The Mo Egger Radio Show -- 12/12/24

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
O Joolbleo and his Big Bad Bengals raw into Nashville
to take down the three at eight.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Tight, oh God for the Piel touchdown.

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Billy Orange and Black continue their winning ways.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Money trimming touchdown.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Find out when you get every second of the action
from Dangerous Dan Wood and Mighty Dave Labtt. Coverage begins
Sunday morning at nine on ESPN fifteen thirty, the official
home of the Bengals.

Speaker 4 (00:32):
All Right, there you go.

Speaker 5 (00:33):
That's a growling Tigers elongated growl. What's up? I'm Olegar.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening today.
Hopefully you're having an awesome Thursday. This is the Ortho
Cinci Moegar Show. We thank Ortho since the Orthopedic Sports
Medicine for their partnership for a while. Now they are

(00:55):
awesome orthosincy dot com. You never need an appointment at Orthos.
And see, we got a billion things to get to today. Okay,
it's our last show before the Skyline Chile Crosstown shootout.
We're gonna talk later on this hour with Chad Brendel,
Bearcat Journal dot com. We've got mister college basketball, Paul
Frischner with us at four thirty three. We've got Evan
mia Kawa, one of the pre eminent college basketball analytics people,

(01:19):
a dude who a few weeks ago came on the
show and he thought the Bearcats were like one of
the best three or four teams in the country. And
I'm interested since if he has lowered his expectation, if
he is maybe not quite as high on them as
he was just a few weeks ago. So lots of shootout,
lots of UC and Xavier. And in the five o'clock hour,

(01:41):
we're gonna give away a Skyline Chile Crosstown Shootout ball
with a fifty dollars Skyline Chili gift card. We're going
to do that in the five o'clock hour. We are
looking for two folks who believe, if this is you are,
that they are knowledgeable fans of either the Bearcats or
the Musketeers that coming up in the five o'clock hour.

(02:03):
Full show Rundown is available on x at Moeger thanks
to Emery Federal Credit Union, your credit union with hard
since nineteen thirty nine. Go to Emery fc U dot org.
So much ground to cover. It's been a busy week.
It's been a remarkable week. We heard again from Joe

(02:25):
Burrow last night about T Higgins. He called T Higgins
a need. This is I'm a fan of interesting. I'm
a fan of the Bengals, and I'm a fan of
Joe Burrow, and I'm a fan of T Higgins because frankly,
how could you not be at least a fan of
those two players individually? But I'm a fan of interesting.
This is a really interesting story, regardless of how it

(02:47):
ends up, whether it's with T as a Bengal or
T playing somewhere else. I think if we ever get
the full story, the full curtain pullback of how things
unfolded with T and the Bengals and Tea's former agent
and maybe Tea's next agent, and Joe and franchise tag,

(03:09):
I think it's all going to be really really interesting
on Monday morning. I think most of us, if asked
to make a wager, would have wagered on T. Higgins
not being a Bengal in twenty twenty five. It's felt

(03:30):
almost inevitable for a while now that whatever the Bengals
were next season, and whatever they accomplished or didn't accomplish
this season that the most likely outcome was the tea
was not going to be playing for the team next year.
And now as we sit here today in the middle

(03:53):
of the afternoon on Thursday, December the twelfth, I don't
know if betting odds on this or out yet, but
if they are, if you were to make a wager
on whether or not T Higgins will play for the
Bengals next season, I think you'd bet on yes, He's
gonna be a Bengal next season. It's kind of interesting

(04:17):
how this story has advanced, right and how things have changed,
starting with Joe's comments on Monday night and the very
real possibility based on what he said, that there's a
restructure involved here that he's gonna offer to and maybe
already has agreed to restructure his contract. He hasn't said that,

(04:38):
and so all we can really do are interpret his
words and maybe connect some dots. But it certainly does
feel like that's in play, doesn't it. That's not something
we had talked about at any point over the last
couple of years. Then last night we found out Kelsey
Conway of the Inquiry in Cincinnati dot Com with the
scoop that T Higgins has parted with his agent, David Mullagetta,

(05:02):
who I think was viewed as a bit of an impediment,
if you will, his history with the Bengals, his history
with Jesse Bates, and the inability to get a deal
done between T and the Bengals. And so there's I
guess if you're if you're holding out hope, if you
want T Higgins to play for the Bengals next season,
I think you're viewing Tea getting a new agent as

(05:23):
a step in the right direction, as helpful because it
didn't feel like the previous agent was helpful. Now you
could take that and you could read it two different ways.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
You know.

