FIRED UP Greg Sankey at SEC Spring Meetings

Get over the midweek hump with Craig Way and Cameron Parker! They discuss last night's disappointing loss for the Dallas Stars, the commanding win for the Indiana Pacers, and more. Plus, hear from SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey at the SEC Meetings in Destin, FL.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The hump of the hill. Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to
the program here on sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone.
My name is Craig Way. I always say this on Wednesday,
so I'm going to say it again. If today is
the home day for you, the middle of the week,
you know, I hope you get over that rise.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
For those of you for whom Wednesday is the end
of the work week, good on you. Good for you,
and hope you enjoy the next couple of days. And
for those of you for a well, maybe Wednesday's the
start of the work week, hope it gets off to
a good start. It's the midway part for us, and
US of course includes.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
The producer of the program, Cameron d. Parker.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
The D on the birth certificate stands for the football
team that his father has great fan interest in, and
Cameron too, even though both are simarily disgusted by them
right now, the Dallas Cowboys. So it's Cameron Dallas Parker.
It's not Cameron Dodgers Parker. Wouldn't be that. I was

(00:59):
kind of taking a peak at the Dodger game today
when you when he walked in there, because I know
how you are. You you could care nothing about the
team in La. It's the key when it comes to baseball.
It's the team in Arlington that has your interest. And hey,
they won last night too. Nothing got another great pitching performance.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
Yeah, two runs they scored will not get it done.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
I was trying to be the optimistic one for you there. Anyway,
They the Rangers did get to win last night. Uh,
the the Indiana Pacers got another win. They're now up
three games to one on the New York Knicks. Did

(01:39):
I'm trying to remember, did you pick them to win
this series?

Speaker 3 (01:43):
I don't know if I had an official pick. I
felt like it was going to go seven, and it
looks like it's going to go five in favor of Indiana.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Well, we'll see Alla Nick's two back on our home floor.
But obviously their their their backs are against the wall
on that Speaking of backs against the wall, same for
the Dallas Stars now backs against the wall, down three
games to one, like the team I group. For the
Carolina Hurricanes, they played to night, their backs against the wall.
They're down three games to one as well. So it

(02:12):
looks like all these series are just starting to neatly
wrap up and tie up and be done, including the
one for your team, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who go
for the throat tonight, they try to finish off the
Western Conference Finals series against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
And you must be feeling good about that.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I would imagine, yeah, I mean, Anthony and Wards and
then t Wolves are They're such a good team, so
you know, until o case he gets it done. I mean,
I feel good about Thunder winning tonight, but these are
two really good basketball teams here in Neo. Minnesota's gonna
be fighting to the last tonight, so it's gonna be
a fun game, but definitely being at home. I like

(02:53):
our chances of taking down and advancing to the back
to the NBA Finals.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Okay, all right, let me tell you what we have
on the program today. There's some things to get to
and uh, there's a couple of real interesting uh things.
One would be and this is we'll have you hear
parts of it in all three hours of the show
because it's it's it's kind of some protracted, uh conversation

(03:22):
and doings and things like that.

Speaker 2 (03:23):
But but here's why.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
I'm talking about Greg Sanking, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.
As we know the SEC meetings are ongoing, uh, have
been ongoing. And we heard from the commissioner yesterday when
he talked about, you know, this whole all for one
one for all things being kind of silly and all
that other kind of stuff. But today uh, and and

(03:51):
he was he was rather non committal in the and
it was audio from Monday. It was late Monday afternoon
when he came out, so we ran it on yesterday's program,
and he was rather noncommittal as to the direction and
what they might do with regard to the college football playoff.

(04:13):
And this is a very important part of this because
I know a lot of you who are long worn
fans or other SEC fans really have an interest in this.
There are many who are very curious about the eight
game SEC conference schedule format which they've been under, or

(04:33):
the possibility of a nine game schedule, and they're varied
opinions on it. The coaches certainly are not much in
favor of the nine game schedule. They would rather play
that fourth non conference game. I think athletic directors probably
don't mind having the ninth game. Fans certainly seem to

(04:57):
want the ninth conference game. And I'll tell you who
else wants the ninth conference game? The conference commissioners of
the other leagues with regard to the possibility of expansion
of the college Football playoff too, and we figured this
might be the case to sixteen teams that it might happen.

(05:20):
And it almost seems to be a situation of we'll
give you this if you give us that, meaning the
other conference commissioners really want there to be a nine
game conference schedule in the SEC. And I know a

(05:42):
lot of you, and when I first read it at
first glance, it goes, what businesses are the theirs? Why
do they care whether the SEC plays eight or nine? Well,
the answer is quite simple, really, when I've thought about it,
the answer is pretty simple. If you're playing nine games
in conference play in the SEC, the odds are greater

(06:04):
that they're going to be more losses for SEC teams
instead of playing whatever Louisiana Monroe or you know whatever,
or especially as most of the SEC teams do play
FCS opponents the Western Carolinas and Samford's of the world
and some of the other ones. But you know that

(06:28):
the odds are greater that that's going to happen. So
therefore it might open the door for some of the other.
So the debate is twofold whether there is latitude for
adding a ninth conference game as it relates to the
possibility of an expanded playoff, and the model that is

(06:52):
being discussed a bit of the past twenty four hours
is called a five plus eleven model.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
Do you know what that is?

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Cam If I just just threw that out there, the
five plus eleven, do you know what that is?

Speaker 2 (07:05):
The five automatic bids? Or well, yeah, yes, they would
be automatic. Uh huh. It is the five.

Speaker 1 (07:18):
Highest ranked conference champions so that would include a group
of five or now they're saying G six plus eleven
at large. The coaches like it. Athletic directors not so much.
They want more guaranteed bids for their leagues. The coaches
are like, look, it's on our shoulders if there's eleven

(07:40):
at large bids out there, and if we didn't win
our conference championship, but we're right up there near the top,
or maybe we're the third best, but we have a
chance to get in. So they apparently are for this.
The athletic directors not so much. And then there's the commissioner,
Greg Sankie, who has to listen about sides and then

(08:01):
get people together. So he has some interesting takes on this,
and so we'll hear some things from him today. There's
there's some other topics that we're going to get to well,
and of course, as always, we welcome your input on
our text line. All you have to do is text
the word Texas follow by your question or comment to

(08:24):
eight one five three zero. So you text the word
Texas and then your question or comment to eight one
five three zero. Standard messaging and data rates may apply.
And I said this down the stretch of yesterday's show,
and if you were tuned in laid in the show,
you would have heard it, if not understandable, And here's
where I'm repeating it today. For whatever reason, May twenty eighth,

(08:50):
I don't know why, but May twenty eighth is National
Hamburger Day. So what we're asking you is what is
the where or what under what circumstances could be restaurant
or burger join or a picnic or a barbecue or
you know whatever. I violated my own rule just in

(09:12):
by the way, barbecue is a now not a verb,
so you know it's a at a at a cookout.

Speaker 2 (09:22):
What what was the best burger you ever had?

Speaker 4 (09:26):
Right me?

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah, I'm asking for everybody and for their input. The
best burger you ever had was, and you fill in
the blank. It could be, Oh, I had it at
a whatever at a burger joint in Minneapolis, or I
or I had it at whatever a place downtown in Austin,
or I had it, you know, in San Antonio, or
I had doubt wherever it can be that it could

(09:50):
also be, Hey, the best burger I ever had was
one my dad cooked up in the backyard cookout. We had,
you know whatever, The best hamburger you ever had was?
And you can say when I was at Summer Camper,
when I was at a burger joint at such and such.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
So I want to know that because today is National
Hamburger Day. Do you know yours? I put the question
to you yesterday. Do you know your yours? I do.

Speaker 3 (10:16):
Oh, there's this place out close to Lake l b J.
I think it's close to Marble Falls, me a little
bit closer to in between Marble Falls in burn It.
It's this little cafe out side of this road, and
it was the best hamburger experience I've had in my life.

(10:39):
The bun the fries, the meat, like the whole, the
whole shebang.

Speaker 2 (10:43):
Wow, But you don't remember the name of the place.
I always forget. I tell people about it all the time.
I gotta look it up.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Okay, all right, Cam will try to look that up.
But you can let us know on the tax line.
Best hamburger you ever had was and was when I
leave the blank, Like I said, that can be a day,
a time, a place, Vally Cafe, Hoover's Valley Cafe Valley,
Hoover's Valley Cafe. Okay. See, now when I get home,

(11:13):
I'm gonna I'm gonna open up my Texas Atlas gazetteer
and find Hoover's Valley because you say it's out by
Lake LBJ.

Speaker 2 (11:20):
I have to find that.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
Yeah, it's technically in burning Okay, it's a technically okay,
all right, well all right, so yeah it can be.
It can be a place, but it doesn't necessarily have
to be just the particulars. Best burger you ever had was.
You can say when I was at blah blah blah,
or it was at such and Schutzburger place, whatever it
might be.

Speaker 2 (11:41):
Okay, we'll get to all that today.

Speaker 1 (11:43):
Is also a yacht rock Wednesday, and we'll bump back
with some yacht rock for you this afternoon. And we
have inconceivable this afternoon as well, so we'll get to
all that and more here on a Wednesday afternoon. Happy
as always to have you with us here on thirteen
under the zone.

Speaker 5 (12:03):
Back to the Craig Way Show. Connect with Craig through
the text line by text team so eight one five
three zero followed by your message. The standard message and
data rates may apply.

Speaker 1 (12:15):
As I mentioned that, you know today being National Hamburger Day,
you know, the answers obviously would be varied. Like I said,
it can include the place where you got it if
you want, didn't have to, but it can uh and
it doesn't have to be a hamburger that you can
get today. The question was the best hamburger you ever had? Was? Was?

(12:41):
Can include the past for a burger joint that no
longer exists?

Speaker 2 (12:45):
It can?

Speaker 1 (12:46):
It can be a place that isn't around anymore, but
it happened to be the best one you ever got.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
You just hadn't had one that was that good since then.

