Boomo Bugg Show 030626
93.9 The Score WYTK - March 6, 2026
https://www.939thescore.com/boomo-bugg-show-030626/

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 in to the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
Brett Beaird, welcome in where this weekend we change our clocks and Ryan Williams changes his number and name.
Good afternoon, welcome in and how are you?
Happy Friday to you and the listeners.
Blake Lovell of Southeastern 16 will preview the final regular season Saturday in SEC men's basketball coming up in a few minutes.
Pete Cordelli talks about working as an assistant coach under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame and Jimmy is here right now.
We'll talk some Alabama basketball recruiting, the keys to beating the Auburn Tigers tomorrow night, the opening of spring football practice in Tuscaloosa Sunday.
Other than that, Jimmy's time has absolutely nothing on his plate this weekend.
He's co-host of Locked On Balm, a part of, you guessed it, the Locked On Network.
Jimmy, welcome in.
How are you?
Oh, doing great, guys.
Appreciate y'all having me back.
Hey, Jimmy.
Interesting times.
We were just speaking on that this weekend.
We have an opportunity to change our time.
But in the meantime, Ryan Williams, it's one thing to change a jersey number.
It's another thing to change your name in addition to that.
Jimmy, are we all supposed to, because we're changing our clocks this weekend, change our name and number?
Your thoughts about the move by Ryan Williams.
Well, Ryan is doing this to honor his mother, whose name's Coleman, Ryan.
So he's going to go by Ryan Coleman Williams.
My understanding is he did have it legally changed.
This is not a jersey thing.
This is something he did through the court system.
He's also changing his number from two to one.
I look at it like this way.
Obviously, the name thing is a personal thing to Ryan.
I think the jersey number thing is a little different.
Ryan, I think, is trying to hit a refresh or a reset on his career.
If you guys go back only three years, and it's crazy to think that you only have to go back three years until Ryan was in the 10th grade.
When Ryan was in the 10th grade, he won Mr. Football and became the first sophomore to do that.
Then he wins Mr. Football again as a junior, becoming the first football player in the history of the state of Alabama to be Mr. Football two years in a row.
Then he goes to his freshman year at Alabama as a 17-year-old and is widely considered the second-best freshman receiver in the country behind that freak in Ohio State, Jeremiah Smith.
For three years in a row, Ryan had done things that no one had really ever done before.
It wasn't just good.
He was historically good.
Then last year was disappointing.
Last year was disappointing.
It was disappointing for fans.
He led the nation in drops.
I assure you it was disappointing for Ryan.
My feeling is this is really the first time that Ryan's ever dealt with disappointment and adversity and people questioning whether he's a good football player or not.
I assure you that's never been questioned before until now.
I really feel like what Ryan is doing is setting a reset.
In keyboard terms, he's hit the F5 as a refresh.
I've heard from inside the program that last year, both the university and Yale, Alabama took Ryan to every event, every engagement, every money-making opportunity, not just for Ryan, but for Alabama and for Yale, Alabama.
These are things that multiple players do all the time, but Ryan was asked to do it every time because Ryan is the most requested player by fans, by corporations, by businesses, by supporters.
Ryan is the most requested player, so my understanding is this year, Ryan and team Ryan and those around him and Alabama football have said we're cutting down on all that.
Ryan's focus is going to be on football, and it's going to be less being pulled in the million different directions he gets pulled in.
So, I think the name change, I think the jersey change is all a part of a complete reset and refresh for Ryan, and personally, I think he's going to have a monster season.
I really believe that.
Jimmy, before we get into basketball, with recruiting and a big game tomorrow night, Sunday begins the third spring for Kalen Boer, and I know the fans' wish list is more consistency from week to week, more physicality, consistent running game, line of scrimmage play, improved kick return game.
Other than that, they're happy with this Alabama program.
Jimmy, what's your thoughts on Kalen Boer beginning year three in the spring, starting Sunday?
Well, I'm stealing this line from Kalen Boer.
I heard him use it himself this week in an interview, and that is, you know, people say this is a critical year for Kalen Boer.
I couldn't agree more.
It's a major critical year, but what year is not a critical year for the head coach in Alabama?
You're judged each and every year.
As crazy as this sounds, and who knows what would have happened in this hypothetical, but let's say in the hypothetical, Nick Saban was the head coach at Alabama in 24 and 25, and you had the exact same on-the-field results.
There you go.
People would be questioning Nick Saban, who's the greatest to ever do it.
It would be a critical year for Nick Saban.
So, it's a critical year for Kalen DeBoer.
It is, just like all the others.
I feel like what's difficult for Kalen this year is that now that he's made the playoff, it's sort of an expected thing.
You know, like, if you don't make the playoff, it will feel like the program went backwards, and I don't know that he can afford that.
But at the same time, you have all these new faces.
I mean, there's new faces everywhere.
There's turnover.
Now, this is not Alabama-specific.
I think this is across college football all over the country.
But the turnover in the roster is unlike anything that has ever been seen at Alabama before.
I'm sure people are saying that at just about every play.
But at Alabama, it is never-before-seen where there are basically, and these numbers are close, they're not exact,
there's basically 90 scholarship players, 45 of them are guys from last year, and 45 of them are brand new.
Wow.
Half of your roster is brand new.
And you're like, okay, make the playoff, or it feels like you're going backwards at a time you can't afford to do that.
So, it's a difficult year, to say nothing of the schedule.
And it's a crucial year for him.
But at the same time, I think he has built up quite a bit of goodwill.
He's been a great recruiter.
He's well-liked.
The players certainly like playing for him.
The coaches like coaching for him.
And for the disappointments, and there has been, Alabama kind of got blown out in two of the last three football games they played.
There's been some disappointments, but there's also been some pretty crazy successes.
I mean, we could go over them all, but I think everybody knows what they are.
But it includes finishing 7-1 in the SEC, going to Atlanta and playing for the SEC championship,
to say nothing of not only making the playoff, but getting to the playoffs and winning a game on the road in the playoffs.
So, there's been some successes.
I don't think the term hot seat is applicable, but also the fact of the situation is when you coach at Alabama,
your job is on the hot seat.
Not every game, but every day.
It reminds some folks that I covered a guy by the name of Bryant back in the day,
in the tail end of his illustrious career, he was criticized.
I know that's hard to believe.
Joe Paterno at Penn State.
So, it's all about the W, baby.
It's all about the W.
Jimmy Stein, co-host of Locked On Bama.
Jimmy, your thoughts?
A lot of folks said you can take that same blueprint and talk about this Alabama basketball team.
They would be nice if they would be consistent.
When they're hot, they're hot.
And when they're not, well, what can you say?
Jimmy, your thoughts?
Obviously, a great way to close things out in the regular season.
And those friends from Auburn this weekend, what should we expect?
I think Alabama's going to play well.
They've generally bounced back from every loss and done well.
They've played, you know, the toughest schedule in college basketball and haven't lost that many times.
And when they've lost, they've come back and played well.
Now you have the added emotional intensity of playing Auburn.
It's senior day.
There's that.
It's the last regular season game.
It's your last opportunity to submit your spot in the SEC tournament in terms of seeding.
To say nothing of seeding in the NCAA tournament.
A lot to play for.
And, again, I expect them to play well.
Weirdly, I thought they were probably as healthy as they've been all season going into Athens and they lose.
But I still insist that being as healthy as they've been all season is a good thing.
And I think that's going to pay off at home.
I think the emotional letdown after that big win in Knoxville, you could almost see it coming like a train, you know, that it was going to be hard to get up for 40 minutes and play another road game after how that Knoxville win played out for them.
So I suspect that they will play really well.
I think Auburn is a pretty good matchup for them.
And as we know, Auburn's been sort of, you know, taking on water, you know, over the past month or so.
And I'm not sure what mindset Auburn's going to be in when they show up.
Jimmy, I think there are two things here going for Alabama.
Number one, and we've talked about this during the course of the season, Auburn's three-point defense is ranked 345th in Division I.
What that means in English is it's not very good.
Number two, Amari Allen has scored a combined five points, two against Tennessee and three against Georgia.
And he's been a double-double machine for the majority of the season.
I think he's going to get off the snide.
And, in fact, if he scores 12 points and eight rebounds, I think they'd beat Georgia.
Jimmy, your thoughts, can Nate get Amari Allen going tomorrow night?
Yeah, I think Amari Allen is the guy to watch for Saturday night in terms of, like, how this Alabama team's going to look down the stretch.
So much lies on his shoulders, and this is why.
Is Amari in a little bit of a completely understandable two-game slump?
Or has he hit a freshman wall?
That's a real thing.
It happens to a lot of freshmen around college basketball.
All you have to do is count games.
All you have to do is count the games.
Amari has now played in right around 30 games, a few less, which is basically a high school season.
