Latest Bracketological Prognostications and Rodney Terry's thoughts on closing stretch

Get over the midweek hump with Craig Way and Cameron Parker! On Wednesday's show they talk about the latest Bracketology on the Men's and Women's sides and hear from Rodney Terry.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
But we're glad to be with you here on a
Wednesday afternoon. Yeah, good afternoon. Welcome to the program here
on thirteen under the Zone. My name is Craig Wait.
Thanks very much for joining us. We of course includes
the producer of the program.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
Cameron D. Parker.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
The D and the birth certificate stands for Dallas, as in,
it's really cold in Dallas right now, really cold in Dallas.
My brother lives in Fort Worth and it was like
down to eleven degrees and.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Minus two chill factor and stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
It's not exactly you know, swim meet weather conditions.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Here in the Greater Austin there is thirty one.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Degrees right now, and the high is supposed to come
a little later this afternoon, all the way up to
a ball me thirty two, right at the freezing mark,
and then it's going to get cold again. So where
do you stand with really cold weather?

Speaker 3 (00:48):
It's a good question, Greg, you know, growing up at
North Carolina, like you know, we would have thirty degree
yeah days like this before. But I've been here for
eight years now, so my body has acclimated to the
warm Texas winters. But it's like, you know, I tell myself. Hey,
in one week, it'll be seventy degrees eighty degrees, so
you can muster two or three days of thirty three weather.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
You know, come on, it didn't do it now.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
It's when it gets down into the teens and stuff
like that. Yeah, it starts to get really uncomfortable.

Speaker 4 (01:20):
You know.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
I let my my.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Dog out, and Linda let the dog out this morning,
and she's turning around and looking at Linda like, you
really expect me to go out here over where you
point to in the area and go do number two
in this in this weather, that's what you're wanting.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
But she did.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
She's a good dog and she she complied. But it's
it's uh, it's yeah, it's pretty chilly. To give us
warmer thoughts, and I look ahead to uh of things
of warmer weather.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
I have for you the updated Here's where major League
Baseball teams are coming out of the off season. Where
they are now that all spring training camps are open.
The ranking of where they are some of them may
surprise you, including you Texas Rangers fans, Cameron. So I'll

(02:18):
tell you that that'll be coming up a next segment.
College basketball, there was a more interesting action last night.
What in the world is happening to the Kansas Jayhawks
that tied for the worst loss in the Bill self Era.
What they lose about thirty four to BYU like ninety
one to fifty seven, and then we're ranked twenty third

(02:39):
going into it. They've kind of been in a free fall.
Kansas this year is an example. I know people point
to programs. They even pointed to Texas when the long
runs were struggling and said, well, the portal things didn't work,
The portal things didn't work. Well. The portal things are
an incomplete grade right now for Texas because the guys
have been injured. And if you want to say, well

(03:01):
that that means that it didn't work, then if the
guys have been injured, I don't I don't know how
you can equate that with the injury. But fortunately one
of the portal guys, Tromon Mark, is back healthy UH
and UH, and then Jason Kent came back after his
wrist injury early, so that's helping UH clearly.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
And UH.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
They're getting better and they're getting healthier, and they may
they may have an opportunity to get Kenda Weaver back
if not by this weekend, maybe next week sometime, there's
the hope to have him back as well.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
So, uh, that part is healthy.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
But like for Kansas with the portal signings have brought in,
it's not it hasn't been working out. And I thought
Seth Greenberg of ESPN had a really good take on it.
He said, you know, in today's age and time with
college basketball and and portal activity, it's almost like NBA
free agency in that you sign someone and there's of

(03:58):
course in the NBA there's millions committed in this case,
but you sign someone in the hopes that they'll contribute
in all this, but you really don't know because it's
in a compressed amount of time, and it's even more
of a compressed amount of time with regard to the
portal and college basketball. You've got to move quicker, and
you've got to make a call.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
On whether that guy's going to help you.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Otherwise you may lose out on that specific player, but
you may also jump the gun and get somebody thinking
we got to have that guy, and it might not
have been the guy that could best help your program.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
And that's kind of what Kansas is going through right now.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
So there's that and some of the veterans, including kJ Adams,
they're not playing their best right now.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
Yeah, it's it's the margin of error for for missing
guys in the portal. It's huge, Craig. I mean, we
talked about it. We know about this, you know, the
NCAA tournament when we're in Charlotte. You know, guys are
already going on visits during the first second round the tournament.
The schools you may have you know, missed a tournament,
right so there's an advantage there. And of course it's
all about the NIL budget, and some schools have higher budgets.
Kansas has a pretty high NIL budget. But when you

(04:57):
bring in you know, four or five six new guys
to a roster, you cannot anticipate how they are going
to gael. You do not know how the chemistry are
gonna work out. You know, you can have an idea, well,
you know, if we play this guy with this guy
to do this, this and this, but you don't really
know until they're on the court and we're seeing it.
You know, not work in favor for Kansas, for Texas. Yeah,
they you know, they brought seven new guys to the roster.

(05:20):
They hadn't been healthy. That's the portal in freshman. Yeah,
and freshman and of course the freshmen have played a
huge part of this team. Tray Johnson, obviously, you don't
know how they're gonna mash pand you don't know, you
do not know when they don't play together, and that's
been the case for Texas. You know, it's been one
step four, two steps back, you know, you know, Kenna
Weaver gets injured, Kluma gets injured, Prior gets injured, you
get Prior back, you're still without Weaver. Tramond's missed some time.

(05:42):
You know, Trey's missed some time. Jason Kent I missed
a lot of time with that wrist injury. So if
Texas can, you know, kind of get those guys together
and healthy and finish this closing stretch, I want to
see how they look down these last five games, because
if they can finally get healthy, get Prior, Kaluma and
we were all back on the floor together, this could
be possibly a pretty dangerous team by we don't know,
because they've not been able to stay healthy. And for Kansas,

(06:03):
I think they've been pretty healthy. I know Adams has
missed some time, and I think Dickinson has been a
big part of the team but just has not shelled.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
Has not worked out yep, And that's why the open
date in the middle of this week helps. Now, having
said that, when the Long Wrorns go to Columbia, they're
going to play a South Carolina team, the only team
in the SEC without a conference win. They're really getting
desperate straits right now. I think they're owing eleven in
conference play something like that, got beat by LSU, and

(06:32):
look at LSU all of a sudden perking up winning
in Norman and then going back home and beating South Carolina.
But it'll be kind of a desperate team, and the
Longhorns know they really need a win. Just as a
good win like Kentucky beating Kentucky last Saturday, a bad

(06:54):
loss can damage it. And that would be a bad
loss if they were to lose, wouldn't be crippling or
eliminating or anything like that. But it doesn't help, that's
for sure. You know Joe Lenardi who was working file
obviously on ESPN, they're resident bracketologists. The guy who kind
of invented it had told I guess it was Carl

(07:15):
Raviitch and Jimmy dikes that an Oklahoma loss at Florida
wouldn't necessarily hurt the Sooners, but they got blown out
of the building.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
It certainly didn't help, and Oklahoma was running out.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
They're three and eleven now in the SEC, so they're
kind of running out of time.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
Toda.

Speaker 1 (07:29):
Of course, they conclude the regular season here in Austin
and that could be a key game for Texas just
but they all are really for the long Corns. Cam
mentioned Trey Johnson want a job. He's done freshman fabulous,
current SEC Freshman of the Week four time this season.
He's won the honor. It's almost a given for sure

(07:51):
that he's going to wind up being a freshman All American.
He's also going to be our guest tomorrow night. Nice
long worn weekly out of Pluckers. So if you want
to come on out for the show tomorrow night, it
really would be a good time because they're not coming
off and win.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
They're a little more arrested.

Speaker 1 (08:10):
They've been able to get some work in and of
course and Rodney's voice might be actually even better too.
It was pretty good. It wasn't bad for a post
game on Saturday night, and his zoom yesterday, and there's
a few comments left from that zoom that I purposely
say for today, especially with regards to Kevin Durant. So

(08:31):
we're gonna hear that coming up. But anyway, Trey Johnson's
gonna be with us tomorrow night at Pluckers. So when
we bring in Longhorn Weekly with Rodney Terry at six
o'clock the West Campus location twenty two to twenty two
Rio Grand, we suggested to get out there early, get
self a table and some great basketball conversation with the
long Run's outstanding freshman Trey Johnson. That'll be tomorrow night

(08:54):
at plucker So we have all that to look forward to. Also,
we have inconceivable this hour coming up, and we've got
some other thing too in addition to because we live
in a world of rankings and numbers, numbers and rankings,
all this kind of stuff. I have an older brother.
I have three brothers, one younger, two older. Two of

(09:17):
the brothers, the oldest one and the younger one, both
live in North Carolina. Well, the oldest one lives in
South Carolina, just across the state line. He lives in
North Carntle Beach. The younger brother is retired military and
lives near newburn Out.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
In eastern North Carolina.

Speaker 1 (09:30):
The second oldest brother is in Fort Worth, and he
is the resident college and pro basketball, especially college basketball,
honk that and NASCAR. He he's just he's just to
eat up with it, you know. So he's all into them.

Speaker 3 (09:44):
Was he blowing your phone up on the five hundred?

