Boomo Bugg Show 021926
93.9 The Score WYTK - February 19, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-021926/

This transcript was generated automatically from the broadcast audio. Names and some words may be misspelt; the audio is the official record.

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Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9, The Score.
Good afternoon and welcome here to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in.
Where?
After a total of 222 points, we find out at least two things.
Alabama and Arkansas both have great offenses and both have not so great defenses.
Good afternoon.
Welcome in.
Plus, if it's Thursday, two more Georgia football players are in the doghouse.
Welcome in.
How are you?
Happy Thursday.
You actually is 232, so give them 10 more points.
All right.
Alabama holds.
Exactly.
Alabama holds on to beat Arkansas, as you mentioned, 117 to 115 in two overtimes in a game for the ages
as Darius Acuff scored 49 points and LeBaron Phylon adds 35.
JimmyLayofAo.com will get us updated on the high school boys and girls basketball regionals at Wallace State.
BB is here right now to preview a mini Final Four weekend for college basketball and some of his projected brackets.
BB is Bill Bender, the national voice of the Sporting News.
Bill, welcome in.
The most important question of the day, were you ever good in math either?
I'm good at quick math.
Like, you know, like 44 yards, 11 carries, that's four yards to carry.
I can do that quick.
I was going to tell you, boys, you thought that Arkansas dunk was going to go in so you could play another overtime last night.
Oh, man.
Oh, my gosh.
For folks over a certain age, you wouldn't have seen that finish.
We'd have to listen to the boom on bug show to get the final results.
Bill, your thoughts about that game?
Because you look at it, and to me it bespeaks modern basketball.
These coaches pretty much, they put all their eggs in the basket.
As long as you score 117 points, I guess it's okay if the other team scores 115, albeit two overtimes.
But your thoughts about the modern game and the statement this makes for Alabama after getting embarrassed against Florida.
They have been red hot.
Your thoughts about this Alabama basketball team here just days before March Madness cranks up.
I mean, there's somebody that if you play, you're going to have to accept that you better score.
You know, they certainly can do that.
I think there's a lot of SEC teams like that.
To me, Alabama and Florida kind of stick out a little bit.
When you get in the game, you better be ready to score 90.
You know, Arkansas is a very good team, too.
That was just an awesome basketball game.
One of the best regular season games I can remember.
You know, the SEC is deep in that regard.
Kentucky and Tennessee can catch you.
Vanderbilt's having a really good year.
But I think for Alabama, that probably solidified them.
I can't remember which line I have them on in my latest bracketology.
But they're teetering, you know, around that anywhere from a three to five.
Yeah.
And you want it to be a three because I've always said, Bill, in the tournament, a five and 12 matchup historically is the most dangerous, slippery slope you could be on if you're the number five seed.
For sure.
And, again, the SEC doesn't have a one seed as of now.
But that doesn't mean Florida can't climb into that spot.
The Gators are really good.
You guys have seen them firsthand.
That's a good basketball team.
And, you know, Alabama, same deal.
Nate Oates has a track record in the tournament.
They do get up and down.
They do surrender a lot of points.
I think what's going to make the tournament so interesting is, and three of these teams are in action this weekend.
You know, Michigan's really good, guys.
That's a good basketball team with nine guys that can put the ball in the basket and them playing Duke this weekend.
I wonder how many people are going to watch that.
I think it's going to be, if you love college basketball, you should love watching games like that.
Yeah.
Ironically, just to finish on the Alabama game, they give up 115 points.
Arkansas shoots 67% in the first half.
But Alabama won the game.
Arkansas scored a grand total of four points from the four-minute mark to the four-minute mark.
It was amazing how they were able to do that.
And you alluded to it.
And we talked about this with Bruce Marshall on Tuesday.
A mini Final Four.
Yeah.
Arizona travels to Houston.
And I think that's a 3 o'clock Eastern game.
And then Michigan to Duke that night.
Great back-to-back games, DB.
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, that Houston-Arizona game.
Big 12 basketball is fun to watch, too.
I think we talked about it a little bit last week that it's all setting up to what's going to be just an amazing NCAA tournament.
You know, when you have high-level teams, exciting freshmen all over the place.
Big 12 obviously got some of them.
BYU's A.J.
DeBonceau, one of them.
Arizona obviously has some fun freshmen.
And then Kansas, Darren Peterson.
And then, yet, Iowa State wins.
So, of those matchups this weekend, like I said, Arizona's another one that can throw in the basket.
But they're up against this Houston defense that Kelvin Sampson's made work for years.
I mean, that's going to be a high-level game, too.
It's going to be a great weekend.
Well, Ben, to the sporting news, we mentioned Alabama maybe getting that number-three seed.
The reason I bring up the following is to that end.
Texas Tech right now is being mentioned as number-three seed.
They are a good team.
But, Bill, from everything we understand, they have lost their leading score due to injury.
Yeah, and it really hurts, J.T. Toppin.
And it's no fun.
He's a strong graduate, but, like, when you're coming off the game that he was coming off of, 31 points,
11 rebounds, they beat Arizona, and Texas Tech's a really good team.
But I think that's something to watch over the next week or so.
Alabama certainly could climb up that line.
And how does Texas Tech respond without him?
How does BYU respond without Richie Saunders?
He had a torn ACL.
Another team to watch, North Carolina, without Caleb Wilson.
He broke his hand.
So, I hate it when injuries get in the way.
Absolutely.
Harold alluded to the three seed.
You've got Texas Tech, Kansas, Florida, and they're now beginning to shoot the three.
And I look here.
I had to take a double take.
Nebraska, the third seed in the country, they were undefeated for the majority of the year.
22-3, 11-3 in the Big Ten.
I know they played a game, I believe, since then.
Sanford has played really well.
Don't you know, Husker fans, after suffering with football for what seems like 20 years,
the basketball team's really good.
They moved the ball well.
Brent Hoiberg's got a good time.
Big Ten's full of good teams.
And, you know, they've carried around this national championship drought for the last 26 years.
But Michigan can break that, I think.
Michigan State's a little blip, but it's still Michigan State.
Tom is, though.
You guys know.
You don't very good play well when you play them.
Illinois is very good.
Purdue is very good.
And Nebraska, I just, when I watch them play, the way they move the basketball.
They can score.
Like, an Alabama-Nebraska game, I think Alabama would win.
But if they ever cross each other in the tournament, it would be one of the most entertaining,
fun games you could possibly watch.
What does that say?
Must see TV.
Bill has switched gears to the moneymaker, a.k.a.
college football.
Nothing that I've seen as far as official yet.
But strong wins blowing that Alabama will most likely cancel its upcoming home-at-home series
with your neighbors there in Columbus, Ohio, the Ohio State Buckeyes.
You can see why, given the structure of where we are now, the nine-game SEC schedule.
But, Bill, your thoughts about that strong possibility right now.
Again, nothing official, but possibility.
It's unfortunate, but there's nobody to blame because this is the, until, like, the only way
I would say it is, if we're going to play nine conference games, which both conferences
are, and we're going to do the playoffs the way that we're doing it, there's differing
viewpoints on this.
Some would say, I would say, big reason why Texas didn't get in the playoffs, they lost
three games.
If it's just about wins and losses.
Now, some would say, go beat Florida.
Go beat Ohio State.
But I think scheduling will be cautious in non-con play when you have to play nine conference
games, especially in the Big Ten.
It's unfortunate, because it would be fun to see, have you boys come up here to Columbus
and the three of us could go to lunch or something.
But it's just the world we live in.
Does it snow in September and you're in a football game up there?
No, no, it's not, it's not, it would probably feel like spring to you guys.
August in Ohio, I would imagine, feels like, I don't know, April to you guys down there.
It doesn't, not yet, it hasn't snowed yet September, but who knows?
Up there, you never do.
Great stuff.
You know, hopefully with spring practice around the corner, once we get to the final four, March
Madness, a lot of these teams are going to be breaking out for spring.
We'll get into that a little bit more instead of the court cases.
I always enjoy the conversation.
I think you had Alabama number five, but you're right.
They can finish.
If they continue strong, again, they've got LSU, Mississippi State coming up before going
to Knoxville, which Alabama has lost five consecutive games.
It could be interesting to see how high Alabama goes.
What else have you got on the agenda this week?
And where can we get online to read it?
Yeah, I'm at BillBender92 at SportingNews.com.
We'll have a look at that Duke-Michigan series here tomorrow.
We have NFL quarterback stuff up there today.
And, you know, more bracketology.
I love doing some college basketball here down the stretch, and it's always great talking
to you guys.
