Alabama can stay in-state for the non-conference schedule buildup and schedule the right way is good. And then, you know, this team took care of business when it mattered most, even against some teams at the bottom of the SEC, like, as it turned out, Vanderbilt.

As it turned out, South Carolina, you know, Alabama, probably its resume would have been dinged a little bit if Alabama comes up short in some one-run games against either one of those schools that did end up being impressive sweeps for the Crimson Tide. But just the fact that Alabama was able to go out there and take care of its business the right way, I think says a lot about this program and the different approach this team has had this season. You know, they're capable of a lot as you look at the path forward.

And this is a team that had two different seven-game winning streaks in the SEC, the first time that had been done in the conference in 13 years. So, this is a group that knows how to get hot. I think you're starting to see some hitters kind of round in shape at the right time, like Jason Torres, Justin LeBron. They have got to have huge weekends. Alabama's got to have production from Justin LeBron driving in runs and potentially got to have him hitting home runs because he's able to do that.

We haven't seen it as much this season as we saw in his freshman year or last year. So, there are pieces there that if they start to click, if this offense gets going, if they play solid defense as well with the ball in their hands with the glove, they can be really, really dangerous. But the pitching staff has got to continue to perform like it has. And then, for this offense, I can't afford any lapses, can't afford any, you know, funks where all of a sudden you're not scoring 11 or 12 innings in a row, stretching between games.

Because you do that in a regional, and especially a super regional, and you will find yourself on the outside looking in and with your season over than you'd like. Roger, someone texted me this morning and asked me about the Saturday schedule. Now, again, we're not trying to get ahead of ourselves. But if Alabama beats Alabama State, the night game Saturday night would be the game one winner between Oklahoma State and USC Upstate, and then, of course, the Alabama State winner. Is that correct? Yes, I believe so.

I don't have it right in front of me, but I believe yes, that would be. Because you'd have the loser's bracket game earlier in the day. And yes, you would have, you know, the winner's bracket game, which as we remember from a few years ago between Troy and Alabama was an absolute classic. And unfortunately, I believe Alabama would beat a road team in that matchup if we get there. I hated those rules in NCAA baseball, but it is what it is. Roger Hoover again to huddle with us.

Roger, a lot of folks have to wait to October for a World Series. If you are a softball fan, it's right now, over the next few days anyway, starting the month of June. The question now for Alabama is, Roger, when is this team going to pick it up on the pitching mound? They've been outstanding. It has really been fun to watch, especially Jocelyn Briskey, the way she was able to come in after the rain delay and just slam the door shut on LSU. It was really fun to watch.

[10:10] And then I think all of us now love Vig Moten. I think I told you guys early in the season, I had an interview with her, and I was like, this might be the most entertaining player I've talked to in any house in the last five years, and now the nation's starting to see her personality come to shine a little bit as well. So yeah, it's a fun stretch for Crimson Tide softball, and man, I just can't wait to see what happens coming up later in the week.

Absolutely. Roger, let me ask you a quick basketball question. The deadline, I believe it's tomorrow, to take your name out of the NBA draft, and I've been asked for a week what Amari Allen is going to do. He seems to have dropped, I've seen, between 28 and 32, and a lot of the, quote, experts have suggested that Amari comes back for another year and learn under Nate Oates. Have you heard anything about Amari Allen's decision coming up very soon? I have not. I know he's trying to squeeze in as many workouts as he can, has as many conversations as he can with NBA executives.

And I think the blueprint for this was all last year by LeBaron Phylon Jr. He understands, and I know Amari will be able to talk to him and Nate Oates and his coaching staff. And again, Nate is very clear, kind of similar to Nick Saban, it seemed like, you know, with players that had a chance to go be a first-rounder, go. But if you still have some work to do, come back. We're the perfect place to help you grow your game and become a no-doubt lottery pick, like we've seen with LeBaron Phylon, you know, we've seen how Mark Sears elevated his game after coming back, after thinking about the professional waters as well.

So I think whatever happens is going to be in the best interest of Amari Allen. And, you know, Nate is not somebody that's trying to be selfish just for the sake of Alabama basketball. He's already moved on a lot of ways by building up a really good roster just in case Amari does not come back. But I think we're going to see a pretty similar timeline to what we saw last year with LeBaron Phylon Jr. Now, does that mean Amari's coming back? Not sure. But like you mentioned, some of the metrics suggested he is in a similar spot to what LeBaron did last year and could be benefiting more from getting an increased exposure and increased role on this team by playing for the Crimson Tide next season.

So I'm just like everybody else. I'm going to be glued to my phone, opening up Twitter constantly over the next 24 hours just to see what happens. And I think we'll get some news on that very, very shortly, it sounds like. Well, everybody's going to be waiting to listen to Roger Hoover and the team this weekend, beginning Friday night. Going to be exciting in Tuscaloosa. Also looking at Thursday night for softball. Roger, tell us about your week and where we can get online to listen to Alabama sports.

Yeah, we will not have a Crimson Drive today as we'll kind of wait until our Thursday show to give a full preview of what's coming up for Alabama softball in the World Series, baseball in the regionals. So Crimson Drive will be coming up on Thursday at 2 o'clock on all of our social media platforms. Look forward to having that preview. And then, yep, it's all baseball after that, for me at least. I'll be listening to Tom Canterbury, Gray Robertson, calling our games in softball at the World Series.

But I just can't wait for the Joe to come alive once again for a regional. It's hard to believe it's been three years since we got to enjoy one in 2023. That was really, really memorable. The main thing I remember is they cleared out the stadium in between sessions the first night that we played in that regional. And so Chris Stewart and I were just getting into the booth, starting to ride out our lineups, and the ballpark was completely empty. They opened the gates, and within two minutes, I turned to Chris and I said, hey, look at Wright Field, and it was completely packed.

Our great student section that's open to fans during this time of year with the postseason, it was the first place in the ballpark to fill up, and you just had a buzz and an energy that I really haven't seen since, to be honest with you. Even though we've got some great home environments, great home victories at the Joe, there's just nothing like the postseason with the full ballpark and everything that's on the line. So I'm thrilled we get to see it this weekend, and good Lord willing, hopefully get to see it another weekend for something that Alabama hasn't got to enjoy in a long time, and that's hosting a home super regional being two wins away from Omaha.

But again, we've got a lot of work to do. We've got a lot of work to do getting ready for those Hornets, those Cowboys, and those Spartans from Spartanburg before we can even think of that voice. As of late, Stevie Ray Vaughan would say, don't come a-knock you when you see the Joe rocking. Enjoy it, Roger, and thanks so much for your time today. Thank you, bud. You guys are the best. Thanks for having me on. Roll Tide. Thank you, buddy. The Roger, Roger Hoover of Crimson Tide Sports Network.

From the Tide to the Tigers of Auburn and Brian Matthews on deck. Stay with us. Since 1952, J.C. Hammond Sons has been keeping the Shoals comfortable year-round. As the oldest family-owned heating and air business in the Shoals area, they've built a reputation for a reliable service you can trust, whether it's for your home or your business. Need installation, repair, or maintenance? The experienced team at J.C. Hammond Sons is ready to help with all your residential and commercial heating and cooling needs. Visit them at 2536 Florence Boulevard or call 256-764-7386 today.

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Certified to operate in Virginia by Shaft. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score. After a day of yesterday, the Atlanta Braves are back in action tonight. They're Boston as they take on the Red Sox. Spencer Strider starts for Atlanta. He's 2-0 with an ERA ride at 3. Ranger Suarez will start for Boston. He's 2-2 with a 2-4-0 ERA. Braves come into the matchup with a 36-18 record. They've dropped back-to-back contests. Auburn baseball team will host the regional this weekend. They are set to take on Milwaukee on Friday afternoon.

Alabama will meet Alabama State on Friday night in the Tuscaloosa Regional. Jacksonville State will play on Friday in Hattiesburg. They'll meet Virginia, while the Troy Trojans will play in Gainesville Friday night against the Miami Hurricanes. 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. With Progressive's Name Your Price Tool, you can choose the best coverage option for you. Because you know you. Like, you know that hiking isn't for you. Sure, it sounds nice to be in nature while exercising, but that's what a gym and house plans are for.