Speaker 1 (09:46):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, they do that all the time.
He's in the drag racing to the NHR stuff. And
I'm either, but I'm included on the group text. He
and my younger brother who's into it. My younger brother,
the retired military he and is, why go to drag
drag races? So they go and they see some of
those some of the NHR nationals and things like that.
So so yeah, I get lumped in on the group

(10:08):
text on that. So anyway, he was, he was all inside,
but he says, he says I was as a kid because.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
They didn't diagnose these things in your kid.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
He goes, I had to have been adhd pieces because
I make lists all the time. He ranks his his
favorite uniforms, his favorite teams, his least favorite teams, and
in virtually all sports and so with him and mind
I have a couple of ranking lists. One was the
Baseball one to mention. The other is the Billis Index,

(10:41):
which has come out now. That's different from bracketology. It's
different from you know, uh.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Yeah, uh. He did it last year.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
I think last year was his first time where he
does this in the updates that as we get close
to tournament.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Right now, he ranks not all of the.

Speaker 1 (10:58):
Teams in college basketball, but he does rank sixty eight.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
That's the magic number.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
And we'll tell you where the Long Worn's following that
because they do follow in that ranking order on that.
So we'll get to all of that. As always, we
offer up the text line to you. If you have
a question or a comment you know about you know, Long,
Orange Sports, or whatever is on your mind, feel free
to Texas. You have only to text the word Texas

(11:23):
follow by your question or comment to eight one five
three zero. So you text the word Texas follow by
your question or comment to eight one five three zero.
Standard messaging and data rates may apply. And we've got
some other topics we'll get to as well as we
continue here on a chilly Wednesday afternoon, I'm thirteen under
the zone. Major League baseball teams are in spring training now,

(11:44):
and we're not that far away. In fact, I think
it's March twenty second is when the Cubs and Dodgers
open in Japan. I think is the regular season openers.
Yesterday I had the story. I had the story yesterday
cam that Joe Buck he's going to call a game
on opening day Major League Baseball for ESPN. He's gonna
work Yankees Brewers in New York. And he was very

(12:06):
very quick to say it's one off. It's one off. Yeah,
they asked me to help. I said, absolutely, glad to
do it, but it's a one off. He said, he's
not getting back into the rotation to doing baseball.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
They're going to try and get him to do more
games and next sure they know he's going to be
hosting Get Up with Mike Greenberg.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
That it'll eventually get to that.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
I mean painting him a lot of money eighteen million
a year to do Monday Night football. So anyway, somebody
on the text line yesterday said, well, he's got to
find another way to make some more millions.

Speaker 2 (12:35):
I guess so.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
I think he asked for an extra mill to do
that game.

Speaker 2 (12:37):
Maybe nineteen I'll do it.

Speaker 1 (12:40):
Yeah, So we're just around the corner from the start
of the baseball season, and ESPN's staff have the projections
and rankings of all thirty major league teams coming out
of free agency, and now that they're all in.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
Spring training where they ranked him.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
So I'm going to go from the bottom of the
top and just tell you a line or two about
each number. Thirty is still our fringing Watson's team that
he just arrived on the scene last year. Try to
rebuild a Chicago White Sox. You know, last year they
set a record for losses. Their reality is that their
expectation is fewer losses, and the reality is the.

Speaker 2 (13:20):
White Sox will lose fewer games.

Speaker 1 (13:21):
So by that low bar, the season is sure to
be a success. They're nowhere near turning this thing back
in the right direction. But they got him at thirty.
Twenty nine Colorado Rockies expectation and another lovely summer in
Lodo with plenty of runs on the.

Speaker 3 (13:37):
Scoreboard, wins not so much. So there's that all right.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Twenty eight Miami, twenty seven Washington the expectation. Noticeable improvement
for a team that, when you think about it, has
now been rebuilding for a long time.

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Number twenty six.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
The Pirates expectation, great pitching, lackluster hitting, massive fan fresh.

Speaker 2 (14:01):
So the reality, they say, why Pirates?

Speaker 1 (14:04):
Why Paul freaking scheme centers his first full MLB season
with new pitches and the same old stuff heading up
a rotation that a year from now might be.

Speaker 2 (14:13):
The best in the game.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
But such windows when opened by a sudden outburst of
pitching or fleeting with this staff in this National League
Central and a throwback payroll outlook, this was the time
to spend spen spent, but the Pirates didn't, didn't didn't.
Instead they traded for Spencer Horowitz, who's already hurt. So
it goes number twenty five.

Speaker 2 (14:32):
I love this.

Speaker 1 (14:33):
The Athletics and what they call them are the taff
capo Athletics taf kap ko, the tafft capo Athletics. You
know how they call them the teff here taff Cappo
stands for the artist formerly known as Philadelphia, Kansas City
and open expectation. Everyone will refer to them as sack Town,

(14:54):
whether they want it or not. That's what happens to
team in Sacramento.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Just go with it.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
The team should be too. That's the expectation, the reality.
It's never ideal when the big league team lands in
a minor league park. In this season, We've got two
of them because remember the race. You're gonna have to
play in the Yankees minor league park after the hurricane ripped
up Tropic Canna Field, says. Yet there is something intriguing
about it, a possible call back to simpler days of yours,
something along those lines.

Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (15:21):
Number twenty four of the Angels expectation, everyone good will
get hurt. Hey, optimism is fertilizer for the weeds of disappointment.
You set your sights low, and everything else feels like
good news. Number twenty three the Reds expectation for better
or worse. There's a little reason to expect anything but
the same old, same old for the Reds. But that's expectation,

(15:42):
and with some of the game's most exciting young players,
the Reds can at least pair that expectation with a
good dose of hope. Number twenty two the Guardians. I mean,
that's quite a drop off given what they did. Expectation
a division title repeat and more, and why not despite
having one of the game's youngest rosters Cleveland one night
games and came within three wins of a World Series birth.

(16:03):
Who cares what the projections say, Well, the reality is
he says that every years we pieced together win projections
with the ever evolving team forecast model, there's at least
one product of the work that leaves you field with
an existential doubt. This year's winner is this one. Number
twenty one is the Giants expectation. A lovely view of

(16:24):
the Bay beyond the right field fence of Oracle Park.
As for baseball, another summer in the middle, looking longingly
at the Dodgers padres and diamondback seems about right. Number
twenty the Brewers, and again this is another team that
won a division. Said, at least from the outside, it
seems as if a step back is the expectation. The
Brewers over under eighty two and a half wins reflects

(16:45):
that sense perfectly. At the same time, if you think
a forecast is destiny for this organization, you haven't been
paying attention to the past nine years of National League Baseball.
Number nineteen Tampa Bay expectation and it's interesting summer in
the so in rain. What that translates to and the
competitive landscape remains to be seen because of the summer.

(17:06):
It says, the reality is the never ending Ray's Stadium
saga had a few twists and turns over the off season.
After years of this, we still don't know where this
meandering path is headed, but we do know that during
the summer twenty five it will pause in Tampa's Steinbrenner Field.
Number eighteen The Cardinals expectation. Have you heard? The Cardinals

(17:28):
planned to trade Nolan Aeronado, who's ongoing president Saint Louis
seems to loom high above the arts like a great
shadow since John Moseley Act won't stop talking about the
need to deal them. So we can suppose the Cardinals
with trade Aeronata and lead into a kind blue lead rebuild.
Number seventeen Toronto, Number sixteen Detroit says the tide will

(17:53):
keep rising, even if it hasn't come in yet. Sure,
the Tigers went on this during late season run and
found themselves in the alds after this, batching with the
Astros in a wild card series. That unexpected run was
a glimpse of where this group might be headed, but
it wasn't necessarily a reflection of where it is right now.
Number fifteen the Red Sox expectation return of October baseball

(18:14):
finway after three seasons of treading water, so they're projecting
a win average of eighty four. Fourteen San Diego expectation.
Anything could happen. We hate to be so imprecise, but
after an offseason in which most of the focus in
San Diego was on changing ownership, it's still not clear
just where this is all headed.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
For the Padres.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
Number thirteen The Royals expectation take the next step this year.
Last year, at the same time, the next step would
have been defined as losing fewer than one hundred games.
After stunning breakout twenty twenty four of the bar has
been sent much higher. Kansas City Number twelve. Seattle expectation
that the Mariners will pitch their wan in contention, but
in the end it won't lead to much. It never does.
Number eleven. Have you know saying go to the Rangershow yeah,

(18:58):
I know, I'm kind of yeah. Number eleven the Twins.
Number ten, Now we're into the top ten. The Cubs
expectation win the division without committing long term payroll.

Speaker 3 (19:12):
They said that last part feels just about right.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Number nine Diamondbacks expectation beat the Dodgers.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
It says, Okay, we're just channeling what we know.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Hardcore Arizona fans are thinking, realistically, that can't be the expectation.
But Arizona is better than it was last year, and
better than it was in twenty twenty three when it
won the nationally pennant. Number eight Baltimore young stars lead
the way as the expectation the kind of number seven
the Texas Rangers.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
How about that?