Speaker 1 (12:52):
An example of that might be one text who said,
and I don't remember this because I wasn't living in
austin the eighties. But they said, but duncles on Barton Springs.
But duncles on Barton Springs in the eighties was my fave.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
I get that. I remember you used to it.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Used to be able to get a really good burger
on Barton Springs. Maybe it was on Riverside when filling
station over there. Somebody else said, grins in San Marcos.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
So that's a good call.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
And somebody some of my favorite every time is Chris
Madrids and San Antonio on the corner of Hollywood and
Blanco since nineteen seventy seven. Well done, Rob, well done.
So that's it's quite simple. Today is National Hamburger Day.
So the question is to you. And I brought this
up yesterday and I said, we're not going to do
this till tomorrow. Oh, somebody else said, I just happened

(13:47):
to say it was just randomly naming towns, and I said, Minneapolis. Well,
sure enough, we get one that says Matt's Bar in Minneapolis,
home of the juice. See Lucy. Some of the best
hamburgers you can get are at a bar. Some of them,
there's no question about some of the best. Some of

(14:09):
the there's there's a place in Omaha that's right up there.
For me, it's about as good as just about anyone
any any burger place I've been to, and and folks
who have been to Omaha enough for the College World
Series have probably been to this place. It's called Dinkers

(14:31):
Dinker's Pub, and it's a deal kind of like hop
dotty where you walk to the back whatever and make
an order your burger. Then you go and sit down
and they call you come and get it. And it's
cash holding at that place, at at Dinkers.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
So it's near.

Speaker 1 (14:49):
It's I think at thirtieth and right where I forty
eighty comes in. It's not far. It's not far from downtown.
So the Longhorns do make it back to Omaha, I
probably will make a make a pilgrimage over there to
Denkers Deker's Pub over there to get one. But anyway,
that's the question, is today being National Hamburger Day, the

(15:13):
best hamburger you ever had was? And it can be
a place, it can be a time frame, whatever you
want it to be. Just want to know the best
hamburg you ever had was so one and so forth. Okay,
what is the best formula for college football for the playoff,
what's the best formula for conference championship deciding games, What's

(15:36):
the best formula for how many conference games you would play?
All of these questions and others are being pondered at
the SEC Spring meetings. And here's the first part of
this with the Commissioner Greg Sankie yesterday and talking about
the five plus eleven model. That's five highest ranked conference
champions and the next eleven ranked highest ranked teams. That's

(16:00):
that's one model. There are several out there, but you'll
hear him talk about this because he seems to kind
of favor at least the coaches he's had the conversations
with him.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Here's the Commissioner, Greg sanking.

Speaker 4 (16:17):
Welcome to Destin.

Speaker 6 (16:20):
It's always my annual trip to the beach where I
actually never experienced the beach, so I put on pullovers
because the ruins are cold. We actually I leave here
and start with student athletes and then we start in
the morning and we'll finish on Thursday afternoons. This our
second year being a little bit more efficient. Play issues
on the table, talk about football scheduling during the week,

(16:41):
talking about the college football playoff, talk about and see governance,
talk about if there is a settlement, what that might
look like, and the work that's been done to prepare
for if the settlement has approved, probably any other number
of issues, tie breakers and women's basketball type breakers and
men's basketball. As a result, a lot of conversation about

(17:01):
should we moved to a perminent site for a softball
tournament in the future.

Speaker 4 (17:07):
In preparing for what's ahead next year.

Speaker 6 (17:10):
So with that, I'll stop, since tomorrow's introduction will be
much longer, I'm certain.

Speaker 4 (17:18):
Let's see what you want to talk about.

Speaker 7 (17:23):
Can you explain, as you see at the pros the
upsides to a playoff format with multiple aques versus a
playoff format where all of it would be decided via
atlor solution.

Speaker 6 (17:35):
No, not three purposes here, there's a lot attributed to
me that is not at this moment attributable to me.
To our athletics directors met three weeks ago. Look to
set of formats we have interest in, some, we're not
committed to any particular format I have over time talked

(17:57):
about And let's just have the film in the blank.
Number of best teams that goes back to twenty nineteen
twenty twenty playoff expansion. I reiterated that I think our
room has an interest in a different model. We'll see
how that conversation manifest itself this week, and we'll look

(18:18):
a little bit more deeply at different ideas, which will
put me at some point in a better position to
answer those questions.

Speaker 7 (18:26):
Would you elaborate on you said our room as interested
in a.

Speaker 6 (18:29):
Different model, different models. Yeah, our athletics director's room in
particular went back to early May when we had a
meeting where we focused on some different ideas.

Speaker 4 (18:39):
So we'll bring back some more information for them to
take a look at it.

Speaker 8 (18:43):
Is it a case where you want to present one
or several models to your presidents at the end of
this And.

Speaker 6 (18:51):
I think it's incorrect to simply focused on the college
football playoff at this moment, at least our existence, we've
been talking about football schedule within our own league. I
think last year, for example, is a really good experiment.
If you go back to last year at this time,
they said in the year had we're gonna have an
expanded playoff, We're gonna have an expanded conference, We're gonna

(19:13):
play in eight teams and excuse me, an eight game
schedule with those sixteen teams, we're going to learn.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
Some things, and so we did.

Speaker 6 (19:23):
But one of the things we learned is you're not
going to divorce your regular season schedule from college football
playoffs selection.

Speaker 4 (19:29):
In fact, I think there's more of a.

Speaker 6 (19:31):
Feeling that regular season scheduling is governed by.

Speaker 4 (19:36):
College football playoff selection.

Speaker 6 (19:39):
Witness the discontinuation of the series. This isn't about This
isn't critical Troy. It's critical of the reality that, hey,
you can drop a big series and it's not gonna
hurt you come selection time. You have a team to
play four games against teams with six and six records

(20:00):
last year that got in. Another team didn't play. Really
anybody at the top of its conference was selected in,
and it's clear that not losing becomes in many ways
more important than beating the University of Georgia.

Speaker 4 (20:15):
Which two of our teams were left out. Nobody had
that kind of quality win.

Speaker 6 (20:19):
So and yet I think you can't just like run
down a college football playoff selection idea without thinking about, well,
we play it or nine games, what are the impacts.
That's the depth of analysis we're looking at. We also
look at and we'll go through this tomorrow. Are whether
people want to agree with that or not, that's up
to them. We can go through the analytics and show

(20:42):
the rigor of our schedule is different than anyone else's period,
and we had a learning session in September the CFP
about strength of schedule, and strength of schedule isn't everything,
but it is an important factor.

Speaker 4 (20:56):
I remember very clearly.

Speaker 6 (20:57):
One of the messages was, if you play the top
ranked team in the hundred and thirtieth ranked team, those
two games average out to.

Speaker 4 (21:03):
Sixty five and a half. If you play sixty five
and sixty six.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
To average out to sixty five and a half, And
so the advisor said, just as well playing sixty five
and sixty six. Here's my problem. But for maybe one,
maybe two teams in a year, we don't have sixty
five or sixty six, and everybody else has a group
it's sixty and below that has to be considered by

(21:29):
us and making our schedule.

Speaker 4 (21:31):
By the CFPS.

Speaker 6 (21:33):
The CFP itself in evaluating selection criteria, and while I
one voice asking for that kind of clarity and information,
that hasn't exactly changed the crpia as it now exists.

Speaker 4 (21:49):
Four provided clarity on how they're apply.

Speaker 9 (21:52):
Greg, what are your thoughts on among the formats that
have been discussed among your athletic records. One of those
is four at an act qualifiers for the SEC and
also for the Big ten. And the critics out there
who are the last month or two have said that
that marginalizes your other Cower conference brother, and than the
ACC and Big twelve in addition to the other conferences.

Speaker 4 (22:14):
Where are your thoughts on that? It's critics all over
the place.

Speaker 6 (22:19):
So if you actually go back and do the research,
that kind of format could cost us positions depending on
the number of teams. I don't see the critics actually
digging in to understand that reality. I don't see the
critics actually analyzing, like I've just described how schedules are
evaluated so the critics can run of the microphones and

(22:41):
share their opinions.

Speaker 4 (22:43):
We're trying to find the format.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
To determine whatever number it is, the best teams in
college football. And I think where we are right now
is we have used a political process inside a room
to come to decisions about football. We should be using
football information to come to football decisions.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Have to be unanimous.

Speaker 6 (23:06):
We provide a model, and then we sit on our
hands for a year and a half two years, as
opposed to looking at the depth of issues I'm describing
about the game and the concerns about regular season scheduling
being impacted by what we have right now. We sat
on our hands because we had to have unanimity.

Speaker 9 (23:26):
One could say that we talk about AMAC qualifiers. Look
at the instant a basketball term.

Speaker 10 (23:32):
If you were to give the ACC a certain amount
based off of what was happening a decade ago, they're
the strongest conference arguably, and now they are no longer
that they had a record low and percentage representation.

Speaker 9 (23:44):
So why should we be awarding a conference a certain
amount of automat qualifiers for a certain amount of years?

Speaker 4 (23:51):
Why should we be setting that in stone for several years?
Is that an editorial or a question?

Speaker 11 (23:56):
Hey, that's been asked by critics, reporters, everybody else.

Speaker 4 (24:00):
There are lots of stake right now. Well, I don't
know what you're asking, your observant question, do you believe well,
it stopped. I just asked you, what's the question.

Speaker 11 (24:08):
Do you believe that setting out that format for several years,
not just for one year, for several years? Is fair
having that static for on that qualifiers for a certain
amount of period.

Speaker 6 (24:20):
Well, yeah, your question assumes like one variable when I
just walked through their other variables show. Well, I let
you ask your question so you can decide whether you
want me to answer the question or not. So there's
one variable you asked about, right, which is if you

(24:41):
do this. And I began by saying, we're not committed
at this point to something we're interesting.