Speaker 5 (05:33):
Maybe it's the agent saying to T, like, dude, I'm
trying to get you the most amount of money. I'm
trying to get you on the open market, and you're
not going to get the most money in Cincinnati. So siya,
Maybe that's what happened. And maybe it's T going, look, man,
I want to stay in Cincinnati. You can't get it done,
so I'm gonna find someone else who can. I don't know.

(05:53):
There's also been the I think recalibration of his value.
Perhaps apps he knows he's not gonna get number one
wide receiver money because he's not a number one wide receiver.
Don't misinterpret that right. Number two wide receivers are really valuable.

(06:14):
Number two wide receivers make a lot of money. Number
two wide receivers bring an immense amount of value to
their teams. They have really long careers. Some of the
best and most popular players in this franchise's history have
been number two wide receivers. As a fan, going back
almost forty years, some of my all time favorite players

(06:35):
the Bengals have employed have been number two wide receivers.
But just statistically, t Higgins is a number two wide receiver.
Certainly with this team, he's a number two wide receiver.
And so, you know, we've kind of talked about this
all along from the standpoint of, boy, he's going to
hit the open market and he's going to get number
one wide receiver money. And well, this season, these fifty
fourth in the NFL and receptions forty fourth in yards.

(06:56):
Last year he was ninety ninth in reception, sixteenth in yards.
The year after that, he wasn't in the top nineteen
of either category. Like good numbers, good numbers, productive numbers,
helpful numbers, numbers that a lot of wide receivers would
would do almost anything to be able to put up.
But he's not a number one. And so I think
when you add up everything Burrow's comments, Burrows sway the

(07:19):
very real possibility at least that he may do a
restructure the agent being gone, possible recalibration of tea's value.
I asked Danner yesterday, like, all right, what would you
put this at? And he said pretty much fifty to fifty.
I asked Richard Skinner the same thing. I'm gonna go
ahead and find a market. I'll find someone who will

(07:39):
take my money. I don't know what the odds are.
I haven't looked at this deep enough. Maybe my producer today,
Drew wester Heidie, can find this out. I don't know
if a book is taking this action yet. My money
is on T Higgins being a member of the Bengals
in twenty twenty five. Now that's great. Nobody I think
has any issue with that statement at face value. But

(08:04):
somebody's got to be the person in the meeting who
gets everything kind of back on track. Have you ever
sat in a meeting. One of the reasons why I
love this job and there's a lot of them. But
one of the reasons I love this job is it's
rare that I ever have to go to a meeting.
But I've been in just enough meetings in my life
where there's a lot of people. Somebody's going to run

(08:27):
the meeting, because if not, then you have everybody who
starts kind of getting off track and spouting different agendas
and going down roads that you're not looking to go down,
and bringing up things that aren't really relevant to why
the meeting was called. Somebody has to run the meeting.
I'm going to run the meeting. I'll explain here in

(08:48):
just a little bit. Our phone numbers are five point three,
seven four nine, fifteen thirty and eight sixty six seven
oh two three seven seven six on x at Moeger
thanks to Delta Dental. Delta Dental is building healthy, smart,
vibrant communities for all good adulta zental oh dot com.
Brendle on the Bearcats coming up at three forty five.