Speaker 1 (19:39):
A number seven ranking expectation, big bounce back reality After
winning it all on twenty twenty three, The Rangers entered
last season with a Hall of Fame injured list, at
least on the pitching side, and the health outlook never
really got better. The lineup progressed in the wrong way,
and the result was a season that began with a
ring ceremony and with a sub five hundred and third
place fin With Texas just behind Houston and this pecking

(20:02):
order a rounding error from division favorite status, things are
looking up. The Rangers need Jacob de grind to hold up,
Kumar Rocker and Jack light Up Lighter to develop, and
more than anything, to figure out a bullpen mix. With
a lot of possibilities and few clear cut roles. You
agree with below that I do.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
There's no way they can be as injured as they
were last season. It's just physically impossible that everyone gets
injured so they can stay healthy. Greg, I think they're
a playoff team.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
The win projection for them is that eighty seven point
seven wins and a sixty four percentage chance to make
the postseason. Number six the Astros expectations stay in the mix.
Astros have been a yearly contended for a decade, and
the numbers add up to another run at the American
League flag, though Houston will have plenty of company in

(20:51):
that chase. Reality, the Astros over under at ESPN BET
is at eighty six point five, so you could argue
that this projection has been optimistic. They're win average projected
as eighty eight. Even so, Houston's baseline entering a season
hasn't been this low in ten years. You lose Alex Bregman,
Kyle Tucker, and Justin Verlander from the roster, and the

(21:11):
forecasting machinery isn't.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
Going to like it.

Speaker 1 (21:14):
They also have the lowest ranked farm system in all
of baseball. They said that isn't going to help Number
five Phillies expectation win now, win big. This wasn't an
aggressive winner for the Phillies, but this remains a top
heavy star Laydon roster that's just starting to look at
long on the two. Number four the Mets when average

(21:35):
ninety one. Of course it said usher in a new
golden age with Soto is the face of it. When
you sign a guy who is seven hundred and sixty
five million dollar contract, that has to be the plan,
especially when you're coming off an LCS appearance for the
foreseeable future, it's World Series or bust for the Mets.
Number three is the Yankees ninety one point two average.
It said to be better than last year. That's their expectation. Look,

(21:58):
sometimes the answers to these questions are about the teams themselves,
and so they talk about their deals. Number two Atlanta
Braves says after relatively quiet off season, the Braves are
a mild favorite the National Leagueese. But the purchase and
secure on papers it was a year ago at this time.
Back then, the hottest debate in baseball whether it's going
to be the Braves or Dodgers that emerges the new
super team.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
So then Atlanta slipped in the.

Speaker 1 (22:20):
Second place and number one, Yes, you know it's the
defending world champions. If the Dodgers projected for a win
average one on one point seven expectation. Whether you gamble
on sports or not, the betting lines are a good
summation of expectations. The Dodgers current over under from wins
at ESPN bet tells it all one oh four point five.
They said, I have no idea if that's a record,

(22:42):
But what I can say is that I have a
file of preseves and over under figures to go back
to seven, and it's the highest figure during that period.
It's not hard to understand why after winning the title
last fall and dominating the winner so thoroughly that it
add people wringing their hands about the state of the game.
There's only one expectation in Chevizvarine win it all again.
That's the expectation. The reality is the nature of the

(23:04):
game is such an even a team with a thundering
outlook like LA is an underdog.

Speaker 2 (23:09):
To the field.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
I totally agree with that, at least when you talk
about winning the World Series. But if you have to
pick the team most likely to pile on the mound
of the end of the Fall Classic. Why would you
possibly choose anyone other than the Dodgers at Bradford. Dudelittle's
right on the MLB stock watch there, But I think
he's right. It's the field, you know, if you take

(23:31):
the Dodgers of the field, as good as LA is
on that, I would still pick the field because the
odds are against it.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
They just are.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
It has been we haven't had a repeat winner since
what Yankees? Yeah, since two thousand, two thousand and one, No,
ninety nine and two thousand. I'm in backs one in one.
We haven't had We haven't had a repeat winner since
the Yankees. There, I think ninety nine in two thousand,
I think was the last time then we had a
repeat winner.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Am I wrong about that?

Speaker 3 (23:59):
Let me double check. Only I can think of because
the Red Sox all when there's on opposite.

Speaker 1 (24:03):
Yeah, they want to know four, they want to know seven.
They won in thirteen, they won in eighteen. Yeah, I don't.
I don't think we've had to repeat World Series champion
since ninety nine two thousand, correct.

Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah, that's how hard it is. It's been over twenty years.

Speaker 1 (24:20):
It's been twenty five years, twenty five years since we've
had a repeat World Series champion. That's why, even as
a hardcore Dodger fan as I am, if I was
back in the corner, said you had to pick the
Dodgers in the field, I would take the field only
because of the way baseball works.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
It finds a way.

Speaker 1 (24:38):
No matter what you want to say about payroll and
all this other stuff, Baseball finds a way to make
it work. And I think it's the postseason has a
lot to do with it, the wildcard system and the
way it's set.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
Up all right.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
Up next inconceivable Here on a Wednesday afternoon on a
thirteen under the Zone, second hour of the program here
on thirteen under the Zone, Craig Way alongside the producer
Cameron Parker. Glad to have you alongside as well, and
we're with you all the way up until five o'clock
this afternoon again tomorrow, regular programming schedule coming your way

(25:09):
tomorrow and then after that Longhorn Weekly with Rodney Terry
out at Pluckers the West Campus location here in Austin.
We have a special guest tomorrow night, Trey Johnson. Yeah,
long Horns outstanding freshman. We'll be with us tomorrow night
the program, so we'll look forward to bringing.

Speaker 4 (25:29):
Back to you.

Speaker 1 (25:29):
I come on out and listen to Trey and of
course coach Terry talk about the upcoming game in South
Carolina and the long worn second half surge to try
to get into the NCAA tournament. We're more than happy

(25:51):
to have you out there. Hope you'll can show up
out there as well. I mentioned this briefly in passing
yesterday that Joe Lenardi had in his bracketological prognostication and
move text us up a little bit.

Speaker 3 (26:08):
He had him as the last of the four last
four buys.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
Meaning those are the teams that don't have to go
to Dayton and play in the NCAA Tournament. And why
I refer to him and also to Jerry Palm's work
as well, is because those guys are usually in the
upper ninety percentile of their projections when the actual field

(26:35):
comes out.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
So it's a pretty good measuring stake, it really is.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
Lenardi is pretty regularly measured at between ninety six percent
and ninety eight percent correct when the bracket actually comes out,
and he also hits a very large number of the
actual regionals that the teams are placed in, which is
not an easy thing to do because the committee tries

(26:58):
to balance out the brackets. For example, just to let
you know what he has in his last four byes,
he has Texas is the number one team on his
last four bys top line, meaning that they would still
be in the sixty four team field once the four
playing games playing in other words, not having to play
in Dayton. The other three teams are West Virginia, BYU,

(27:21):
and Vanderbilt. West Virginia has a huge game this week.
They play Houston on Saturday. B YU got a big
boosting win, albeit over a fall in Kansas, but they
just they absolutely body slammed the Jayhawks last night.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
They won a bout thirty four. And Vanderbilt, we know.

Speaker 1 (27:39):
They've beaten Texas, they beaten Kentucky, they've beaten Tennessee, so
they're still hanging out. They're in the they're on the
bottom rung of the last four byes. The last four
in meaning you would be playing in Dayton. San Diego
was State Oklahoma. This was before the Sooners got whacked
by Florida last night. Arkansas, who has a big game.

(28:01):
They play Auburn tonight. So that's that's big and wake Forest. Yeah,
first four out VCU Georgia who the long runs still
have to play SMU and North Carolina and the next
four Indiana, Xavier, k State and uc R RNE. And
that was before k State I think, or maybe it

(28:22):
was after they lost at Utah. Kansas State had had
a couple of really good wins and they went out
to the.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
Bee Hive State and got stung.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
By them by Utah had had a tough time and
by b Yu as well.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Funny enough, I think Kansas was trolling them on social
media and they ended up.

Speaker 2 (28:46):
Last night good.

Speaker 1 (28:48):
Both of the Sunflower State teams, Kansas and Kansas State
went out and played both of the Beehive State teams
and went oh and two. Both of them did. Over
the weekend for the my son was asking me, he goes,
did they always go with two with two matchups of
eleven seeds in addition to the two matchups of sixteen

(29:09):
seeds or they do do twelves? I said, it depends.
It just depends on how they're trying to balance the bracket.
For example, Lenardi has an eleven seed matchup and a
twelve seed matchup in Dayton. The eleven seed matchup is
the San Diego State and Oklahoma. The twelve seed matchup
is Arkansas and Wake Forest. What I can tell you
this what is developing as a really big game next

(29:33):
Wednesday in Fayetteville will be Arkansas Texas huge. That's going
to be big for both schools. In his bracket, his
four number one seeds. Again, this was yesterday morning when
it was released, so it's even before stuff that went
last night. But yesterday morning he had his his four
number one seeds Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Duke three sec

(29:55):
one AC Seed and Auburn in the the South region,
which ultimately brackets into Atlanta. He's got Alabama as the
number one in the Midwest, starting in Lexington, ultimately feeding
in the Indianapolis. Auburn also would be in in Lexington,
and then he's got Florida's number one seat in the West,

(30:15):
opening in San Francisco and actually opening in Raleigh and
ultimately feeding the San Francisco and Duke. The number one
in the East would ultimately into Newark starting in Raleigh
as well. Texas he has placed in the South, which
would feed into Atlanta's the number ten seed and would

(30:36):
play Saint Mary's with the winner to face the Winter
VI was State and Bryant I was State one last night,
so they're still on the rise. Houston is the number
two along with Iris. Stated he had Texas A and
Amazon too, but they got thumbed pretty hard last night
by Mississippi State and Starkville ended their five game winning
Streek and he has Tennessee's the other number two.