Right back at you, Bill.
Thanks so much.
And stay safe up there in the Ohio.
Bill Bender, the National Voice for the Sporting News.
Coming up, lots rocking and rolling at the respective tournaments in the postseason.
Jimmy Lay going to lay it all out next.
Stay with us.
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
Really appreciate if you ride around the Tennessee Valley.
And for Jimmy Lear to take time out of his, and we mean, busy schedule, following it all there at AL.com.
Jimmy, welcome in.
How are you?
Doing great.
How are you all doing?
Hey, Jimmy.
And probably nowhere near as busy as you.
Got a lot of regional action happening all across North Alabama teams.
But Jimmy, can we start with one that really and truly, you always love history, and that is the Wilson Girls.
They've never been to the regional, which of course means they've never won a game until now.
And the Wilson Girls, they win their first ever regional game by beating a good West Morgan team, 53-38.
You've got to love to see stories like this.
Absolutely.
You know, there's just something about having a magical year like that, that a lot of times when you're having a year like that, it just propels you into future seasons.
You know, not discounting what they're going to do this year.
Who knows how far they'll go.
But sometimes you look back and say, it was that team that got us going for us and really propelled the program to great heights.
And so I'll be curious to see how they do the rest of the way.
Jimmy, I think one of the best girls games yesterday that a lot of people were looking forward to was for the sixth consecutive year, Good Hope and Dashler.
I think these two teams have split the last three years.
Good Hope, just again, around Coleman, class 4A number four, Dashler was number two.
Reese Davis had a monster year, but they shut her down compared to what she normally does, averaging 27.
They held her to 12 points.
And Good Hope won 60-50 in a clash of state powers.
Yeah, I mean, that's always a tough matchup.
I mean, Good Hope is always going to be there.
And, you know, everybody knows how good Dashler always is.
No shame, you know, losing to a team like Good Hope.
But that's something you think about, you know, in a few weeks from now.
Right now, you know, those girls are just heartbroken, you know, for the season to be stopped.
But the thing that I always tell everybody, and coaches always, you know, remind us of this,
there's only going to be one team to get to hold up that blue map.
Every other team is going to be just as disappointed as Dashler is.
And so it's going to be interesting to see how far Good Hope can go.
Can they end Wilson's run?
Or will they, you know, will Wilson march on, you know, and make it to Birmingham?
It's going to be exciting to see how it works out.
We mentioned it's brand-new territory for Wilson, but not for Mars Hill.
Here's what's amazing.
What in the world is in the sauce out there, Jimmy?
We know about football and everything else.
Here we are with Class 3A action, and the Mars Hill girls knock off Holly Pond by 30, 68-38.
The Mars Hill boys knock off Winfield by only 18, 69-51.
Mars Hill, I don't care if they're playing pickleball.
They're going to be there at the end of the season, are they not?
Yeah, Mars Hill's got a great program, not just football, basketball.
They're also really good in baseball.
Look forward to baseball.
They're going to be there in the spring.
But, yeah, and see, and now they're matched up, you know, with Lauderdale County.
We know Lauderdale County's history and how well they've done in the past.
They just barely got past Vinemont by three, so that'll be an interesting game.
But you mentioned the boys, the boys, everybody looked at their schedule, I mean, their records.
They all, you know, that's going to be, you know, an easy win, you know, for Lauderdale County.
But look who they played.
I mean, they played Madison Academy twice.
They played Humphill.
They played the first month of the season without the football players that helped, you know, be part of the team.
So, don't look at that 11-11 record and say, just automatically pick Lauderdale County.
I'm going to give Lauderdale County a slight edge because they're very strong.
But, man, it wouldn't shock me at all if Mars Hill won that game.
Yeah, just to recap real quick, Lauderdale County girls beat Baymob.
As you mentioned, 48-45, Madison Bobley led them with 19.
And the boys beat Locust Fork, 67-43, Jaden Sears, Kevin Watkins, who's done a great job for Lauderdale County all year.
Jimmy, the Whitesburg Christian boys beat Geraldine 55-40.
I know you covered them.
Patrick Harding is their coach, went from Bocorn there.
Whitesburg Christian boys playing well.
And also, you mentioned Madison Academy.
A shout-out to the girls.
They beat Plainview 66-44.
Todd Phillips had 24 points, 8 rebounds.
Whitesburg Christian boys, pretty good team.
They're great.
I'm telling you, I got to see them a couple times when they played, you know, Westminster Christian.
They're just a super solid team.
Saw them at the Huntsville Classic.
They just, you know, lost a tough one to Hale County, who just got upset by midfield.
So, yeah, absolutely.
Whitesburg Christian, listen, I never like to say, like, they got no chance.
But, man, it's going to be tough.
It's going to be so tough because they're just such a good team.
And they lost to Gadsden City in four over time.
I mean, this team has been through the wars.
They've been through the wars this year.
They beat Florence this year.
They beat Grissom.
So, Patrick Harding is doing it again with a new program.
And it wouldn't shock me at all to see Whitesburg Christian holding up a blue map, you know, for that Warrior squad.
Well, we mentioned West Morgan, Mars Hill, Lauderdale County, got great progress.
What about West Morgan?
Doesn't matter what sports they play.
They're pretty good, too.
The girls we mentioned on the short end.
But the West Morgan boys, what's good for them is bad for Brooks.
Their six-game winning streak snap.
The Lions 67-55 on the short end to West Morgan.
Your thoughts about West Morgan boys' chances.
Yeah, they're really good, too.
I saw them a couple weeks ago.
And I just, you know, at first I wasn't, I thought, well, they don't do anything that great.
They don't have a big, like, imposing guy inside.
But, man, they just move the ball so quick.
They turn you over.
They're really tough on defense.
They rebound well.
They shoot the ball well.
And before you know it, you're down by 20.
You're thinking, what happened?
You know?
And this is, you know, they've always seemed to have one team they just couldn't get past.
I know a few years ago, you know, they couldn't get past Westminster Christian.
And then it seemed like Deschler put them out a couple years ago.
But this might be the year for them to move on, you know, in 4A to get to Birmingham.
And it's somewhere they hadn't been.
And so that would just be a tremendous accomplishment for that team.
And they're the kind of team that could win it.
You know, I know everybody looks at Jackson in the South.
But, look, don't discount, you know, Wes Morgan because, man, they're playing well.
Jimmy, let me ask you about two high-profile games today.
Girls semifinal, Decatur.
They hosted an area tournament for the first time in 25 years.
Decatur, 28-5 against, well, boy, this is a surprise in 6A.
Hazel Green.
They swapped Millers, but they're still really good.
Jimmy, your thoughts on Decatur and Hazel Green, if the Trojans can continue rolling.
And tonight, Muscle Shoals, 19-8, they've been on a heater.
They've won about 13 of their last 16 games versus Lee.
And, Jimmy, we know we've talked about Lee for years, 18-8 in basketball.
Your thoughts, Decatur, Hazel Green, Muscle Shoals, Lee tonight.
Yeah.
I tell you what, Decatur has got a lot of talent.
But, man, Hazel Green is just – they're just Hazel Green.
What do you say?
I mean, they know they're just steady.
They don't do anything spectacular.
They just wear you down, wear you down.
And just a lot like, you know, talking about Wes Morgan before you know it,
you're down by 20 and the game's over.
Decatur's got to hang around for the fourth quarter.
If they can get the game into the fourth quarter, they've got a chance to win the game.
But getting there is going to be the challenge because Hazel Green plays great defense, too.
And they just turn you over and get run outs.
And before you know, like I said, you're down big.
They've got to get that thing into the fourth quarter.
And then you mentioned –
Yeah, Melissa Shoals and Lee.
Yeah, Lee is so talented, man.
They've had a few off years, but, man, they're back this year.
They beat Mae Jemison three times this year.
Mae Jemison beat Huntsville twice.
I know.
So, yeah, so, yeah, I look for Lee to probably win that, but it's going to be a battle.
20 seconds, Jimmy.
Huntsville, are they going to win it all?
Gosh, Huntsville, man, you would have thought last year was their year,
but they ran up against that tough Hoover team.
They want revenge this year, and I think this year they get it,
but it just happens in the regional semifinal, yeah.
Have you got a tank or two full of gas and all your tires got air in them, Jimmy?
Absolutely.
We are ready to roll.
We'll see you work online at AL.com.
Be careful.
Safe travels out there, and let's do it again very, very soon, okay?
Thank you, Jimmy.
There you have it.
Keep me late hooking up with us from AL.com.
Are you up on the Olympics?