I mean, you know, he has played the season's length that he's played his whole life.
Now the season is longer, and it's not only longer, it's harder.
Sort of imagine, if you will, that you're an expert at running three miles, and you're really good at it.
And now they're asking you next year, okay, next year you're running four miles, but you're also running it uphill.
And that's kind of what it is for these high school players, right?
It's longer, and it's more difficult than taxing on your body.
So a lot of freshmen sort of run out of gas late.
And so has Amari run out of gas, or is this just a two-game thing that can happen to anyone that plays college basketball?
It's just literally impossible to play your best night in and night out, not even at the highest levels.
Does everyone play their absolute best every game out?
So we'll find out, and I think Saturday's big, is Amari fine, or is this a continuing issue?
Because with playing really just nine guys like Alabama does, they're so heavily dependent on each one of those nine.
If Amari all of a sudden becomes a guy that's not as helpful to winning the games, that's going to be a big problem for Alabama down the stretch.
Jim, would you say four miles or four feet?
We'll make sure we're clear on that.
But before you jump off of here, Jimmy, how about them Alabama women?
Now they're rocking and rolling.
They're back at it again tonight at knocking off Tennessee.
And the pride of Loretto, David and Kelly Weathers' favorite player, Carly Williams, with six big steals in that win last night against Tennessee, which is the state she hails from.
Your thoughts about this Alabama women's basketball team?
Yeah, I do want to say that Carly Weathers, I'm so happy that she's getting this attention, that she's well-earned down the stretch of her career.
She's sort of, for those that don't watch the women's team play a lot, Carly's very much sort of like the Houston Millette of the women's team in the sense that maybe she's not the leading scorer and she's not the leading rebounder, but she's kind of the heart and soul of the team.
And if the team has won the game, it's because Carly made the plays to win the game.
I mean, she's just a winner.
Yep.
If they gave the hard hat award, you know, the women's team, like Nate does with the guys, Carly would win it just about every game.
Just the effort is outstanding.
She's been such a great role model.
I think she's the SEC female scholar athlete of the year.
So, yeah, just real happy for her individually.
But the team, boy, winning two in a row in the SEC.
Let's remember, for so long, Alabama women's basketball was just terrible.
I mean, that's just an honest evaluation.
They were terrible for a long time.
They lost 40 games in a row to Tennessee, 40 in a row at one point, when Tennessee was at their best and Alabama was at their worst.
Well, this is not that same Tennessee.
It's also not the same Alabama, you know, who sort of easily handled Tennessee last night for their second win in a row in the SEC tournament.
I believe this will be four NCAA tournaments in a row for Alabama women's basketball.
And, boy, how Christy Curry did this a year after losing two players to the WNBA is really impressive.
Yeah.
Well, something else that's impressive is listening to Luke Robinson and Jimmy Stein talk on their podcast about football, basketball, or recruiting.
Jimmy, where can we get online and get the best podcast about Alabama sports on the planet?
Locked on, Bama.
You can find us six days a week.
We have a new show six days a week.
We have myself and Luke Robinson on YouTube.
Or you can find us wherever you listen to your audio podcast.
It's Locked on, Bama with Jimmy Stein and Luke Robinson.
Jimmy, have a great weekend.
Thank you so much.
Let's do it again soon.
Okay, buddy?
Hey, appreciate it, guys.
Y'all have a great weekend.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Jimmy Stein, hanging up with us, co-hosts, Locked on, Bama, part of the Locked On Network.
Coming up, he covers a thing called the SEC from the top to the bottom.
Everything in between.
Bite level on deck.
Stay with us.
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Here are thoughts from softball head coach Patrick Murphy
as Alabama prepares for Ole Miss this weekend.
Well, I wish I could say there's a lot to improve on,
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The score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
The Score.
Welcome back in.
The world of the SEC goes to Nashville next week.
We can't wait that long.
Go to the Music City and say hello to Blake Lovett.
That's home.
That's where he covers the entire world of the SEC there at Southeastern 16.
His podcast is called Establish the Past.
Indian pickup is your book.
It's called Blue Ribbon.
Blake Lovett, welcome in.
Happy Friday to you.
How are you?
I'm doing well, guys.
Good to talk to you as always.
Blake, are you ready to pull the curtain on the regular season for SEC men's basketball?
It's hard to believe it's yours or not.
Yeah, for sure.
And I couldn't have probably asked for a better sort of finish here when it comes to just all
the games tomorrow that have meaning.
I think really all but two probably have some sort of significance when it comes to the NCAA
tournament and all that.
So, yeah, it's kind of a pretty fascinating setup heading into those games.
ESPN has 10 SEC teams in.
You put this on your Twitter post a little bit earlier today.
Texas A&M is 10.
Missouri is 10.
Texas is 11.
Auburn is the second team out.
Now, if you're guessing there'll be nine or 10 teams, you've got four teams, maybe four, three spots.
Auburn needs the win more than anyone else.
But, obviously, Texas A&M, Missouri and Texas want to finish on a good note.
We've still got tomorrow and the tournament next week.
Any of those teams get in the tournament?
Yeah, it's going to be interesting because I think that Missouri and Texas, you would think on the surface,
may have more to lose just because they have the weakest non-conference schedules.
And I think that's hurting both of them right now, despite both having really a good group of good wins in conference play.
But that's kind of holding them back a little bit at the moment.
Texas A&M, honestly, not that much better in the non-conference when it comes to their overall strength of schedule.
And so, all three of those teams are really just kind of sitting in the same spot to me.
And, you know, when you think about kind of who has the most to lose tomorrow, it's probably A&M just because they have to play at LSU.
But Texas hosts Oklahoma, and then Missouri hosts Arkansas.
So, Missouri has the most to gain, I think, by winning.
But I am kind of getting more towards the opinion that one of these teams are going to play their way out.
And that's, you know, Auburn's already in that category, in my opinion, because, like I mentioned, I think Auburn has to win tomorrow.
They have no shot.
And so, from that perspective, you know, I think one of these three probably slips up tomorrow.
And if it's multiple, you know, I'm not going to discount the idea that the two of these teams could wind up getting left out.
And the SEC goes from thinking they may have 11 to maybe 8.
That could happen.
But I think it's unlikely.
I feel like, you know, again, just by process of these teams having to somehow meet next week, too.
Probably two of this group is going to get in.
But which one gets left out?
That's the big question, because the way these three teams have played outside of Auburn, like, it's just they've been very inconsistent.
So it's hard to know.
When you said going from 11 to 8, Greg, thank you for listening right now.
I just spit up on his bow tie going down the road, Blake.
You mentioned Alabama and Auburn.
Normally, we ask it separately.
But this weekend, the two shall come together.
As you mentioned, Auburn's playing for their life.
Alabama's going to cruise in.
The question is, where are they going to wind up as far as a seed?
They're playing for pride.
Blake, what happens in Iron Bowl Part 2 this weekend?
Yeah, I mean, there's just really nothing to me on paper that makes me, you know, want to go out on a limb and pick Auburn here.
I just don't know how I could, based on how they've played.
You know, it's nice to beat LSU and all that, but we're still talking about a team that's lost seven of their last nine games.
And, you know, one of them comes at the end against Kentucky, and you're just thinking, that's not an NCAA tournament team right now.
And we can only lean on that Florida game so much at this point, because it's just been a different team.
And I know it was close the last time around and all that, and Auburn played pretty well in that game.
There's no question about it.
But, you know, this is also an Auburn team that if you look at just the raw stats, how many games have they won on the road this year?
They have two road wins.
And I said, Ole Miss, and then Florida, and it's like, yeah, the Florida game is just a complete outlier.
So that should not be the expectation heading into this game, and Auburn just has not played defense well enough.
And so if you're giving me a team that doesn't play defense very well right now, that's going in on a road environment,
in a rivalry game, having to play the best offensive team in the SEC and one of the best offensive teams in the country,
there's just nothing that would lean me in the direction of picking Auburn here.
But, you know, everything's on the line, and, you know, sometimes when you have a team like that,
maybe they answer the bell, and we'll see.
We should know for sure when we go to bed Sunday night to answer this question.
But in the meantime, Blake, where do you sit with an Alabama?
Well, let's say that you're right.
Alabama wins tomorrow, close out their regular season,
and then they have a decent run in the SEC tournament.
Where do you put Alabama in the NCAA tournament?
Yeah, I think right now, barring, you know, let's say a double-digit loss to Auburn
and losing the first game of the SEC tournament to another team that, you know,
maybe is a little bit on the lower side of things,
I just don't really see much of a scenario where Alabama moves up anywhere lower than a four at this point
because I think they have an advantage over that group of fives behind them
when it comes to, you know, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Tennessee right now.