Speaker 2 (30:54):
Half.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
Yeah, it was, so there's still things to be decided
the rest of the way. The four number threes was
Some which beat Purdue. Good win for the Badgers last night. Kentucky.
They're becoming a sneaky, really good team. Yep, agreed. Purdue
is a three that may slide after that loss in
Arizona's a three which got the win in Waco on
Monday night over Baylor. And the four number fours would

(31:17):
be Saint John's Michigan Texas Tech, which lost to TCU
last Nay.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
What a weird game that was. Yeah, in Michigan State.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
They lost by I guess they lost by No, they
lost by three because here's what happened. Tech had Tech
trailed for a lot of the game, and the Red
Raiders came back, jumped in front, and I think scored
all of two points.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
In the final five minutes of the basketball game.

Speaker 1 (31:46):
TSU came back, hit some shots, but missed a bunch
of free throws that kept Tech hanging around, and ultimately
TCU missed or rebounded. They missed from Texas. Tech got
fouled with like four second it's left. They went to
the free throw line, made the made one out of

(32:06):
tude to go up three, made the second one. Tech inbounds.
They get the ball to Toppin who puts one up
straight away about twenty five feet. I'd say it looked
like right on, except the shot was blocked. Tech coaches
went crazy. They thought it was a foul, but when
you saw the replay, it probably wasn't gonna be called.

(32:28):
And uh and so that was it. So TCU. Our
friend Louyl Galindo was doing the telecast last night. He's
working with Tom Creane, and he said, they've caught the
attention to the Ncaaight, yeah, but they're three and eight
in Quad one games and they're sixteen and eleven now,
so I mean they're gonna need they're gonna need more

(32:50):
of those, and I think they still have to play
Houston again, so they're gonna need more of those to
really get on the front. Like you know, they're not
even in Lenard's next four right out right now, so
it would have to take something like that even to
just to kind of get them on the radar.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
They're gonna have to have some more wins like that.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
But there's but there's movement within all of that, even
within the top teams in the Power five conferences, and
and and we could say Power five. Now we remember
we got kind of hung up between this Power five
and Power six because you wanted to include the Big
East as a power conference. Well, now that there's no
more Pac twelve, it's very simple to say Power five again.

(33:30):
So it's ACCI, it's it's SEC, it's Big twelve, it's
Big East, and it's Big Ten, so it's Power fives
off of that, Looking looking at texas remaining schedule five games, Craig, Yeah,
one ranked team currently that's at Mississippi State.

Speaker 3 (33:48):
But three of those five games Texas should be favored
in two were at home. So if Taxes can go
three and two at least the next five games, I
think they'll be all right, Craig, But it's also a
stretch where I think Artie wants to see this team
get healthy in jail. He talked about it yesterday and
his media availability the word flow a flow state. I
don't think I've ever heard the word flow state or

(34:09):
even the phrase flow state be repeated as much as
it was yesterday in that media availability. But you know, Texas,
I guess, was in a flow state when they closed
out the win over Kentucky. Just trying to get healthy.
But you know, you want to see some some more
signs of positivity down the stretch, and if Texas can
close out these last five games, and it starts on
Saturday against Columbia against South Carolina, team that you know,
you always worry about these quote unquote trap games, a

(34:31):
team that is below you in the rankings, that probably
doesn't have anything to play for.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
You know, always got to be aware of teams like that.

Speaker 1 (34:38):
Yeah, because a loss to a team like that can
be every bit is damaging as a win over a
Kentucky can be helpful. So and they're all well aware
of that. What'd you say flow stage? Well?

Speaker 3 (34:51):
I think are you say flow state? Flows? Is it
flow state? I think it is. I'm gonna have to
ask him about that. Yeah, not like flow from progressive
commercial flow as on like you're flowing, the team is flowing.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
Or flows sports that does the college baseball. Yeah yeah,
all right. Up next, we're going to hear from Long
Orange for Jason Kent, who has really started to help
the team down the stretch of the season.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
So we'll do that. I will get to your questions.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
We've got some other things to get to as well
as we continue here on thirteen under his own bringing
us back with Kenny Loggins last hour, said Kenny Logins
sang the Forefather song to one Shining Moment from Mars Badness. Yeah,
it was this is It? NBC used this is It
in It's NCAA Tournament opens. I want to say seventy nine,

(35:40):
eighty and eighty one. I think those three years those
were the eighty one was last year that that NBC
at the NCAA Tournament, and I think it was seventy nine,
eight and eighty one.

Speaker 3 (35:50):
It's covered in the yacht Rock documentary.

Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah it was. It's in that documentary. It certainly is
as well.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
Uh. And then I resident Guardians fan saying, you know,
my guardians are always undervalued and underappreciated. Most resourceful front
office in baseball always finds a way second. Most wins
in the American League since twenty thirteen. All of that
is completely true, my friend, as well as the reality
they've not won a World Series since nineteen forty eight,

(36:18):
when they beat the Boston Braves, five years before they
became the Milwaukee Braves, and then twelve years thirteen years
before they became the Atlanta Braves.

Speaker 2 (36:27):
It's been a long time.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Do you think they are the modern day version of
what Billy Bean was doing in the early two thousands
with considering their payroll and being in a smaller market,
what they've been able to accomplish without the they've had success,
but not obviously the ultimates.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, the over the top success.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
I mean, they went to the World Series in ninety seven,
and I thought they were going to get that blust
the Cubs, right three.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Well, yeah, that's right.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
They were there in twenty sixteen and ninety seven they
lost in Game seven to the Marlins, and then and
then and then in twenty sixteen, Yeah, the three to
one lead of the Cubs and it didn't, it didn't.
It ended up not happening.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
They had because the Cavs came back to beat the
Warriors three to one. They sacrifice the Indians at the time,
that was the whole that was blood, you know, Lebron
that deal. So Lebron got his ring, but he had
to sacrifice the Indians winning the World Series.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
And and the Browns of course had won an NFL
title since pre Super Bowler at Itteen sixty four, so
last time the Browns won a title as well. Not
trying to cause any pain, I'm just just saying, I know,
I understand.

Speaker 2 (37:35):
How that is. Uh.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
Back to college basketball and uh, Jason Kent has been
a guy who's been a factor for.

Speaker 2 (37:45):
Them of late. Uh.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
And it was a it was a different world for
him because he was a starter and a key contributing
to Indiana States team and all the way to the
n i T Championship game before they fell in the
n IT five know last year. So it's been more
of a role situation, especially since he had the early
season risk injury in miss time, so it's been kind
of a role thing. Now. He did start against Kentucky

(38:09):
with Arthur Klem out of the lineup and has contributed
the last couple of ball games, and he was asked,
how difficult is it to not play as many minutes
as he did when he was playing for Indiana State.

Speaker 5 (38:20):
Uh, It's it's super difficult. You know.

Speaker 6 (38:21):
I want to be out there with my brothers, you know,
competing at a high level, you know, be there on
the court, playing with them. But it's hard when you
can't practice with them, when you can't live with them,
you know.

Speaker 5 (38:32):
So it was definitely definitely difficult.

Speaker 6 (38:34):
But knowing that they have my back end cheering me
on and you know, encouraging me was was good. Was
good for me to feel like I was still part
of that even though I wasn't on the court with him.

Speaker 1 (38:43):
Jason was asked about his relationship with his sister Janey,
who played the game.

Speaker 6 (38:47):
It's it's all love between us two. You know, I'm
literally her biggest fan. You know, I cheer her on
no matter. I would die for that ground Carol, what
team she's on. But at the end of the day,
you know, she's she tells me she watches every game
and to watch every game of hers. But you know
she always comes to me for you know, basketball by
she always asked me what can I do better?

Speaker 5 (39:06):
What do you see?

Speaker 6 (39:07):
You know, I'm like her, I'm like a little coach,
you know, without being her coach. So we work out together,
you know, we joke around, but it's a it's a
it's a really tight bond that I have with my
sister where if I really need.

Speaker 5 (39:18):
To talk to somebody, I can always count on my
sister for sure.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Which and that brings us to the transfer portal about
talking to her and talking to Julian Larry, his fellow
teammate at Indiana State and who leaned on who during
the whole transfer process.

Speaker 6 (39:31):
You know, she was definitely leaning on me a little
bit because you know, she wanted to pick a spot
to where what benefit her. You know, ended up we
both in Texas. But at the end of the day,
I told her, you got to go where you want
to be happy, where you want to be successful. And
I'm always here to watch watch film on the team,
give you my input, and we can always sit down
and break it down together.

Speaker 1 (39:53):
Then you know, here we are headed to the stretch
drive of the season longer too, five games remaining, and
and Jason Camples asked what the team needs to figure
out down the stretch of this season.

Speaker 6 (40:05):
I would say, just just playing the whole forty minutes,
competing at a high level. You know, we are very
competitive team, We are a hungry team, and we just
want to win at the end of the day. So
just maintaining that focus, that concentration, those those little details
we need to get over the hump, because we're right there.