If not, stay tuned.
The very latest from Italy here on 93.9 The Score.
Westwood One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games.
The women's hockey gold medal game.
Team USA and Canada are scoreless midway through the first period.
The U.S. has beaten Canada seven straight times, including 5-0 in pool play,
but the Canadians were missing their captain for that one, Marie-Philippe Poulin.
She is playing today.
Switzerland won bronze, beating Sweden in overtime 2-1.
Also right now, the free skate in women's singles.
American Alyssa Liu sits in third.
After the short program, she's going to skate third from last.
Teammate Isabeau Lovito is eighth, Amber Glenn 13th.
American speed skater Jordan Stolls could not make it three gold medals in Milan.
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The U.S. women's curling team qualifying for the semis for the first time in 22 years
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The U.S. men did not finish in the top four.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9 The Score.
Mids basketball action last night.
25th ranked Alabama outlasted number 20 Arkansas in double overtime.
117 to 115.
Alabama with the win improves to 19 and 7 on the year and 9 at 4 in SEC play.
Auburn Tigers were outscored on the road at Mississippi State.
91 to 85 in the loss for Auburn.
Keyshawn Hall had 29 points and 10 rebounds.
The Auburn Tigers are 5 and 8 in the SEC.
14 and 12 on the year.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
He has got a lot on his plate as the voice in the Magnolia State.
Jake Wimbley is there as host of the drive on ESPN 105.9 in Central Mississippi.
Jake, welcome in.
Happy Thursday to you.
How are you?
Guys, we're doing good.
Happy Thursday.
How's everything going up?
Hey, man.
Man, we're doing all right.
What kind of buzz has been created over here comes the judge.
Trinidad Chamberlain's legal victory means Ole Miss is stacked, as it's safe to say, on offense for 2026.
Jake, what's the buzz in the Magnolia State about the news out of the courtroom?
Well, I don't think you're going to find an Ole Miss fan that is not elated and excited.
You know, I've said this several times over the last two weeks.
If you take the two fan bases here in the state, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, basketball is off the table outside of Josh Hubbard's night he had last night, which is unbelievable.
State fans are focused on baseball.
Ole Miss fans are focused on football.
And Trinidad Chamberlain's being able to come back, that gives them a puncher's chance.
And every Saturday this fall, they'll have one of the better backfields in the country with Trinidad Chamberlain's and, of course, the running back room that they have.
So high energy and high expectations, again, coming out of Oxford.
Let me ask you this, Jake.
What about Deuce Knight?
Because, obviously, you go back to the genesis of his saga.
He's a Mississippi native, correct me if I'm wrong on that, so he's kind of home.
And I'm sure when he came in, he was promised this, that, and the other in a bag of chips.
But now, obviously, the dynamics have changed.
We know the rules as far as the transfer.
He's probably on the other side of that.
But was he promised his starting job, as some have reported?
Or what is the situation with Deuce Knight?
What a room, by the way.
Yeah, it's a really good room.
And you're right.
Deuce Knight, from the Mississippi Gulf Coast around that area, played at George County High School, Elite 11 quarterback.
Just a phenomenal player coming out of high school at George County.
And, of course, as you know, goes to Auburn and then now to Ole Miss.
I don't have any confirmation that he was ever promised the job.
I would say that probably it's one of these things, and you guys know how this works, is,
hey, look, if Trinidad does not come back, it's going to be your job.
If he does come back, we're going to probably compensate you enough to where you don't go anywhere.
And then you'll be our guy moving forward.
So, you know, I think it's a great situation for all parties involved.
Obviously, Ole Miss needs quarterback depth behind Trinidad Chambliss just in case something happens.
I mean, nobody ever thought Austin Simmons would get injured,
and nobody knew who Trinidad Chambliss was until that happened.
So, you know, they may need Deuce Knight.
They may have a package for him or two.
And I don't particularly like that term, but they may have him in there at some point.
But I think, you know, based on everything we've been told, I mean, Deuce Knight knows the deal.
It's kind of a Dante Moore behind, you know, an organ spot.
You know, you're going to sit a year, learn, you'll get a chance to play.
And then after that, the program is going to be yours.
It really is incredible when you look back to last year.
And again, Lane Kiffin was at the helm until the postseason.
And then, you know, Ke'an Lacy nearly ran for 1,600 yards, 24 rushing touchdowns.
The Ole Miss offense, 490 yards per game, second in the NCAA to North Texas.
And what do they do again for 2026?
Deuce Alexander, Darryl Gill, John T. Cook at receiver.
They bring in Karius Kern or Kearney, Tommy Kinsler.
And again, we'll get to the defense.
But once again, this offense may be more prolific than it was last year.
Yeah, they really like the personnel that they brought in.
And you know how that goes.
They'll have to, you know, kind of figure it all out there in the spring,
coming up here sooner rather than later.
Offensive coordinator-wise, you know, have that mesh in coming in from East Carolina.
But Pete Golding up to this point has, you know, through the playoff run
and recruiting has turned every knob that he needs to turn right.
And, you know, if you talk to high school coaches,
if you talk to junior college coaches and other people around the state,
everybody loves Pete Golding.
I mean, he's a Mississippi guy, went to Delta State,
highly thought of around the state.
You know, he's tapping back into Mississippi high schools more, I think,
more so than even Lane Kiffin was doing.
So they should be really, really good offensively, you know,
which will give them, again, give them a chance to press and to push
and to be in those games come, you know, come September and October.
Jake Wimbley, again, host of The Drive on ESPN 105.9 in central Mississippi.
Jake, obviously, it's a border state.
A lot of Ole Miss grads over here, but a lot of state fans, too,
because they've got a pretty good engineering, meteorology,
and, of course, other schools over there.
Veterinarian.
A lot of fans here.
Jake, at one time, it looked like in NASCAR terms, these two teams,
Ole Miss and State, were kind of swapping paint,
and little by little, it looks like Ole Miss is just zoomed by them,
or is it one of those deals where that's been the case over the last two
or three years, or how much room is there now between Ole Miss
and State coming up to this season?
I think there's quite a bit of ground to cover.
This is probably the biggest separation on the gridiron that I've ever seen.
I mean, I'll be, you know, for reference point, I'll be 50 in June
and cover both of these teams for a long time
and grew up, you know, around both of these teams as a kid.
And, you know, forever, you know, you go Billy Brewer and Jackie Sherrill
and you get Tommy Tuberville, and you kind of come through the coaches there,
Matt Luke, Sylvester Croom, and Dan Mullen.
Not a whole lot of separation.
You would have a year where one team was better
or two years where one team was better, but then it would flip.
The separation is a real thing here in the state.
The talent differential is a real thing.
You know, and I just think for Mississippi State, you know,
with the tragic passing of Mike Leach, and then, you know,
kind of fumbling the thing with Zach Arnett
and then having to get a new athletics director,
it just has created a hole for Mississippi State.
And then, you know, we talked about this just the other day,
and Ole Miss fans as a whole have always been more committed
than Mississippi State fans.
And it doesn't mean State fans don't want to win in football,
but Ole Miss fans are more committed financially.
They're a little more buttoned up, you know, top to bottom,
and that goes to the athletic director.
And that doesn't mean that, you know,
Zach Sillman's not a good athletic director,
but they have everything in unison from football coach
to athletics director to president to collective.
Everybody's on the same sheet of music.
And I just don't think Mississippi State's commitment, you know,
to that type of, you know, strategy is there in football.
Baseball, it is absolutely there.
So I just think it's the difference in the two fan bases.
And Mississippi State has a large gap to close, unfortunately,
to get back in the game with Ole Miss.
Let me touch on basketball for a second.
You alluded to Josh Hubbard going off.
Boy, did he ever record 10 three-pointers.
The kid just absolutely amazes me.
For most games, he's the smallest player on court.
You never could tell it.
State had an 18-point lead over Auburn.
I know Auburn is struggling right now.
Then Auburn makes a run.
Actually has a lead into State's credit.
They come back and win the game at the end.
They're 13-13, 5-8 on the season after Chris Jans had a good year last year.
And Ole Miss is going south.
They had a lead over Texas last night.
Texas comes back, wins at the end, 80-77.
Ole Miss is eighth straight game.
I know Chris Beard has forgotten how to coach.
Storr and Dia, I know they played pretty well against Alabama last week in Oxford.
How do you summarize basketball for Mississippi State and Ole Miss right now?
Very average.
And just, I think you said it there, Brett, as Coach Beard and Coach Jans didn't forget how to coach.
I think what you see in situations like this is maybe a mis-evaluation on a player or two in the transfer portal.