(09:09):
I love the fact that both Wes and Sean Miller
are leaning into this rivalry. This is terrific. The atmosphere
on Saturday. Look, you're gonna find folks this week who
tell you, well, the air has come out of the balloon.
Neither team has played great over the last few games.
The two teams aren't undefeated. It's only gonna be on
ESPN plus. Look, anybody with at least a passing interest

(09:33):
in either of these two teams. On Saturday, we'll tell
you that the luster has not been lost and the
air has not come out of the balloon of the
Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. There is one central figure in
this game. We'll talk about him next. It's quarter after
three on Moeger Ortho, Cincmoeger Show, ESPN fifteen thirty. Cincinnati

(09:53):
Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Coverage begins Sunday morning at nine on ESPN fifteen thir
the official home of the Bengals.

Speaker 5 (10:02):
Twenty two minutes after three o'clock are we listening to
Eddie Grant out rooms like a new version of Electric Avenue.
I was not ready for that. I was not ready
for that at all. Twenty two minutes after at three o'clock.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty. By the way, that game
on Sunday we're watching at Smoke Justice and coming to

(10:25):
we had on Monday night at we go back and
forth for Bengals road games. We go back and forth
between Dickman's and Fort Wright and Smoke Justice and Covington.
We were at Dickman's and Fort Wright on Monday night
and look, the Bengals were four and eight going in there.
Let's call it what it is, long shots to make
the postseason. It was a Monday evening. I would not

(10:50):
have been surprised at all had a lot of folks
decided to stay home. We had an awesome crowd. And
one of the cool things about doing, you know, these
watch parties, is you meet people who tell you like,
I heard you talk about this on the air, and
so that's why we're here. And I was surprised at
the number of people who said that and stuck around
for the entire game. So at one o'clock on Sunday,

(11:12):
Smoke Justice and Covington will do something similar. Lots of
prizes and the food at Smoke Justice is awesome. So
we'll see you there one o'clock Sunday, Bengals v. Titans.
I am looking forward to it. That will be the
day after the Skyline Chili Crosstown shootout. And I've kind
of joked this week a lot I mean, I'm pretty

(11:32):
transparent about who I root for. If you're a UC fan,
you might have, at various points in the first month
or so of the season felt good about how they
have played, and you might feel good about their chances
of getting back to the NCAA Tournament for the first
time since twenty nineteen and being legitimately competitive in the

(11:52):
Big Twelve. And logic might dictate, you, know what, there's
enough to like about UC's team this year, despite the
fact that I really haven't beaten anybody. Uh, there's enough
to like about their team this year that you like
their chances to win the game again Xavier on Saturday.
But let's be honest, the recent history of this series

(12:14):
has to give you at least some pause. Xavier has
won five straight. Cincinnati's last win in this series came
during Mick Cronin's final season as head coach. It was
Travis Steele's first season as Xavier's head coach. Five consecutive
Xavier wins in the Skyline Chile Crosstown shootout, and Wes

(12:38):
Miller is zero to three now. He has embraced the rivalry.
It's what I love about both these coaches. They've embraced it. Man,
it's awesome. You know, you don't get a whole lot
of well, it's just another game for us, or nobody's
trying to back out of it. It's I love how
both coaches have embraced it and approached it and talked
about it. It's it's awesome. No disrespect to anybody else

(13:03):
in this game. This game, the central figure, the central
figure above and beyond anybody else, is Wes Miller. Look,
you're gonna be a head coach in one place for
a while, and I would imagine that's the idea, both
for Wes and the school. You have to beat your rival.

(13:25):
You don't have to beat them every single year. Bob
Huggins went eight and eight against Xavier, McK cronin went
five and eight. You don't have to win every single
time you play him. Huggins lost twice as the number
one team in the country. But you have to beat them,
and you have to beat them on a fairly regular basis,

(13:47):
or you've at least got to beat them when you
play them in your own building. This isn't Ohio State,
where you know, if they lose to Xavier, it washes
away all the good stuff they may do, it's not
like that. But you can't go oh and four against
your rival and expect people to be very happy with you.