Speaker 7 (24:53):
To your fourth grade in some years that the model
that the grand is discussing would call the SEC it's
as compared to an at large to only forty Why
do you sense that maybe your membership is now more
passionately behind the idea of an at large only format.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
Well, in in our own room, all right, I've had
our flight structors tell me directly that we've given too
much away to arrive at these political compromises that we
move teams from outside twelve in. And we've spoken about
that before. You know how many of those compromises does

(25:38):
it take?

Speaker 4 (25:40):
Last week?

Speaker 6 (25:42):
It took us a while to move beyond a model
introduced in twenty one. When at early twenty one, when
the when the conference alignments looked much different than they
do now, and so part of I think the right
conversation is about how do you continue to adapt to
all not a static game, nor should it be. I

(26:03):
think the second recognition is things have changed greatly, and
part of where we are in basketball is because we
have changed as a membership. So both of our new
members were selected at large. We've taken ten years to.

Speaker 4 (26:20):
Move from where we were.

Speaker 6 (26:22):
For the preceding ten years, so there's not like switch
flipping that goes on. I think the word hope is
at the center to how do you bring people into
the conversation.

Speaker 4 (26:34):
Late in the season and has changing environment, and so
the idea of could you have.

Speaker 6 (26:40):
Play in type games continues to populate itself before you're
in the see a Pece selection. That's about building interest
and giving hope. Whether that's the ultimate destination, we'll see.
But to your question, why does it populate itself? Why
do people think about it? Even if it costs us something?

(27:03):
You could have more teams perhaps involved later.

Speaker 4 (27:05):
In the season through that moment's recreating that thing.

Speaker 6 (27:09):
How much discussion has the any and we're going hypothetical.

Speaker 5 (27:12):
Down the road.

Speaker 4 (27:13):
You're spared with.

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Me too, on that offers one e in there.

Speaker 4 (27:17):
Being accomplish sat and moved obviously.

Speaker 12 (27:19):
And how much the league touching?

Speaker 4 (27:21):
Is this league how seerious or is that of the stuff?

Speaker 6 (27:24):
We haven't talked through that, So that's not at the
top of my points of consideration. You have to be
mindful of change, and you know, there's there's a saying
goes slow so you can go fast.

Speaker 4 (27:38):
I think that gets lost these days.

Speaker 6 (27:40):
You know, people say, sources say here's an idea, and
all of sudden we're down a road without thinking through
all the elements involved in that decision.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
So we try to help bring those we probably don't
think of everything ourselves right out the bad. So that's
why a little bit of times helping.

Speaker 1 (27:59):
Yeah, it's part of the reason why I like Greg
Sayky's commissioner. He will tell you how the cow choose
the cabbage. Uh, he won't, you know, uh vacillate on
certain things like what we've seen in the past in
the Big twelve.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
He doesn't do that.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
What what what he does try to do is separate
the nonsensical from the sensical. And what he just said
there at the very end is it's it's it's a
really bad habit that a lot of reporters, be the
newspaper reporters, television reporters, radio reporters, uh, fan site reporters,

(28:41):
whatever this business of. And I'm quoting here the quote,
there are those who would say dot dot dot.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
Uh. Some people have said dot dot dot. There's there's
no attributing in that case. There's no attribution to who's
doing that.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
And that's what he's trying to But let's talk about
the hearing and not the speculative. Well, there are people
out there who believe that. Come on, you know, get
real on a lot of it, and that's what he does.
We're gonna hear some more from him next hour, and
he will get into more of that the playoff theory

(29:17):
thing as well as the real stuff. Up next, speaking
real might be inconceivable, but it's real. Next, I'm thirteen
under the Zone.

Speaker 5 (29:29):
And we're back to the Craigway Show. Have a message
for Craig. Share it by using the talkback feature on
the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
Glad to have you with us on this Wednesday afternoon.
He got rock Wednesday afternoon, We're going to hear some
more from Greg Sankie, the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference
here in a few minutes about the possibility and where
things stand and what they could consider for college football playoff,
what's being discussed among the commissioners in the ads and

(30:03):
the presidents, and also how the eight or nine game
quandary of the conference schedule may even affect that.

Speaker 2 (30:14):
So there's more of that coming up also.

Speaker 1 (30:18):
Here in a moment, I'll run down some some look
at what's coming up, because we're just around the corner
for the Major League Baseball Draft, and there's some familiar
names on these mock drafts that are popping up and
on the text line we're Today is National Hamburger Day.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
Don't ask me why.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
I don't know why May twenty eighth is National Hamburger Day,
but it is. And I saw one posting about it yesterday. Foh,
is that right? And then I saw all kinds of
you know, obviously burger joints trumping it, you know, and
trumpeting it, saying hey, hey, there's that today is you know,
May twenty eighth is National Hamburger Day. So it got
me to thinking yesterday and that's why I tossed it
at the end of the show. I said, think about it.

(30:59):
Where's the best place? Not best place, necessarily the best
hamburger you ever had was?

Speaker 2 (31:05):
And then you fill in the blank.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
It could be a place, might have been something that
somebody did it cooked it in a backyard barbecue or backyard.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
Cookout, keeps in barbecue.

Speaker 1 (31:15):
I'm not from New York, uh from It could have
been a grilling situation. Maybe you had your dad grilled
the best burgers ever had or whatever. So I just
want to know the best hamburger you ever had. Cameron
Parker says his was at a place near Burnet.

Speaker 2 (31:33):
In what did you say? It's called a Happy Valley?
What was the holiday Hoover's Valley Cafe, Hoover's.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
Valley Cafe and Burnet is where he had the best
hamburger he's ever had. And like I said, it doesn't
necessarily have to be a place, but if if you
want to list one, you can. Folks list a place
on Barton Springs called Praduncles.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
And I know that I used to.

Speaker 1 (32:01):
Like to uh get a get a burger over at
Sandy's Frozen Custard. They had a pretty good I'll tell
I'll tell you you know, Hilbert's only as like I
guess the one location of there on Cameron Road now, uh,
but they still do one of my favorite Chile cheeseburgers
of all time. Uh Tina Madonato and the and the

(32:21):
great staff over uh there and uh, there's a there's
a place. There's a and it really is a dive.
It's on the west side of Waco.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
Now if you go to if you go to Waco,
I know some people like to go to health Camp
and I've had the.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
Burger there before and it's pretty good. Or cups that's
good too. Uh. But there's but there's a place in
Waco on the west side of town called Double R.
And it's like and it's spelled like do you be
apostrophe L. It's not spelled like double like you get
a double in baseball? Do you be apostrophe L? And

(32:55):
then the letter are double R. And that's a great burger.
And that's a you know, but there's lots. I mentioned
a place in Omaha is gone and I'll tell you
probably one of the best Hamburger's I ever had. I'll
mention that a little later on. So anyway, that's what's
out there. But Duncles by the way, that's where Terry
Blocks is.

Speaker 4 (33:15):
Now.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Oh well, see now it makes perfect sense. You go
from like maybe the best burger in the area to
the best barbecue in the area, right, I don't know.
I mean that's one of the great places. We read
yesterday the top ten of Texas month least top fifty
barbecue list, and Interstellar made the top ten.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
It was like number six on the list. So yeah,
it's good stuff. And that's that's good to know about that.

Speaker 1 (33:44):
Bird Uncles preceded my arrival in the Greater Ostin area,
but the filling station right nearby had had good burgers too.

Speaker 2 (33:50):
I liked that.

Speaker 1 (33:51):
And like I said, Sandy's just down the road, good
burgers all like that. So there's there's there's a lot
of great, great burgers here in the Austin area.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
I mean, even even the.

Speaker 1 (34:01):
Chain places like shake Shack or Dry Queen and Wataburger
and all those. I don't I don't have quibbles with Lottos.
Probably as good a burger as you can get in Austin. Also,
depending on what you get on it is.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (34:19):
I like getting that Longhorn special at top notch. That's great.
That's that's that's that's just an outstanding burger. But anyway,
there's all kinds of different ones. Somebody said, my favorite
is Alamo Springs Cafe outside of Fredericksburg. Hoover's on Park
Road four outside of Kingsland. Okay, see these you know,

(34:41):
Kingsland Highland Lakes. You mentioned of Burnett out that way.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
I talk.

Speaker 1 (34:46):
Oh oh okay, park Road four outside of Kingsland. Okay, yeah,
so it's coming coming. I guess it'd be west from Burnett,
would be over there. Okay, So there it is.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
That's good to know.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Duly noted Cameron just remembered it was up that way
and what was what was so good about it?

Speaker 2 (35:08):
The bun was incredible.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
Yeah, to me, I think the experienced a good part
of it. It's you know, it's this old school cafe.
A lot of pies there. I think you would like
it because of the pie selection, great French fries. I
love their their ranch dressing. That's a big plus for me.
So I love that place and I wish it was
I've only you know, I've only had it three or

(35:30):
four times in my life because I'm not out in
Berne at Kingsland area.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
A lot but phenomenal burger. Okay, all right, duly noted,
make a note of that. All right, we need to break.
When we come back, we're going to hear more from
the commissioner at Southeastern Conference, Greg sanky Here, I'm thirteen
under his own.

Speaker 5 (35:52):
It's the Craig Way shot with the voice of the
Texas Longhorns and all of fame broadcast there away.

Speaker 1 (36:02):
All right, let's hear some more from the commissioner of
the Southeastern Conference, Greg Sankie, dealing with in the questions
coming from the reporters about the expansion of the college
football playoff, the variables that go into that, and also
the possibility of the eight or nine game conference schedule.

Speaker 4 (36:20):
Hang on, gonna go somebody else?

Speaker 13 (36:22):
Does a play in format in any way that lot
the regular season any fur it?