Maybe you don't have as much money as a Kentucky or a Kansas or a Louisville or Tennessee or pick a team in basketball.
So, you know, the quality of the team, if you think about it, Ole Miss just went to the Sweet 16 last year.
So, I think we're going to continue to see this in all sports in that sometimes you miss.
I mean, look at Mike Norvell down at Florida State.
You know, he maximized the transfer portal several years ago.
They go 13-1.
The last two years has been a complete flop in the transfer portal.
So, I would chalk it up to possibly talent and then, you know, possibly available funds or not.
You know, as far as Mississippi State, you know, again, both teams kind of sitting right there, you know, towards the bottom.
It's unfortunate for Mississippi State because, as you said, Josh Hubbard, the way he's playing,
you know, if they could have found a player or two to go around him to complement him,
I mean, this team could, you know, could be five or six games, seven games better in the win problem.
But they're going to have to, you know, go on a run here to even have a shot at postseason, you know, for the NCAA tournament.
But very lackluster basketball in this state.
And most of these fans here outside of last night have checked out and moved on.
I'd hate to be the one that has to pick the best guards in the SEC this season.
What we talked about there, Arkansas last night, Alabama, Florida, when go up and down the list.
I'd hate to be the one that has to make the final dish there.
Jake, you mentioned it earlier.
Could it be that maybe one of the reasons, and let's face it, there's only so much water in the jug,
that Mississippi State football may not be there, is Mississippi State baseball.
They nickname it the dude, Noble Field, at Polk Dement Stadium.
That tells you something right there.
It's considered to be the Carnegie Hall of college baseball, campus attendance record over 16,000,
renovated for $55 million.
To say the least, baseball is serious business there in Stockfield.
Your thoughts about this program?
It's the staple of the university, there is no doubt.
You know, they made a commitment after last year when Chris Limones just, you know,
for whatever reason couldn't get it done, that they were going to go out and make a splash higher.
And, you know, Zach Selman needed to do that.
And, of course, they found Brian O'Connor.
And, you know, I've equated it, and you guys may disagree too, but I've kind of equated it in a football sense.
You went out and you found Steve Sarkeesian and pulled him out of Texas.
And you went and got a really good quality coach.
And they put a ton of money into the baseball facility.
Obviously, they have a lot of, you know, alumnus and Palmeiro and Clark and so many others.
Jeff Brantley that love that program.
Yeah, Big Pen.
I mean, you can go down the line.
I mean, Jake Mangum and just a ton of guys who love that program.
They pump money back into that program.
They pride themselves on, you know, the left field lounge and being able to cook out and feed players and feed guest players.
It's an event for sure, and that's what Mississippi State fans, you know.
I'm not going to say that they would trade in football for baseball championships, but I think they might.
Ole Miss baseball.
They were rolling last year for a large part of it, lost to Murray State in the postseason.
Hunter Elliott is back.
Austin Frawley, Uttermark.
Both of these teams have been to the absolute pinnacle of college baseball.
And then a year or two later, they're in the basement.
What does Ole Miss look like coming into the season?
We had a visit with some people from Oxford, I believe, two days ago.
You know, like their bullpen, feel like they've got some good arms.
They've got some guys that can play it pretty well.
They just need to find some depth.
You know, they've got to get some at-bats for some young guys.
They feel like this is a team that can compete inside the conference.
As we well know, it's a very deep conference.
You know, you're going to go 10, 11, 12 deep in this conference of teams that are quality and have a chance for postseason.
They like their opportunities, or, you know, they like the potential of this team.
But it's just going to come down to, and guys, you know this,
how does your Friday night guy match up with Vanderbilt's or Mississippi State's or LSU's or Auburn's or whoever's?
You know, and do you have a close – you know, what's your Saturday guy like?
And do you have a guy that can close it out on Sunday?
And, you know, if they've got those quality arms and some guys that can come out of the bullpen,
you know, mid-relief, they'll be competitive.
I think they have some guys that can swing it pretty well.
You know, I don't know how deep they are.
I don't know that anybody does.
It's, you know, one through nine in the lineup right now.
But they feel like they've got a team that can compete.
And, you know, and guys, you know this, if you can compete in the SEC, even if you don't win it,
and let's just say you're middle of a pack, well, you know, you get off into regional play,
even if you're traveling as a two-seed or a three-seed, odds are you've got a chance to make a super regional.
And when you get there, then, you know, you've got anything that's possible at that point.
Absolutely.
Jake, let me ask you in closing.
Debo Sweeney made a lot of headlines going off in his documented rant about Ole Miss trying to poach a player
that did eventually go to Ole Miss, and Fresno State put in their two cents worth, too.
Have Ole Miss fans just simply shrugged and said, well, that's college football now?
What has been the response to that?
I think there has been a lot of shrugging and saying that it's college football.
Look, I get it.
I mean, right is right and wrong is wrong.
And this was my take on all this when it broke is, look, this is going on everywhere.
It doesn't mean it's right.
I felt like Debo was more – I mean, obviously, he was vending at Ole Miss,
but I think he was also vending at the NCAA in those that are in charge
because he made a comment, and I'm paraphrasing, something to the effect of,
if somebody doesn't do something now, if we don't find leadership now,
then it's a travesty for the sport.
We've seen several coaches come out over the last two years and call for reform.
You know, here recently, and the coach escaped from my mind,
he was talking about, hey, we need to find a leader in the NCAA.
To answer your question, I think a lot of people shrugged it off
and said, hey, it goes on everywhere.
I don't think anything's ever going to be done about it.
I don't think the NCAA has any teeth or backbone or, you know,
enforcement arm that they can do anything about it,
which is why you're seeing this go on in college football.
Absolutely.
Well, listen, you are still the king of Mississippi radio,
and I know a lot of people appreciate everything you do for high school sports, too,
be it football, basketball, et cetera.
But where can we get online and listen to your show this afternoon?
Always appreciate you guys.
Yeah, we'll be on 3 to 6 today.
That's central time.
You can stream it on the zone1059.com, the zone1059.com.
We've got some new technology we'll be rolling out,
so it'll make it even easier for people to pick us up.
But that's where you can pick us up, and, of course, you know,
I'll interact with you on X at Jake Wim.
Some of us folks love it as easy as you can get.
Jake, listen, keep up the good work.
Let's do it again soon, okay?
Absolutely, guys.
Look forward to it.
Thank you, bud.
Jake Wimbley, who can get up with us posted again.
Drive on ESPN 105.9 in central Mississippi.
BB, quickly, some updated information on the Florence Girls game.
Yeah, Harold, that game was reported by several sources to be a noon game tomorrow.
It is a 9 a.m. game.
He'll crash Tuscaloosa.
These teams are pretty even, 17-12, Florence Girls 17-15,
and you can hear that probably, I'm guessing, about 8.45 on 93.9
to score in the morning.
Stay tuned for that.
Coming up, meanwhile, in the second hour, the latest Tide Talk with Ryan Fowler,
Auburn Talk with Logan Fowler, and everything else with Randy Kennedy.
It's on deck of the Boomo Bugg Show.
Stay with us.
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With Progressive customer service, there are lots of ways to connect with us,
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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates and other insurers
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A connection has been found between Alabama and Jeffrey Epstein.
The recently released Epstein documents by the Department of Justice
show a longstanding relationship between Epstein and a family of a former student
at the University of Alabama, John Alexander.
John Alexander's father, Stephen Alexander, was a personal psychologist to Epstein.
The Alexander family even went so far as to invite Epstein
to the 2013 University of Alabama commencement ceremony.
This came after the Alexander family was invited and did visit the Epstein Island in 2011.
Stephen Alexander sent an email to Epstein afterwards saying that the time on the island was fun,
but probably best to keep the guest list between the two of them.
Epstein was convicted of engaging in prostitution of underage females in the state of Florida back in 2008.
The details of the Alexander family connections to Epstein are written about by Trenton Buffenbarger on the 1819 News website.
Buffenbarger is a senior at the University of Alabama and chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at that campus.
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 six out of every 100 adults face PTSD every day?
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A school bus crash occurred this morning in Coleman County.
The bus driver and all students on board at the time are uninjured.
However, the driver of the pickup truck that rear-ended the bus has been transported to a local hospital as a precaution.
The Alabama Department of Workforce is holding its state-sponsored job fair in Montgomery today.
It'll run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cramden Bowl.
I'm Andrea Theis.
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.
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Good night away, and Northwest Alabama is thrilled to announce the return of its signature fundraising gala,
Shoals Royale, on Saturday, February 21st, 2026 at the Renaissance Shoals Conference Center.