But Arkansas is probably the biggest threat to that, and we'll see what the Hawks can do to finish their season.
But if you look around it, the thing isn't, to me, necessarily what Alabama does.
It's kind of what the teams around them do.
And this is where, you know, if you get a Gonzaga that loses, let's say, in the semifinals
to either St. Mary's or Santa Clara of the WCC tournament,
that would help if you get Nebraska kind of continuing to go backwards a little bit, that would help.
And so maybe you have a shot to get up to that three.
I don't think it's impossible because you've actually gotten more help, too, from Kansas.
And Virginia's a team to keep an eye on because they've got a tricky game tomorrow against Virginia Tech.
He's trying to play their way in.
So I think Alabama, you know, to me, is going to be a three or a four,
and it's really just a matter of what do you do in Nashville next week.
I think that determines whether you can jump some of those teams, again, like a Nebraska,
maybe having to jump a Gonzaga, which I know we have head-to-head between some of these teams in this range.
But, again, to me, it's going to be what are you doing now.
And I think Alabama has a lot more better body of work these days than some of these other teams do at the moment.
Let me ask you about another game real quick.
Vandy at Tennessee.
Tennessee may be without Nate Amant.
Tennessee trying to get a double by in Nashville.
Vandy trying to continue some momentum.
What's going to happen in Knoxville?
Yeah, I think with Vanderbilt in a game like this, you always worry about foul trouble,
and that's kind of what happened the last time around.
Tennessee got some offensive rebounds.
He kind of had the big men that got in a little bit of foul trouble.
And, you know, it was also Duke Miles' first game back after that long layoff with the injury.
So you would expect him to be more of a factor here, too.
And, you know, if Amant doesn't play, then Tennessee's offense is just not fun to watch these days.
And I think that without him, he was a big key in the reason why they won that game in Nashville a couple weeks ago.
So if he doesn't play in this game, I think, you know,
it's kind of going to be interesting just to see if Vanderbilt can do anything in the front court
because if they can, I think they get a good chance to win it.
But, you know, like I said, these two teams feel like they're kind of in the same spot
when it comes to their NCAA tournament resumes right now.
So you could potentially see a scenario where the winner, you know, maybe moves up one or two
in terms of, like, your overall seed.
Probably going to be a five no matter what.
But could you also see a scenario where the loser moves down to a six?
I think that's also possible.
But, you know, it's a big game no matter what.
Obviously, two for SEC tournament seeding next week.
Multiple podcasts tomorrow, including a wrap-up of the day's events late tomorrow night.
Where can we get online and get the good stuff?
Yeah, I always appreciate it, guys.
Yeah, check us out there on Southeastern 16 on YouTube.
Of course, we'll have lots of stuff tomorrow on the bracket when it comes out
and, of course, daily reaction leading into the tournament next week and all that good stuff.
So, yeah, find us over there at Southeastern 16.
Blake, as always, good to hook up with you, man.
Have a great weekend, all right?
Thanks, guys.
You, too.
Thank you, Bill.
A little Southeastern 16.
Quickly, the proudest papa in the whole land, Miles Stutz, sharing his team.
Reid Hardiman, his son, Drew's team, is ranked number two in the latest coaching poll.
His daughter, Abby, is ranked number five.
A lot of balls, he says, to be played.
Drew is 19-1, Abby 18-1.
Both got RPIs at number one.
So, guess who Miles Stutz and the family is rooting for, BB, here in the postseason?
Dave, they've had an incredible season, no question.
Coming up, time to get rocking and rolling here in the Shoals and in North Alabama.
Details next.
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Progressive presents the sports flash on 93-9, the score.
In women's basketball action yesterday, North Alabama was knocked out of the ESPN Tournament.
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Auburn was beaten in the SEC Tournament 73-57 to 24th ranked Ole Miss.
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Alabama advanced.
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Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back here.
Some great news.
If you're gearing up for a little March, Matt, you just want to see some tournament action,
but you don't want to go to the moon to check it out.
I think our next guest can help you out with that.
Joel Lamp.
He is the Sports Development Manager for the Huntsville-Madison County Convention and Business Bureau.
Joel, welcome in.
Happy Friday to you.
How are you?
I am good.
I'm good.
Thanks for having me on.
It's nice to be in March.
And especially if you love seeing these games in person, but you don't want to break the bank
and roll up miles on your vehicle or frequent flyer miles to go see it, I won't steal your thunder, Joel.
So, the stage is yours to tell folks that there's some good basketball action coming to help feed your March Madness right here in your own backyard.
It's great to have a slice of March Madness here bringing Conference USA's basketball championship back to Huntsville for this year,
starting next Tuesday.
Championship games next Saturday, men's and women's tournament.
So, we're excited to bring them back.
It's exciting, exciting basketball.
A lot of parity in this conference this year.
And so, when we roll out the ball on Tuesday, there are going to be 10 teams battling for the championship,
and everybody's coming here thinking they've got a chance to win it.
I know for the men, Liberty and Sam Houston have had a very good season.
Louisiana Tech, this is a very interesting conference.
Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State with Antoine Pettway.
They were here to play Alabama in December.
Liberty, Middle Tennessee, Missouri State, Sam Houston, Western Kentucky.
This is a deep conference with a lot of good teams.
This is high-caliber basketball for both the men and the women, Joel.
They've played really well against Alabama in the second half.
So, you've got a lot of teams in this league that are up for the challenge of trying to knock off Liberty, I think.
And, you know, Western Kentucky, they've got a strong history in men's and women's basketball.
And so, you've got Jacksonville State that is up and down.
But when they're up, they're really up.
So, it's going to be fun to see a little bit of what could happen with this group next week.
Every – I was watching some games last night.
You really don't know what you're going to get every night.
What we're going to get, Joel, is something that's unique.
Normally, you've got the men here and the women there.
But for the folks who might have missed it, you're hosting both the men and women.
For the folks who want to come and get a full buffet, if you will, of basketball with Conference USA,
talk to us about how to get in touch.
And I would imagine you're getting ready for some long days between hosting the men's and women's.
We get started at 1130 every day on – start Tuesday.
Tickets are available at the arena box office.
The pro tip is to save a few bucks and buy them at the arena box office.
So, you can save a few bucks and not have the ticket master charges.
But we start Tuesday, 1130 and 2 o'clock.
And then the evening session is 530 and 8.
On Friday, the men's semifinal is in the morning at 1130 and 2.
And the women's semifinals are in the afternoon at 530 and 8.
And then the championship games are 430 and 730 on Saturday.
So, we've got a lot of basketball, four games a day until Saturday.
It's a long week, but it's a lot of fun to have the whole Conference USA family here.
And with the opportunity to send two teams to the NCAA tournament.
This league traditionally puts teams in a position to win games in the NCAA tournament.
There are a lot of high major SEC, ACC, Big Ten teams that don't want to see the USA team in that first round.
Joel, the great thing about this, it was announced this morning.
I know you've been doing this for a couple of years, but the Conference USA in a partnership that you've got.
You've got so many groups working with this announced a three-year extension for basketball through the year 2029.
And along with basketball, you've got Conference USA beach volleyball.
You've got cross-country.
This is a partnership that really for Huntsville, North Alabama, as far as helping the economy,
these guys have got to eat, stay in motel, sight, see, et cetera.
But once again, we've got the SEC basketball tournament in Nashville next week,
but announced today a three-year extension on this partnership.
Yeah, we're very fortunate.
We built a really good partnership with Conference USA over the last three, four years.
And when the opportunity to start talking about renewal was out there, it was, okay, hey, how many years?
And one of the things that we kind of talked to them about was, could we do it with multiple tournaments?
Hey, you guys have multiple championships.
What are the opportunities for us to bring some of those other championships to town?
And beach volleyball was a natural starting point for us.
So we hosted their beach.
That's how we actually got the basketball tournament was we were hosting their beach volleyball tournament
and took them around town.
It's like, hey, we can host your basketball tournament.
You're playing in a football stadium right now.
What if we put you in our arena and make it a really good experience?
And they have jumped on board with that.
And then with cross country, everything we've done in the running sports, it made it a no-brainer for them to bring cross country here,
knowing that we're hosting the Division I regionals.
We're going to be in the mix to try to get the Division I nationals in the next few years.
So being able to give your teams that opportunity to run on a course that's a national championship caliber, that was something that they really looked forward to.
And what we built and continue to build with hosting the basketball tournament, it's grown a little bit every year.
And we really feel like this year is set to take off and really do some special things.
The amazing thing is, no shortage of hotel rooms.
If you've been downtown Huntsville lately, the only thing you've got to worry about is a falling crane.
Everywhere you look, there's another one going up, so there's no shortage.
I guarantee you that.
Joel, I'm putting it up with us.
Something else, you've got to get ready for some of the neighbors from the shows come this fall.