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[20:44] I'm doing great, guys. How are y'all? Yeah, we're doing all right. Looks like that Auburn baseball team is going to keep you away from the beach, at least for the foreseeable future. It's going to cost you to punch the clock again this week, but if you're an Auburn fan, you probably don't mind too much, do you, Brian? No, absolutely you don't. You know, Auburn national number four seed, again, hosts a regional. If they can win that, they will host a super regional the following week and open up with Milwaukee on Friday at noon.

And then they're straight into a double elimination tournament. UCF and NC State are the two and three seats there. They'll start the tournament Friday at around five. Brian, that's rather impressive, a number four seed. But we've talked with you about this baseball team for months now. Their RPI and strength of schedule were very high. They won what? Their last six series? You put all that stuff in a blender and it comes out. Auburn got really a very high seed at four. Yeah, I think Auburn benefited from two things.

They scheduled really hard. You know, they went out on the road early to Texas to play out there in that little tournament. And they also, you know, it turned out a lot of their non-conference teams was to try to find good non-conference teams. Turned out to be good, including some in the state, like Jacksonville State, which beat them twice. And Cincinnati, another team that beat them, but still that helped their RPI because Cincinnati was a really good team. And Nebraska, of course, came here. Auburn won that series.

So their non-conference schedule really helped out a lot. And then they benefited. I think they played the top seven teams in the SEC, if I'm not mistaken. So that, of course, helps out a lot. You can look at Georgia. I think they played three. You know, bottom four, Georgia's clearly the best team in the SEC, but their RPI wasn't high. And that was just, you know, the luck of the draw in the SEC. Who knew that LSU and, you know, South Carolina were going to be as poor as they were.

So that just happens sometimes. But, yeah, they deserve credit for making an effort to schedule really hard. It's worked out well for them. Brian Matthews, AuburnSports.com. Brian, we talked earlier about Alabama's opening opponent, Alabama State. And on the surface, you say, what? That's going to be a walkover. We were talking with some of the folks who know the coaches from Puerto Rico, which is baseball heaven. They can recruit a lot of talent from Puerto Rico. Your thoughts about Milwaukee. If you look at first glance, it's easy to draw conclusions, but we live in a different era.

These guys can go out and get immediate help. Your thoughts about Auburn's opening opponent and then the path through their particular region if they're able to get through Milwaukee. Well, I don't know a whole lot about it. I'm going to work on that here in the coming days. But, you know, I know Milwaukee's a pretty good team. And they've hit for some power, doubles, home runs, triples. And they've got a bunch of stolen bases. I think they've got one guy with 40 and another guy with 20 stolen bases.

So, they're a very good offensive team. And they've hit a bunch of doubles and home runs. So, I would respect a really good offensive team. Pitching-wise, not quite as good. I think their team ERA is around seven. Wow. So, this could be an opportunity maybe for Auburn to swing the bats and get that bat cranking. You know, that's the area this team is falling a little bit short in. You feel like scoring runs and, you know, hitting home runs and doubles and being a little bit more proficient on the offensive side.

So, that's something they'll need to step up and go. I don't know a Milwaukee starter yet, Evan Nouth. But their top pitcher has been this Minky kid. He's 5-6 with a 4.63, just 45 strikeouts. So, not like a hard-throwing type guy there. So, this should be something that will give Auburn an opportunity to score some runs and get that part of the team going early. Let me double-check with you. A lot of Auburn fans may not realize, well, they're thinking the Friday game is going to be at 6 or 7 o'clock.

No, it's at noon. But if Auburn wins that game, they would move into the winner's bracket Saturday and Sunday. And, again, trying not to get ahead of ourselves. But game one winner would play the game two winner Saturday night, I believe, at 7 or 8. Correct. And the same would be Sunday. Is that right? That is right. Auburn did request to play the late game Friday. Right. But ESPN has the final decision there, and they decided to put Auburn at noon, I guess, to spread out some of the better teams throughout the day.

But, to me, you know, I've seen teams choose noon. Florida State, I know, has done it some because two reasons. It gives you more time to, you know, get better and rest going into game two. And, you know, if there's going to be rain and rain delays, you'd rather be the first team to play than have to wait around all day and try to be the second team to play in that situation. So, I think that gives Auburn an advantage. I don't think it's a bad thing.

[25:46] I think, you know, the main reason that Auburn and most schools want to play the late game is just to get their fans there. And, you know, sell out that stadium and have that home field advantage as much as it can. But, after that, the region, the times are all set. So, it's, you know, it's 2-7. 7 o'clock will be the winner's bracket on Saturday, and it's 2-7 against Sunday. And then, if it has to go to Monday game, that's when they'll have to schedule it around what other games are still left on Monday.

And they'll set it up to make sure they get everybody on TV if possible. We've got about a minute and a half left with you. Auburn at football picked up their ninth commitment. Three-star offensive lineman, Rance, not Lance. Rance Brown from Brentwood Academy in Tennessee. Auburn fans hope he is the next in the long line of them. Yeah, three of Auburn's nine commitments now offensive linemen. So, you can see them really, really making a push for that. And Rance is also an offensive tackle. So, that's another area that Auburn has really needed to recruit better at.

He's 6'6", close to 300. A guy that Auburn really latched on early as a top target. And I think, again, he's one of those guys that is probably more of a developmental offensive lineman. But you're going to see teams like Auburn assign more guys like this and then invest in certain positions where they know they can get a guy into the starting lineup or the playing rotation right away for those high four-stars and five-star type caliber prospects. So, a nice pick-up from them. A guy they targeted early.

And this weekend is the first round of official visits for Auburn. So, recruiting is really going to start picking up. A lot of news will be coming out of AuburnSports.com here in the coming weeks. Absolutely. But where can we get online to get the latest in recruiting, keep up with baseball, and all the other great stuff? Yep. And I will be all over that coverage. Check us out at AuburnSports.com. Follow me on Twitter at BMATAU. Brian, it's always good to kick off the week with you.

Thanks so much for your time today and stay safe down there, okay? Yeah, I appreciate you guys. Thanks for having me. Thank you, buddy. Brian Matthews, you're going to be with us at AuburnSports.com. BB, are you a big French Open tennis fan? Well, we're about to get an update coming up next, Harold Boone. Just two words to that. Oui, oui. The latest next. Stay with us here on the Boom O'Buck Show. Goff could face world number one arena Sabalenka in the semifinals. Goff beat Sabalenka in last year's final for her second Grand Slam title.

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I'm grateful we were prepared. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash play. That's ethos.com slash play. Paid spokesperson. Time spent on application may vary. Online health questions required. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. He is a Las Vegas insider for the gold standard. Goal sheet slash wager talk. BoundsSports.net. Almost busy there with the CBS Sportsline. Winners and Winers, Picks and Parlays, Bett Rivers, and Vegas Insider. Bruce Marshall, welcome in. Hopefully, you and your family had a great Memorial Day and safe holiday.

How are you? Yeah, good. Yeah, back up from Florida. Good day on there. And, yeah, we're revving it up. Sports continues, though. Bruce, did you leave Florida too early? You were leaving when Greg Sank and his posse was coming in to beautiful San Destin. Your thoughts. A lot of times, these things are, you know, they're kind of boring and all that stuff, like watching paint dry. But let's face it, this is kind of the epicenter of college football. So, the way the wind blows there, the way the rest of the world goes.

Bruce, what would you like to see this week from the powwow by the beach from the SEC? Well, it's almost careful what you wish for, because I'm not sure what I wish for. I know they're talking about the college playoff here now, the football playoff and what they want to do. And the talk to 16 to 24, there's not unanimity in the SEC about that. But there's some other things going on here that Sankey and Tony Petiti from the Big Ten have to sort of address here. This collapse of the SCORE Act in Congress there.

And that provided, you know, limited antitrust protection. But that was sort of a non-starter. That was not going to ever pass. Because, I mean, who's protecting whom there? Is that for the benefit of the athletes? I mean, that just was never going to go. So now, I mean, more realistically, you're going to be floating the ideas about, you know, a breakaway with the SEC and Big Ten. I don't know how doable that is. And I don't expect anything to happen there, because that could jeopardize some of the TV deals and the media deals that they have now.