Speaker 5 (40:24):
It's just those little details to get over the hump
that we would need.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
Yeah, he sounds like a coach because Ronnie talks about
the details. It it's all the way back to when
Barnes's coach and you talk about the details, the devil
in the details and the importance of the details. This
is an open date week, as we mentioned, so there
was no game last night, there's no game tonight, so
they've been able to get some rest, recoup, as Riding
likes to say, let your bodies recover, and then get

(40:48):
back on the practice floor before headed to South Carolina
on Friday for the game on Saturday night. So Jason
can ask how big is this week for the guys
to be able to rest.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Up and heal up.

Speaker 6 (40:58):
It's me you know, guys gets to recover their bodies physically, mentally,
you know, hit the reset button from the games so
we can give it all we got in this last stretch.

Speaker 5 (41:09):
So this is this week is important.

Speaker 6 (41:10):
We also get a chance to work on things we
need to get better on and figure out what little
details we can fix now practice so that when it's
in the game is fixed, we're ready to go to
finish out this season.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
So there it is some thoughts and some comments from
Jason Camp and they're gonna they're gonna need him. And
the the intriguing thing about this is that they have
a chance, because there are five games left, they do
have a chance to enhance they're NCAA tournament profile again

(41:48):
by virtually any measure in any UH racketology examination that
you go through right now, any of them, they all
have taxes in the field. It just depends on which
one you follow is to see exactly where they are.
For example, Jerry Palm has Texas in the field, but

(42:09):
Jerry has had Texas lower in his mind than say,
you know, Joe Lonardi or Andy Katz or a couple
of the other guys, and so he has Texas still
in the first four he's got him as an eleven seed.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
Now again going back to what I'd mentioned earlier.

Speaker 1 (42:28):
That my son had asked me, does the NCAA always
put two eleven seeded matchups to go with the two
sixteen seeds or is it too twelve seated matchups? And
I said it just depends on the year. Like the
year that I did the first four in Dayton for
Westwood One. What was that twenty sixteen when I did that?
It was two eleven seeded matchups? It was I think
I did Wichitas State against California, and I did Michigan.

Speaker 2 (42:54):
I forgot who I did on that.

Speaker 1 (42:56):
I remember that one of the sixteen matchups it was
holy Cross and Southern great matchup in that twenty sixteen,
twenty sixteen pull that up. Tell you what were the
what were the first four matchups? Uh there in Dayton.
I'm certain twenty sixteen was the year I did.

Speaker 3 (43:12):
It was Florida Gulf Coast and Farley Dickinson Yep, yep,
that was a good one.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
Michigan and Tulsa Whols was the one I was trying.
That was an eleven seat?

Speaker 4 (43:20):
Right?

Speaker 3 (43:21):
Was that the Florida Gulf Coast year that Dunk City
was that?

Speaker 1 (43:24):
No year after fifteen was the year that they that
they went to the sweet sixteen because the fifteen seed, right, yep, yep,
and got to the sweet sixteen and then and then
what was the other eleven seed matchup?

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Was it witch daw State and cal Vanderbilt?

Speaker 1 (43:38):
I knew there was Golden Halt, which and what was
the other holy Cross in Southern year?

Speaker 2 (43:42):
That's it, That's the one.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
I said, holy Cross in Southern So I remember, did
any of those come down to like a one point
two point game?

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Michigan won by five, holy Cross won by four, the
either two or blowouts?

Speaker 1 (43:54):
Yeah, I think holy Cross hit a three late and
then and then Southern Misster shot and then the holy
Cross got fouled, and it was it was a good.

Speaker 3 (44:04):
Baylines last year? Or was he already in Cleveland by then?
And I think I think beyond he would have been
that still would have been Lebron James, So he must
have still been there.

Speaker 1 (44:15):
He was he was because I remember sitting down and
visiting with him. It was very good, yes, very nice. Yeah, yes,
but that was a fun event. And and yeah there's that,
you know, there's there's always going to be a stigma
to a play in there just is because you weren't
good enough to get into the full field of sixty

(44:36):
four on your own, so now you got to play
your way in. But the play in has been really cool,
just like who was it that said this the other day,
Hendrick Perkins? And I don't agree with Kendrick Perkins on much.
Oh boy, he though liked the All Star format, of course,
because he said, and you tell me if this is wrong.

(44:57):
I didn't watch the All Star stuff, but but the
stuff that I know I was watching the Saturday Night
Live fiftieth over it was that she was incredible.

Speaker 2 (45:05):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 1 (45:06):
But he said, I think he made a good point
on this, and I've seen others make the same point
that it was more competitive than all Star games had
been in many many years because that the rising stars,
like you said, you knew they were going to play hard,
and so some of the veterans played hard as a
result of that. So you got much more of competitive

(45:26):
nature of.

Speaker 3 (45:27):
The games as a result of that. I would disagree.
I did not watch the whole weekend, to be honest
with you. I watched the because it was like eleven
pm at night and going to bed and say, oh,
the All Star Game is finally starting o'clock. What's going
on here? It's just like the last couple of years, Craig.
It's guys taking wide open threes and if anyone could
have gotten a dunk they wanted to. Competition's not there.

(45:49):
But I don't really know what the fix is because
you know, if you go to the MLB format what
it used to be anyways, where you know the winner
would get home court. And in the World Series, do
you have guys who are playing in the game who
have no chance of making the NBA Finals. You're relying
on Trey Young who's just taking half court shots from three.

(46:11):
So I don't know how that format would solve anything.
And also, someone made a good point on Twitter yesterday
it was like, it's not so much a game, it's
you know, you have corporate events, you have you know,
these guys got to go go do speeches, they do
stuff for sponsorships like Super Bowl week. It's a corporate thing,
and then there's a basketball game, right. I think it

(46:33):
was Steph Curry said, take away all that and let
the guys actually focus on the game, and you know,
maybe it'll be a competitive game. But I don't think
Adam silver or the NBA really cares that much because
there's so much money coming in from like sponsors stuff. Sure,
but I did not the whole watch. I did not
watch the whole weekend. I heard there's a lot of
Kevin Hart, So like Kevin Hart.

Speaker 2 (46:54):
You don't like Kevin Well.

Speaker 1 (46:56):
The other what Kendrick Perkins was saying was he liked
the format because he said, it just needs time for
people to get used to. He said they were saying
the same thing about the play in tournament in the NBA.
Nobody liked it. Nobody thought it was a good idea.
He goes, look what it's done for the game now,
But I don't know.

Speaker 3 (47:12):
So like, okay, if the Rising Star team makes the
finals and like, no offense to these guys, but if
it's Stefan Castle and amntops and yea, like the casual
fan doesn't really care, Like why people like you watched
the All Star Game, Like in the seventies and eighties
one time that you could see Larry Bird play with

(47:32):
guys like George Gervin, because you would you would never
see George Gervin on national television. And even if you
even you probably wouldn't see Larry Bird that much because
of how TV rights work. So there was kind of
what an allure to All Star weekend because you're gonna
see all the top players on the court together at
the same time. You would never see that Now with
Twitter and social media, you know, you can watch any

(47:53):
player you want, So there's not the same allure to
see them in an All Star Game because like, yeah, okay,
cool Giannis is playing with Trey Young and Wemby. Okay,
I can just go on YouTube and watch one highlights
right now. So I think also some of that takes
away from the All Star Game, and that's why I
don't think it will ever be as popular as it
once was.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Well as it bring this back around, he talked about
the playing tournament. What I was saying about the play
in the first four as they call it in the
NC tournament, everybody's ultimately gotten used to it and adopted.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
I don't mind it. Ye, it expend the tournament.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
Yeah, Well, if they go to ninety six teams, what
they would do is give you know, one seed a
buy right, they would give they would give what was
it the four No, let's see, you would go to
and they would give the top eight seeds at first round,
by is the way that that would work. So just

(48:49):
like with the SEC tournament, we know that if you
finish in the top eight, you get a single buy,
if you finish in the top four you get a
double buy. And if you finish below eight, you're playing
on Wednesday, and you got to win five games to
win the thing. So but I think it's a good
thing with the NCAA tournament. It's a little bit different
with the women's tournament because of home courts and where

(49:11):
they have to play those but played in Dayton, where
that city wraps its arms around that event, much like
Omaha does for the College World Series. That's their event,
and it's big, and those games are all sellid. It
wouldn't matter if it was four sixteen seed matchups, and
it used to be that initially sold out, didn't matter.
All thirteen five hundred seats there and the Dayton Arenas

(49:32):
sold out. It's a lot of fun. All right, We've
got some other things to get too. We'll continue here
on AM thirteen under the Zone. I was mentioning college basketball,
and whereas I said, Jerry Palm did not have Texas
as highly considered as say a couple of the other
racketologists did. And historically Jerry has always kind of had

(49:57):
Texas a little bit lower than some of the others.
We've had him on the show before. In fact, I'll
get him back on. He's he's very entertaining to talk to.

Speaker 4 (50:03):
He just.

Speaker 2 (50:06):
Doesn't feel like they're into the field.

Speaker 1 (50:09):
He's got them right at the top of those who
are playing in the first four. He hasn't playing against
b Yu. I would say this, b Yu's probably played
its way into the field for sure by now.

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Their scary team. They got some good fresh air.

Speaker 4 (50:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (50:23):
Yeah, and we saw how good they were last year
when they were a veteran team.