Talk to us about, for a lot of folks, this is a heck of a deal, UNA and Sanford, right down the road from me there.
I still look at it as Joe Davis State of the Baseball, but you're talking about a facelift.
Joe Davis and Hollywood's got something in common.
Boy, have they ever undergone a big facelift there, getting ready for UNA and Sanford football in your backyard.
That's bringing a neutral site football game is something we've been working on for a couple of years.
I'm very fortunate that the NCA gave the FCS schools the opportunity to, one, schedule a 12th game, and then, two, open it up on week zero.
We were able to jump right on that with our partners at UNA and Sanford and create a unique opportunity for both schools to open their season in a neutral site.
And both of them are kind of in flux with new coaches and new staff and everything.
And so it's an opportunity to really celebrate the start of the college football season.
We're going to turn it into more of a party.
Make it, hey, we're going to have a football game, but it's also, it's a chance for you to practice delegating.
Get ready for the season and really have some fun with it and make it more than just a football game.
Make it a day-long event at the stadium.
We're really excited about that.
And we're going to have the both head coaches up here in the next month and then launch ticket sales that day.
So we're excited to get that underway.
Really proud of what we've got at Joe Davis Stadium and telling Huntsville's story through the sport of football and bringing some extra events in.
We've got a great program at Alabama A&M.
They've got their five to six home games a year.
But for us to bring another game into town, it's a special opportunity for us.
You've got so many events coming up this year.
You take the rest of the show to go through them.
But September the 4th through the 7th, the Paracycling Road World Championships.
And then in November, the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Men's and Women's Soccer National Championship.
And something I got a release from about last month, Milton Frank Stadium, who a lot of our listeners have watched a ball game there, will host the USA Track and Field Youth Outdoor Nationals.
Wow.
June the 24th through the 27th.
Bring together top competitors from across the United States in multiple age divisions.
And, again, a lot of people know the track facility at Milton Frank has been upgraded.
Joel, again, we could spend a day talking about all these future events, but this is really a nice event, too.
The USA Track and Field Youth Outdoor Nationals coming to Milton Frank in June.
That's a big win for us.
Last year, we hosted the Masters, which is for athletes ages 25 to 105.
And trust me when I say that, the 90-year-old 100-meter race, I didn't want to participate in because those guys were going to dust me.
So we were very fortunate to host that.
And that really jump-started our partnership with USA Track and Field.
And then this year, to turn right around and host the Youth Outdoor Nationals this June, we're going to have 1,600 kids from around the country in Huntsville for a week.
And what the school board has done, the investments they've made in the Milton Frank Stadium have turned it into one of the top track and field venues in the country.
We're very fortunate to have that facility at the level that it's at now.
And we're turning away track business now.
We're able to be very selective about the events that we have and the level that they're at.
And so working with USA Track and Field, this has been a really good partnership.
And we're looking to do more with them in the future.
There's a lot of events and a lot of opportunities with them.
You mentioned the junior college.
We host the Junior College Beach Volleyball Championship the first weekend in May.
And then we come back around and we're hosting soccer and cross-country in the fall.
And what we've been able to do is some of them, they're not as sexy and glamorous as the Commerce USA Basketball Tournament.
But, boy, they make a big impact to our restaurants and hotels and the hospitality industry around Huntsville.
And if we can keep doing some of those, we're able to invest back in some of the bigger national championships.
We're going to host the Division II Men's and Women's Soccer NCAA National Championships in December of 27.
So we've got a little bit of everything for sports fans around Huntsville and North Alabama to experience.
Joel, tell us again before you go, if you would like to attend the Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament.
And it begins Tuesday, runs through Saturday in the Vaughn Brown Center.
And, again, the champions go to the NCAA Tournament.
We'll find out where they're going the next day on Selection Sunday.
How do you get tickets and more information?
You can go to our website, cusa-huntsville.org.
You can go to the Ticketmaster to get your tickets.
Or you can go to the Arena Box Office.
We always recommend going to the Arena Box Office.
It'll save you a few bucks on the fees.
We start Tuesday at 1130.
The ball goes up, and we don't stop until Saturday at 10 o'clock.
So we're excited to have March Madness here and send two teams to the NCAA Tournament.
It's going to be a lot of fun.
You've got a pretty good boss over there, too, a fellow I've known for a long time.
I remember when he brought out a fresh tray of fried chicken in an old place called Britling's,
and he's turned into a pretty good mayor.
Would you agree about Tommy Battle?
Absolutely.
And that's the thing is we've got great leadership that has really embraced this.
And when you've got that kind of support, man, you talk about rolling out the fried chicken.
Hey, we're rolling out the red carpet for Huntsville and able to tell our story in a new way.
It's going to be a lot of fun next week.
Never tell Tommy no, I guarantee you.
All the best with the tournament, Joel, and thanks for your time today.
Thanks, guys.
Appreciate it.
Y'all have a good weekend.
You too, bud.
Joel Lamp, Sports Development Manager for the Huntsville-Madison County Convention and Veterans Bureau.
We know the name, Lou Holt.
What was it like to actually work for him and some great memories?
Coach Pete Cordelia Morris, right ahead of the Boomo Bugg Show.
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1819 News.
Well, this is a big weekend for the Alabama Republican Party, as the executive committee meets in Hoover on Saturday to vote in their next chairman.
John Wall stepped away from that position just a few months ago in order to run in the lieutenant governor's race.
There are now three candidates vying for this position, former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, acting chairman of the ALGOP Joan Reynolds, and former Republican Majority Leader to the Alabama House Scott Stadhagen.
1819 News spoke with the three candidates about their position on closing the Republican primary so that Democrats and independents cannot play a part in voting for Republican primary candidates.
John Merrill said that it's an interesting issue that needs to be explored and evaluated with a study on the pros and cons.
Joan Reynolds says that the Republican Party has passed resolutions in the past about closing these primaries and that it is something she's in favor of.
She's also approving of the bill that was recently offered by State Representative Ernie Yarbrough.
And Scott Stadhagen is supportive of closed primaries saying that Republicans should select Republican nominees and Democrats should select Democrat nominees.
Stadhagen is also a co-sponsor of Yarbrough's bill.
I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this.
Where I was living was not a great place to live anymore.
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Tide fans.
Here comes the Tide.
Let's move.
At one for the win.
All game.
All game.
Ball game.
And the win.
Grab your hard hats and tune in for blue collar basketball with the Crimson Tide all season long on your home for Alabama basketball.
This Saturday, Alabama closes out the regular season as they welcome the Auburn Tigers to Coleman Coliseum.
Airtime is 6.30 p.m. with a tip at 7.30 here on 93.9 The Score.
Brought to you locally in part by the law firm of Johnson, Pesher, Medley & Burchell, Page Borden Insurance, and MJ Carter & Company Insurance, J.C. Hamm & Sons, Lost Pizza, First Metro Bank, Alabama Health Guidance, Story & Lee Furniture, Valley Credit Union, Cypress Creek Indoor Range, Ray Miller GMC, Hittaker Johnson & Layton Insurance, and Mugshots Grill & Bar, Alabama & Auburn.
This Saturday night at 6.30 on 93.9 The Score.
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27 tournament trips.
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72 major leaguers.
It's good to be a Bama baseball fanatic.
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Alabama's favorite pastime plays right here on your home for Alabama baseball.
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This Sunday, Alabama welcomes the Ospreys of North Florida to the Joe.
With a first pitch at 1 p.m. here on 93.9 The Score.
Atlanta Braves spring training is back.
And this 2026 Braves squad's out to remind the league that the road to the postseason runs through Atlanta.
Just left that thing smoking right out of the yard.
Saturday, it's the Braves and Orioles squaring up from Cool Today Park.
Braves spring training baseball.
This Saturday, airtime 11.55 with the first pitch at 12.05 here on 93.9 The Score.
93.9 The Score weather.
Today, mostly sunny with a 40% chance of afternoon showers and a high around 80.
Tonight, partly cloudy with a 20% chance of showers overnight and a low near 65.
Tomorrow, cloudy with a 90% chance of showers, possibly a thunderstorm, and a high around 75.
Tomorrow night, mostly cloudy with a 70% chance of showers overnight and a low near 60.
And for your Sunday, mostly cloudy with a 60% chance of showers and a high around 70.
Your weather from 93.9 The Score.
Now, get ready to roll.
Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee.
It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice.
The Boomo Bugg Show.
Your exclusive inside track to the Tide.
Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC.
Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in, after the Boomo Bugg Show.
I'm Harold Bugg, alongside Brett Beaird.
Thank you so much for giving us a free ride around the Tennessee Valley.
And needless to say, it is an honor to welcome him in the middle.
A lot of folks remember as coach.
We like to remember him.
And not remember him in that sense, but remember him now as a fine author.