And I don't think they want to mess with that. And there's got to be, to get this implemented beyond 12 teams for next year, for 27, whether it be 16 or 24, they've got to make a decision by December 1 of all of the, you know, the leagues in college football. So there's a time crunch on it, too. I don't know where this is going to go, but my gut feel is that they'll get this thing expanded. The fight will be 16 to 24, I'm going to say. Just because, you know, college football has generally moved this at a glacier-like speed, maybe 16, although that jump from 4 to 12 was pretty big.

It'll eventually get to 24 or maybe even 28. But that's the number one thing on the agenda here. And that seems to be dominating all the talk here. And, you know, but more now, I mean, this Big Ten SEC sort of breakaway thing, that's gaining more traction. But I think they'll put that, they'll look under the hood with all the ramifications of that. And I think probably we'll get away from that at some point. But it is a talking point this week. Yeah. In the College Sports Commission, the entity that more or less approves NIL deals, and we knew the 20.5 calp, they were going to go past that very quickly.

[36:45] I know that's proved to be some heartburn because the College Sports Commission has denied some of the NIL deals. And again, Bruce, we hear this every week. Texas has got a 40-million roster, et cetera, et cetera. That's going to be another sticking point. I think that's another reason why the Big Ten and the SEC want to do their own thing. Yeah, I think so. I mean, once in a while, Heather Dinnich writes a decent article at ESPN, and she did one the other week about the, you know, where this stuff is going and, you know, and how, you know, that $20.5 million thing, I mean, that was, you know, that was never a mandate.

I mean, they're not forcing the schools to pay that much. They can do that themselves, but we knew that doesn't account for all this other NIL money. And you've got, you know, according to Heather's story, I mean, you've got schools up there pushing $100 million now, throwing in basketball and football and all that, and it just seems to keep expanding. So I'm not sure where that's all going to go. But I do think there's got to be some sort of a reclassification, I would think, because the game the SEC and the Big Ten are playing, it's different.

It's, you know, Western Michigan and Western Kentucky and Kent State, they're not, you know, they're in a different conversation. And to put, you know, they're so different in, you know, what's going on in the landscape for the big leagues and some of the non-big leagues. Maybe there's got to be some sort of an adjustment made. I'm not sure. The other thing, too, is, I mean, at some point, you know, we keep thinking this TV money is going to run out, and ESPN has been in this sort of state of flux here for a while, but they seem to keep being involved.

They're not going away, and these media deals never seem to lose money the next time they make them. Now, that's not etched in granite. At some point, you wonder if they maybe oversell this stuff too much, and that's what I think is another thing that they're thinking about with the expansion to the part of the college tournament, because of the football tournament, because the NFL is going to want some of those dates, and colleges will lose ratings-wise, and that affects the dollars and all that. So there's a lot of different pieces to the puzzle here that they've got to figure out.

He is Bruce Marshall, and Bruce is the voice in Las Vegas, that being the case. Bruce, we were all of an age when the highlight of the football season sometimes was this time of the year when those great magazines would come out. Athlon, the Sporting News, Phil Steele with his encyclopedia, it's not a magazine. Athlon has, out over the past few days, Brent's brother, Brent, is an enthusiast of the magazine. Yes, he is. He loves it. I think he counts out three days before they hit the rack down there in Florida where he lives.

But I think Athlon has Alabama at 15th in their preseason. At one time, that would have been sacrilegious on a guy named Nick Saban. Your thoughts, where would the voice of Vegas put Alabama in the preseason polls? Yeah, somewhere in the upper 10%, and I guess Lindy Davis is going to have his out there pretty soon, too. Yeah. I usually love Lindy's, too, so they'll be coming out soon. Yeah, they'll be, it's a little, you know, they're going to be knocked down a little bit from where we normally see them.

But, I mean, they'll still be in the mix. There's so many interesting storylines that are going to pop up, you know. And just, you know, the one cautionary tale, I think, for all of college football here, is if you make, I'll just talk about all the money and all this and the nil, but you really need the right coach in there to make it all work, mostly because, you know, DeBoer is fine, so it's worked. And the question with him is, how long is he going to want to, you know, live with the pressure there?

But if you get this wrong, and I'm thinking about someone like a Kentucky, we don't know that Will Stein's going to work. Look at what has happened because of a bad hire at Purdue. A couple years ago, the program dropped off the map. Now, Eric Morris is coming with, like, an entirely new roster this year. Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy lost interest. So that's, you know, he's had to do that. They've had to remake it. And with Purdue going down the tubes, so you really, you've got to hit these hires right.

And the SEC, I think the best thing they have done here is hit most of these hires right. We've got a bunch of them this year, though. How's Alex Golesh going to work at Auburn? He does have a track record, and so does Summerall at Florida. But, you know, Alex Stein comes in. This is kind of a crossroads period for Kentucky. We'll see where it goes. Bruce, I saw a story the other day. The theme of it was our head coaches are valued as much as they were at one time.

[41:57] They're always going to be valued. But the point of the story was how much of a gap now is there between the head coach and the GM who has to identify the talent, who has to sit here and split that pie up the right way, in other words, get the biggest bang for the buck? Your thoughts about the modern staff. At one time, obviously, the coach was A, B, and C. How much of it now is, yes, you've got to get the right coach, but you've got to get the right GM who can identify talent, raise money, and know how to spend it?

Oh, that's big now. I mean, that's maybe the biggest change in the past decade. Just look at Vanderbilt, what they've done. They've got the right guy in there. I mean, Barton Simmons is now one of the most in-demand guys in the country. He's been big for Clark Lee. What about Blanchard down there at Texas Tech? That's the guy Cody Campbell really wants to make sure he doesn't get away. But a good GM is gold now. And I'm interested, though, some of these schools seem to be hiring these sort of legacy GMs to come in as connections to the program from the past.

You know, this is a results business, and Simmons and Blanchard have proved, you know, never mind if you used to play at the school or your connection to the school. If you can do the job, you know, you're the guy for it. So, yeah, that is a very big deal now for sure. Yeah, and Oklahoma got one of the better ones in Jim Nagy. He was the senior bowl exec and now is with Oklahoma. You alluded to the TV part of all this mess. Fox, two years ago when the bids came up for the playoffs, Fox gave a very lukewarm offer.

And, of course, ESPN got it. Now, Fox wants a part of this. They want to go to 24 because of the money. Certainly with this because they didn't bid. They kind of see the light now. But I agree with you, that's a big part of all of this. Going to 24, SEC, Big Ten, moving away, it's TV money. It is, and this is sort of uncharted territory. And the worry is that one of these times, maybe the next TV media deal isn't going to pay you as much.

I mean, the escalators are not etched in granite. And, you know, ESPN spread itself pretty thin. Yeah, and I really think the only, you know, NBA's got a pretty bang-up deal right now, too. But the NFL really drives all this. And the problem colleges are going to have, as we mentioned before, you don't want to butt heads with the NFL. And if you're loading up the calendar with your playoff games, you're going to lose a ratings war with the NFL every time. And that's going to impact ratings.

That's going to impact ad revenue and the ability to draw these sorts of big money. And they're, you know, it's not an unlimited amount. Although, from the new portion, it seems like it is. But from the networks, I mean, there is still a business aspect to it. So they've got to be a little careful. You know, the next deal that goes down, it will be the first time it happens. But it's possible. And this SEC Big Ten breakaway, that's one ramification they think could happen. Because all of a sudden, it's a whole different deal.

And they're going to have to change the media deals. Nothing is etched in granite. They've got to be careful. Check out Bruce Marshall, amongst other places, Vegas Insider. Our mutual friend is in a unique spot. He's not talking about the other Brett, Brett Norsworthy. We had on Brett last week. He's a classy guy. He's still not going to throw Landon on the bus. He's certainly not going to throw Ole Miss, his heart and soul, on the bus. He is in a unique position. Your thoughts. What's going through folks like Brett's mind, fellow Ole Miss fans, eligibility rule changes.