Speaker 2 (50:26):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
And he has Arkansas and West Virginia in a matchup
of eleven seeds.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
That would that would be pretty interesting.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
The four number one ones he has the same as
as Lenardi has. He's got Auburn in the south, Alabama
in the midwest, Florida in the west, and Duke in
the east.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
That's pretty much.

Speaker 1 (50:49):
Been Uh, that's kind of a uniform look at it
right now from from most of the bracketologists. Then another
one that I usually follow is Andy Katz. Remember Andy
Katz from ESPN and and doing all I think Andy
Andy is the Action Network now Action Network and does

(51:11):
a lot of things for the NCAA. That's right, and
so his NCAA dot com. He came back, you know,
after the Top sixteen reveal and then and then followed
that up his his latest projections came out on Monday,
and those have Texas in the field. He's got thirteen

(51:34):
teams from the SEC in the field of sixty eight
uh and he currently has out of the sixty eight
teams he has, Texas is the fortieth team in the
field of sixty eight. He's got him as a ten
seed where they would play Louisville in the first round
in the East. And Leonardi had Texas in a ten

(51:56):
to seven matchup with Louisville a couple of weeks ago
before the three game losing streak, and now that they
climb back into ten, he's got them in the ten
out West or in the South, rather playing against Saint Mary's.
And I don't know that that might not be a
tougher matchup playing Saint Mary's than Louisville. If you see
Saint Mary's play this year, seen them beat Gonzaga, they
look they look really good, so I would say, you know,

(52:21):
it's it'd be difficult to do it, okays.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
As a point, as I said at the.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
Top of the program, when considering teams where they are,
the work they have to do to try to get
into the field of sixty eight, there is this index
called the Billis Index. Is Jay Billison does it. This
is his second volume. He updates it his top sixty

(52:49):
eight teams in men's college basketball, so he ranks them.
So if you're wondering who he has number one, I
think he can prob a guess Talvern.

Speaker 2 (53:01):
He has duped to Houston.

Speaker 1 (53:03):
Three, Florida four, Alabama five, Tennessee six. Now he had
Texas Tech seven. But again, this was before the Red
Raiders lost last night in Fort Worth, Iowa State eight,
Texas A and M nine again, before the Aggies lost
last night Purdue ten.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
Again, before the Boilermakers lost last night.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Wisconsin who beat Perdue at number eleven, Arizona at twelve.
This was before their win in Waco, Michigan thirteen, the
Missouri fourteen, Kansas at fifteen, even though they're twenty third
to Poe and then just got absolutely just you know,
beat all up by BYU last night. He said the

(53:48):
preseason number one team is mired in a win one
lose one funk right now and inconsistent offense.

Speaker 2 (53:55):
That's what everybody saying about the Jayhawks.

Speaker 1 (53:57):
Plus inconsistent production from key complimentary players is the reason,
he said. Hunter Dickinson, kJ Adams, Dwan Harris, and Zeke
Mayo have been good but have not had consistent help.
If and when aj Store and Ryland Griffin provide that
consistent production, Kansas can be a tough out, but this
Kansas team is not looking like a Final four threat
right now. In fact, Seth Greenberg was asked about him

(54:19):
on Sports Center this morning. He said, they're out first weekend.
He thinks they're going to be out first weekend. Marquette sixteen,
Kentucky's seventeen, Michigan State eighteen, Yukon nineteen. They had to
come from behind to beat Bill and Love last night,
and Maryland completes the top twenty Texas you ask, he
has Texas at number thirty four, right behind Oklahoma and

(54:46):
Yeah Yeah and Oklahom at thirty three. Says Oklahoma was
toward the bottom of a stacked SEC but went thirteen
in O to open the season with the mid December
Winever Michigan that has aged well, proving it can hang
with teams in March still as soon as they're steering
down the true gauntlet, a final regular season stretch starting
a Tuesday's game that Florida's he was before that game,
followed by four more ranked matchups until finally catching a

(55:08):
break against Texas in the finale.

Speaker 3 (55:10):
Can I offer a buttle? Sure, they've lost six to seven? Now, okay,
you could say, yeah, well, you know, five of those
loss have been against top twenty five teams. Okay, lost
LSU at home, like three points. That's a bad, bad,
ugly loss. And then you also began conference play, oh
to four. So what is Oklahoma's best conference win home
against twenty fourth Vanderbilt. Outside of that, Craig, their wins

(55:34):
are South Carolina, who has not won a game yet
in conference play at Arkansas, which, okay, I'll give you that,
but it was you know, beginning the conference play for
an Arkansas on the road as three point all right,
so that's good. And then they beat Vanderbilt. Yeah so well.
And also their next four games, Craig against top twenty
five teams and the end the season at Tech.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
That's what I started to say, that's gonna this is
gonna solve itself with Oklahoma, their destinies in their control.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
But who are those next teams that they're playing.

Speaker 3 (56:05):
Mississippi State at home? Yeah, home for Kentucky, Yeah, at Ole,
miss yeh home for Missouri, and at Texas. So three
of four at home and then three or five at home.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
But they haven't exactly proved to be world beaters at home.
They lost to Texas home, they lost the LSU at home. Yeah,
I don't think they have that much of a home
court environment. Greg And with regard to Texas, he said,
Trey Johnson has lived up to the hype as one
of the best freshmen in the country. He's a dynamics
scorerho can make plays from anywhere on the court, leading
the SEC with the nineteen point eight points per game average.
He's a main driver of Texas top thirty status and

(56:41):
Ken Palms adjusted offensive efficiency ratings. The Longhorns hope for
an at large bid remain within reach with the worst
of their schedule behind them. A March fourth trip to
Mississippi State is their toughest remaining test.

Speaker 2 (56:53):
True.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Even if that one is a loss, even at the
game at Arkansas loss. That they win the other three games,
they're sitting to nineteen going into Nashville for the time,
I think they're in if they win four of the five,
which would probably mean winning in Fayetteville. If they did that,
I think they're a lock in. At that point. They're
at twenty wins going in with a net ranking that
would be in the twenties if that were to happen.

(57:15):
So that's the other thing you'd pay too, by the way,
they pay attention to. By the way, the NCAA does
not use kim Pom anymore. They use net rankings, but
they don't. But what he is talking about is ken
Palm's adjusted offensive efficiency, those kind of metrics like Pro
Football Focus, those kind of metrics, not in terms of
the rankings. The net rankings is a tool for the NCAA.

(57:36):
We'll be back to wrap up our number two thirteen
under the zone. Craig Way with you and Hemeron Parker
as well, and I'm glad to have you.

Speaker 2 (57:47):
Along on this chili.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
It's not chili, it's cold. It's just out now cold outside.
It is thirty three degrees. We've reached the high, and
so this is the warmest it will be today the
rest of the day and the next hour will drop
one degree. In the next two hours will drop two degrees.

(58:12):
Eventually it will fall to nineteen degrees tomorrow morning, nineteen degrees,
so that again nineteen nineteen by tomorrow morning. It'll be
nineteen at sunrise seven o six am tomorrow, and then
it will gradually warm up to thirty eight degrees by

(58:38):
tomorrow afternoon, and it'll be slightly cooler on Friday morning,
cloud moving in, and then it'd be like thirty six
for a high.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
Friday.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
Saturday, there's a chance of some rain, but the high
will be in the forties. And then Sunday there's another
chance of rain, but the high could be around sixty degrees.

Speaker 2 (59:00):
And then next week it'll be pushing eighty. It'll be
in the mid up or soon.

Speaker 1 (59:05):
My wife yesterday Kenny and Barton springs next week, Linda said,
can we just have something in the middle. So no,
we're in Texas. Grew up in this state.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
You want to know what it's like. She grew up
in Dallas. She knows what the you know.

Speaker 1 (59:26):
What the extremes are like in this state about wait,
fifteen minutes and all that other kind of stuff. Because
it does, it does happen. Okay, this is not gonna
shock anybody at all. But if you follow college football
and you followed the college Playoff, and the number one

(59:49):
reaction that came out of the College football Playoff was
that the seatings were not correct. That they should not
have given a number four seeding to Arizona State, they
should not have given the seeding that they've given to

(01:00:12):
other teams that were about what Boise as a number
three seed. They should not have given Boise State a
number three seed. And you look at it. Ultimately, the
number eight seed won the national championship beating the number
what was it six seed? I believe Notre Dame was,
so you know, or was it seven? Seven seed because

(01:00:35):
they beat Georgia the two seed first. Yeah, eight beat
seven to win the national championship because nine was Tennessee.
Nine was Tennessee, and eleven was SMU which played the
sixth seed Penn State. Off of that, so you figured

(01:00:56):
that there's going to be conversations with those who are
making the rules on this thing and making the policy
for college football. There's a joint meeting in New Orleans
between athletic directors representing their respective conferences this morning in

(01:01:17):
New Orleans. The guys who are speaking for these athletic
directors are Greg sanking the commission of the SEC, Tony Pettiti,
the commissioner of the Big Ten, the two big power brokers, right,
And they both said that there would seem to be

(01:01:37):
universal agreement that the way the teams are seated in
the twelve team College Football Playoff should change this fall,
So they would have to be unanimously agreed upon by
the ten FBFS commissioners, and Notre Dame athletic director Pete
Bavakwa got to keep him involved.

Speaker 2 (01:01:59):
Notre Dame that as long as they.