This black-tie optional casino-themed event brings all the glitz and excitement of Las Vegas to the Shoals,
complete with live entertainment, gaming tables, prices, hors d'oeuvres, and a cash bar, and all for a great cause.
Now in its fourth year, Shoals Royale has become one of Northwest Alabama's premier charity events,
uniting local businesses, community leaders, and residents for a night of luxury and purpose.
Proceeds directly benefit United Way of Northwest Alabama and the 12 local nonprofit partners
and 22 community programs and funds.
Individual tickets are $125 or $200 per couple,
or go in VIP style for $350 or $600 per couple.
Shoals Royale 2026, Saturday, February 21st at 7 p.m.
at the Renaissance Shoals Conference Center.
Tickets are available now at givebutter.com slash Shoals Royale 2026.
Valley Broadcasting Corporation, WITK-FM, Rogersville, Athens, Decatur, The Shores, Sports Radio 93.9, The Score.
Telling my girls about my Alzheimer's diagnosis was hard.
But mom's early detection gave us time to make a plan.
Talk to your family about seeing a doctor.
Go to alz.org slash time to talk.
A message from the Alzheimer's Association and the Ad Council.
Westwood One Sports presents this special update on the 2026 Winter Games.
Team USA and Canada are scoreless after one period in the women's hockey gold medal game.
This is the seventh time they've played for Olympic gold.
Canada has won four of those matchups, including in 2022.
But this U.S. team has been unstoppable in Milan.
A shutout streak of 351 minutes and counting, including the 5-0 win over Canada in pool play.
The other big event going on right now, the women's free skate.
Team USA is looking for its first medal in 20 years.
Alyssa Liu has the best shot.
She was third after the short program and will skate 21st out of 24 skaters.
American speed skater Jordan Stolls settling for silver in the men's 1,500 meters.
After winning gold in the 500 and the 1,000, he is scheduled for one more event.
With this Winter Games update, I'm Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports.
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Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Time to go to the land of reigning iguanas.
That's the state of Florida where Mark McLeod calls home.
He's host of the Blitz with Mark McLeod.
The Gator Blitz is his podcast.
Mark, the SEC announced last week they had netted $1.03 billion in revenue.
You see, and I don't know if you noticed this or not, but it was another omission.
They meant to send a little bit of that to the radio shows that promote the SEC on a daily basis.
And Mark, once again, we got left out.
Yep, we did.
I bet we won't even get a media gift of the SEC media days either.
We'll get a trip around the room.
We'll get a free trip around the room and all the air you can breathe, you know.
That water with lemon in it.
And there you go.
No, no, no, no.
We're living in it.
Dr. Pepper, Mark.
Dr. Pepper.
In the meantime, thank you so much.
And tell the SEC if they want to send that money up to the radio shows, we'll lick the stamp for them, okay?
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
The Bumbo Bug Show, weekdays noon to 2 on 93.9 The Score.
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Tonight, cloudy with an 80% chance of showers overnight and a low near 55.
Tomorrow, mostly sunny with a high around 70.
Tomorrow night, mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers and thunderstorms overnight and a low near 45.
And for your Saturday, mostly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and a high around 65.
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 Bumbo Bug 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.
After the Bumbo Bug Show, I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley
and for the award-winning Randy Kennedy to join our fiddle huddle here.
He is busy there at AL.com.
I'm also on the radio as host, your guest at the Randy Kennedy Show.
Four to six afternoons down on 995 Sports Talk and Mobile.
Winner of the Mel Allen Award and also from the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Named one of the 50 legends of sports writers in the state of Alabama.
Randy Kennedy, welcome in.
How are you?
I am doing great.
How are you guys doing?
Hey, buddy.
We're doing all right.
Auburn fans say, when are we going to get some good news?
And what is it with Hueytown stars and their neighbors, what, 46, 47 miles down the road
there in Tuscaloosa?
First, Jamie, it's Winston says, I think I'm going to go to Florida State.
And now, Donovan Moore out of Hueytown says, I'm committing to the Auburn Tigers.
Your thoughts about the Hueytown connection to Tuscaloosa, the lack thereof, and how good
is Mr. Moore?
Well, you're missing out on Roy Dale Williams, who went down there.
There you go.
And then Florida State, but your point is very, very well taken.
You know, with Donovan Moore, this is a huge win for the new staff at Auburn.
Alex Golesh and the staff there, they really prioritized him.
And a lot of people think he's the number one recruit in the state coming up this year.
I think that's debatable, but it's not debatable that he is a big-time prospect that Auburn
zeroed in on.
And to already get a commitment there is a very big deal.
You know, we talked about proof of concept, but they don't have that at Auburn yet.
But clearly, they're doing a great job of selling what they're building there.
So that's a huge pickup.
We always have the caveat of it's a long way to signing day for all these guys.
But it certainly shows some great momentum for Auburn getting in there and getting that
commitment.
Randy, you know, who knows this day and time what's fact and what's fiction.
Word is he grew up in Auburn fans.
So it was just a matter of getting an offer and then following through on his heart.
Be that as it may, it's still hard to close the deal sometimes.
But your thoughts overall, now that there's a new sheriff in town at Auburn, he has big
Moe and it's sent to his back.
Alabama staff, they have been here now by comparison.
They're the veterans.
At one time, they got taken advantage of because, as the Eagles would say, they were the new kids
on the block.
But overall, how's the fight now between Alabama and Auburn with in-state recruits?
You know, it is so interesting because it's not just an in-state battle.
I mean, we love to concentrate on those and I concentrate on that more than anything else.
But it's a matter of finding guys you think are best for your program.
And sometimes that ends up being an in-state battle.
We usually see like, you know, maybe five or six a year of guys who are like both Alabama
and Auburn really, really want that it comes down to.
Look, I think, like I said, Auburn's off to a great start with this.
There's no doubt about it, being able to get a kid that any team in the country would be thrilled
to have a commitment from and have it in the middle of February.
I mean, that's a really big deal.
It remains to be seen how many, you know, how many of those guys there's actually going to be
who are, you know, have their choice of Alabama, Auburn or, you know, be national kind of recruits.
But I think Donovan Moore is one of those guys.
So a big plus to Auburn with that one.
You know, Alabama's got some of that as well.
Chicken Garar from down here at Viger has been committed to Alabama for a long time.
He's a national recruit.
So there are some already in the fold.
But most of these guys, we're just getting started with the recruiting.
I'm looking at last year's best of Bama, and I want to ask you about some of the younger dudes
here in a few minutes.
But you are beginning a new year for best of Bama.
And the running back prospects, I believe, is going to be on either today or tomorrow.
Randy, tell us about some of the best running back prospects in the state of Alabama.
You know, this is a fun part of we do this best in Bama.
You start out, we end up with 50.
And then we update it every week during the season.
But it's a lot more than 50 people who don't make it.
So we're doing it position by position.
At running back so far, we've got 17 candidates for people who might be in the best in Bama
top 50.
17.
And interesting guys, of those 17, not a single one's committed yet.
So a long way to go with all these.
So later on today on AL.com, you will see that story on the running backs of all the people
who are at least under consideration to make best in Bama, which we'll release this summer.
But 17 running backs.
It's interesting because you guys know last year who the top running back was, EJ Crowell
at Jackson.
That was a no-brainer, number one overall prospect.
This year, it seems like the top guys are all something Jay.
There's something in you have to have initials to be a good running back.
But like maybe the top three running backs are something Jay this year.
You've got C.J. Davis, who's at Hewitt Trussell.
You've got C.J. Cowley, who's at Hoover.
M.J. Gideon, who's at James Clemens.
So there's something in this initial thing.
I'm going to be a morning DJ.
J.J. Kennedy here on the radio.
That's the perfect name for a morning radio name.
To me, one of the more interesting names, Randy, is you mentioned Moore having a heart
for Auburn.
Is there a kid in his class with a bigger heart for Alabama than Trent Seaborn?
If I'm a coach, this kid, it's going to obviously remain to be seen what he can do
at that level of competition.
But in terms of what he's doing right now, I'm taking notice because he seems to be a
natural leader.
You don't win a state championship.
I don't care how good you are as an eighth grader unless you've got some of that in you.
He did that.
Now he's got more than one state championship.
But more than that, he basically shut down his commitment since he said verbally, he's
on record.
I'm not going anywhere else.
Why would I want to waste time going there when I can go to Alabama and recruit for Alabama?
And this is a kid who's going to inherit probably one of the most competitive rooms of anybody
in the country.