Yeah, everybody seems to go after Pete now across the board. Your thoughts just about the expectations and what's realistic for Ole Miss this coming season. This sort of goes back down. Golding did have a chance in the playoffs last year. But they were riding a hot wave there. And there was some unique circumstances. And I think the worry at Ole Miss is not that this is going to be a Ryan Walters type situation. Because Golding had been there. He'd been around. He has been a head coach now for a few games.

But there will be a drop-off after Lane. And Brett said this as much. You know, he said that Ole Miss was really out of the big-time football business until Lane got there. Won 50 games over 10 years. I mean, that's something they hadn't over five years. I'm sorry. And that's something, you know, that Ole Miss hadn't done. So they're worried about a drop-off with Golding. Or maybe Golding is going to be the right guy. I mean, he's certainly aggressive enough in the portal and in the transfer market that's ruffled some feathers.

But I think that's the big concern at Ole Miss is this thing. We've had some real salad days here with Lane. Can Golding keep it up? And I also wonder, just the circumstances of Golding's hire, because of the timing of it, they promoted from within. Had Lane, you know, had the timing been different, they may have gone outside and looked for a more established coach. So they took a little bit of a gamble here with Golding. And I think that's what they're concerned about at Ole Miss.

[47:15] And they're crossing their fingers. Bruce, one of the big wailing and gnashing of tea stories last year in the Big Ten for their spring meetings was the new punt rule. Kirk Ferentz was just absolutely beside himself. The punt formation now must be two by two on each side of the snapper. Well, that's really not a big deal. The numbers on the line of scrimmage have got to be 50 through 79. No changes there. But one that got me was, if a team elects to change player jerseys, a team must fill out a form and present it to the referee before the game in the official's meeting.

And I'm going to be curious to see how the SEC coaches their response to this. It is absolute nonsense. Of all the problems in college football, Bruce, we're going to change the punt rules. And believe me, the coaches are not happy about it. I just, I just, just for the humorous side of me, I wish they would have put this rule in when Coach Saban was still at the low end and to see how he would have reacted to it. I mean, it's just, it's just crazy.

And they're piling up one insignificant rule after another. I didn't see, but the one rule, by the way, that I want to change, and I'm not sure that they have done it, is the play clock. Defensive changes happen, and the play clock keeps running, but the referees there stop the snap from happening until the defensive teams get their new players on the field. And I've seen the play clock run down beneath five, four seconds before they give it a go. And I've seen some penalties called, because for delay a game, they, that's, I don't know if they've changed that rule.

That's the one I would certainly address. They at least got to stop the play clock from running down while the defense is running in its substitutions, because then you're just really, you know, creating a very awkward position for the offense. Bruce, you just make too much sense, buddy. It's just too much common sense. Always enjoy the conversation. Going to be a fun week and sound dashed and listening to what everybody thinks about the expansion of the playoffs. The gold standard is Bruce Marshall. Buddy, where can we get online and get all of the great stuff?

Baseball, NBA playoffs coming down, college baseball postseason this week with all the regionals. Where can we get all the good stuff with you? Yeah, good stuff. And we got, yeah, baseball really going good. Our picks right now, NBA, we won them both. Deciding the total with the Knicks last night. That was kind of easy. It won't be that easy. But anyway, basketball, hockey, baseball for sure. All my picks are under the wagertalk.com umbrella. And that means that my picks are there. Goldsheet.com is there.

We'll start populating that site more towards football. Also, winners and winers and picksandforlays.com. It's all under the wagertalk.com umbrella. As I say, Bruce, you're always a good bet. Stay safe. And thanks so much for your time today. Thank you, boys. Thank you, buddy. Bruce Marshall, Vegas Insider. Speaking of Nick Saban, did you see his quote this week? He was talking about when he first got to Alabama. As part of the package, I won't call specifically the car brand name. They're going to include this brand.

It was one of the economy classes. Nick, surprisingly, let out some extra says, I've got standards here. Get rid of that. And they did. Nick nipped it in the bud, didn't he? I think he had a consistent record doing that, and it turned out pretty doggone good. Coming up in the next hour, we're going to be taking you all over the place. Matt Merchuk is going to be checking in along with Joe Cox and Vince Ferrara. It's all next. Stay with us from the Boomo Bugg Show.

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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third-party insurers not available in all states or situations. 1819 News. A ruling has been issued against the state of Alabama by a three-judge panel. The judges ruled in favor of liberal activist groups who are seeking to stop the implementation of a 2023 congressional map for the upcoming special primary election and the November general election. The three-judge panel consists of Judges Stanley Marcus, Anna Manasco, and Terry Moore. Judges determined that timing played a major part in their decision and the effort to forestall a logistically impossible voter reassignment effort.

The attorneys for the state of Alabama argued that the recent Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana versus Calais allowed for this state to no longer use the court-ordered map in 2024 since it was deemed unconstitutional. The state is likely going to appeal the judge's decision to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals so that the special primary election can go forward in August of this year that was recently authorized in a special legislative session. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Did you know that 70% of people experience a potentially traumatic event in their lifetime and that 6 out of every 100 adults face PTSD every day?

Help us bring hope to these survivors by signing up for your Alabama distinctive PTSD awareness license plate today. The great thing is you can sign up no matter when your current plate renews and the first year is complimentary. All you need is your VIN number on hand. Drive awareness. Drive hope. And customize your plate today at atease.org. Jefferson Shredding and Recycling LLC is planning to bring a metal recycling plant to Mobile County. The Mobile Chamber of Commerce announced the $22.4 million project, which will be placed near Calvert, and bring 15 new jobs to the area.

Jefferson Shredding will be working in the same location as Otakumpu's recycling facility, which also uses recycled materials to produce stainless steel. I'm Andrea Theis. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. This feeling is brought to you by Aleve for Back Pain Relief. What feeling is that, you ask? Well, it's the feeling you feel when you have relief from back pain. That move how you want to, not how you have to feeling. That keep going through your day without slowing down feeling.

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[58:05] I'll take the first name. You take the last one, okay? I'll give you a hint. He's from Lithuania. His first name is Mantis. You can help us out with the second name. I've practiced it. Good. Good. And I still think I'm wrong. We'll call him Rusty, okay? I cannot wait with the Auburn Media Relations. I'm going to go with Rube Stavichius. That's good. That was our second choice. Good job. We're going to go with it. The Boomo Bugg Show, weekdays noon to two on 93.9, The Score.

93.9, The Score Weather. Today, a 70% chance of afternoon showers with a high around 80. Tonight, mostly cloudy with a 70% chance of showers overnight and a low near 65. Tomorrow, an 80% chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms with a high around 85. Tomorrow night, mostly cloudy with a 30% chance of showers overnight and a low near 65. And for your Thursday, mostly cloudy with a 70% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 85. Your weather from 93.9, The Score. Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.

The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the tie, 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. We're going to go a street ride around the Tennessee Valley. And while we're at it, since we're in a traveling mood, why don't we head on up to rocky top country and say hello to the V-Man, Vince Ferrara. He's busy there at 99.1, the Sports Animal in Knoxville and the Ball Radio Network.

V-Man, welcome in. How are you? I'm good, gentlemen. How are we doing? Hey, Boone. And are you ready to go to the chapel and follow some Tennessee baseball, Vince? Tennessee has certainly been there. I won't be making the trip. John will have the game solo, but we'll be tracking it, obviously. Tennessee was last there under Tony Vitello in the first year that he brought them back to the NCAA tournament in 2019. So, obviously, they hung in there, but they didn't get out of that chapel or regional.

And it will be tough. The big thing is, to me, is he wanted to avoid Georgia Tech in Atlanta because they are so good. I mean, obviously, they just won the ACC conference tournament, but then they're regular season champs and as good as it gets in college baseball. So, North Carolina is awfully good as well, but Georgia Tech would have been really, really tough. So, it could have been easier, but, hey, at least it's close enough to where balls fans can get there and typically they do travel.