Speaker 6 (36:26):
You know, if you're blinging in to sixteen, I don't
think you can make that an absolute statement. You know,
we were having conversations, not necessarily you and I, although
we may have. If you go to twelve, does that
delute the regular season? I can tell you as at
the Georgia Texas game on the field talking excuse me,
the Georgia Alabama game. So where we're week three talking

(36:47):
with media members. Is that I just doesn't feel the same.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
For those of you. That was a pretty incredible night.

Speaker 6 (36:54):
I think everybody competed at the highest level as hard
as they could, and we had that over and over.
So I think these absolutes on what does or doesn't
impact the regular season are kind of older conversations, maybe
not completely informed. I will go back though, and people
are canceling games because of the CFP selection process that

(37:17):
directly impacts the regular season. And that's where when I
talked about there's a lot more than just one element
all these things, I think those are some of the
broader list developments.

Speaker 13 (37:30):
If wins and losses is becoming an outsize more of this,
does that mean that the selection committee is not doing
its job?

Speaker 4 (37:38):
Is there a lack of faith in the selection committee?

Speaker 6 (37:41):
Well, I don't think wins and losses are outside because
there's two sides to that coin, right, I think it
is there's been so much effort to get to the
point of twelve that the continual evaluation of how are
we making.

Speaker 4 (37:57):
Decisions got pushed in the background.

Speaker 6 (38:01):
And the way I looked at last year the learning
experience was it used to be the argument about the
top four. That was it I'm fed or I'm sick,
and I'm angry at me. Now you had the last
year and you have the top four with buys, it's
a big deal. You have the next four that play
home games, that's a big deal. You have the next

(38:21):
four that are in, and then you.

Speaker 4 (38:24):
Have the next four we're out.

Speaker 6 (38:27):
And we had raised the issue when we talked back
in twenty one as a working group about you know,
how do you adapt some of the criteria. I think
the only thing we did is pull out conference championships
when you have teams on the margin.

Speaker 4 (38:42):
So how do you look at strength of schedule?

Speaker 6 (38:45):
What does that mean? We should be able to contextualize
that better. That doesn't mean that it's everything. And so
that's a little bit of the wins and losses pieces,
because you get have the strongest schedule and go over
and that's not going to put you in the playoff.

Speaker 4 (38:58):
So what's the balance, what's the recognition a rigor that
has to be fully considered.

Speaker 13 (39:03):
What's the incentive to want to schedule like a taxsas
in Ohio state when you see the oldness in Alabama,
you know.

Speaker 4 (39:12):
Obviously really good teams that did get in.

Speaker 13 (39:15):
Is it gonna hurt the fabric to schedule these tough
mon conference games out of here?

Speaker 7 (39:20):
No.

Speaker 6 (39:21):
I'll go back to the last year of four teams
when Texas and Alabama played as.

Speaker 4 (39:26):
A non conference game.

Speaker 6 (39:28):
I thought, and people had plenty of opinions that the
selection opinion honored the importance of that game. I think
it's good for college football to have those kind of games.
I generally think people lead that way. But you've seen
the dominance of CFP access becoming such a big deal.

Speaker 4 (39:50):
So if you.

Speaker 6 (39:51):
Pivot, if you pivot some access points, perhaps you can
not be as threatened by a loss. Or is it
a reward for a win that becomes greater or an offset,
particularly a rigorous.

Speaker 2 (40:07):
One great doesn't it?

Speaker 8 (40:09):
Also, some of these models also set up those non
conference games which you say you would like to or
at least hint that you'd like to preserve and make
them inconsequential, because there's no there would be no consequence
if you lost Texas, if Texas, who the loser of
the Texas So I'm wonder is there a balance that

(40:31):
has to be thought of? Is like, we'd like to
preserve these games, but we also need to preserve the
consequences of these games.

Speaker 6 (40:37):
I think the first point is should we like to
preserve the games. I think that's one of the problems
we're encountering right now. And we've seen that and heard that,
and we've even had discussions whether ads were thinking about
maybe I shouldn't play this game, like don't don't walk
away at this point. So, Ralph, I think the first
point exists now. I don't think you can say they're

(41:01):
inconsequential again. I think one of the conversations last year
when we went to twelve was we had a big
game week three, Well, doesn't feel the same.

Speaker 4 (41:10):
So I would just.

Speaker 6 (41:11):
Caution about making the observation that won't have the same
meaning or same impact.

Speaker 4 (41:17):
I think those games do have impact.

Speaker 6 (41:19):
They do have meaning now maybe different from an access point,
and that's where I look at some of the waiting
of the rhetoric right now that well, I shouldn't play
those games. I'm better off going eleven and one twelve
and oho. I think that's a bigger threat.

Speaker 4 (41:38):
To play in those games and some other model that
might be considered you.

Speaker 14 (41:42):
Any anticipation or I hope that the housettlement would be
approved by now where there be a.

Speaker 13 (41:47):
Decision, and how does that guide the discussions this weekend?

Speaker 4 (41:54):
You know, hope, expectation.

Speaker 6 (41:57):
I've learned a long time ago control the court system.

Speaker 4 (42:03):
So is there a hope? Is there a thought?

Speaker 6 (42:06):
Did people say it would be decided at this point? Yes,
we have a responsibility for implementation. So for the pivot,
what we say this week, yeah, doesn't mean we're gonna
keep preparing. We're gonna keep preparing. We're gonna wait to

(42:26):
see the judge's final decision.

Speaker 4 (42:29):
On the postsettlement.

Speaker 6 (42:30):
Greg, back on the more clarity we can have earlier
because clocks are taking here, the better.

Speaker 15 (42:38):
Greg, you're about the challenges of teams eleven and one
and twelve and zero being compared against teams.

Speaker 4 (42:44):
With more losses.

Speaker 13 (42:46):
Were you surprised Alabama.

Speaker 4 (42:47):
Did not make the playoff question? I don't know that
I'd say surprised. I think that's one of the realities.
But I spoke.

Speaker 6 (42:53):
In July of media Days asking how will that nine
and three team, and I use Georgia's really good example,
given their three really difficult road, how do you evaluate
that against other teams that don't come anywhere close to that.
And as I said, we learned something the first time through,
and that raises.

Speaker 4 (43:15):
The need for deeper analysis and understanding.

Speaker 6 (43:18):
If we're going to just incentivize wins, playing fewer winning
teams can get you to more wins, I don't think
that's great for football.

Speaker 4 (43:28):
I mean to Rolf's question so that I think the
wh pressures create the need for something to adopt.

Speaker 6 (43:37):
Greg.

Speaker 12 (43:37):
Remember when you were at Nashville Big the meetings, you said,
paraphrase you that you know this has to really go
a little it has.

Speaker 4 (43:43):
To work the first year if it tol you play
on you of all the things you were talking about.

Speaker 12 (43:47):
If you were to kind of look back, like did
it check that box with you know, who got left
at who did it? How it works like a committee
that did it work out? Did it really work as well?

Speaker 4 (43:55):
If you were hoping was going to yeah, you'd like
to have more teams.

Speaker 6 (43:59):
I think big picture, you know, we went granule right
off the bat, which is, hey, there's this model.

Speaker 4 (44:05):
How do you respond to this model? What's the reason.

Speaker 6 (44:06):
So if you take a step back yet, it went well,
we had twelve teams selected, there's always going to be
agreement and disagreement. I think we're late in adjusting the seating.
I think that could have happened sooner. We've done that
for the year ahead, and nobody's asked me about the

(44:28):
why of that, So be happy to come back to that.
You watch yourship build. I think when you actually looked
at actual comparisons, I don't compare a January one game
to a semi final a week later, but actually look
at the performance of that game relative to other sports properties.

(44:49):
I think there's there's a lot of good there. You
never sit back and suggest you've reached the destination. There's
always worked in the other But I think big picture
say that in Nashville it has to work. I think
it did work, and I think it's still has room
for improvement.

Speaker 4 (45:06):
All got that on a report cards.

Speaker 6 (45:07):
Back straight seating and discussing the straight seating with other commissioners.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
I'm just gonna brought it up.

Speaker 15 (45:15):
So what were those conversations like over the last couple
of months, looking at what the last college of the
playoff was with twelve teams, they've been making that decision
for a straight scene?

Speaker 4 (45:25):
Can you take us far Occurdy? Oh yeah, it's a
lot of meetings.

Speaker 6 (45:32):
They then break it down a handle supersion exactly which
is condensed.

Speaker 4 (45:40):
I think the CFP.

Speaker 6 (45:41):
Selection process has become a much bigger deal after a moment. Yeah,
I think that one. And again if you go back,
since John was kind enough to quote you last week
in double Check, I said, you know, CFP selection, we're
going to go through this sixteen team eight game first time.

Speaker 4 (46:00):
We have schools that they think about Bowl games primarily
in that.

Speaker 6 (46:06):
But the questions about the selection process, not the criticism
of the committee, but criterion process.

Speaker 4 (46:14):
For me, well, you've seen some say we should.

Speaker 6 (46:16):
Go back to the old way of the PCs, and
you know, is there some kind of in between between
human and machines.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
That can inform there?

Speaker 4 (46:25):
They've got analytics.

Speaker 6 (46:26):
I'm just gonna stay in retirees court because at some
point I've read press announcements on you guys and keep
showing up.

Speaker 4 (46:34):
I'm asking questions.

Speaker 16 (46:36):
Tess, say, Zekay Ziggler has say for fifth year of eligibility,
would you like to see college athletes get five years ability?

Speaker 6 (46:43):
You know, you've kind of cross pollinated two things, so
gay in the courts have to decide.

Speaker 4 (46:51):
What's gonna happen.

Speaker 6 (46:53):
I think the introduction of five and five happened back
in like ninety two. I had just arrived at the
Southern Conference as an assistant commissioner for compliance around fifteenth
Avenue in Plano, Texas with our office fifteenth three.

Speaker 4 (47:12):
And it was not advanced.

Speaker 6 (47:15):
It came back in ninety eight as a commissioner in
the Southron Conference. I think at that point we're at
the Campbell the towers down off seventy five, and I
was involved in that conversation.