It's called Making the Grade, a fellow who has forgotten more about radio sports talk shows than most of us remember.
And oh, by the way, didn't we mention former head coach at Kent State,
assistant coach, pay close attention here, Arkansas, Minnesota, and Notre Dame.
I said Minnesota, right?
And Notre Dame.
Coach, Pete Cordelli, welcome in.
How are you?
Man, how you doing on this beautiful Friday afternoon?
Better than I deserve, Pete.
I guarantee you that.
Man, we're proud to have you on board because two people I've thought of this week with the news of the passing of a legend.
Reese Davis, the pride of the Shoals.
We know why.
And Pete Cordelli, for the folks who don't know why, the platform is yours.
Pete, we remember Lou Holtz basically as a head coach.
We saw him as a media personality.
But, Pete, you had the pleasure of actually working for Lou Holtz.
Talk to us about the man, Lou Holtz.
Yeah, I was fortunate, guys.
Coach Holtz recruited me out of high school.
I played for him at NC State.
I was on the team.
Beginning of my senior year, I got hurt.
I couldn't play any longer.
And he knew I wanted to get into coaching.
So, he just brought me in and had me start being a student coach.
And if it wasn't for Lou Holtz, I would have never gotten into coaching.
I mean, his support, his mentorship, leadership.
And I spent 14 years with Coach.
And, guys, I got to tell you, he took me places I never thought I'd be in my life.
And it was because of him.
And, you know, he impacted so many lives on and off the field.
And we lost a true legend.
Not only was he a great football coach, but tremendous speaker.
And then once he stopped coaching after his South Carolina days,
he worked for ESPN for 10 years.
And he and Reece Davis and Mark Day used to have a great segment
that I think a lot of people still remember.
But let me tell you something, guys.
He was the Energizer Rabbit long before they started advertising that Energizer Rabbit.
He was nonstop.
What you saw is what you got.
And so, he always had a standard.
And you're either going to live up to the standard or you're not.
And if you can't, be gone.
It's not for everybody.
And he always had a plan.
He always knew what he wanted done, how he wanted done, when, what, where, why.
And he wasn't going to deviate.
And there was a sense of urgency about everything that had to get done for coach.
And, you know, we were very successful at Notre Dame.
But, man, it took a lot of hard work.
And that was his lifelong dream was to be the head coach.
I appreciate you bringing it up about Mark and Reese.
Because, you know, you've worked in this business a long time.
Broadcasting is like a successful championship sports team.
You've got to have chemistry.
And those three, I mean, they had chemistry where they just bounced off each other.
And it was a pleasure to watch.
It was not just tuning in to get information.
They knew how to mix information with entertainment.
But here's the thing about Lou.
He came across, you know, almost like with a comedic feature.
But this man was tough as nails and leather when he had to be, too.
Was he not, Pete?
Oh, yeah.
I mean, the discipline that he went through, you know, at Arkansas our first year there in 77.
We get picked to play in the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma.
Coach has to suspend our top three offensive players.
We were, guys, this is 1977.
We were a 23-point underdog going to play in the Orange Bowl.
And the day before the game, the number went up so much, it was the first bowl game ever taken off the board in Vegas.
And so we end up winning the game, you know, 31-6.
And what a great defensive performance.
Dan Hampton, who played for the Bears, was one of our defensive tackles.
And, you know, I mean, the guys just stepped up.
And they're rolling sails, a backup running back center, an Orange Bowl rushing record that held up until, I want to say, last year or the year before.
But what a great team effort that was.
And then we're at Notre Dame, and we're going out to play Southern Cal.
We're number one in the country.
Southern Cal's two in 88.
And the night before the game, we got two freshmen that missed a team meal.
And Coach sent them home the next morning.
We ended up beating Southern Cal, Ricky Waters and Tony Brooks.
And that's the year we went on.
And we beat, well, Miami was number one in the country when we beat them.
SC was two in the country with Rodney Pete when we beat them.
And then West Virginia, we played them in the bowl game to win the national championship.
They were number three in the country.
So, yeah, that was – and then we were – we had won 23 in a row from 1988 through 1989.
We lost our last game in Miami against the Hurricanes.
And then we went back to the Orange Bowl, and Colorado was number one in the country.
And we ended up beating them 21-6 in the Orange Bowl.
Let me ask you, I was looking at some of the clips this week.
The graduate – he had a six-minute clip when he did the graduation commencement exercise, which was hilarious.
The newspaper – tearing the newspaper up and then putting it back together at the end with his magic trick.
I've seen that about four times.
I'm still amazed at that.
He literally had a – spoke at a seminar for the Wall Street Journal on leadership.
And the man who did it said he was the greatest six minutes I've ever heard in my life.
Oh, yeah.
So, as far as – yeah, as far as leadership capability, you spent 14 years with him, and we could speak for a week.
But what was the greatest thing that he taught you?
Well, number one, always believe in yourself.
Because if you don't believe in you, no one else is going to do it.
So it starts from with – in your mindset.
Stay positive.
Momentum's always coming our way.
But I'm glad you brought up that newspaper deal, Brett.
When I was working – when I started my student coaching at NC State, I was the guy that had to go across town and pick up those newspapers from the fellow that made them for us.
So here's the deal.
He calls me in, and he hands me this index card, and he said, go to this address, ask for this guy, and he'll have a box of stuff to pick up.
I said, okay.
He said, don't ask any questions.
I said, coach, now this is before cell phones, GPS, or anything else, all right?
Where am I going?
He said, d*** it, you broke rule number one.
You asked a question.
Stop asking questions.
Go.
So I go over.
I walk in, and I said, coach Holt sent me.
He said, what's your name?
And I said, Pete Cordelli.
He said, hold on.
He picks the phone up, and he goes, coach, yeah, there's a guy here.
Is this the guy?
And Lou goes, yeah, he's the guy.
Give him the stuff.
The guy hangs up.
He goes, okay, I just had to make sure you were the right guy.
But, yeah, this guy made the papers for coach.
I made them all out of USA Today's, and I actually got to see him make one, but I cannot.
I told coach I'd never give up the ghost on that one.
You know, Pete, the other thing he did, too, he was true to his convictions in a time when
everybody has to be politically correct, and especially Lou Holtz was more than just Lou Holtz.
He was a brand.
And a lot of people will sit here and protect that brand.
They don't want to do anything to ripple the waters.
He was not afraid.
If he felt it, he was not afraid to say it.
That included his faith.
That includes a lot of things.
And I know we've seen the other side of the story this week.
A lot of people want to push back on Lou.
If Lou was here, he would still be fighting.
He says, that's your opinion.
Fine.
But I'm Lou Holtz, and I'm sticking by my guns.
He was the man that didn't mind speaking his mind if he felt it.
No, and his, again, you know, when we talk about what he taught is stand firm in your conviction.
If you won't stand for your conviction, for your convictions, you're going to fall for anything.
You know, and that was his belief.
But number one, believe in yourself.
Do the best you can.
And don't doubt, you know, because let me tell you, there's going to be more people doubting you, and you don't need to doubt yourself.
But if you believe in something, go for it.
And, yeah, Coach was, he always had a plan.
Like I said, he knew what he wanted done, when, who was going to do it, what, where, how, and why are we doing it.
That was, you know, he explained that to everybody.
So, he was very transparent.
Wore his feelings on his sleeve.
You know, we beat SMU in 77 in Fayetteville the last home game of the year to go to the Orange Bowl.
We're coming off the field, and the students and the fans, the Razorback fans, are throwing oranges on the field
because they know we're going to the Orange Bowl.
So, they asked him about, one of the newspaper guys asked him,
I said, Coach, you know, how'd you react to all those oranges being thrown on the field by going to the Orange Bowl?
He said, well, all I can tell you is I'm glad we're not going to the Gator Bowl.
That's a good one.
Well, what was it like going on a recruiting trail?
I can't imagine a little hoax in the living room with parents at his peak.
I don't know if you've ever had many opportunities to do that, but that would have been a treat in itself.
Well, he came to my house when I was a senior in high school.
He visited me three times at home, and his first thing was, look, this isn't a four-year deal.
It's a 40-year deal because the decision you make doesn't affect us the next four years, even though that's important.
But I'm going to be here for the next 40 years as your coach.
You know, when a parent hears that a coach, because that's a big deal given your son, as your son leaves the house, you know, to go away, you've got to be able to trust folks.
And all relationships are built on trust.
Coach won't always identify who the decision-maker was.
Was it mom?
Was it dad?
Was it grandma?
Was it grandpa, auntie, uncle, or coach?
Who's the decision-maker, and who is the person that is leading this young person through graduation and into his college phase of life?
And sometimes it was a minister.
Sometimes it was a priest.