So, we'll see how it goes. Temple Hill hosting that regional by North Carolina. Your thoughts about ARC, the opening opponent, East Carolina. And while we're on the topic, man, your thoughts about this season. Needless to say, Tennessee baseball fans have had to have some extra cushion under Tushing because it's been a rocky road, a bumpy ride to say the least. But, hey, right now the slate's clean for everybody. You're the master of your own destiny. Your thoughts about, again, East Carolina, the opening opponent, and just your overall thoughts about this season.

Yeah, there's a bunch there. First of all, East Carolina, we'll learn more about them tomorrow because ECU head coach Cliff Godwin is actually going to hop on with us during the show on Sports Talk with Johnny and Vince tomorrow. So, we'll learn more about it. But, you know what? When I was doing games with Chris Stewart for Alabama, we had East Carolina in our regional. So, I've actually talked to and fired questions at Coach Godwin before. You know, they've made it to, what, eight straight NCAA tournaments.

They've made it to the Supers four times under Godwin. And they have obviously been to the NCAA tournament or, excuse me, have been to the NCAA tournament the most without making it to Omaha. So, there's a lot of drive incentive. They're always dangerous. Haven't had quite the prolific season that they've had in the past, but still great success in their league and one you cannot take lightly. There's tougher first-game opponents for two seeds out there than what Tennessee has with East Carolina. And then, as far as the season overall goes, I think Tennessee fans are feeling better now than what they were.

[1:03:06] I still think there's a little bit of uneasiness because, one, you haven't had Landon Mack healthy in a while for the last couple of weeks. And he was coming off of his best outing or his most impressive outing in a long time. So, you know, you don't know whether you're going to have him available or not. Other than that, Tegan Coons didn't get to pitch in the SEC tournament, but he was, you know, outstanding for, you know, for a good part of the second half of SEC play.

And the big question is, is when do you pitch him? Do you save him for a potential second game tilt with North Carolina if they take care of VCU, which won't be easy. That's not an assumed win. VCU is one of the higher RPI four seeds that are out there also. And one team that had a 20-game improvement from a year ago, and they came back from the loser's bracket to win the 8-10 tournament. So, they'll be, they won't be a pushover for North Carolina. And do you save your ace and Tegan Coons for game two?

Or do you say, hey, we are not taking anything for granted. We don't know if we're going to play North Carolina. We don't know. If we're in the loser's bracket, we may not see North Carolina. And then our season is on the line. So, I kind of think that Josh Elanders, what Josh Elanders leaning towards, would lean towards, he hasn't told me this, he's going to talk to the media tomorrow, but that he would lean towards pitching Tegan Coons. Coons, because he didn't pitch in the SEC tournament, he's gone the longest without being on the mound.

So, I think wanting to set the tone, wanting to make sure you're in that winner's bracket game and a tough first opponent, my guess is that he will pitch Tegan Coons in game one and then go to Evan Blanco in that second game and then see what you got if Landon Mack is healthy. So, there's still enough questions to where there isn't the ultimate confidence, but this team has trended in the right direction for a while. And the offense being much improved has a lot to do with that.

V, when I looked at the regional matchup, pitching in the postseason is so key, no matter what league you're in, major league baseball, college, or high school. What caught my attention was, and you alluded to this a little bit, North Carolina is 10th nationally in ERA, only giving up 3.92 runs, which is great for college baseball. East Carolina's 21st. VCU's 31st. You've got three of the top 30 teams in the country in ERA. Tennessee is 50th with a 4.71. V, I'll tell you one thing, pitching is going to be on display in this regional.

V, B, you're all over it. I had those rankings jotted down for our show this morning, and it really alludes. It's not like Tennessee can't pitch. It's just that everybody else has been really good in this regional pitching. And all of them have done some good things and bring some offense to the table. So it's not one-sided. I think all of them have, like Tennessee is still top 10. I want to say tied for seventh in the nation in home runs. It's, they just haven't had the, you know, the massive home runs, the Georgia type of season that Tennessee's had before.

But they can still hit the ball out of the yard, which they've done a lot more recently. North Carolina's got guys that score runs and hit for high average. VCU puts the ball in play, will steal bases and get hit by pitches. And East Carolina has a balance of all those things. So everybody brings both aspects of the game to the table. But you're right. Pitching is probably what carries the flag the most with these teams in this regional. If you look at, you guys probably have seen it.

I think this year they've done a better job of it, of showing some of the numbers, the analytics, about just how the RPI sizes up with teams in the regional. I think there's more balance in how they did it, less geography and more balance with the rankings of one through 32. So where the two seeds are evened out throughout a lot more of the regionals, they're still in balance. But Tennessee, Chapel Hill, anywhere from the toughest to the four toughest in a lot of those statistical breakdowns that we've seen.

[1:08:16] So it will not be easy. But I also think you're going to see some people pick Tennessee, and like them because of how they have trended upwards. And, you know, North Carolina, as good as they typically are, it's not like they've been immune to getting upset at different times in the tournament for Omaha. Well, the big story with the big orange, go to the big man, the V-Man, Vince Warren, 99.1, the sports animal. It is an ironic V-Man. Like Alabama, the Tennessee baseball team is trying to do what the softball teams have already done.

Like Bama, Tennessee, into the World Series. V-Man, do you think that UT will win the opening round of the college softball World Series? Woo, the tough questions from the H-Man. I love it. Well, there's so much chalk, right? When you look at that bracket, six of the eight are top eight national seats, and it plays out just like if you advance the bracket in chalk, except for that Texas Tech-Mississippi State matchup in the top right. I mean, Texas is defending champions there. They have a little bit better the regular season than the Lady Vols.

To me, it's about the timely hitting for the Lady Vols because they pitch as good, if not better than anyone in the circle. I mean, they use all three of their pitchers. A couple of them are all Americans. And Carla Pickens, Sage Margetko, and then Erin Neuer has been fantastic. She has the best stats, and she's not the All-American. That's how good they are in the circle with those three this year. But at times, their defense was a little shaky and let them down. And then they haven't had the offensive numbers that a lot of other teams have this season, and they haven't always had the timely hitting.

The thing is, though, they're undefeated in the postseason, and they have had the timely hitting. They've had the long balls. Their leadoff hitter, Sophia Dye, didn't have any home runs the entire regular season, and she hit a home run in each of the Super Regionals. So it just shows you that they're a little bit more dialed in offensively. And then the defense, Karen Weakley, going into the postseason, made a bunch of moves in shifting players around to different spots. They've been clean overall defensively. I think that's another jolt.

And when you're playing close games, you have to have your defense on point. So Tennessee has the capability, certainly, to win that game with Texas. Texas is the favorite. But with the way Tennessee pitches, they can absolutely win that first game. And as you guys know, critical, critical. And I feel like even more in the Women's College World Series than in the Men's College World Series, it's critical in both. But, man, coming out of the loser's bracket is so hard to do. So got to get that first game.

And no one has a tougher first game than these two opponents seeing each other, I think. V, I'm going out on a limb here with five of the eight teams in Oklahoma City from the SEC. I'm going to say that an SEC team is going to be a national champion. Oh, there you go. I thought you were going to go, VB, I thought you were going to go on all SEC finals. Well, I nearly said that too, V. Live dangerously here. Yeah, I can see it.

I mean, you make cases for everybody. I mean, Mississippi State would be your long shot doing that with them because they won the top 60 national team. But who saw them doing that to Oklahoma? And that's a big boost, I think, for everybody else to have Oklahoma out of the way, as dominant as they have been. Absolutely. Listen, we just live dangerously on this show, V. Yes. Listen, say hello to Wonder Dog. Hope you had a great Memorial Day. V, where can we get online to get all the great stuff?

Yeah, I appreciate it. I think she's still recovering from her mile and a half walk the other day, where she was more pooped than Mr. Two Replaced Hips. So, we've got to get that cardio up a little bit. But you can follow me on all the socials, V-I-N-C-E Sports, and then SportsSourceTV to see the TV work due on the weekends on our local ABC affiliate. Daphne being walked by the hippest man in Knoxville. Stay safe up there, V-Man, and thanks so much for your time today.