Speaker 4 (47:25):
It didn't advance.

Speaker 6 (47:27):
I was here during the era, and the reason I
remember it is because of a conversation I think two
thousand and six seven Mike Shula was the coach at Alabama.
Mike had asked a direct question about it and it
didn't advance. So I kind of put that one aside myself.
It's been introduced at the national level. I think the

(47:47):
conversation has to be informed with the why it didn't
advance before. This is primarily an undergraduate experience. We got
a lot more summer school, but we allow waivers out there.
I think some of the rationale for advancing the idea

(48:07):
ties back to you get through the waivers and just
have something standard and you could do that at four
years of eligibility. Plenty of court cases now related to
five season or five years, four years with than five.
I mean, they're all over the place. Should my year
count at junior college? Should account in the Division two?

(48:28):
Should account Division three? I mean I played two years
of ANAI baseball and one year at junior college basketball,
So perhaps there's something out there for me.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Just like the nil Moneys of driving force and some
of those two. I'll let others speak to their wives.

Speaker 2 (48:46):
Great, can I ask you one month the playoff question?

Speaker 6 (48:48):
Does anybody else who hasn't asked a question? I have
a question because I send friend and that I shall.

Speaker 4 (48:52):
Bring any I have a question, laver.

Speaker 6 (48:55):
Well, you didn't raise your hand or anything, so I
might suppose or jump in okay, or retire and then
come back.

Speaker 4 (49:05):
What is the what is the course of action for
the league? In maybe the power of conferences?

Speaker 6 (49:11):
If the settlements do not, I think are likely several,
and I'll let my lawyers speak to that within my
room for ross rather than publish it. I think you're
still awaiting, focused on preparing for a settlement as it's
been presented at this point.

Speaker 2 (49:35):
All right, there's some more from Gregson.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
You got kind of funny there, I did talking about
his home collegiate eligibility left and what was going on.
But that's another thing. Remember Diego Pavia successfully sued to
get to get more eligibility, to get another year of
eligibility of Vanderbilt under the.

Speaker 2 (50:00):
I know the motive that.

Speaker 1 (50:03):
His junior college years should not have counted. So that's
something else they're still trying to figure out. But there's
still more and coming up next hour we'll hear some
more from Greg Sanky. What about the guys going on
to the next level in baseball from college to pros
Mock draft update for you when we come back.

Speaker 2 (50:19):
I'm thirteen under the Zone.

Speaker 5 (50:22):
Welcome back to the craig Way Show and the Voice
of the Longhorns. Craig Way. Follow Craig on social media
at Horn Voice.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
We were hearing from the Commissioner, Greg Sankey, the SEC.
We'll hear more from him coming up next hour, but
they will talking about eligibility and things of student athletes,
those collegiate baseball players and not just collegiate but high
school baseball players who stand ready to sign and take

(50:58):
the next step. Remember baseball did different than basketball and
football in terms of what you can do in terms
of signing right out of high school or if you
pass on that within forty five days, I believe it
is of your twenty first birthday. So whenever you see

(51:19):
a draft, or for that matter, in this case we're
just a little inside of a month out from the
baseball draft, you see a mixture of both high school
seniors and college players. And it's also noteworthy because several

(51:42):
of these high school players will leverage where they have
signed with college against how much money they could be
offered in a signing bonus or in a contract. Overall,
that's the way it's been for some time and it
continues to be so like that. So with that in mind,
Kyle of McDaniel, who covers me league baseball drafting for ESPN,

(52:03):
put out not only his updated one hundred and fifty
prospect rankings and his mini mock now has come out
with his first full on mock draft and the number
one pick he's projecting and this year's major league draft.
By the way, do you know who has the number

(52:24):
one pick this year's Major League I don't be the
Washington Nationals and he's projecting them to take Stillwater High
School third basement. Ethan Holiday. Of course, Ethan is the
son of Matt Holliday, the former Big League or the
grandson of Tom Holiday, the former coach and pitching coaches

(52:45):
pitching coach for the Long Orange two thousand and five
National Championship team. Ethan third Basion. He was a guy
that Gene Watson had mentioned. He went to see both
him and another guy whose name you're going to hear
me mentioned a few minutes and Gino.

Speaker 2 (52:59):
By the way, we'll join us Tom on the program tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
We are going to bring you the program from UFCU
dish fark Field as it is press conference and practice
day for the four teams that will be taking part
of the regional So we'll hear from the coaches and
we'll hear and we'll also visit with Geene Watson and
also Ty Harrington our weekly conversations both of Major League
Baseball with Gino and college baseball with Tie. They'll join

(53:24):
us tomorrow on the program. But Washington, according to Kyler McDaniel,
is going to take Ethan Holiday, who all these Holidays
who've signed and played for Oklahoma State in the past
josh Holiday, the head coach tom Son, the head coach
at Oklahoma State, played at Oklahoma State. Ethan Holidays actually

(53:46):
signed to play at Oklahoma, but Skip Johnson is not
counting on getting him. He figures he's going to sign
a major league contract, and he's projected to be the
number one overall pick, so Ethan Holiday will probably wind
up being drafted if he's drafted by the Nationals, signing
with them. Angels had the number two pick. Liam Doyle,

(54:07):
the left hander of the Longhorns, were able to go
after and score four runs against him last Friday afternoon
there or Thursday afternoon in Hoover, but he's projected to
be the second pick in the draft and would go
to the Los Angeles Angels Mariners at the third pick,

(54:27):
they're projected to take Kate Anderson, the LSU left hander
Colorado with a fourth pick expected to take Oregon State
shortstop Iva Arquette. Cardinals have the fifth pick, and here
you go. Eli Willets, the shortstop from Fort Cobb, Oklahoma,
whose brother plays Jackson Willetts, plays for OU, whose dad,

(54:50):
Reggie Willets, is the associate head coach for OU.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
But and Eli is signed with Oklahoma.

Speaker 1 (54:59):
But again, he's another player that Skip Johnson does not
believe he's going to wind up on his roster. He
believes he's going to wind up signing a big league contract,
and if you're drafted in the first five, that probably
makes sense. But that was the game that Gene Watson
went to see Ethan Holiday and still Water play Fort

(55:20):
Cobb with Eli Willitts earlier this season when he was
on with US. He was actually at the game when
he was on with US for a segment, and they're
expected to be two of the top five. Six pick
selected by the Pirates is projected to be Jamie Arnold,
left handed from Florida State Corona High School, California, shortstop
Billy Carlson, who was signed with cow but according to

(55:44):
this mock draft, expected to be the seventh choice overall
by the Marlins. Kyson Witherspoon, the Oklahoma right hander, expected
to be the eighth choice of the draft of the
Toronto Blue Jays, so that would be three. And this
was something when Toby Roland was on with US weeks
ago before we went up to Norman, he said, there's
a decent chance that Ethan Holiday, Eli Willitts and Kyson

(56:09):
Witherspoon could all go in the top.

Speaker 2 (56:10):
Ten of draft.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
He goes, Now, that's big for the state of Oklahoma.
I think it'd be big for any state really, but
especially if three going the top eight.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
But it could happen.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
Another Corona High school kid we mentioned, the shortstop Billy Carlson,
projected to be the pick of Miami at number seven.
Seth Ornandez, a right handed pitcher also from Corona, also
signed with cow but projected to be the ninth overall
pick of the Reds and then the White Sox at
number ten. Looking at Jojo Parker, shortstop from Purvis High

(56:42):
School in Mississippi's where Gene was last week when he
was over there scouting scouting him. So Gino's taking a
look at a lot of different guys than they All
of them are the rest of this mock draft.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
First round.

Speaker 1 (56:55):
A's and number eleven expected to take or projected in
this mock draft to take Brendan summer Hill from Arizona.
The Rangers to take hewittt Trustville High School shortstop Steele
Hall the twelfth overall pick. Giants to go with THEHVA
Alloy the Arkansas shortstop SEC Player of the Year fourteen

(57:15):
pick to Tampa Bay projected to take Josh Hammond High
School shortstop high school third basement out of the state
of North Carolina and signed with North Carolina. The fifteenth
pick Gavin Fine, third baseman from Great Oaks, California. Twins
at sixteen projected to take Jay Slapolette the Texas A

(57:37):
and M outfielder Gage Wood the right hand for Arkansas,
projected to go seventeen to the Cubs. Slater to Brunn
High School center fielder, projected to be taken by Arizona
at eighteen. The Oriols at nineteen projected these to draft
Mount Vernon Washington High School Xavier Naans. The Brewers the

(57:57):
number twenty to go for Mill Creek High Schools shortstop
Daniel Pearce. Let's see the Astros at twenty one, projected
to take take South Sea End, a shortstop from high
school baseball in Nevada. The Braves at twenty two to
go for Wake Forest shortstop Marra Houston. The Royals at
twenty three Ike Irish the outfielder at himself such a

(58:19):
big weekend against the log Worns. Here are the Royals
looking closely at him, projected to take him. How about
Caison Cunningham LBJ. That's Lady Bird Johnson High School in
San Antonio, expected to be the pick of the Tigers
at twenty four.

Speaker 2 (58:35):
He's a real deal. I've seen him. You've seen him
a couple of his games before he can do it?

Speaker 4 (58:39):
Huh can do it?

Speaker 1 (58:40):
Excellent defender Padres at twenty five, projected to go for
a left handed pitcher of the high school in the
Oregon named Cruz school Craft attack of a name Phillies
at twenty six. Matthew Fisher, a high schooler from Indiana,
right handed pitcher, projected to go to the Phillies. The
Guardians projected twenty seven ago with UC Santa Barbara righthand

(59:01):
or Tyler Bremer. And then there are promotional prospect incentive picks.
The Royals at twenty eight projected to go with Aaron Watson,
a high school pitcher from Florida. The compensation picks Arizona
twenty nine to go for White Forest right fielder Ethan Conrad.
The Orioles at thirty to go for Sean Gamble from

(59:22):
IMG Academy in Florida. Mason Neville, a high school, no
way centerfielder from Oregon to go to Baltimore at thirty one,
and Milwaukee to go with Gavin Keeling. We saw him
get a big hit against Texas last week. He's projected
to be a compensation pick at thirty two, and then
finally the competitive balance picks. Between rounds one and two.