You know, so we had to do a lot of research to find out who the decision-maker was for young men.
My coach was great about, hey, look, this isn't a four-year deal or a five-year deal.
This is the next 40, 50 years of your life.
And, you know, when he left ESPN, he started the Holtz's Heroes Foundation, and it's run by Reggie Brooks, a young guy I
recruited out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who played for Lou and played in the NFL for a while.
But Reggie now runs the foundation.
Wow.
And coach has been very generous to former players who've either lost a spouse or a child, and helping them get back on their feet with his foundation.
So, yeah, they have a tailgate before every home game.
So, yeah, I found out a little while ago that they're going to have a public viewing next Sunday night from 7 to 10 at the Basilica on campus.
And then the funeral mass is going to be 1 o'clock next Monday afternoon.
So I'm going to do everything I can to get to South Bend next Sunday and Monday.
Pete, he is known as far as turning around many programs, obviously taking Notre Dame, as you mentioned, to a national championship, 12-0 in 1988.
But can you make a case, his best turnaround performance for a program was South Carolina.
They went 0-11.
0-11 his first season.
And then they went 8-4 in 2000, 9-3 in 2001.
And he beat Ohio State twice in the outback goal.
Brent, Coach's goal was he wanted to have his team in a bowl game by the second year of the program.
So he was the secondary coach at Ohio State in 1968.
He had Jack Tatum, Mike Sensenbaugh.
He had a great secondary.
Ohio State beat Southern Cal and O.J. Simpson to win the national championship.
And then he gets the William and Mary job.
He had William and Mary in a bowl game their second year.
They played the old Tangerine Bowl.
And then he comes to NC State.
And we were the first football team, football program in ACC history, to go to four consecutive bowl games.
Wow.
Because it was always a basketball conference.
But we went to four consecutive bowl games under coach.
And that had never been done in that conference.
Then we go to Arkansas in that first year.
You know, we're in the Orange Bowl.
Then next year, the Fiesta Bowl, obviously.
But then at Notre Dame, you know, that first year, we struggled.
But the second year, we ended up in the Cotton Bowl.
Well, excuse me.
Arkansas, we were in Minnesota.
The second year, we went and played Clemson in Shreveport in the Independence Bowl.
Danny Ford and those guys, we ended up winning the game.
But Coach had already decided he was going to Notre Dame.
Like I said, Notre Dame, second year, we were in the Cotton Bowl.
And then at South Carolina, you're exactly right.
0-11 that first year.
And then I believe it was 8-4.
And then he went and beat Ohio State those two years.
But I would say, look, what we did at Notre Dame was unbelievable.
But what he did at South Carolina rivaled that.
And here's the other thing.
He was approached about becoming the Ohio State head coach when Woody Hayes got fired.
And we were at Arkansas.
But, guys, he was in negotiations to go to Florida with Ray Graves.
Wow.
And take over for Doug Dickey.
Wow.
And so we're playing Texas A&M in Little Rock on a Saturday night.
And Saturday morning, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette comes out and says,
Lou Holtz in negotiations with Florida.
So we go to the pregame meal.
And Lou has the paper and he holds it up.
Coach says, hey, look, these guys are just looking for a story.
Don't believe a d*** thing you read.
Well, he had already told me on Wednesday, pack a bag, go to Gainesville after the game and start getting recruiting set up.
And he had talked to Monty Kiffin, who was our defensive coordinator, Larry Beckwell, offensive coordinator.
We're going to Florida, you know, after this.
We beat A&M, we come in the locker room.
He goes back to the coach's office.
He's back there on the phone for guys at least 10 minutes.
And the players are going, what the heck is going on?
Finally, he comes out.
He said, men, like I told you, and he holds up the paper, don't believe a d*** thing you read.
I'm a Razorback.
He turned down Florida.
He told Ray Gray.
How about that?
Well, I look at Monty Kiffin.
Kiffin looks at me.
He goes, you've got to be kidding me.
Hallelujah.
What a great story.
Listen, I wish we had another two hours to talk to you.
Next time we get you on, we'll talk more about making the grade.
It's a great blueprint and a breakdown of position specifics.
Thank you so much for coming on with us and reminiscing with us about Coach.
Hey, guys, I'm going to tell you, thank you for the opportunity because there wasn't a bigger influence in my life.
And my thoughts and prayers go out to Luann, Skip, Kevin, and Liz, his four children.
Great family, and we lost a great person.
But he'll be looking down on us for a long time to come.
And believe me, his words, I won't ever forget them.
I know that.
And go get a newspaper while you're at it, Pete, okay?
Well, yeah, I'm going to have to learn how to fold it up.
But more importantly, I've got to have a roll of tape to put all that stuff in.
There you go.
He's made you a rich man, Pete, I guarantee you.
Listen, man, thanks for your time and have a great weekend.
All right?
Thanks, man.
You too.
Thank you, buddy.
Coach, Pete Cordelli reminiscing about the one and the only Lou Holtz.
Coming up, he's a Hall of Famer, and he's right here in our neck of the woods, the pride of Birmingham.
Doug Segrist on deck.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back in.
It is an absolute pleasure for us to load the pride of Birmingham, Doug Segrist.
He's got a wall full of awards.
He knows all about this thing called radio and TV down in Beham.
And his book is called A Storm Came Up.
Doug, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm superb, Harold.
How are you doing?
Man, we're in a better mood because it's March Madness.
Doug, you had a chance, such an illustrious career, to cover, if you will, a garden variety of sports.
Everything, I mean.
Where would you put being able to cover March Madness?
Because the reason I bring that up, the vibes always, Jeff, and I remember when Birmingham hosted one of the regionals down there.
And, you know, I was a big shot guy on TV, and they gave me this glamorous seat right next to the Louisiana Raging Cajuns Band.
I couldn't hear anything.
In fact, I can't hear you now.
I'm still trying to get that horn out of my ear.
But it is a crazy atmosphere.
It's a fun thing to cover tonight, Doug.
No, it's my favorite time of year.
It's my favorite event to cover.
To me, the most depressing thing was when you would cover a team, and they lose early, and you have to go back and cover spring football.
And I love college football.
I even like spring football, but it was such a sudden transition.
It was difficult to make.
This is the best time of the year.
You've got four weeks of tournaments, counting the conference tournaments, five weeks if you count the early tournaments like this.
But then you go right into Major League Baseball and Augusta, and it's just fantastic.
And there is nothing better.
I'm actually taking off the first two days of the tournament because I'm going to sit on my couch from 10 a.m.
until past midnight and watch nothing but basketball and gorge on very unhealthy foods.
You're my man.
Where do you start talking about our neighbors?
Obviously, this weekend, before we get into the tournament, a very interesting, what was it Charlie Dickens said back in the day, a tale of two cities?
Is it safe to say it's the tale of two teams this year between the Tide and the Tigers?
Alabama's playing for seed.
Auburn's playing for their life.
Doug, your take on that and what happens this weekend in your backyard down in Tuscaloosa?
I don't know if it's do or die for Auburn.
I still think they got a shot.
I think, obviously, they had to win the LSU game.
You know, I still go back to their schedule.
I go back to the wins.
And when you start looking at bubble teams, nobody on the bubble is going to have the wins like Arkansas and Florida and taking Houston to the wire, playing the number one schedule.
And to me, that still has to mean something, even if they don't win the Alabama game.
Maybe a quick exit in the SEC tournament is the actual, you know, fatal blow.
But this is not a bad team.
Certainly, you know, they've been on hard times.
And the irony is it turned around.
And the first Alabama meeting, you know, 15 minutes into the game, they've got control.
It was one of the best defensive performance I've seen.
Alabama was totally out of sync.
And then just something happened.
Alabama took control.
And Auburn hadn't been the same since, haven't played any defense like that since then.
I look at this from a 30,000-foot view.
And if you had told me, you know, a couple weeks before the season that Bruce steps down, Stephen takes over, you know, I was doubtful about the season anyway because of all the, you know, the losses from a Final Four team.
And for them to start as strong as they did, I would expect them right now to be about where they were.
So, I haven't given up on Stephen Pearl.
I don't think the season's lost.
But this was supposed to be a step-back season.
And I think the fact they're in the mix is actually a pretty good sign.
I know Auburn fans don't want to hear it.
But I think sometimes you need to take a step back and kind of look at how everything fell together.
I remember the first time we talked this year, we asked you about Alabama's ceiling.
And you mentioned the Sweet 16.
When this team is matching the physicality and they play defense and rebound, they can beat anybody in the country.
But Alabama, I think, was emotionally bankrupt, pardon the pun, on Tuesday with Georgia.
After winning eight consecutive games, they got out-rebounded again by 10.
They had some untimely turnovers.
And then catchings for Georgia hit everything he threw up.
He was averaging 10 points and hit 32.