All right. Have a great rest of the show. All right. Appreciate being on with you. Thank you, buddy. Same. Right back at you, V-Man. Vince Perron, 99.1, the Esports Animal in Knoxville. What a time to be an SEC baseball and softball fan. Joe Cox got it all covered next. Stay with us. T-Mobile has an exclusive bundle for customers 55 and up. I'm Sarah Bull. Yeah, I'm Frank Bull. A reliable network is key for us. And with T-Mobile, it's been wonderful. And going to the 55-plus plan saved us so much money.

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And possibly enrolled in a butter-churning workshop. Switch to Progressive and protect your RV, boat, or motorcycle by bundling with your home or auto insurance. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and third-party insurance. Available in all states or situations. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. Welcome back in. Time to open the door and say hello to J.C. Joe Cox, fine columnist for Saturday down south. And a book called The Fine Team Man. Joe, welcome in. How are you? Doing well. Doing well. Hope all is well down in your neck of the woods.

[1:18:43] So far, so good, Joe. Joe, it's hard to argue that Georgia definitely is the top dog in SEC baseball play this season. Oh, absolutely. They pretty much confirmed everything that we thought it could be heading into the SEC tournament. And they showed they can win in a couple of different ways. But they're always going to seemingly involve putting up a lot of runs. You know, the thing about it is, you look at this a lot. Sometimes you've got split decision on what to do here. If you're almost guaranteed of making it beyond the SEC tournament.

That is, go ahead and lose early. Rest your pitching staff. Georgia obviously was as secure as anybody. And they said, you know what? We're putting a pedal to the metal and going full out. They went from A to Z. And I thought the coach at Arkansas had a good point. We played our hearts out. We went as far as you could without winning it. Yet, we're not going to be hosting a regional. So, your thoughts just about Georgia saying we're going to go for the gold here and then Arkansas saying what have we got to do to host a regional here?

You know, I was a little surprised by it just because recently winning in Hoover doesn't equate to doing particularly well in the NCAA tournament. There have been a couple of teams here in the last handful of years that have won in Hoover and then got knocked out of their own regional. And, of course, you know, meanwhile, the corollary to that is a lot of teams that haven't done anything in Hoover turned around and went to Omaha or even won in Omaha. So, you know, there are some teams, though, that have gone the whole way.

You know, Tennessee a couple of years ago won in Hoover and then won the whole ball of wax. Vanderbilt did it, I think, the year before COVID. So, it's not as if it's impossible what Georgia's setting up to do, but it just seems like it's been a little less of a priority lately. Joe, SEC heavy, 12 SEC teams in regionals, seven SEC teams will host regionals, five of the top eight national baseball seeds are from, guess who, the SEC. Let me ask you about Alabama and Auburn.

They look like they have certainly manageable. Tennessee, we're getting to them in a minute. I think they've got a tough one. Oklahoma State, USC upstate, Alabama's playing Alabama State. Auburn, who I think is well-deserved of the number four seed. They're playing Milwaukee, Central Florida, interesting team, North Carolina State. Joe, on paper, and I know you don't play games on paper, it seems like Alabama and Auburn can advance and host a super regional. Yeah, absolutely. It sets up well for both of them, and I'll go a step beyond that and say I really like Auburn's potential super regional bracket.

Nebraska or Ole Miss would be the potential opponent there, as you know, they would be hosting them. I think Auburn sets up to go to Omaha about as well as anybody in the entire field. It'd be a little tougher for Bama. You know, of course, they've got that, like, number seven overall seed, so they've got one of the toughest potential teams that they would host in a super regional, and that'd be Florida State. That would be a pretty epic battle. But at the same time, you know, I think Alabama got what they wanted.

They've got the hosting nod. If they win, they'll get to host that super regional. And when you're in the top eight, you put yourself in position to do big things, and now it just comes time to go out and do them. Joe, we talked about it's amazing, 12 out of 16, but it seems like the top of de jure is not 12 of 16. It's two of the four that didn't make it, and that's the brands when it comes to ACC baseball. It tells you how balanced this league is when Vandy and LSU are sitting at home watching it on the couch.

Yeah, absolutely, and, you know, that's got to be the read out of the whole thing. You can be one of the top programs, but you've got to come and show up for those 30 games in conference play. You know, they both had their struggles for sure. Still, honestly, a little bit surprised about Vanderbilt just because, you know, their resume, I think, arguably was stronger, certainly, than Kentucky's. Kentucky gets in, and Vanderbilt doesn't, and obviously the name Vanderbilt in baseball carries something in Kentucky. Kentucky, a team that's only been to Omaha once, and that in recent years.

But I think RPI was the undoing of Vandy, and then LSU is just, we, I think, waited all year for the other shoe to drop, and it never did. They just kind of never got out of the slump that they started in, and it can happen. The good and bad of being in this league is it can humble you in a hurry, but also it can lift you up in a hurry. Joe, a lot of speculation about, could the SEC get Kentucky in? Well, they did.

They're in the West Virginia. They're the three seed in Morgantown. Peril alluded to it. Huck fans are not exactly happy about going to Kansas, the Lawrence Regional. They're the number two seed. Were you surprised that Kentucky got in, and then secondly, Arkansas did not host a regional? I was a little more surprised that Kentucky got in and that Arkansas didn't host. Arkansas certainly kind of rewrote the narrative by getting to the championship game, and I think maybe if they had won that game, they might have snuck into that top 16, but I think that's probably what it was going to take, a pretty subpar RPI for Arkansas this year, and I think that probably doomed them to the number two seed there.

[1:24:21] Kentucky, you know, boy, you talk about leaving a lot up to chance. 13 and 17, only won two of their 10 SEC series matchups, lost their first game in Hoover. I mean, you know, I think the consensus around Kentucky people after they lost that game to Vanderbilt was there were a lot of people who said, I think they're going to end up just on the outside, but they end up on the inside, and as Ole Miss showed us a few years ago, that can be an interesting place to be.

It's good to have that many folks in the SEC with a chance to advance. Obviously, they all can't. In your opinion, you mentioned Auburn with one of the better chances to advance. In your opinion, Joe, who has the rockiest road to get there? Well, obviously, any of those teams that are hosting has certainly got their work cut out for them. You've got to go somewhere else and upset some people to pull it off. You know, I know Arkansas felt pretty bad about that. Texas A&M's a team that's got a surprisingly difficult path, and they were up toward the top of the league for a long time, and now they've got USC in their region, and if they're lucky enough to win, they'll have to go to North Carolina probably for a super regional.

So that's another team that was in the mix all year, and I think they're probably pretty disappointed. And, of course, Oklahoma ends up in Georgia Tech's bracket, and I don't think anybody really wants a piece of them. So that's another one. Joe, let me add one. We talked about them a few minutes ago. Tennessee, they're the two-seed at Chapel Hill with North Carolina. There are three teams in that region that are in the top 31 as far as ERA. North Carolina's 10th, East Carolina 21, and VCU 31st.

Now, Tennessee's certainly capable of this if their pitching can hold up, and they can hit the ball a little bit, but that is going to be a tough region. Yeah, absolutely. The ACC has been very competitive this year. North Carolina's been in the middle of it. But, yeah, with an entire region full of teams that pitch well, you know, you better bring the bats, and you better hope your own guys are going to be consistent on the mound because everybody else up there probably is going to be.

Absolutely. We've got to run to a French Open update, but where can we get a line to get yours and the team's great stuff, Joe? Saturday down south, we'll be there all the way to Omaha, and hopefully, if it's like the last several years, all the way to the end in Omaha. Joe, we've got an eye on you, man. Listen, man, thanks so much for your time, Dave, and stay safe up there, okay? I'll do it. You guys take care. Thank you, bud. Joe Cox ready to kick back and enjoy some baseball and softball at Saturday down south.

BB, what a week it's been. We've got you covered here. We'll give you the schedule a little bit later on as far as the broadcast schedule for the softball and baseball teams for Alabama. Also, the latest on the Amari Allen sweepstakes. Go ahead, as they say, and rip the knobs off the sucker. We've got you covered. But first, the latest from the French Open. Stay with us. Westwood One Sports presents this special tennis update. Day three, an early upset. Australian Adam Walton, ranked 97th in the world, defeated former world number one, six-seeded Daniel Medvedev in five sets.