(59:44):
They're all high school picks except for Anthony Ions and
the LSU right hander at thirty four and the Yankees
at thirty nine projected to take Andrew Fisher, the Tennessee
third baseman first baseman, saw him play first the other day,
and the Dodgers, with the final pick and number forty
in the compensation round, the expected to take Clinton centerfielder
Kim Kinderella. So that's a mock draft look at major

(01:00:08):
League baseball. We'll be back to wrap up hour number
two on thirteen under the Zone, third and final hour
of the program here on thirteen hundred the Zone. Glad
to have you with us here on this Wednesday afternoon.
You got rock Wednesday. We brought you some of that,
and we'll have some more as we go forward. We
brought you quite a bit of Greg Sankie. We'll bring
you some more coming up this all from the SEC

(01:00:29):
spring meetings and is visiting with the media talking about
the college Football Playoff, the possible expansion of it, the
different modeling of it. The one thing that's gotten hot
today or at least yesterday and talking about it was
a sixteen team model that will include the five highest

(01:00:50):
ranked conference champions. So if you figure that those would
probably include, but not necessarily limited to, the SEC, the
Big Ten, the Big Twelve, the ACC that's four, and
then whether you're talking about the American.

Speaker 2 (01:01:09):
Or you know, even the Mid American or whatever it.

Speaker 1 (01:01:12):
Might be, the five highest ranked conference champions and eleven
at large bids. The coaches seem to favor this model,
and the athletic directors perhaps not so much, because there
appears to be some sort of disconnect between the ads
and the coaches. Florida AD Scott Strickland Texas A and

(01:01:35):
m athletic director trev Alberts both have been adamant about
wanting automatic qualifiers, which would go along with the league
adopting a nine game league schedule, but the coaches, who
appear to favor an eight game conference schedule have apparently
been leaning toward what they think the sixteen team model
would be like, for example, Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss

(01:02:00):
Kirby Smart. They said they prefer a model with the
sixteen best teams. Smart said he wanted a model that
would include the most SEC teams possible, pointing to the
SEC's other sports and their ability to flood the postseason
because of strength of schedule. So there's a lot there,
and we'll hear some more.

Speaker 2 (01:02:17):
Sainki.

Speaker 1 (01:02:18):
By the way, there was a great quote from former
commissioner Roy Kramer, who was the first one, I think,
and then the first one in the modern era, and
then it was Mike's Live and then Sankie, and he
said he had a conversation with Roy Kramer where they
talked about all of these disagreements and they have to

(01:02:38):
come to an agreement for twenty twenty six by December
first of this year. And he said he takes comfort
in the fact that past commissioners were able to disagree
and quote always figure a way out. So he said,
quote there's a responsibility to figure that out. We might
get mad at the moment, mad at different times. We've
been able to work together different people, but Kramer's description

(01:03:00):
gives me great comfort. So anyway, we'll here's some more
from Greg Sankie coming up. The scheduling decision for twenty
twenty six not done yet and he declined to give
a specific date on that, but we'll hear him talk
more about that coming up. So that's been going on
at the spring meetings there for the Southeastern Conference, we

(01:03:23):
mentioned NHL and the NBA playoffs into their final fours
and teams in commanding positions. Oklahoma City Thunder looking to
close out the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight back of the Paycom Center.

Speaker 2 (01:03:40):
The Pacers have a.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
Commanding three to one lead in the East on the
Knicks after winning last night. In the NHL, Florida can
close South Carolina Hurricanes. They have to do it on
the road, but they can do it in Raleigh with
a win tonight. And of course the Stars with their
backs to the wall. The Dallas Stars, they're down three
games to one and they will hope host Edmonton in
Game five tomorrow night. By the way, Texas Stars into

(01:04:05):
the Western Conference finals and they'll play Abbotsford in the
best of five, and they did not play Abbotsford this year.
The AHL being as large as it is, they did
not play them this year, but they that starts this
week as well. All right, Also we dropped out there
for your consideration. We'd love to hear from you because

(01:04:28):
today is National Hamburger Day, so it brings my out.
You know where, did you have a great hamburger? Did
your mom ever make hamburgers for you?

Speaker 4 (01:04:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (01:04:39):
Shifted? Did she make a good burger? Yeah, she was
a good cook.

Speaker 1 (01:04:42):
Yeah, Yes, my my mom could make make good hamburgers
as well. And we've talked about some of the places
where We've had good burgers.

Speaker 2 (01:04:55):
One of the best I've ever had has changed his name.
The place has changed.

Speaker 1 (01:05:00):
If you've been up, if you have any connection with
Denton or the University of North Texas, you know of
what for many years is known as Denton County Independent
Hamburger Company. It was around when I was in school
there over forty years ago. Now it has undergone quite
a few changes, and it was bought back ten years

(01:05:21):
ago or so by a guy named Mike Barnett, who
is the brother of Dave Barnett, the former ESPN broadcaster
who's the voice of the main Green of North Texas.
And Mike has undergone a couple of changes. He changed
it he shortened it to Denton Independent Hamburger Company, and
now he's officially changed the name. It just happened a
week ago. It's now called County Road Hamburger Company. And

(01:05:47):
the reason he's doing that he's planning to franchise. And
it's a great burger. I love their Hickory burger. So
who knows, maybe there'll be one in the Greater Austin
are at County Road Hamburger maybe. So anyway, that's that's
that's an example of what I'm saying. But it could
be it doesn't necessarily have to be a specific place.
It could be an experience you had. We had the

(01:06:08):
best hamburger that you ever had. However, folks have waited
in for a variety of places. Like I said, Sea
Powell mentioned Blue Boning Cafe as well as the Pies
and Marble Falls, and somebody said, wait, blue Bony Cafe
sells food other than pies. I know, inconceivable right now
they have. It's that and the Coffee Cup Family Restaurant

(01:06:31):
in Hiko probably my two favorite places to get a
slice of pie. Well, House of Pies in Houston's also great,
so great pie places, but Blue Bony Cafe is tremendous
in Marble Falls. But yes, and then somebody else said,
the best burger I ever had is from odd Duck
on South Lamar And you know what I saw that

(01:06:52):
raid it is having one of the best burgers in it,
said The AGB Cowboy burger is up there too.

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
If you don't mind cooking it yourself. See that's what
I'm talking about. You can. You can cook it yourself and.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
Say you had the best burger you ever had, or
have somebody who's a really good cook or chef or
grill master cook up a burger with a good with
a good piece of meat and how you season it,
all those kinds of things that something like that may
wind up giving you the best hamburger you've ever had.

Speaker 2 (01:07:20):
But that's the question. Best hamburger you ever had was?

Speaker 1 (01:07:24):
And then you just fill in the rest, whether it
was at a place, or whether somebody cooked it for you,
or whether you grilled it yourself, or whatever the circumstance
was today National Hamburger Day, the best hamburger you ever
had was? And you tell us the rest, And you
can do that on our text line text the word
texas followed by your question of comment to eight, one, five,

(01:07:45):
three zero.

Speaker 3 (01:07:46):
Do you have any honorable mentions like for me, Hoover's
Valley Cafe's my number one. But if I was doing
like you know, honorable mention like for instance, like fast
food Hamburger right McDonald's, mcdoubell, I don't know if it
would classify as fast food, but one textra sid mighty fine.

Speaker 4 (01:08:05):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:08:05):
And I think if you came to Austin, that's a
really good burgers right now. Not the best burger I've had,
but I know I'm gonna have a quality burger there.
And then next grill and okc oh right out there
right outside Wobers thought it because the experience is a
huge part of this answer for me, craig, and the
next Grill experience is incredible because you walk into the

(01:08:28):
shackets cash only.

Speaker 2 (01:08:29):
There's just a bar.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
Top with six stools, and I think I got three
small little booths.

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
Little booths, O little yeah, little boos, little tables, and
there's a couple. I don't think there's anything on the outside,
at least when I was there, just a place to
scan it like.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
People maybe, and you order your burger.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
Now there's more than one location, but that you went
to the original.

Speaker 2 (01:08:48):
Origin, but I didn't go to the new one. The
new one I've heard like, yeah, go to the original yeah, right, agreed,
agreed that that would be. That would be probably like
two or three that's up there for me.

Speaker 1 (01:08:59):
I mentioned Dinker in Omaha would be one one of
the best places I ever went to, believe it or not.
So this was a dive, a hole in the wall dive.
It's in the very small I don't think you've ever
been in this town. It's in North Carolina. You ever
heard of Elizabethtown. I think I've heard of it. I
don't know if I've been through it. It's down in
the southeastern part of the state. It's between say, Fayetteville

(01:09:22):
and the coast. So I passed through the area a lot.
And there's a little place right in the middle of downtown.
It's an old downtown like you would imagine a lot
of place. And there's a place called Melvin's. And in
Melvins you walk in there and it's like assembly line
and they'll get these burgers and they're really good burgers,
and they're not real fancy, but they're really good. They're

(01:09:43):
cooked well, and it's just like it's almost like the
skit on Saturday Night Live, you know the cheabug atchibug,
you know that kind of thing. You walk in there,
except it's old country folk doing it. Hamburger's hot dogs
and you can get chips and then like a soft drink.
That's it. And there's a line that goes but it
moves quick. You can get all the way to the
back line, need be all the way through in less
than ten minutes. And and and they're good. So that's

(01:10:05):
that's another one of those like as you would say
honorable mention places, it would be it is that good.
So yeah, there's lots of places like that. For me,
somebody said, I can only eat here when my in
laws are in town and it costs roughly the g
n B the Gross National Product of Guam. But the

(01:10:26):
Four Seasons makes a great brog. I bet they do.
I bet they do. And I've never had one there,
but I bet they do. Uh Yeah, there's a different
there's also a different kind of level in what you're
paying on a specific hamburger, and for that, things like
Casino El Camino, Great Burger's Gigantic, that's a great Burger.
Second which is on Second Street, second, and they have

(01:10:48):
a they have a location second in the airport.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
Second.