Speaker 1 (01:02:01):
Qualified, Sankie said, quote, I'm prepared to vote for seeding change,
but it has to be unanimous. Uh So, of course, again,
this is how it went. The four highest ranked conference
champions are in the top four seeds in a first
round by It was one of the most controversial facets

(01:02:24):
of the format because it allowed for ninth rank Boise State,
which won the Mountain West Conference, to earn the number
three seed, and for twelfth ranked Arizona State to.

Speaker 2 (01:02:35):
Earn the number four seed.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
We just pointed that out Texas ranked third Penn State
ranked fourth were runners up in the respective conferences, but
they couldn't be seated higher than numbers five and six
because the top four seeds were reserved for conference champions.
A popular suggestion to change the seeding for this fall,
which Petiti, the commissioner of the Big Ten, said he favored,

(01:02:58):
has been to use the Select Action Committees ranking for
the seeding, while still making room for the five est
five highest rank conference champions. In that model, the committee's
top four teams would earn the top four seeds and
first round bys, regardless of whether they were conference champions,
which Texas would have earned the first round by had

(01:03:19):
that happened.

Speaker 2 (01:03:20):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
Not having the first round by did not ultimately hurt Texas,
even though they had to go double over time to
beat Arizona State, but they did after they had beaten
Clemson at home, so they won two games to get
to the final four. But anyway, in that model, the
Committee's top four teams would earn the top four seeds

(01:03:44):
and they would earn the first round bys, regardless of
whether there were conference champions that would also open the door.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Ah, you know who?

Speaker 1 (01:03:54):
That opens the door for Notre Dame because they can't
win a conference title as an independent. It to earn
a first round by as a four seed. So I
think it's probably a safe.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
Bet that.

Speaker 1 (01:04:09):
Pete Bavaqua, the athletic director for Notre Dame, would vote
for this because we give his team a chance to
earn a first round by if that, if that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:18):
Were to happen.

Speaker 3 (01:04:19):
You know, Pete Leavaqua sounds like one of Kramer's friends
from seinfilm.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
He does.

Speaker 5 (01:04:24):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:04:24):
You know, there was a major League for many years.

Speaker 1 (01:04:26):
Kurt Bavaqua, he played for the Royals, he played for
the Padres name. Yeah, is that like Polish? I think
it's like Hispanic, but I can't remember for sure. Really,
I don't know. I don't know about that. Well, Kurkpavak

(01:04:46):
was born in Florida, so okay, yeah, he had a
long major league career. And I can tell you, Cameron,
we could never play this on the air, but I
have a I have a it was burned to a
CD for me.

Speaker 3 (01:05:03):
There was back in the.

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
Eighties Italian French origin. Okay, that makes sense, Yeah, that's
exactly what. That makes sense. That sounds that sounds either
Italian or French. And also the name translates to literally
watch er drinker. Interesting, yeah, the Vaqua okah, yeah, okay,
all right, yeah nice.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
So some poor dude was named the Vaqua because he
was probably drinking waters. Yeah, some fountain. Some dude was thirsty,
you know, you know, you know, we laugh. But people
used to get names based on certain things.

Speaker 1 (01:05:38):
Like there's the old joke about Native Americans and two
dogs bublic, you know that that kind of thing. There's that,
you know, talking stick casino and things like that with
Native Americans. But it was like that in the old
countries as well. My family genealogy way dates back. We
have a direct line descendancy. I've been able to see

(01:05:59):
it with my own eyes, traced all the way back
to Devonshire, England in sixteen ninety seven, when a gentleman
by the name of John Way had enrolled in the
tax rolls there in Devonshire, England. His family, sometime between
sixteen ninety seven and seventeen fifteen moved came across the
ocean to what was in the colonies, the British Colonies,

(01:06:22):
and settled in I believe it was Franklin County, Pennsylvania,
and there were two brothers. One went out West Indiana,
the other one ultimate or sons of the John Way
who came over, went down to Alamance County, North Carolina,
and that's where it started from there. Well, anyway, the
name way, and in those days it was spelled w

(01:06:43):
e y and then was I guess anglicized over time.
But in those days the name Way descended from the
note that that was the family that lived out by
the road, out by the way, the bye way, that
the name Way was labeled by that family that lived

(01:07:05):
out by the road. A literal translation, that's what it was,
the family that lived out by the road. The family
would by the way. That's the Way family because they
live out by the road, which in my case makes
perfect sense. As much traveling as I do anyway, and
I am a man of the road. I drive on
my vacations and things of that nature. So that's where

(01:07:25):
that came from. But Bavaqua, as I started to tell you,
this would never make airplay here, there was a CD.
I have a copy of his burned to a CD
for me, But it came from a cassette tape back
in the eighties to early nineties. Brad Sham gave it
to me, but the audio had been passed along to him,
and it is a collection and an assortment of various

(01:07:49):
locker room interviews and out takes and things of that nature.
You can probably guess the type of language that is
involved in the thing. One of those, by the way,
is Chicago Cubs manager Jim Fry, who I think it
was an eighty two eighty three I had to ask.

(01:08:10):
Keith Morland gets on this incredible rant which included the
words eighty five percent of the world is working and
the rest of these blankety blanks come out here to
boo us, you know, Wrigley Field. The reason why that
all came about was that was the day that a
Cubs fan poured a twenty four ounce Heylman's old style

(01:08:31):
beer onto the head of none other than Keith Morland.
And Keith Morland went into the stands and he got
his he got his money's worth.

Speaker 2 (01:08:39):
He went in and pounded that guy.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
And so Jim Fry deflected all the stuff away from
Keith by going on this incredibly famous rant about Cubs
fans and how negative and how often they were. There's
a lot of baseball involved there that Dallas Greenley's manager
of the Phillies, and there's but perhaps one of the
most famous is Tommy Lasorda when he's managing the Dodgers.

(01:09:03):
There's one where he's talking about Dave Kingman hit three
home runs against him and drove in eight runs, and
you hear a reporter say, what was your opinion of
Kingman's performance? What was my opinion game? What the bleep
do you think of it? And he just goes on
this incredible rant. But then there's another one where he
was accused of having his pitcher throw at Kurt Bavakua,

(01:09:24):
and you hear him say, I think that's very bad
for somebody to say that. I would never I have
never and would never ask one of my pitchers to
throw at somebody. And if I did, it certainly wouldn't
be for a bleeping one thirty hitter like Kurt Bavaqua,
who I would send a limo to make sure his

(01:09:45):
bleak bleep was in the lineup, because I would own
that bleak bleep all day. And it's hilarious, and he's
talking about Kurt Blevoca. He was batting one thirty at
the time they hit him with a pitch, So it
was subject one of those locker room language things there
as a.

Speaker 2 (01:09:58):
Result of that.

Speaker 1 (01:09:59):
So back to what I was saying about the college
football deal, since we got sidetracked with Ptelevakua when that happened.

Speaker 2 (01:10:07):
So for almost a year.

Speaker 1 (01:10:10):
Oh by the way, you know, Sankie was asked what
the respected conferences would like the playoff to look like
in twenty twenty six and beyond sinking smart men would
not get into the specifics.

Speaker 2 (01:10:25):
Quote, that's something.

Speaker 1 (01:10:26):
We owe our colleagues first talks about the other commissioners.
I think I've been consistent in that observation. So for
almost a year, multiple sources in both leagues have indicated
a strong preference for expanding to fourteen teams beginning in
twenty twenty six. Sources in the SEC and Big Ten
have also favored a certain number of automatic bids for

(01:10:48):
each league, but even within each league, the remain varying
opinions on that. Sources in the Big Ten seen more
line than their desire for automatic qualifiers. A popular model
would include four guaranteed spots each from the Big Ten
in the SEC, two teams from the Big Twelve, and
ACC one spot for the highest G five champion and

(01:11:10):
one at large, which could go to Notre day Am
if the IVERSH were ranked high enough for inclusion.

Speaker 2 (01:11:14):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:11:15):
Sanke declined to speak directly about automatic qualifiers, but he
did say the leagues have talked about everything regarding format and.

Speaker 2 (01:11:24):
They'll continue to do that. Quote. This is not a
new issue, he said.

Speaker 1 (01:11:27):
Petiti, the Big TIM commissioners, said that because of the
way the power is divided, eventually both leagues need to
come to a consensus on what they want it to
look like moving forward. But there's no restrictions on where
the ideas can come from moving forward. So in other words,
everything's on the table right now to discuss it. But
here's the thing they're talking. They're talking about all this

(01:11:49):
right now. I think we're going to see changes, and
I think the change is specifically the number one change
I'm looking for and expecting to see with the college
football playoff this fall will be the seeding. It will change,
and I think they are going to award the top

(01:12:09):
four seeds to the top four highest ranked teams, regardless
of what conference A get in. I mean, if there's
four SEC teams, they get the top four seeds. If
there were four Big Ten teams, they get the top
four seats, the four highest ranked teams, and then they
would go from that on down to twelve and then
probably I think there's a good chance we're looking at
it going to fourteen teams in twenty twenty six. All right,

(01:12:31):
coming up, we're gonna hear from Rodney Terry, Long Warn
men's basketball coach when we continue here on thirteen under
the zone. Let's hear from Long WARN's head coach Rodney Terry.
This from his media availability yesterday, as the team navigates
its open date on the schedule, the bye week during
that and then getting ready for the trip to South Carolina.
I'll leave on Friday, and then after that, of course,

(01:12:56):
play on Saturday. So uh uh, picking up where we
h left off yesterday. Uh, Rodney was asked about that
some of the stuff that we talk about, you know, bracketology,
And every time I asked Rodney about it, uh, he
acknowledges that it's out there.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
He acknowledges that there, that he's aware of it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:22):
And if someone throws something in front him and take it,
he might take a glance, but he's not really as
dialed into it, but he was asked if anyone on
the staff if that's one of the things that they
do is to monitor tournament projections.