It's crazy because, you know, he's one of those rare guys that even before he got to high
school, he was like, if I get an Alabama, I've realized my dream.
If I get the Alabama offer.
So when he got a solid Alabama offer, he's like, well, then done.
I'm not doing recruiting anymore.
That is really, that's like 1% do it that way.
You know, even if you're a fan of a school, but he just decided my goal is to sign with Alabama.
And once he realized that he was going to be able to do that, like you said, let me turn
into being a recruiter now.
And he is guys.
He's very popular with other recruits, you know, social media and just well-known among
recruits.
If you're reading stories about who's the best players in the state, you know, his name.
So he, he carries some weight and he's certainly being one of Alabama's best recruiters already.
Randy, I asked you about these two dudes, uh, last year, uh, and again,
the best of Bama.
It's not just people think, well, Randy's got a compilation of juniors and seniors.
Oh, uh, you go from the eighth grade to seniors.
Let me ask you about two guys who are literally on the best of Bama.
Uh, number 48 is Trey Kyles, a defensive end from Daphne.
He's in the eighth grade.
Number 50, number 50 is Cole, K-O-L-E, Moody.
He is a quarterback, Southside Selma, who is in the eighth grade.
Now, obviously these guys have done something to catch your attention and your thinking.
And I know Trent Seaborn is one of them who kind of started this tree.
And he seems like he's been doing this 10 years now.
Randy, I've got, tell us again, if you're in the eighth grade and you made the best 50 players
in the state of Alabama, tell us why.
Well, I'm, I'm proud of the Trey Kyles one because, uh, I saw him play in person and thought,
who is that?
And I was like, oh yeah, that's an eighth grader.
I was like, are you kidding me?
Uh, and so I just did a bunch of investigating.
I was like, well, there's no question that football fans in this state are going to get, get to
know that name.
So let's, let's put him on the list.
Trey Kyles.
And I saw just last week, he got an Ole Miss offer.
He got a West Virginia offer.
He hasn't, you know, he's entering the ninth grade coming up.
So I feel good about identifying him early.
His dad was a real good player in high school, played at South Alabama.
Um, so really proud of that one in terms of Cole Moody.
I mean, look, he was the leading passer in the country last year.
So that's one of those where it's just hard to ignore the stats.
You know, he had better stats last year than I think any quarterback in the history of Alabama
as an eighth grader.
So you're like, okay, he deserves to be on the radar.
He doesn't have the physical tools yet.
I mean, he's still, you know, 14 years old.
Let's give him time, but he's got to grow more.
But just in terms of his accomplishments on the field, I think he's got to at least be
on the list under consideration.
So I love identifying those young guys and, uh, when it's clear that they're going to be
on the recruiting trail going forward.
Randy Kennedy, busy there at the AL.com.
Randy, last year is EJ Crowell number one, EJ Crowell number two, and I think EJ Crowell
number three.
There's still a lot of headlines.
Who's going to be the EJ Crowell this season?
You know what?
It's, it's the quarterback position because you can make the argument of which one you
like best.
We're going to have about, I was having this argument.
It was somebody about the Alabama Mississippi all-star game coming up.
Somebody's going to get their feelings hurt.
We got too many good quarterbacks to play in that game.
And so you've got Gunnar Rivers down at, uh, you know, Phillip Riverside down here at Fairhope.
He's certainly in that running.
Jameson Roberts is right here at Sarah Land is in the running.
You mentioned Trent Seaborn might be the top player in the state.
I mean, I can mention many, many more, but it's quarterbacks.
We are flush with quarterbacks coming up this year.
Randy, I keep telling people and, uh, it, that the talent in the state of Alabama has come
light years in the last 20 years, but in particularly the last five to seven, uh, and again, you're
seeing Oregon, uh, come in here quite frankly, you know, all the time.
And we've seen them get two or three guys in the last couple of years.
Uh, the state of the talent in this state is very, very good.
And it's really beginning to get more and more national attention.
And you cover it, um, uh, on a very frequent basis.
Look forward to seeing the 17 running back prospect, Randy, where can we get online and
get the next latest edition of the superstars to be in the future?
Yeah.
Within the next hour, that story will be up on al.com.
Um, so we've got, we've got the running backs today, and then you will see that we'll be,
uh, going position by position, uh, with the guys who are the, the ones to watch in the
state as we begin to pare it down.
But today the running backs, and you can see some of those guys we've talked about already.
And who knows, there may be somebody who didn't make the top 17 running backs who emerged during
the season.
That wouldn't be shocking at all, which is the part that makes it fun.
So if we miss somebody, let me know.
Thanks for the heads up, Randy.
Listen, man, thanks for your time today.
And little by little, we're getting some of that South Alabama weather up here in North
Alabama.
Man, I hear you.
We need it.
Keep it coming.
Senior ball, it was not pretty.
No.
You got North Alabama weather at that time.
Randy, listen, man, it's always a great job.
Thank you so much.
And keep up the good work.
Okay?
Great to talk to you guys.
Thank you, bud.
Randy Kennedy, AL.com.
And, uh, busy there, uh, host of the Randy Kennedy show, 4 to 6, 9, 95 sports talk in
mobile.
Coming up, mention the Auburn Tigers, more with Logan Fowler on deck.
Stay with us.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back here.
Time to open the door and say hello to Logan Fowler.
He's got the Auburn Tigers cover there at 1819 News and Tailgate, Auburn.
That's T-A-L-E-Gate, Auburn.
Logan, welcome in pre-TGIFT.
How are you?
Doing well.
How are you guys?
You mean?
Man, we're doing all right, Logan.
Listen, man, a head-scratcher for this Auburn basketball program.
I know it's frustrating for Tiger fans right now, but if you're just a basketball fan,
when's the last time you saw a show like the most recent show by Josh Hubbard out of Mississippi State?
Well, it's good for the Bulldogs, bad for the Auburn Tigers, but if you just look at it in terms of just pure talent.
By the way, an Alabama native had to get out of the state.
Your thoughts about that 46-point show against the Tigers?
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that was the difference in the game last night.
Obviously, Mississippi State had a Josh Hubbard and Auburn didn't.
The first half performance from him was a generational performance.
Auburn fans, you just have to tip your cap to them.
Sure, Auburn could have defended them better than they did in the second half,
but 35 points and nine triples in the first half.
Tied a program record for most threes in a game in the first half.
And the funny part about it was like most of those shots were contested with a hand in his face.
I know the camera caught to him one time on the television broadcast and showed he was even surprised on one of the DPs that he connected on.
So, that was the most points in our first half according to Jeff Borzillo at ESPN since Luke Garza scored 36 in 2020.
So, you know, that was just a generational performance.
It really stings for Auburn because that was what you felt like was a must-win game.
So, now you're really pressed for wins.
Final, you know, five games remaining.
This Kentucky game kind of starts to feel like a must-win.
You really need to pick it up.
You know, for Auburn to feel comfortable, I think you need to get four.
If you win three, maybe you have a shot.
You know, no other team can say that they've gone into Gainesville and handed Florida an L in the manner that Auburn did.
So, that one's really holding things together for Auburn right now.
And I was having a conversation yesterday with another member of the Beat.
And we talked about how important that season opening win in overtime against Bethune Cookman was.
Had you lost that game, that would be a quad four loss on your resume right now.
So, you know, Auburn did what it had to do in the non-conference schedule.
But you've really got to pick up your play here down the stretch.
You know, Auburn fans have been grasping for something to hold on to.
And, ironically, Keyshawn Hall, after being shown on the bench in the previous game, comes out last night, gets almost 30, 29 points, 10 rebounds, a double-double.
Your thoughts about the Keyshawn Hall show?
Yeah.
So, I mean, you know, I have to commend Stephen Pearl.
And, look, I don't know every detail of the situation and what's going on in that locker room.
So, I don't have anything to comment necessarily on that.
But I have to commend Stephen Pearl for putting his foot down with his program in his first year.
You know, young coach, it could have been very easy for him to not necessarily get ran over, but for lack of a better term, get run over by his players maybe.
But he's come in, and if you're not living up team standards and expectations, he's going to punish you for it.
You know, he's done it with his two best players so far.
He's obviously done it with Magwood throughout the season.
But, you know, kudos to Keyshawn Hall for taking it like a man and coming out and scoring and having a 15th consecutive 20-point game with 29 points, you know.
Had he not played, especially in that first half, you're, I mean, he was your only offense, really, in the first half.
Now, Tahad Pettiford ended up with another 20-point game, his fourth consecutive.