Didn't play my best tennis. He played good some moments, some moments not that good, and I managed to take the match when he didn't play that well. And that's it. I mean, I didn't manage to raise my level enough to win the whole match, and that's why I lost. Medvedev made four consecutive errors in the deciding game while on serve, including a double fault to give Walton, a wildcard invitee, his first career victory against a top-ten player. On the women's side, top-seeded Irina Sambalenka won in straight sets, and so did Emma Navarro, 16th-seeded Naomi Osaka, and 4th-seeded Coco Gauff, who defeated fellow American Taylor Townsend.

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His podcast is Gridiron365. Double M, welcome in. How are you? I'm doing well. How are you guys doing today? Man, we're doing all right. You cover Central Florida. I know that's shocking news to you. They make the NCAA baseball tournament. And boy, did they ever make a splash, literally. Yeah, for sure they did. Yesterday, they took part in their watch party for the end-stage selection tournament. They did so at the relative's house of head coach Rich Wallace, who had a pool. And they all took part in pool day for celebrating the holidays while they watched the ceremony.

[1:34:38] And, you know, Rich said it was kind of a unique way to do the watch party in something that was very UCF-centric and very Orlando-centric. So, why not do something fun? So, it was a great moment for all the players. They appreciated that, obviously. And I think afterwards, if I'm not mistaken, several of them jumped on jet skis in the lake nearby and took off. So, I'm sure they'll be back in time for the baseball tournament later this week. I'm going to check and say, I mean, it's going to be on the DL after that weekend for their trip.

Of all places, their games will be on the plane. The Auburn Regional. Auburn will open up with Milwaukee. Central Florida actually has the nightcap, if you will, even though Auburn's the host team. We understand ESPN has something to do with that. Your thoughts on that. But your thoughts about, first things first, Central Florida and NC State. Yeah, it's going to be an interesting matchup. I mean, you know, UCF is coming off. It's rebounded from a really disappointing year last year where they didn't qualify for the Big 12 tournament.

You know, they struggled. They had some injuries. Didn't really hit the ball very well. Pitching was kind of bad. This year, they've bounced back with that. They've got some strong hitting. Their pitching has been outstanding, although they've been, really kind of suffered from injuries as of late. They've had some pitchers that have gone down with injuries. They hope to get some of those guys back. But, you know, this is the first time they've left the state of Florida for a regional since 2001. So, they get an opportunity to take on NC State.

You know, a team that's obviously their head coach is renounced. He's retiring. You know, he's going to leave. So, you know, this is kind of going to be a, I'm sure, for the Wolfpack players and coaching staff, this is going to be an emotional weekend for them. So, UCF has been road warriors all throughout their Big 12 schedule. They've won, I think it's four out of the five road trips that they were on in the conference play. So, they're hoping to kind of, you know, be able to kind of continue that as they move forward and take on the Wolfpack this weekend.

Man, I was looking at some of the information about them. They're 19-11 in the Big 12, 31-21 overall. But they've got a very respectable, they're 36 in the RPI, 21 in the strength of schedule. Their team average is 292 with 51 home runs. Zach Skinner, I believe, leads the team. And you mentioned they've been working around a myriad of injuries. But Camden Wicker, I think, is their top pitcher. This really is a good baseball team. Yeah, it really is. You know, I mean, this is something that Rich Wallach, you know, who obviously has a connection to UCF, was from the area, played at UCF, was an assistant coach for a while, went on to bigger and better things, and then came back to UCF to take this job a few years ago.

This is kind of what he wanted. This was his plan when he set out this year, was they wanted to really work hard on building up their schedule. They wanted to make sure that they brought in players they felt like really could help them out. Like I said, they got some power hitters. They got some guys that really can do some things for them. Andrew Williamson is probably one of the best, you know, players they have on this roster. He's a guy that can really kind of change the impact of the game with the way he hits the ball.

And then their pitching staff, like I mentioned, you know, really has had, you know, their moments. You know, they've got some guys that have been down, but they feel like this is a strong enough group that they can make a serious run. This program has never gotten to the super regional. They would love to get there now. They'd love to make it this year if they could. You know, they know it's going to be a challenge, obviously, being in front on the road and being in front of a hostile crowd.

But, you know, they feel like the opportunity in the Big 12 is one of the reasons why it's really helped them. They play to get some really good teams. And they feel like, so they don't feel that they're going to have to, you know, they're going to be intimidated by anyone. They really feel like they have a great opportunity to do something well. Absolutely. SEC meetings began today. This morning, actually, Commissioner Sankey had an impromptu, he normally does this on Monday night, talking about, you know, as far as we're not going to have a decision whether we're going to 12 or 24 or 16.

It's going to be a very interesting week. In fact, a straw poll, the media held a straw poll with the athletic directors. 8 out of 16, wanted to go to 24. Some of that is job security for the coach and for the playoff. Matt, your thoughts as the SEC begins their spring meetings this week today? Well, you know, I think that's going to be obviously the talking point, I think, for every conference, the powerful conferences. It's just, you know, what is going to be that sweet spot number that they want for the college football playoff?

You know, we know the Big Ten has said, we want 24. We know the Big 12 and ACC has both said, yeah, we like 24 too as well. The SEC is basically right now the one conference that can really decide whether or not this goes through or not. And I appreciate what Greg Sankey is saying. I think Greg is trying to listen. You know, when it was four, we liked four. Then it went to 12, and we said we liked 12. But they obviously want to make sure there's more opportunities for their teams to get in.

[1:39:51] Now, they're not sold on 24, and I get that. I think 24 is kind of a number where there's a tipping point. And a lot of that centers around the idea of getting rid of conference championships. The SEC does not want to get rid of their conference championships. They would like to play that game. So, you know, I think that's going to be the discussion. Now, I agree with Greg. I don't think they're going to come out with any big decisions this week. I think they're just going to have some discussions about that.

But I think it's an important thing, and you're going to hear about it from the Big 12 later this week, you know, about it as well. You heard about it from the ACC last week. So, you know, this is a talking point that's going to go around, much like the talking point about how, you know, revenue sharing and how that's working, whether or not, you know, conferences or the SEC or the Big 10 are going to break away and form their own conference when it comes to rules and, you know, regulations and things like that.

So, those are the things going on right now. To me, the best discussion about it is asking coaches, what do you think about the 2014 playoff? And pretty much everyone I've seen today saying, nah, I'm not left above my pay grade. I don't care. Just tell me where I'm going to play. Check it in with Matt Merchel. As Greg Sankey, remember when we were all kids and you got in a car and your dad says, kids, don't make me pull this car over. Is that what Greg Sankey's going to do this week with Lane Kiffin, Pete Golding, and others in San Destin?

Well, I think he's going to have a serious discussion with all of them. I think he wants to sit down with everybody and say, listen, you know, it's not a good look when you've got infighting in your conference. It's not a good look when two schools are going out. Fans may like it. And the fan bases may think it's fun because they can take talk shows and all that stuff. Exactly. It's a talking point. We've got, what, 100 days? A little less than 100 days before the season starts.

They understand that that's going to be the fodder for newspaper columnists and, you know, talking heads on radio and TV. But inside, internally, you don't want that. You'd rather have everyone on the same page. So I think he's going to sit down and have this conversation. I think if you guys remember, it's not the first time he's probably sat down with Lane Kiffin and said, listen, we need to do better. We need to be better at this stuff. And I think he's going to sit down with Lane and ask him about his comments in the Vanity Fair article.

He wants to make sure, are you, you know, what do you really feel about this? I mean, you know, we want to know what's going on here because, you know, he may end up coming down and there may be something about that. There may be something about what comes to what happened at Ole Miss and how things happen there. There may be penalties. There may be fines. It may come down to that. But I think, at least in Greg's mind, he wants to get everyone together and get this kind of squash right now because you don't want this dragging into the season and having to deal with it.

It doesn't matter. It's still going to because that's what people are going to be talking about, especially when those two teams meet. So he just wants to make sure let's not squabble. Let's keep this in-house. Let's not bring it out and air our dirty laundry. Let's make sure we're not going to get too out of control because we can't have this happening. We've got to show some unity. You mentioned when they come back to Oxford. Do you think, I'll say this facetiously and in air quotes, the people who Lane said ran him off the road, do you think they'll be in attendance for that game or do you think the cops will ever found him by that time?