I know Alabama is certainly favored in the game.
A lot of people think if they're in the bracket opposite of Florida, they may get to Sunday.
And we know the limitations.
This is a flawed team.
But they still won eight games, which is very impressive.
What does Alabama have to do to get past the Sweet 16?
And actually now, you know, I think that was my optimistic projection before the season.
I now really think maybe that's kind of mid-range.
I think the floor is the round of 32.
I'm like you, if they get hot, if they play a modicum of defense.
And listen, we've kind of seen them tinker lately with a little zone against bigger teams.
We have seen them shut down Josh Hubbard and some other key players.
The rebounding.
Rebounding is about effort.
And you're going to face bigger teams.
But we've seen them go against much bigger teams like Clemson and Illinois and St. John's
and just both race.
So it can be done.
I think the floor, I mean, excuse me, I think ceiling now is the final four
because there are very few teams that shoot like they do.
And we, you know, we talk about, oh, my God, they don't play defense.
But look what Arkansas is doing.
Oh, my God, Arkansas is the final four team.
Alabama plays better defense than Arkansas.
I think it's possible.
It's kind of like Haley's Comet.
We don't see it, you know, all the time.
But all you need are, you know, six more efforts and boom, you're there.
A little skin on the floor, some elbows and all that good stuff.
Doug, let me ask you this as far as the, you're a great one to ask this question.
We know where Alabama and Auburn basketball has been.
Where are they now and where are they going?
You look, obviously, the gold standard.
You've got a fellow by the name of C.M.
Newton and Wim Sanderson to judge it by at Alabama.
And, of course, we know what Bruce did at Auburn.
But your thoughts about the reflection going forward of these two programs.
And you look, for instance, what Nate Oates has done just over the past few days.
He landed a five-star, one of the hottest guys in the entire country this week.
He's in on Caleb Holt, which anyone who's seen his kid play here in North Alabama and at Buckhorn
and now some of these premier high schools throughout the country, it looks like the pipeline is Will Stock.
Your thoughts about the program and how do they compare now back to the heyday of Sonny and Wimp
and others at Alabama and Auburn?
Well, this is the golden age.
And you, Brett, and I grew up in the original golden age when not only were Alabama and Auburn UAB, too,
in the tournament every year.
Jim Warto.
Yeah.
And they were not only threatened to make the Sweet 16, but they're always knocking on the door.
Auburn and UAB got to the Elite Eight long before Alabama did.
And it was just every year the basketball was good.
Alabama under Wimp was the metronome.
You know, every year they were at least going to the Sweet 16.
Right.
And it spilled over.
Remember those summer leagues in Birmingham?
I mean, that was, yeah, that was better than the NBA summer leagues.
And then we went 40 years in the wilderness.
And so I think what we're seeing now surpasses what we saw then.
I think Alabama next year will start out probably top five.
Even if they lose Phylon and Allen, I mean, this may be his best freshman class.
And as you mentioned with the whole, it could get even better.
I think Stephen Pearl has recruited well.
And he's got more of his core returning this time.
And, again, I think from an X's and O's standpoint, we can point, you know, the end of this game, the end of that game, et cetera.
But I think he is a very strong X's and O's coach.
I think he has made some tough decisions this year to kind of cement that culture going forward.
So I think they're going to both be in the mix.
Next year, I think, just off the top of my head, that there will be more, slightly higher expectations for Alabama.
I agree with you about Stephen Pearl.
I know Auburn fans are not happy right now, but the discipline decisions will pay off for him in the next couple of years.
He's got to set the tone for how he wants to run the program.
I agree with you.
It's a great time of the year in basketball overall in the state of Alabama.
It's vastly, still vastly underrated.
Always enjoy the conversation with you, my friend.
Have a great weekend.
Let's do this again real soon.
I look forward to it.
Let me say one more thing about Stephen Pearl.
One thing that really impresses me is he takes accountability.
Yeah.
And that is so rare in coaches these days.
And he says, hey, I messed up, or we didn't do that.
Nadeau does the same thing.
I just think that's a rarity.
And, you know, that's what I look for in coaches.
Yeah.
Doug, by the way, I know you said you're getting ready for March Madness.
You're going to kick back on your couch there and watch and eat a lot of unhealthy food.
When I come to your door with my night job delivering pizzas, I do accept tips, okay?
The problem is, can I make it to the door or am I stuck in the couch for 72 hours?
That's the question.
We'll work it out, Doug.
We'll work it out.
I'll stick you good.
There you go.
I'm on my way.
Listen, thank you so much.
Have a great weekend, okay?
Thanks, guys.
Y'all have a good week.
All right, the one and the only, Doug Segrist.
Coming up, speaking of the Auburn Tigers, the very latest with Justin Ferguson on deck.
Stay with us.
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Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93-9, The Score.
South Alabama will play tonight in the fourth round of the Sunbelt Conference Tournament
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Georgia Southern is 18-15, South Alabama 21-10 on the year.
16th-ranked Alabama will host Auburn tomorrow in men's basketball.
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The Score.
Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score.
Welcome back here.
Time to say hello to the voice of the Auburn Tigers when it comes to day-to-day coverage.
Justin Ferguson, he is the man there at the Auburn Observer.
Justin, welcome in.
How are you?
I'm doing all right.
How are y'all?
Hey, man.
We're doing okay.
Final season, regular season game coming up.
Justin, are you ready for the Iron Bowl Part 2 in Tuscaloosa this weekend?
Yeah.
I mean, you know, we thought about it last time this game was in Tuscaloosa.
It was number one versus number two.
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But it's, you know, it could be just as big for Auburn because if you win this game, you might be back in the
NCAA tournament field.
So, I mean, you know, with the ups and downs that Auburn has had the season, some of the struggles they've had recently, the frustrations they had over the last month,
where they really kind of unraveled a little bit in terms of the win-loss record.
I mean, you know, what better way to get everything back than, you know, going to Alabama on Saturday night and having a chance to play your way back into the NCAA tournament.
I mean, it's as big of a stage as you can get here for Auburn.
Justin, talk to us about what, I mean, you're closer to the epicenter when it comes to Auburn than any of us.
But we have the opportunity to speak with a lot of different voices.
There are those who say Auburn is out regardless.
There are those who say, not so fast, my friend.
You look at the balance of work because of the strength of schedule.
Of course, as you mentioned, a lot is on the line, not only tomorrow, but in the tournament for Auburn.
Because you never know what this committee is going to do.
I mean, just when you think you've got it all figured out along, they start playing algebra, too, with you.
But realistically, where are you as far as, it goes without saying, if Auburn gets on the street with their strength of schedule, what's going to happen?
But where are you as far as this team making that happen?
I think they have to win tomorrow against Alabama to feel good about their chances to make the NCAA tournament.
I think going on a run in the SEC tournament, historically, doesn't really do you a ton of favors in the committee's eyes.
But I go back to four years ago when Auburn played, you know, Auburn won the SEC that season with Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler.
They run into a Texas A&M team that got all the way to Sunday in the SEC tournament.
They didn't make the tournament.
They didn't make the cut.
So I just have that in the front of my mind.
I think it's going to take something special.
Something special would be beating this Alabama team on the road in Coleman Coliseum to give you another quad one win,
to make that resume look even better in what has been a very weak bubble this year.
I think the thing working against Auburn has been their overall win-loss record, some of the bad losses they've taken down the stretch.
You know, you can't wipe those out, right?
You can't avoid those.
But what you can do is you can get, you know, you can get one more really good win to help you out, to help your cause out.
And I think that's what they're going to have to take for them to do that.
And so tomorrow, I think it just all really comes down to defense.
You know, Auburn this season, when they played good defense, they're pretty much beating any high major team they played this year, with the exception of Houston.
When they played not so good defense, they've lost to pretty much every high major team they played this season, with the exception of when they shot really well against Texas.
So, I mean, you know, Alabama, the key to beating Alabama is to try to slow them down as much as possible on offense, and you can find a way to kind of grind it out that way.
Auburn played really good defense the first 18 minutes of that first game in Auburn.
They've got to find a way to do that for a lot longer, because if they can, they'll have a chance to do, you know, pull off an upset of mine.
If not, just the way Alabama's been playing it, it's going to be really, really hard to beat them.
I'll start with defense.
They've got to tap back into that.
They at least play the kind of defense on Tuesday night against LSU that they're going to have to bring with them just absolutely against, obviously, a much better team and a much better offense.
Well, just to reiterate your point, Auburn beat LSU 88-74.
Why?
They came up with 13 steals.
I mean, again, it all begins, if you've got empty possessions offensively because the opponent stole the ball, you're not going to play as well.
I thought Pettiford was more dialed in against LSU than he had been in a while.
Overton scored 21, Pettiford 27, Paul 17.