And Kevin Overton poured in 11 second-half points to the tune of 15 total for the game.
And, you know, kudos to Keyshawn Hall for taking it like a man and coming out and performing.
Hopefully, he can kind of continue that surge as one of the SEC's most prolific scorers down this final five-game stretch.
Auburn, to their credit, came back after being outplayed and outshunned in the first half and literally had a seven-point lead with four minutes left.
And then Mississippi State goes on to score 18 points in the final 343.
And Auburn made one field goal.
Auburn struggled to guard the guards, pardon the pun.
Phylon hit 25 for Alabama.
Tyler Tanner, 25 at Bandy.
And Acuff at 31.
He's going to score 30 points on NBA teams.
And those are three of the best players.
But defense has certainly been an issue for Auburn in this losing streak.
Yeah, and three-point shooting defense at that.
You know, even if you take away Hubbard's 10-3s last night, Mississippi State still shot 6-14 from deep.
So, defending the three-point line during this little five-game skid has been an issue.
Digging themselves in early holes.
I think they've gotten down by double digits for the most part in every game except for Alabama during this losing streak.
So, you know, and Stephen Pearl talked about that last night after the game.
You've got to come out and play harder.
You know, you can't wait until you get down 18 to decide to come back and win.
But, you know, when you look across the league last night, yes, Auburn has had a difficult, difficult time defending top scorers.
You know, they came in before last night against Josh Hubbard.
You know, the quartet that you mentioned was averaging 24.4 points per game against Auburn.
So, the only top scorer out of the seven top scorers in the league that Auburn has not played is Keyshawn Hall.
So, it's been a rough going.
Last night, you look and you had, I believe it was 10 across the league, score more than 20 points.
So, this is a league where, you know, individual performers are going to get their points.
They're going to make their mark on games.
And Auburn's got a duo that does that for them.
But, at some point, the defense, and especially the backcourt defense, has got to get much better.
And it starts with the likes of Taha Petterford, you know, being a better defender than what he's put on display recently.
Well, we've got a couple of minutes for the Olympic break.
Kentucky coming in.
They got upset by Georgia earlier this week.
What does Auburn have to do to get off this night?
Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of what I just mentioned.
I think Auburn's got to come back, you know, at home, playing in front of what's always going to be a rowdy crowd and put the foot on the gas from the start.
Don't allow Kentucky to get out to a double-digit lead in the first half and find a way to, you know, Auburn's not had any trouble scoring the basketball this season.
And you knew coming into this season, and Bruce Burley had been mentioned before he retired, like, this team's going to score the basketball, but I don't know how well it's going to perform on the defensive end.
But you've just got to change that narrative.
You've got to be more physical.
You've got to play the Auburn brand of basketball that's gotten you in the tournament for four straight years, you know, that's showing you or giving you two final four appearances in the last six tournaments.
Like, you've got to get back to that brand of basketball, and there's no better time for Auburn to do that than right now, starting on Saturday in a must-win situation with Kentucky.
That's some great stuff.
Where can we get online and get all your good stuff?
Yeah, you can check out my written work with 1819 News and Tailgate Auburn, T-A-L-E-G-A-T-E, and check me out on x at loganffowler.com.
That's it, Logan F. Fowler.
Absolutely.
Listen, have a great week.
Olympic update coming up, along with Ryan Fowler talking Alabama, when we return to the B-Mole Buck Show on 93.9.
Let's go.
Let's go.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
We'll be right back.
Westwood one sports presents this special update on the 2026 winter game sponsored by Granger.
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Women's hockey team is trailing for the first time this entire Olympics, down 1-0 to Canada in the gold medal game.
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That would be Amber Glenn, who was a disappointing 13th after the short program.
After that, Isabeau Lovito, she was eighth.
The best chance for the U.S. getting a medal, Alyssa Liu.
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And American speed skater Jordan Stolls settling for silver in the men's 1,500 meters.
He won gold twice earlier.
With this winter games update, Brad Heller, Westwood One Sports.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9, the score.
Mids basketball action last night.
North Alabama fell to Queens, 85-78.
Lions are 3-12 in the A's on.
Troy Trojans survived a road game at UL Monroe, 77-76.
The Trojans improved to 18-10 on the year, 10-5 in the Sun Belt.
South Alabama will play tonight.
They're at home against Texas State.
Jaguars are 19-8 on the season and 9-5 in the Sun Belt.
Texas State is 9-6 in the conference.
Also last night, 25th ranked Alabama topped Arkansas in double overtime, 117-115.
Alabama is 9-4 in the SEC.
And the Auburn Tigers were outscored on the road at Mississippi State, 91-85.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
He is warming up to drive you home this afternoon down in a place called Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
He's Ryan Fowler, host of The Game on Tide 109 FM in Tide Town.
Ryan, welcome in.
When you went to bed last night, did you count sheep or did you count three-pointers in The Game to remember your backyard?
How are you?
Man, what a game.
What a game.
What a atmosphere.
You know, I was going to ask you guys, was that the best basketball game?
I mean, no doubt it was the game of the year, right?
That's what people are kind of labeling it, the game of the year.
But, I mean, is that an all-time top five?
Yes.
Well, in terms of, yeah, I think, well, first of all, it had an NBA final score, so that tells you right there.
We joked about it, Ryan.
Man, these two teams have got tremendous offenses, not so much defense, but that's just college basketball now for the most part.
Yeah, and really Arkansas could not defend, even if they would have had a good defense, right?
I mean, they had to play the limited because of the limited personnel.
That's right.
Yeah.
So you kind of had to walk it in and be very careful.
Right.
Understanding that, hey, that was the strategy going in.
And so you're sitting here and you're absorbing.
But what a game.
What an atmosphere.
What an electric environment.
Alabama has now won, what, five in a row?
Wow.
Five in a row, yeah.
Yep.
I mean, think about if I would have told you this is a Florida game.
Run.
Five in a row and to be able to take it to the next level.
That's a pretty incredible performance for Alabama.
And, you know, it's a building block that looks like there's some winnable games.
You know, we had Jerry Palma a couple days ago,
and he was saying that Alabama can work their way into a number three seed.
Yep.
Wow.
So that's a big.
And the amazing, Ryan, this run has come in the storm,
at the apex of the storm, the Betty Yakos story.
And since he's been gone, they haven't missed a beat.
Not only do they keep winning, I mean, Arkansas,
I'll tell you what, A-Cuff is as good a guard as you're going to find
anywhere, anytime.
What a performance by that kid.
Anytime.
Think about that.
Phylon had almost 40, and he got overshadowed by A-Cuff at Arkansas
as far as stats.
That tells you how good that kid is.
But your thoughts just about this team
and what they learned from the Betty Yakos saga.
Well, I think when you look at Nate O's of what he's been able to do
to manage this, right, and not allowing it to become a distraction.
Right.
And that is, that's pretty big, right?
I mean, that's pretty big.
When you, when you kind of step back and, because this thing could have went
the other way.
Yep.
I mean, in this current time, I think coaches, like,
to be able to manage all of these different things, right?
I think coaches, you've got to be able to not allow this to divide your team.
And I think he did that, right?
I mean, he took the right approach.
The team accepted that.
And then, obviously, it didn't work out.
And he had to kind of go the other way.
So when you, when you step back and kind of begin to analyze some of these
different techniques of, I mean, I wonder about all the NIL stuff.
How do you manage that in the locker room?
You know, if you pay $4 million to a new offensive tackle, you know, you've got to,
you know, cause in their minds, they're looking at it going, okay, you paid Charles
Bediaco, but obviously he didn't, you know, whatever, you know, whatever the value was
for the games that he played.
I mean, that had to be a price, right?
I mean, he's willing to come back out of the G League to come back to Alabama.
I mean, there had to be a price, right?
I mean, there had to be.
So you can disrupt your team chemistry with that.
And Nados was really able to manage it to a level of, you know, grabbing a
lot of team chemistry and grabbing some momentum that really I didn't see coming.
Because I thought, okay, here, you know, here goes the court case.
They lose that.
That could be a big, you know, rush.
And it wasn't.
To me, that you've got to give Nados credit for that.
I mean, I know there's a lot of criticism, but see, Nados won the big case.
Okay.
Yeah.
He didn't win the Charles Bediaco, but you know what he did?
He raised awareness.
He has more people talking about the European pros than ever before.
Most of us didn't even know, including myself, that there was this many European.
A little bit of a hiccup there with Ryan.
Ryan Fowler, host of the game on Tide 109 FM.
Obviously, Ryan, obviously.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
Pick up your thoughts.