Your thoughts about Lane and his, at least seemingly, a lot of folks said, this guy, I wonder sometimes if he cannot get enough attention. Ed Orgeron has to be one of the more intriguing hires. Can you imagine the staff meetings at LSU with all those personalities in the room? Your thoughts about Lane, is this going to work in spite of Lane being Lane? You know, that's a good question. I mean, I think this is the challenge for LSU. Listen, we've talked about this before that, you know, this is all your chips in the middle of the table.

That's right. For LSU as a school and at that leg department, because if this does not work, if LSU struggles, if they don't get to the SEC championship game in a couple of years, if they don't get to a national, they don't get to the college football playoff and compete for a national championship, then this experiment failed. Bad. Expensive experiment. Yes, because you spent a lot of money to get rid of Brian Kelly. You brought Brian Kelly in, and then you spent a lot of money to get him out.

And then you spent a lot of money to get Lane Kiffin in and deal with all this. And then, you know, you bring it out. I think Ed Orgeron was a good hire. I think there's reasons why Ed could help out, you know, what he could do with the program. But, again, I think for Lane, this all comes down to you've just got to win. Now, if LSU comes out and wins, and they get to the SEC championship game, and they get to the college football playoff in the first couple of years, I think they'll look like geniuses, you know, for doing it, for making the room to get Lane Kiffin.

But I can tell you this right now. There are a lot of people in the state of Florida who are kind of happy that they didn't get Lane Kiffin as their head coach. You know what I mean? Because there are a lot of people who believe. Yes, exactly. Because there are a lot of people right now who believe we don't need that headache. And if you have to deal with that headache, imagine what that's going to be like. So, I mean, like I said, it could work.

I mean, we know Lane's a good coach. But it's going to have to be that you have to win now. Because it's all going to come down to wins and losses. And if he doesn't win, this experiment fails horribly. And then where do you go if you're LSU? Because it's going to cost a lot of money to get rid of him. And you're going to have to worry about who you bring in next. And that's just a whole other mess that you don't want to do with.

[1:45:10] Can you understand the folks over in Oxford, how they feel not only about Lane, but Ed, basically, both of them. And this is how I think a lot of them feel, that both of them are hypocrites. They sat here at a time in their lives when Ole Miss came to their rescue, gave them a job, gave them a platform, gave them leverage to climb the ladder. And now they want to come back. And both of them, in a sense, want to throw Ole Miss under the bus.

Is it safe to say that maybe there's a bit of hypocrisy on both their parts? Oh, yeah. I think there is for both parts. I think there is. And I think, you know, I think it goes back to this is something that we've dealt with as a country when it comes to coaches, you know, as a sport, is that you put coaches on such a pedestal that when a coach decides to make a move, it's as if you've torn the heart out of the fan base, you know, for making that move.

I'm not just talking to Lane Tiffin. We've seen this in other places where it just, you know, all of a sudden you're just thinking this is ridiculous. And especially in college athletics, you're seeing coaches move around. And I think the hypocrisy comes down to don't stand at a podium and tell a fan base, I'm here, I'm here, I'm 100% dedicated to the school. And then two weeks later, you're on a plane getting out of there going. And throw that old school on the bus. Exactly. You know, so what needs to be is it just goes back to just being transparent and honest.

Listen, I'm like anyone else out there. Jobs are going to come up. I'm going to probably listen to a lot of offers. Let's see what happens and we'll go from there. But when we're talking about the kind of money that's being spent, guys, fan bases don't want to hear that because it's like, listen, I'm giving you my hard-earned dollars. Not only gets to go to events, but I'm giving you my money as a booster for NIL. I'm trying to find ways to help the team win.

And all of a sudden you take my money and say, well, thanks a lot. See you later. It's like a Ponzi scheme. It is literally like a Ponzi scheme where all of a sudden fans feel like, okay, I lost everything. And now I've got to go back and try to start all over again. And that's where I think we get this kind of back and forth. So part of this does fall on the sport itself, the way it's all set up. And you don't get this at the professional level.

When an NBA coach leaves, you don't get fan bases, not to the point that you do in colleges where people are just devastated, burning couches on their lawn. But this is because of how passionate college football fans are. Matt, the college president has come in later this week. Jerry Moorhead of Georgia basically said last week, well, since the SCORE Act was not even brought to a vote, we can't depend on Congress to do this for us. Then it's time for us, the SEC, to begin to come up with our own solutions.

Now, that's easier said than done. The other thing some of these schools are mad about is the College Sports Commission, the CSC, won't approve some of these outlandish NIL deals. So that's another reason to get past the 20.5 cap, which is turning into a speed bump. Once again, Matt, I'm going to be curious to see the conversations this week with the presidents about the SEC and the Big Ten going their own way. Yeah, you know, what makes you laugh about that, we kind of heard this a little bit from J.B. Pollard, the Iowa State, you know, a couple weeks ago, was, you know, all these school presidents voted on the College Sports Commission.

You know, they all agreed, you know what I mean, to deal with this when it came to the House settlement. You know what I mean, everyone agreed to this. Well, then all of a sudden, you know, the paperwork lands on the desk and everyone says, well, this is not what I want. I don't want this. I want this. And they said, well, you agreed upon this. Now you've got schools who have already signed off and said, that's fine, this is what we agreed upon. And then you get other schools now, right now, going on in the, you know, in the, you know, in the SEC, in the Big Ten, wherever, and saying, no, we don't want nothing to do with this.

We're going to break away. Well, that's got to be frustrating if you're a school going, well, wait a minute, we all agreed on it. Now why, why all of a sudden you back it out of this? So I get, I understand why conferences like the SEC and the Big Ten are looking around saying, you know, we can create our own, we can break away. We can create our own rules. We could do this. I think the challenge for that is always going to be that, you know, you got to look at the legality of things. If you start creating rules and lawyers start getting involved, as the NCAA has found out, you're going to spend more your, most of your money of TV revenue, basically paying lawyers for billable hours, because they're going to be spending all their time trying to figure out what's going on. So that's the challenge right now. And I think that's where, as much as it's easy, easy to pump your chest out and say, you know, we want this and we want that. You got to have someone who sits down and says, well, here's the, here's what's really going to happen if we do this. And if we do do it, then we need to look at how to, how to make sure this doesn't become a tangled mess of legalese that we can't get out.

Yeah, you're exactly right. That's going to lead to even more problems than what they've got now. If only Matt Merchelle could be the commissioner of college football, we would be a lot better off. Always enjoy the conversation, my friend. Where can we get online to get all your great stuff? Yeah, you can go to OrlandoSentinel.com to check out the latest or go to, you'll follow me on social media, OS Matt Merchelle. I can't even be the commissioner of my fantasy football league. So that does not tell you.

[1:50:31] We got more in common than you know, man. Listen, man, thanks so much and have a great week. Okay. All right. Thanks a lot, guys. Thank you, bud. Double A on Matt Merchelle, hooking up with us from the Orlando Center. Baby, so close yet so far away for UNA and the NCAA baseball tournament. Yeah, James Moody, now we're talking about that. When I walked in the door, extra inning games, 14-10 innings, quick turnarounds. UNA did beat Florida Gulf Coast 5-4. Lipscomb, not good news, but it still was a very good year for baseball. Harold for UNA, and I think it's only going to get better. And then the Braves going to Boston. They got the Bull Sox tonight. Spencer Strider is on the mound, and you can hear that game on 93-9, the score.

What's amazing about it right now, we are at exactly one-third of the season, and the Braves will start tonight. Again, one-third of the season is in the rearview mirror. They're eight and a half up on the boys from Washington, so it's go-get-em time against the Bull Sox tonight. And again, you can catch it here on 93-9, the score. It's going to take care of biz for now. On behalf of BB, Greg, James Blair, the entire crew here, Harold Buck, thank you so much for your time today. Let's do it again tomorrow, noon to two for the Bumble Buck Show, back here on Sports Radio 93-9, the score.