Speaker 3 (01:10:52):
Uh yes, the original location that was a great burger
with the milkshake.

Speaker 1 (01:10:59):
Absolutely is a great burger. So anyway, those kinds of places. Yeah,
if you want to weigh in with places, that's okay too.
However you want to do it is fine, all right
up necks. More from Greg sank when we continue on
thirteen hundred zone.

Speaker 5 (01:11:11):
And we're back to the Craig Way Show. Have a
message for Craig. Share it by using the talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio.

Speaker 1 (01:11:19):
App here some more the last part of this from
Greg Sankie, the SEC commissioner, And you know, being grilled
by the reporters there and standing right there in the
line of fire and taking all those questions about the
future of the college football playoff and also the possibility
of whether it's an eight game or a nine game

(01:11:41):
regular season conference schedule in the SEC.

Speaker 17 (01:11:44):
How well do you believe you as a conference and
your schools, your membership are prepared to sell in July
first to kind of hate the ground running with the
new landscape.

Speaker 6 (01:11:55):
I think we've prepared as well as we are able now.
At anytime something is new I've said this, There's going
to be turbulence. There's gonna be questions to be answered,
and our time frame is compressed between decision ipent a
lot of implementation work, A lot of people have spent
a lot of time preparing. There'll be questions under like

(01:12:16):
the anti circervention clause that's embedded within the settlement after
we go back to playmous council participatory problem solving. So
to the extent we can be prepared, I think we've
I know, we spent an incredible amount of time energy
across the four conferences, and you know, I think the
judge said said in an order on rostersize I don't

(01:12:39):
get ahead of this decision.

Speaker 4 (01:12:41):
And that's part of the there's a.

Speaker 6 (01:12:43):
Healthy reminder of why we're waiting as cracially as we can.

Speaker 4 (01:12:50):
You've been see I try to jump in here.

Speaker 14 (01:12:53):
You've been in NCAA governance committees for thirty plus years.

Speaker 4 (01:12:57):
I guess right now seems to be.

Speaker 14 (01:12:59):
A important time at twenty eight twenty is the socializing
this proposal that grants the power league sixty five percent
is Can you just tell us where what you view
your views of this proposal? I know you were on
the working group, but it's sixty five percent enough for.

Speaker 4 (01:13:16):
The power leagues to have it. I'll tell you exactly,
do you want me to go back? Like? Do you
want the twenty eight years later? Please? I walked in.

Speaker 6 (01:13:26):
Brittmanowski resigned this commissioner of the Southron Conference in March.
In April, I found myself in a Transition Management Council
meeting where I have no idea what the site was
up and down. I will say I remember an NTA
convention meeting with the Student Athlete Advisory Committee in San
Diego where we had a presentation student athletes left in

(01:13:48):
rythma like we I'm the Southland Commission, we have a
trust camp. How were we going to pivot? And you
know we don't.

Speaker 4 (01:13:55):
We don't pivot.

Speaker 6 (01:13:57):
Well, there's there's a lot of people, a lot of
interests to be served, even in the CFP room when
we finished in January of twenty one, excuse me, January
of twenty two, when was Alabama, Georgia and Indianapolis?

Speaker 4 (01:14:12):
Was that January twenty two season twenty one season.

Speaker 6 (01:14:16):
Twenty two YEA, when we were at an impasse for
like the sixth time in that room and there were
eleven of us. I said, look, because the NCAA building
was across the street, everybody wants to point your finger
over there.

Speaker 4 (01:14:29):
I think we've proven that we are the problem here,
not that. And you know through.

Speaker 6 (01:14:40):
I was done participating in nca committee's pre COVID. I
think you know, I was on the infractions committee, shared
some perspective as I left, whether those were hurt or not,
and then kind of get you know, every time I
think I'm out, I get pulled back in.

Speaker 4 (01:14:56):
I don't know if that's a reflection on me or
somebody else.

Speaker 6 (01:15:02):
I fell back to trying to write an autonomy list
and have that back in twenty twelve twenty thirteen, when
I was an Associate commissioner, there were more changes it
could be could have been pursued. Then it goes to
the nca board and then it's kind of negotiated back
from the ask.

Speaker 4 (01:15:18):
I think a.

Speaker 6 (01:15:20):
More autonomy had been granted then that would have been
healthy for the entire system, because you can go back
and you see where autonomy has used. I think it
has helped everybody cost of attendance to more medical care.
The Concussion Protocol came out of the autonomy process, just
to name a few. That doesn't mean we're perfect, but

(01:15:41):
I think, you know, having more autonomy would have been helpful.
So in this current iteration, Southeastern Conference is asked for
more authority and autonomy for the four conferences, and we've asked.

Speaker 4 (01:15:54):
So.

Speaker 6 (01:15:55):
I think there's some reporting today about authority to just depart.
That's not I don't have the authority of this department
have been voted upon. I've shared with the decision making
working group. I have people in my room asking why
are we still in the NCAA now.

Speaker 4 (01:16:11):
The other side of that is.

Speaker 6 (01:16:12):
We have thirteen teams invited to the NCAA baseball tournament today.
I've not been notified that anyone has declined the invitation.
We had fourteen men's basketball teams, nobody declined those invitations.
I think we have like seven of sixteen men's golf
teams that we're playing today on the final day of
stroke play. Nobody's declined those opportunities. So there's inherent value.

(01:16:37):
But how does the association continue to adapt? How do
those whose frustration level is at its highest, How maybe
are some of those frustrations mitigated?

Speaker 4 (01:16:50):
How are some of those frustrations dealt with the process
of change is really exciting. At the start.

Speaker 6 (01:16:59):
It's like running a mara which a few times every
time I've got run a marathon and you can't sleep
the night before, you're up early, you're at the start line.
The start of anything is really exciting. You go through that,
and then you get to the end and you see
you know, running down Toilston and the Boston Marathon, our
in Central Park in New York City, are crossing the

(01:17:21):
river in Missoula, Montana to finish there. I mean, it's exciting, right,
there's a finish line. The start and the finish is
always invigorating, exciting that the middle is messy, whether it's
a marathon, whether it's decision making, whether it's changed, and
we are in the middle and it's messy. That's not
unique to college sports, that's not unique to higher education,

(01:17:44):
that's not unique to American society. And so ross to
go back to the fundamental question, I think we would
like to see Maricot authority on autonomy granted under the
NCAA heading like to come together for championships. We think
that's critical important broad part of college sports. I think

(01:18:09):
there can be more independence and decision making. We talked
about an autonomy division that would be stand. It would
be under the NCAA heading clearly it would be linked,
but you'd have more authority on them. But I think

(01:18:30):
you reported on that in January as I recalled none
of my memos.

Speaker 4 (01:18:34):
Ever, the main secret we're at sixty five percent.

Speaker 6 (01:18:39):
I think the sixty eight percent number is one that's
been on our mind because you can't just have somebody
walk away at that level among the four and everything stops.

Speaker 4 (01:18:54):
Others have said that's too much.

Speaker 6 (01:18:57):
We'll talk through those things this week in depth see
where our leadership concludes as far as our feedback to
the decision making working group. But I've been clear within
the room that we are interested in this autonomy group
and having more authority of autonomy within the NCA structure.

(01:19:24):
I'd like to avoid situations where you're not allowed to
put spread on bagels in the future. For all the
finger pointing about who caused these problems, I think it's
naive when it's boiled down to some of the statements
that have been made in recent waves.

Speaker 16 (01:19:42):
Commissioner of the Sticking Point of Roster limitations, tell me
a little bit about conversations you've had about implementing those.
It does feel like a sticking point to the judge's
decision at least of implementing roster limitations more.

Speaker 6 (01:20:01):
Than a sticking point go back and re look at
it and then don't come back to me without doing
something different. So been an assignment from the judge to
do something different, particularly for implementation. So that's been presented,
I think in a way that we think can result
and settlement approval. But that's up to the judge. Commission

(01:20:24):
has dinor DENI student athletes in a few minutes or yes,
we got one more.

Speaker 4 (01:20:28):
Question, can I do you go for it?

Speaker 1 (01:20:30):
You wait?

Speaker 8 (01:20:31):
Okay to get back to the playoff. But it also
I think gets to governance to a certain degree. Talking
about your ADS, I said, we've given up too much.
You're sort of again in a position of thinking about
the greater good of college football. That was talked about
a lot from other commissioners last week when there was
some decision on the seating. How do you balance what

(01:20:53):
is best for the SEC. If what is best for
maybe it may be giving up a little bit for
the SEC would be better for the whole.

Speaker 6 (01:21:03):
Look at the track record. We didn't need twelve? Could
we state the four? We would have had half the
four last year. I don't need lectures from others about
good at the game. I don't lecture others about good
a game, and coordinating press release is about good to

(01:21:26):
the game. You know, get a okay, you can issue
your press statement. But I'm actually looking for ideas to
move us forward.

Speaker 4 (01:21:39):
So Ralph, I'll go.

Speaker 6 (01:21:40):
Back and say I thought the twelve team designed was
really well considered at the time I came to Wait,
we never had a unanimous about to support the twelve
team playoffs. Even though I was involved in that work.
That didn't mean everybody in this league when we were
at fourteen thought it was the best idea. But you

(01:22:01):
engage in that type of problem, solve you our eight
or nine game schedule. That goes back to really twenty eighteen.
We've been talking about eliminating divisions from twenty eighteen forward,
and we expanded, so it became a different conversation, and

(01:22:22):
the shape of that conversation has changed over time. We
have to make a decision, the CFP and my colleagues
have to understand there's something different.