Yeah.
No, but what I was saying is Nados raised awareness to the European pros, right?
I mean, we now know more about the European pros than ever before.
I mean, we had no clue there was just this many European pros playing, you know, in college
basketball.
But Nados raised that awareness to the level of, we're going, oh, you know, you got Jay
Billis on ESPN Sports Center talking about it.
He's on different shows kind of raising.
It's been a conversation that I think will continue far beyond March Madness.
When we get down to Sandestin, to the spring meetings, you can better believe it.
We're going to have this conversation about European pros.
Ryan, you bring up a good point.
I know you've always mentioned that Nick Saban did the best job of anybody in 2020 managing
his program with COVID and going back to the Brandon Miller situation and how he was able
to handle that.
Some things he wishes he can have back.
But again, some of the national activists who masquerade as journalists jumped all over
this mediocre situation.
And I did notice that Jay Billis has really taken up.
He was on par in the interruption on ESPN and really took up for Alabama.
And something else he does, he's not afraid to call out players.
He's done that two or three times this year.
He's not afraid to sit players.
Again, as far as discipline, that takes this team about half the SEC round robin to learn
how to play defense.
Arkansas hit everything they put up.
They were shooting at 1.70% last night.
But from the 12-minute mark to the five-minute mark, Arkansas scored four points.
That allowed Alabama to get back in the game and try to get control of the game.
But you're exactly right.
Nate Oates doesn't get enough credit for what he does.
Does he deserve some of the criticism?
Is it merited?
Some of it is.
But he's done a really good job of managing what was about to spiral out of control.
Yeah, I mean, I think that's the part that maybe we don't give him enough credit.
And really, you know, I've got Mike Rodak on later today.
And, you know, Nate deserves a lot of credit.
But did you see how much money the Alabama basketball program made?
That's a step up.
About $9 million when it's in that neighborhood around $10 million.
Yeah, yeah.
And so when you look at, because for a long time, Alabama basketball barely broke even or a little bit under.
Nate Oates has been able to take this program to where it's showing a significant profit.
And I bet you could look around.
I mean, you know, I know Auburn's got to pay for the facility that they built.
I'm sure that that's an expense.
You know, Greg Byrne may come out of this smelling like a rose.
I mean, you know, because he's not built a facility, right?
And they're still paying a profit.
I mean, that's the goal.
And especially in the current administrative NIL landscape that we're in.
Thank you.
You better be able to turn a profit.
And it was only two sports that did, football and basketball.
But what Nate Oates has been able to do for managing the locker room, but to also turn this program in to where it's a profit for Alabama Crimson Tide Athletics.
I think that's something that maybe we just don't really understand, right?
I mean, it's a level, but he arrived and this program was funeral home dead.
I mean, it was dead.
I mean, it was.
And look at where he's been able to take it to get it back to.
I don't know how the updated numbers.
Back in the day, when you made the NCAA basketball tournament, it was gold.
And every round you make, it's more gold.
So, profit-wise, basketball is right there with football as far as apples to apples.
It's not going to generate the total number, but apples to apples.
It's just safe to say, Ryan, one of the unsung heroes, and I think a pleasant surprise for this basketball team, is AA, Amari Allen.
This kid, I think at the beginning of the year, but I said, oh, he's just another hotshot recruit coming out of high school.
We've seen his rodeo before.
He's this four or five star.
He's going to be okay.
This guy has been, in many ways, the straw that's started to drink so far this season.
He has been.
He has been.
And, wow, you're watching it late in the game, hitting the free throws, doing the things that, you know, Nate Oates expects you to do a lot of the things.
I mean, you've got to be a team player, right?
I mean, I don't think he really doesn't want these one-man show type guys.
And I know, you know, Fionn always gets his points, and you've had others.
Mark Sears in the previous years was able to get his points.
But they want that team concept, and he's bought into that.
And it's a fun brand of basketball to play in.
I mean, look at, you know, you talked about the NBA style.
I mean, what gets you better for the NBA?
I mean, NBA doesn't play defense.
I mean, you were talking about defense a while ago.
I mean, because they realize what?
I mean, for one, you know, your body is only so much.
You can only put, you know, its maximum effort.
Yeah, you've got to be able to give some of it, but you're not able to give all of it because you won't have anything on the offensive side of the football
because they want to go at a pace that most teams are not comfortable running.
But, you know, you go back to the last time's game.
I mean, I thought at halftime, Arkansas had come in and Coleman called Sam and, okay, this thing's just been ugly, right?
And it went the other way.
It went the other way.
And so when you look, but it's just, it's created the early part.
I kept telling the audience, your therapist, Alabama basketball was your therapist and your therapist didn't show up because the early part of the season did not look like what it's looking like now.
I mean, the, the, the, I mean, think about this.
I made a reference to the Florida game.
What was it?
A hundred to 77.
I think it was a hundred to 77.
Uh, so when you, when you step back and you look at it, that's a, I mean, that momentum swinging right there, uh, is, is, is been, it's been dynamic.
Um, and Ryan, he's been able to do this with a myriad of injuries.
I think every kid on this team has had injuries.
Now, as Harold mentioned, Maury Allen's been a revelation.
London Jemison is getting better and Ryan, they've had to work through the injuries, but these transfers, and I mentioned this last week or two weeks to you, quite frankly, they've been a bust.
Taylor Bo Bowen tries, but he's been hurt the majority of the season.
Bristow, uh, I don't know if he'll play the rest of the year.
Noah Williamson got one rebound last night, went back to the bench.
Jaleel Bethea, the transfer from Miami has had little contribution.
He scored 20 in a preseason game, but he's been able to do this.
He knows the strengths of the lineup now, but the transfers have been a bust and, and a lot of these kids have been injured.
They have been.
Yeah.
No, I mean, I, I mean, the injuries, I don't know how you get the injury bug off, but it just seems like it rolled right into football, right into basketball.
I mean, I mean, think about it.
I mean, the injuries have been, I mean, I, I mean, I feel like I need to do that.
I mean, I feel like I need a sports medicine degree to talk about Alabama sports.
I mean, because they're, I mean, the injuries have happened all over from, I mean, every time you get the availability report, you're like, my heavens, is this guy?
I mean, it's, it's, it's, hey, the sports science facility and the trainers and all those guys, they have earned their paycheck in, in, in, in, in 2025, 2026, you know, academic year.
I mean, I mean, because this has been, I can't remember this many injuries being involved.
Like you said, basketball, football, I mean, people are still crying over that Georgia game and I keep making a reference because you, you forget about it.
I mean, they had 13 guys injured for that Georgia game, 13 guys in the SBA title game.
And it is, but, but, but, but, you know why we're talking about it?
It's because of depth.
So you don't have the depth that you want to have.
And that's, I think it's probably, it's across different sports as well.
Look, Ryan, I've said several times, I thought Jeff Allen was the MVP of the 2026 football season to be able to get those guys ready to play.
Tell us about your big show this afternoon.
Who have you got on and where can we get online to listen?
Yeah, tide109.com, tide109.com.
We've got Rodney Orr coming up.
We've got Chris Childers, SiriusXM is going to be with us, talk a little college football with him.
And then we also have Mike Rodak that's going to kind of paint this photo of the financial.
Because I found that article very comprehensive.
It was a fun dive for me.
And I kind of want him to explore some of the numbers and talk about it.
So we'll do that coming up around 3.30.
And he's here.
Ryan, it's always good to hook up with you.
I don't know what we're going to do for an encore after last night's show, but stay tuned.
In the meantime, thanks so much for your time, Day Ryan.
Hey, you guys are welcome.
Hope you guys have a great week.
Thank you again.
You too, buddy.
Right back at you.
Ryan Fowler, 109 FM in Tuscaloosa.
BB, again, an adjustment update for the Florence Girls games at the regionals coming up tomorrow morning here on 93.9 The Score.
Yeah, you can hear them.
We'll tip off at 9 a.m.
Hillcrest, Tuscaloosa, 17 and 12 on the season.
The Florence Girls, 17 and 15.
Probably, I'm guessing, pregame at 8.45.
Tip off approximately at 9 a.m.
Also, shaking tomorrow on the show is UNA back home baseball.
Taking on St. Louis, the first of three over the brand-new Mike D. Lane Field.
Again, that's tomorrow afternoon around three.
And then a rumor says coming up on Saturday, the Braves play the Rays' first game of spring training.
And, of course, you can catch that as well 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.
Harold LeVoy, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again tomorrow noon to 2 for the Boomwell Buck Show back here on Sports Radio 93.9 The Score.