Speaker 4 (01:13:34):
Now you know what I'm thinking. It's a it's a
fun time.

Speaker 7 (01:13:36):
For for you guys, media and and others that that
pay attention to that for us, I mean, always tell
our guys and what we do on a regular basis
to live where your feet are and control what you
can control. You know, we can't control what's put up
on the projection and this and that. We can't control
what we do every day as a team. And then

(01:13:57):
practice to try to get better, uh, and you ready
for situations and games and prepare ourselves to try to
play at a level that we want to try to
play night in and night out.

Speaker 4 (01:14:08):
But we control we can control.

Speaker 7 (01:14:10):
And that's that's being prepared for the next big challenge
in front of us. And that's a team in South
Carolina that's well coach, they played everybody really close, with
a lot of great opportunities to have won a lot
of big ball games. And they've got really good personnel.
I mean, they've got a couple of kids that won

(01:14:32):
in particular that's projected first round pick. So you know,
there's talent up and down everybody's ross and rosters in
this league. And every night we respect our opponent. And
one thing we can't control. We can control our attitudes
and our preparation every night. We can't control all the
other good stuff that goes along with with this time

(01:14:55):
of year.

Speaker 1 (01:14:55):
Well, there was good stuff with the win over Kentucky,
and so our team was asked, what does that win
of Kentucky last Saturday bring to the team and it's
ongoing preparation down the stretch.

Speaker 7 (01:15:06):
Well, I think you know, anytime you you win in
this league, you have it for one night.

Speaker 4 (01:15:11):
You're losing this league, you have it for one night.

Speaker 7 (01:15:13):
But if you're you're able to work the game for
forty minutes and and be the team that's coming off
a good win, you know, against the quality team in Tennessee,
you know.

Speaker 4 (01:15:24):
You're you got to feel great about that.

Speaker 7 (01:15:26):
But again, you only have it for one night. It
is on to the next challenge for us. You know,
we had a week when we got a chance to
continue to mend our bodies, try to reset button with
our with our mental and and uh and physical fatigue.
This time of year, I think that, uh, trying to

(01:15:47):
get all our guys back, man, I think, uh, you know,
anytime you go into a game and going to practice
you have all your guys.

Speaker 4 (01:15:54):
You got to be excited about.

Speaker 7 (01:15:55):
That because you know, we've got quality, depth, We've got
guys that again, you know, that start games for us
if we feel can get off the great stars for us.
We're also guys that we feel like when we're healthy
and we have all our guys can also you know,
keep that same level of play or even take it
to another level when they come into games. We just
need to have those bodies, you know. And we really

(01:16:17):
only had one game this year where we've had our
top ten guys available for that particular game. So I'll
be excited, I know our team, you know, and our
staff will be excited to have everybody, you know, when
that opportunity presents itself.

Speaker 1 (01:16:32):
Yeah, think about that, And I mentioned it more than once,
but it bears repeating. They've had one game one where
they had the entire roster available to them. That's it one,
and they may still not have the entire roster available
on Saturday in Columbia depending on the state of Kenda Weaver.

(01:16:54):
But at least the other guys are mending and getting healthier,
and that's a good thing. Trey Johnson is largely been healthy.
He was held out of three games in December around Christmas,
but that was mainly precautionary. A little bit sore, but
mainly just tell that precautionaty And so now he's playing
really well. He's leading the conference in conference games, scoring

(01:17:17):
at twenty points per game, and he really is playing
with a heavy duty sense of urgency. And Rodney terror
has asked if tray sense of urgency has really spiked
up down this home stretch and what did he make
of his performance against Kentucky.

Speaker 7 (01:17:33):
Tray's been one of those guys just that's gotten better
throughout the course of the season, not just from a
basketball standpoint, but just from a mature standpoint of being
in college. You know, what he does off campus, I
think really helps you what he does on campus.

Speaker 4 (01:17:48):
You know, being a guy that you know has to
do well from.

Speaker 7 (01:17:52):
An academic standpoint, he carries over to the floor. Likewise,
I think he's continued to mature and being a great teammate.
You know, he's been a great teammate off the court,
but being a great teammate on the court and trusting
his teammates on the court has been something that I've definitely.

Speaker 4 (01:18:13):
Seen a growth to curve in him. He's one of
those guys as.

Speaker 7 (01:18:19):
Well that I think over the course of the season
has shown people that he's more than just a score.
He's a guy that can also make of the guys
around him better sharing the basketball, you know, he can.
You know, he's one of those guys that's gotten better
with reading pick and roll, playing in two man games,
whether it be a step up, whether it be an
actual peak and roll situation, he's making those reads and

(01:18:43):
showing guys that he's more than a guy that just
kids scored the basketball. I thought he played as hard
as game the other night defensively, where he tried as
hard as he could defensively, you know, and he's learning
to be able.

Speaker 4 (01:18:55):
To play through fatigue and still be able to score
the ball.

Speaker 7 (01:18:58):
Leading games he's exhausted, you know, energy on the defensive.

Speaker 4 (01:19:02):
Side of the ball as well.

Speaker 7 (01:19:04):
So I think, again, just just growing as a young player, he's, uh,
he's shown a lot. You know, I was talking with
Kevin about him yesterday. Uh, you know, Kevin watches our games,
and he's very aware of Trey and has a great
relationship with him, and just talking about the maturity piece
from the start of the season as a freshman, and

(01:19:25):
as you goes you go, you get to the point
of where we are now, to where he's played significant minutes,
he's been in big situations, to where you know, he's
really in his sophomore season right now as a player,
and he's only getting better as it goes.

Speaker 4 (01:19:42):
Trey has a.

Speaker 7 (01:19:42):
Good basketball IQ and I think he'll continue to get
better as we close out this season.

Speaker 1 (01:19:50):
Uh, you heard him make reference to Kevin. He's talking
about Kevin Durant. Now coming up, we'll take a break.
When we come back, we'll hear Rodney Terry's thoughts on
Kevin Durant's return to Austin with the sun Spurs game
tomorrow night at Moody Center. We'll get to that next
here on thirteen under the Zone. Let's hear from Rodney.
Try There's one other thing I wanted to play from Rodney,
and it's about the local hero coming back, Kevin Durant.

(01:20:13):
We'll be here tomorrow night when Texas, when Texas players
are in attendance. I'm sure we'll be watching the Phoenix
Suns play the Spurs and Kad had a media availability
today and we're gonna hear comments from Kevin tomorrow. But
this is from Rodney Terry who's asked how cool it

(01:20:35):
is and connected he still is with Kevin.

Speaker 2 (01:20:38):
With Kevin Durant coming back to the Austin area.

Speaker 7 (01:20:40):
I think it's an ultimate opportunity for himself and for
the city of Austin, you know, to come out of support.

Speaker 4 (01:20:48):
One of our.

Speaker 7 (01:20:49):
Great players that are still in the prime of his
career right now. You know, it's scoring over thirty thousand
points and one of the all time you know, scores
at the next level, one of all time scores at
the collegiate level. But to have an opportunity to come
back where you played collegiately and play a professional game
against one of the best organizations in all the professional sports,

(01:21:13):
in the Spurs, you can't ask for a better scenario,
you know. So hopefully, you know, you know, we have
a sellout for that ball game and people get a
chance to come back and show their appreciation for along
run great.

Speaker 4 (01:21:27):
That's getting a chance to play in our building.

Speaker 7 (01:21:30):
He came into practice today and watched our guys practice.
All of our guys are former players, not just Kdie.
They're all best in what we're doing as a program.
You know, whether they got a chance to play for
myself or anyone on our staff or not on our staff,
they're always a part of what we're doing.

Speaker 4 (01:21:49):
But to have him come back here and be here.

Speaker 7 (01:21:52):
This week and be around our guys and see our guys,
I mean, if you can't ask.

Speaker 4 (01:21:57):
Me anything better than that.

Speaker 7 (01:21:58):
A lot of our guys favorite players Kevin Durrant, you know,
and why they chose to come to Texas was Kevin Durrant,
you know. So he's had an incredible impact not only
on our basketball program, but also on our athletic program
as a whole. He's an incredible ambassador for Texas Athletics.

Speaker 2 (01:22:20):
No doubt about it.

Speaker 1 (01:22:21):
Great great said and apparently Kevin said in the media
vay but we'll hear it tomorrow, but apparently one of
the quotes was this city is primed for basketball, but
especially women's basketball at the highest level. This is quite
a compliment from Kevin about the second rang Longhorns. And
in case you didn't know, that's why Madison Booker Rose
thirty five because of KD and I know it was

(01:22:46):
a goal of Jeremy Rosenthal, the media relations content for Texas,
to try to get a photo op with the two
of them while Kevin was in Tewn. Hopefully get that time. Yeah,
I think he probably will. All Right, We'll be back
to wrap up today's edition. The program here on thirteen
under the Zone.