Speaker 4 (01:22:33):
We we all played college football, And so while you
ask that of me.

Speaker 6 (01:22:38):
I'll go back and say we we didn't need a
twelve teen college football playoff.

Speaker 4 (01:22:42):
I thought it was good for the game. I was
involved in that others helping out.

Speaker 6 (01:22:49):
I thought it was important to get after that work
and a time efficient manner. Yet we held up and
then we went fast. We didn't go slow so we
could go fast. We didn't do anything, and then we
went fast without solving some of the other elements. I
have a responsibility to push as well. I think my

(01:23:10):
membership has a responsibility and the desire.

Speaker 4 (01:23:13):
To push me.

Speaker 6 (01:23:14):
And that is a hard issue if you want to
go inside what it's like to sit in this role.
I think about the responsibility I have here. I think
about the responsibility more broadly all the time. Yesterday I said,
we don't apologize here. I'm proud we have thirteen eves.
I wish it was fourteen in baseball. I'm proud of

(01:23:38):
what we did in men's basketball. I'm proud that we
have I think it's five of eight. It's five of
eight in softball. I actually think that can make other
people better to And when I go back to the
college football playoff, I'm open to ideas.

Speaker 4 (01:23:55):
There's just a lot of incoming.

Speaker 6 (01:23:57):
My phone's not ringing off the book, but hey, here's
another way to look at it.

Speaker 4 (01:24:02):
And so we'll continue to be thoughtful.

Speaker 6 (01:24:06):
We'll continue to try to provide perspective and information to
our members and help them guide the decisions.

Speaker 4 (01:24:13):
And ultimately, I recognize I'm the one who ends.

Speaker 6 (01:24:16):
Up topic in front of the podium explaining not just
myself and ourselves, So.

Speaker 2 (01:24:23):
Good luck to me, good luck to him. Indeed, So
there it is.

Speaker 1 (01:24:28):
The things from the commissioner there, Greg Thanking talking about that.
And what's really going to be interesting to see is
how this divide is resolved between the coaches. Coaches who
want the five highest ranked conference champions and the next

(01:24:53):
eleven at large bids that's what they want with an
eight game schedule. The athletic directors and the conference commissioners
of the other leagues want the nine game schedule in
order to do that, So the ads and the coaches

(01:25:13):
have a different look at it.

Speaker 2 (01:25:16):
There was one quote from Scott Strickland.

Speaker 1 (01:25:21):
It's funny I remember when Scott Strickland was the media
relations director at Baylor and he rose up through the
ranks became an assistant athletic director at Mississippi State, then
the AD, and now he's the AD at Florida, and
he said he cannot support a nine game league schedule
without guarantee playoff access to the SEC. As quote was,

(01:25:42):
that's hard for me. There's not a sport that our
league competes in where less than half of our members
are not in the postseason except for one, and it
happens to be the one we all pay the most
attention to. Last year, three of our sixteen teams were
in the playoff. I think that's a problem systemically with
the structure of what we're trying to do.

Speaker 8 (01:25:59):
Me.

Speaker 2 (01:26:00):
I mean, he thinks there should be more.

Speaker 1 (01:26:03):
But Lane Kiffin is not sold on the automatic qualifier thing.
He said he's in favor of the sixteen best teams
because after seeing all the data and the analytics about
who would be left out in multiple models, his quote was,
there's still flaws in every system.

Speaker 2 (01:26:18):
I think we all know that that's definitely going to
be the case.

Speaker 1 (01:26:21):
All Right, we have more coming up when we continue
on thirteen hundred the zone here on thirteen hundred zone.

Speaker 2 (01:26:25):
Hey, when I do the tip of the hat.

Speaker 1 (01:26:29):
To the area schools that have advanced to state tournament action.
There's both in the state championship round of the softball
in the final four in baseball. Now, remember it's important
to remember this because I know there are a lot
of folks who are still getting used to this. It

(01:26:52):
is the first time and this really started. I guess
it's started with volleyball, but it people really took notice
of it during basketball and now in softball and baseball
that for the first time, you're only bringing the two
finalists to the Greater Austin area for the state champions

(01:27:13):
or in the case of basketball, was the alamodum because
they were doing it San Antonio.

Speaker 2 (01:27:18):
The reason for this is because.

Speaker 1 (01:27:21):
The Legislative Council, the UIL, that's the superintendents who from
across the state of Texas who are part of this
legislative council, voted to go split division two division state
champions in all sports now and all the team major
sports now as opposed to remember it was only in football,
and we've gotten used to it in football with twelve

(01:27:42):
state champions crown in football every year. The two divisions
of six man, which is Class one A, Class A,
then two divisions of two A, three A, four A,
five A, and six A. There are twelve total state
champions in football. Well, now that's the case in all sports,
but in order to date facilities and the time schedule,

(01:28:04):
it would mean that in those other sports now that
are new to this concept, they would have to play
their state semifinals away from Austin. In the past, we've
all been accustomed to a Final four coming to the
Alamo Dome for basketball, or a Final four coming to
the state tournament in Austin. In fact, like Travis upon

(01:28:26):
winning last week baseball said, like going to state, well,
they mean state semifinalists, but they're not playing it at
Dell Diamond as a final four participant. That's because of
the way that it is set up that you only
have the state because you have to have instead of

(01:28:47):
two semi final games for that, you have to have
two state championship games. So, nevertheless, getting an opportunity to
get to state, getting to the state semifinals is imported.
In Lake Travis is there in six A Division one
because we can say that now in baseball they're playing

(01:29:08):
in TASKASEDA and Prospering Midway.

Speaker 2 (01:29:12):
The other.

Speaker 1 (01:29:14):
Semifinalists in six A Division one. Now in terms of
the rest of it, in terms of area schools advancing
Dripping Springs in six A Division two, see in the past,
it would not have been possible for both of those
teams to be state semifinals because they were both not

(01:29:36):
only in the same division, but in the same district,
in the same classification the same district. Well now, just
like you know, Westlake and Vandergriff both making it to
state football championship games last December, Vandergriff winning the title
and Westlake is the runner up, falling the North Crowley.
That is achievable now in all of the other divisions,

(01:29:58):
in all of the other sports. Lake Travis is in
the semifinals against the task of see them. And that's
six A Division one. And in six A Division two
it is Kingwood and Dripping Springs. So Drip made it
and that will be this weekend there in six A

(01:30:19):
Division two. So yet two athletic team, two baseball teams
making it to state semifinals in six A Lake Travis
in Division one, and in six A Division two Dripping
Springs in five A. The closest team to the area
would be Smithson Valley, which won a state championship in football,

(01:30:42):
so that's in five A Division one. It's funny because
they're in it. And then you have named like Alito,
which is always in a Barber's Hill mckinnning north of
the other semifinalists in five A Division one five A
Division two, however, you do have an area school, Liberty Hill,
making the final four and they're playing Kingwood Park.

Speaker 2 (01:31:00):
Defending state champion.

Speaker 1 (01:31:02):
Grapevine is playing love Joy Lukes Lovejoy in the other semifinal.
That's a rematch of their state championship game a year ago.
But they're in the same division six A Division two,
so they meet in the final four this time around.
So in the largest classifications in six A and five
A you have two A you have two six A
state semifinalists that would be Lake Travis and six A

(01:31:25):
Division one and Dripping Springs in six A Division two,
and then in five A Division two you have Liberty
Hill making it.

Speaker 2 (01:31:38):
In four A.

Speaker 1 (01:31:40):
None of the there are no area schools involved in
the four A state semifinals and Division one Pleasant Grove
against Seminole, China Spring against cal Allen.

Speaker 2 (01:31:49):
That's in four A Division one.

Speaker 1 (01:31:51):
In four A Division two, the final four includes an
area school, Wimberley, and congratulations of the Texans. Not only
did they get to the state semifinal round, but Wimberley
also knocked off the giant the perennial power sent and
coached by lifetime long. Weren't Adrian Allenes who's won a

(01:32:12):
state title and is taking his team to state before.
And of course Ryland Galvan and Jacquey Stewart played on
that state championship team at Centon back in twenty twenty
two for Adrianalities, but they fell to Wimberley. And Wimberley
is in the final four of the play Bridge City
in one semifinal Brock and spring Hill the other semifinalists
in four A Division two. In three A Division one,

(01:32:35):
your state semifinals are Iowa Park, Liberty, Ilo, Huntington and London,
which is from the Corpus Christie area. So there's no
area teams in three A Division one, and in three
A Division two it's the same story.

Speaker 2 (01:32:50):
You have Wall against Boyd and.

Speaker 1 (01:32:52):
Well, no, no, no, they're all technically classifies as an area team.
They're right there on the county line. So yeah, asolutely
thralls an area team. And they're playing Orange Grove in
the three Division two. Thrall has grown so much, such
a very small place, but congratulations to those Purple and
White Tigers. They'll play Orange Grove in the state semifinals.

(01:33:12):
So you do have an area school, may not be
that local, but it's close enough. Is it's definitely area.
And then in two A Division one you have new
Home against tom Bean, Centerville against Schulenberg.

Speaker 2 (01:33:28):
So in no area schools in two A D one.

Speaker 1 (01:33:30):
In two A D two, same story, Stamford against Collinsville
Overton again, and Burton is just beyond the area. It's
over there, really kind of nestled a little bit in
the Brasses Valley. It's over there by Brenham, but still
not that far away. So Burton made it in two
A Division two. Now the one classification that only has

(01:33:52):
one division is one A. That's where you have six
man football programs. But they have they have state semifinals
Region one in region so they are doing it in
the state semifinals. Hamlin and Gordon in one state semifinal
in Region one and two, and then in Region.

Speaker 2 (01:34:12):
Three and four.

Speaker 1 (01:34:12):
Your other state semifinalists there are Brookland and Fayetteville. So
there it is. There's your state semifinalist in UIL baseball,
So congratulations to all that. We'll be back to wrap
up today's program on thirteen under the Zone