Again, your point's well made.
How is this team?
Obviously, I'm sure that helped with their confidence some to get a win.
Where's the mindset on this team?
This team, I think, stopped the bleeding on Tuesday night against LSU.
I think they came together and played the kind of game that they needed to be playing down the stretch of the season, but they hadn't done it.
So, better late than never, you know, you say.
You know, I thought Auburn's defense, you know, got into passing lanes.
They were physical.
They had really active hands.
And here's the thing.
We know this Auburn defense is not very good at stopping shots.
You know, they don't have the elite room protection.
They don't have the lockdown defenders they have in the past.
But, not a like-to-like comparison, but I look back, the first Final Four team, that Auburn defense wasn't an elite defense in terms of stopping shots and preventing shots.
But they forced a lot of turnovers and ran with it.
And so, I think Auburn, you know, that's something, if they can pass into some more of that here down the stretch, that's their best case.
Because I think in the half court, you know, more often than not, you know, you're going to find a way to get some shots up against Auburn and convert on them.
This is not a very, this has not been a very consistent defense this season.
But, when they are playing physical, they are playing active, getting their hands in the passing lanes and their forcing turnovers, it's their best way to get the stops.
And I thought you saw that against LSU.
That LSU team doesn't really turn the ball over a lot.
And they did in this game.
And Auburn took an advantage.
Look back to that first meeting again between Auburn and Alabama.
Auburn forced nine turnovers in the first 18 minutes against Alabama.
Alabama only hit 11 shots, only two from deep, and nine turnovers.
Auburn was up by 10 at that point in the game.
That's the kind of defense they have to play against Alabama.
Easier said than done, obviously.
But, there is a blueprint out there.
And it kind of looked like what they were doing Tuesday night against LSU.
Justin Ferguson, the Auburn Observer.
The one thing that Auburn's got in common with just about every team in the universe, they play one way at home, they play another way on the road.
This team, you're talking about an enigma.
Here's where that big word comes in.
They, correct me if I'm wrong on this, Justin, they only have two road wins in the SEC.
One at Ole Miss and the other at Florida.
Go figure.
Your thoughts about that.
A lot of teams have to answer this question.
Why are there problems on the road?
Well, that's, I think it goes without saying, a lot of factors there.
But your thoughts, just the fact that not only who they're playing tomorrow, but where they're playing.
Yeah.
It's just, can you play that kind of defense on the road?
You know, can you play that kind of defense when, you know, it's the crowd's not helping you out, right?
I think that's the big thing for Auburn.
Because when they beat Florida earlier this season, it's one of the best wins anybody in college basketball has all year.
They played, I think it's the best defensive game I think I've seen Auburn play in a long time.
And when they beat Ole Miss, you know, earlier this season on the road, like you were talking about.
Those two games, by the way, happened in the same week.
That game, Auburn hit only two three-pointers all game and still won that game pretty comfortably against Ole Miss.
They played really good defense in that game.
And so I think if that's the case, it's just like defense has to travel, right?
You know, the whole thing that Mitch Burrell said a ton with his team.
Defensive rebounding had to travel.
And I think it didn't against Mississippi State.
It didn't against Oklahoma down the stretch of the season.
And that really hurt Auburn and hurt their chances in the NCAA tournament.
Well, you know, you won't say all will be forgiven completely if you can go and do it tomorrow against Alabama.
But a lot will be forgiven at least.
Because if you can defend and rebound and limit Alabama's possessions and limit their scoring, all right, you feel like you have some confidence on the offensive end.
This is an Auburn team that scored 92 against Alabama in that first matchup.
This is an Auburn team that has, you know, top 12 offense in the country on Kempop.
This is an offense that is coming off of a game where they shot really well and they've played really well against LSU.
They have confidence on that in the floor.
The big thing is, when you pack your bag, and they're practicing right now, they're about to get on the bus here in about an hour or so from here in Neville Arena.
When you pack your bag to go to Tuscaloosa, how much defense are you bringing with you?
Because that's what you've got to have.
If you don't bring that defense, you know, it doesn't matter if you play at home, on the road, or on the moon.
This Auburn team's going to win, so it's defense.
It all comes down to defense.
And the good news again, they played a really, most of a great first half of defense against Alabama in that first matchup.
Played great defense against LSU on Tuesday night.
They just got to find a way to tap into that again, because that's going to be the defining factor.
Before we let you go, Florida started this week.
Alabama begins Sunday as far as spring football practice.
Remind us again, when does Auburn get started?
And one of the big questions is certainly the line of scrimmage.
Nearly a new offensive line, 17 or more there.
Competition is going to be fierce.
Same thing on the defensive front.
I know they've got a few guys coming back on both sides, but you've already previewed some of it.
We'll get ready for it, and particularly in the next two weeks when spring camps break out all over the SEC.
How's your coverage as far as spring football looking?
Yeah, spring practice starts later than everybody else, pretty much, for Auburn this year.
It starts on St. Patrick's Day, the 17th.
But we've got a week from Tuesday.
They will start because Auburn has spring break this next week.
And then Auburn's going to do one month, pretty straight solid.
So, really, the Tuesday when the NCAA tournament starts, that is when Auburn's going to start spring football.
And, yeah, just really looking forward to covering that because most of this roster is brand new.
Most of this coaching staff is brand new.
There's excitement.
There's energy.
It's a new era.
But, yeah, there's going to be a lot of talk about those line of scrimmages, for sure, because, you know, Auburn's offensive line is going to be pretty much brand new this season, as we knew, going in.
And then on the defensive front, you're replacing some key guys this year.
They really, you know, I think one of the most underrated storylines of this offseason was the fact that Dallas Walker, their big nose tackle that played last season, he got an extra year of eligibility.
And so, he's going to be kind of key to build around.
So, you know, this spring is going to be big with, you know, you've got the same defensive line coaching, Buncho King-Williams.
But, you know, last season you had a handful of players like Jordan Crawford, Malik Autry, Darion Smith.
These, like, freshmen, highly-tatted freshmen defensive linemen got to get on the field and get some experience in year one.
Well, now in year two, they're going to be able to have to take that big step forward in spring practice.
It's going to be big for those guys.
So, I mean, there's going to be interest in competition pretty much everywhere on the field except for quarterback.
You kind of know who your quarterback's going to be right now with Byron Brown coming in.
But, yeah, it's going to be really exciting.
And so, you know, we're going to get SEC tournament, whatever that looks like for Auburn, next week taken care of.
We'll see if they make the big dance.
We'll see what the postseason will look like for them in hoops.
We're rolling right into spring football off of that at the Observer.
So, looking forward to it.
Well, you'll have pre-game coverage of the Iron Bowl in basketball, post-game coverage, a lot of speculation about the upcoming spring practice in football.
Wednesday, 6 a.m. emails, Friday, mailbag, the podcast.
Where can we get online to get all of it?
Yeah, auburndeserver.com.
Check it out.
I had a mailbag today.
A lot of basketball in there.
A little bit of football as well.
Tomorrow, we will preview the Auburn-Alabama game on the newsletter side.
We'll have coverage.
I'll be in Tuscaloosa tomorrow night for a big one.
Always a fun time whenever Auburn-Alabama is playing anything, but especially these rivalry basketball games.
So, we'll have coverage of that.
Podcasts over the week.
And then I'll be in Nashville next Tuesday getting ready for SEC tournament.
We'll see how long Auburn's day is going to be there.
So, we'll have all that cover for you at auburnobserver.com.
Sign up, Ben.
Like Willie says, on the road again, safe travels to and prom, and have a good weekend, Justin.
Yep.
Y'all too.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ben.
Ferguson, the Auburn Observer.
BB, another busy weekend here on 93.9.
The score starts tonight.
Matter of fact, at 545 PGM, it's Alabama baseball taking on North Florida tonight.
Also, Alabama and Texas NCC Women's Basketball Tournament 715 is going to be the pregame there.
And amongst the goodies tomorrow, as we mentioned, Alabama and Auburn pregame starts at 6.30, tip 7.30.
Another busy weekend here on 93.9.
The score, BB.
And I think they're going to squeeze in an Atlanta Braves broadcast in there, too.
Yeah.
Amari Allen's going to be key to this Alabama-Auburn game.
If he scores 13, 15 points and gets eight rebounds, I think Alabama wins the game comfortably.
If he scores three again, this might go down to the wire.
Defense, whoever plays the best defense wins the game.
More on that Braves game.
It's at 11.55.
Free game tomorrow morning against the Olds.
Have a great weekend.
Going to take care of business for now.
On behalf of BB, Greg James Blair, the entire crew here.
Peril Buck, thank you so much for your time today.
Let's do it again Monday, noon to two for the Boomo Bugg Show.
Back here on Sports Radio 93.9.
The score.
The score.