(14:07):
I think Wes would be the first to admit that.
I think this is a season. You know. Look, Wes
is obviously in year four, and I think he's done
a very good job of getting the program on pretty steady,
sturdy ground. Not an easy undertaking at all, right, and

(14:31):
you know, I still believe this, and not that everything's
gone great over the last three years by any stretch
of the imagination. But coaching changes are hard. When you
go through two and three years, it's even harder. I
think it's never been more difficult to go through a
coaching change, just because of the freedom of player movement.
You know, Sean Miller's an awesome coach last year, and

(14:51):
Xavier's team wasn't very good. Like it's it's hard, man,
change is is really hard. And then you add to
it jumping to a new conference, the mostfficult league in
the country, like he had to achieve stability, he had
to open up some recruiting pipelines. And I think Wes
has done a very good job of getting the program
on solid ground. Steadying things. The recruiting is very, very good,

(15:15):
according to people who followed that closely. I think they've
acclimated themselves well to the Big Twelve. They last year
did not look like a team that was a fish
out of water. In the Big Twelve, they look like
they fit in. In fact, they fit in so well
that the games they lost were maddening because they should
have won them. I think they've adjusted well to the

(15:38):
world of nil and the portal. This season. They've got
the game at home. They're favored or they will be.
Metrics have them better than Xavier this year. Metrics only
tells so much of a story. You've lost five straight,
you're at home, your favorite, the metrics are favorable, Xavier
is not playing great coming in now the Bearcads aren't either.

(16:00):
You're supposed to win this one, and you're supposed to
start checking boxes. I said this at the end of
last year, that this was gonna be a year where
the program had to start checking boxes like see your
name on the screen on Selection Sunday, and win games
in the NCAA tournament, win your bigger non conference games,

(16:23):
Beach or arch rival. The central figure in this game
is a guy who still has a lot of boxes
to check. The first one he can check this year,
he can check on Saturday afternoon. Now this isn't to
diminish Sean Miller's role in this game at all, But

(16:44):
Sean Miller's won this Skyline Chili Crosstown shootout and he's
probably gonna win it again.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
Uh.

Speaker 5 (16:50):
I think Sean Miller has, for lack of a better
way of putting it, the universal acceptance of Xavier fans.
And you know what, we'll see how good this team is.
I'm still really not sure about either team. I'm really
not sure about the Musketeers this season. But I don't
know that this game is as much about Sean Miller
as it is. From a xavior perspective. If you lose

(17:12):
this one on Saturday, you've just lost two games to
high major opponents within the last couple of weeks. Saturday
would be a third, and then you gotta play Yukon
on the road, and then you got to come back
and play a team that, among the three they have
in front of him in the next week, I think
is the best, and that's Marquette. I think from a

(17:34):
bear Cat perspective, this is about UC versus Xavier, and
really little else. I think from a musketeer's perspective, this
is about the word gauntlet is overused, It's kind of cliche.
But between now and Christmas, on the road against the
rank Big twelve team on the road against the defending
national champion, which has played better since Maui, and a

(17:55):
home game against a team that looks like one of
the best four or five in the entire sport. That
is a stretch. And in any stretch, regardless of who's
involved in it, who's on the docket, who's on the schedule,
or who's first if it's a rivalry game or not.
Win the first and it lessens the importance of winning

(18:16):
the next couple. Lose the first, and then you wonder
about things snowballing. I think this is a fascinating game
from that perspective, and I think it's a fascinating game
from the perspective of the central figure. Wes Miller hasn't
won one, been forever since the program won one. It's
time to start checking boxes. Wes and the Bearcats can

(18:37):
check one on Saturday. Uh More on that coming up
here in a bit. Five point three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. I'm gonna be the guy that kind of
grabs control of the meeting and gets everybody back on track.
Next Ortho since Moegger Show, ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station, Cincinnati.

(19:00):
I quickly sports headlines of service at Kelsey Chevrolet, home
of lifetime powertrain protection and guaranteed credit approval from their
family to yours for life, kelseychev dot com. I have
not yet seen a Bengals injury report, but as soon
as we have them will pass it along to you.
Our buddy Jay Morrison joins us at four to twenty
Thursday Night Football Tonight, Rams and Niners on Fox Sports

(19:20):
thirteen sixty. Tonight, It's the West Miller Show at eight
o'clock from the original Montgomery in that's on seven hundred WLW.
Hockey Tonight, the Blue Jackets, losers of four out of
their last five, skate and play hockey against Washington. Chad
Brendle on the Bearcats. In five minutes, I said, I
was going to get the meeting back on course. If

(19:42):
you've ever been in a meeting, you know sometimes you
know the intended purpose of the meeting is one thing,
but then everybody starts talking about things that aren't really
relevant to why the meeting was called, and folks start
going down roads that nobody really wants to go down,
and bringing up topics that aren't relevant to why the
meeting was called, and talking about things that might have

(20:03):
nothing to do with why the meeting was called. And
so the person in charge of the meeting sometimes has
to get everybody's attention focused on the purpose behind the meeting,
what's really important. I'm going to be that guy. I'm
going to be that guy. The biggest to do items
on the Bengals offseason list aren't getting a deal done

(20:26):
with T Higgins. The two biggest to do items are
fix the defense and fix the offensive line. That doesn't
mean there's no room for T Higgins, that doesn't mean
none of us should want him back. But the two
biggest to do items are I think very easy to identify.

(20:51):
Fix the defense, fix the offensive line. Now, if T
Higgins is a Bengal in twenty twenty five, my very
next question after we find out that he's back is
going to be how are they gonna fix the defense
and fix the offensive line? And if we find out

(21:13):
that T. Higgins is gonna play somewhere else in twenty
twenty five. My next question is going to be how
are they gonna fix the defense and the offensive line. Now,
obviously what they do or don't do with T will
certainly impact their plans for the offensive line and for

(21:34):
the defense. If they don't sign T. Higgins, well okay, fine,
then you better take that money and fix the defense
and the offensive line. And if they don't fix the
defense in the offensive line and T. Higgins isn't a
member of the team next year, I think we're all
gonna go, well, wait a minute, you couldn't bring back T.

(21:55):
Higgins because you know, you needed those resources, You needed
that money that was gonna go and needed that money
to fix the offensive line of the defense, and you didn't.
That's a failure. And if they do sign T and
yet still don't fix the defense in the offensive line,
we will then wonder We'll wait a minute, should you

(22:17):
have really brought T. Higgins back instead of using that
money to fix the defense in the offensive line. You know,
there's what they do with T will impact maybe their
plans with each of those things, but they still have
to accomplish each of those things. Like if they don't

(22:38):
sign t and they don't fix those things, We're gonna go,
wait a minute. You couldn't bring back the guy that
Joe wanted, You couldn't bring back a good wide receiver,
but you save some money, and you still didn't fix
the defense and the offensive line. Like it is, those
two things the two most important things this offseason. And

(23:00):
so I say this not because we shouldn't be talking
about Tea. God knows that I've talked about him a
lot just over the last two and a half days,
and I think it's one of the most interesting stories
in the NFL right now, how this has gone from
an inevitability almost that he's not going to be back
to what feels like at least a fifty to fifty thing,
or even a likelihood that he is back with the

(23:21):
team this year. But don't let it distract you from
what really this offseason is about. Those two things. Offensive line,
which has to be better, by the way, Like, don't
be dismissive about this. They haven't had a good offensive
line in nearly a decade, and they've tried a lot
of different things. They've thrown money at it, they've drafted guys,

(23:44):
they've done almost everything with no success, different offensive line coaches,
different head coaches. They haven't had a good offensive line
since maybe twenty sixteen, perhaps even the year before that.
So you know, up the T Higgins thing. Hey, look
over here, let's talk about T. Let's talk about Joe
and T and jamar Hey, yeah, what about over here?

(24:06):
Your offensive line's a mess. That offensive line right now stinks.
Good guys, accomplished players. That offensive line. You watch this
team every week. Joe is gonna get killed every single week.
We know that going in. That is a damning and
diamond against your offensive line. That's got to be fixed.
And the defense is one of the NFL's worst. So

(24:30):
the T stuff, Hey, look over here, that's fine. Let
me let me take your head and shift it back,
shift it back to the thing that matters most. Let
me get the meeting back on track. We're here to
discuss how the Bengals can compete for a title in
twenty twenty five. They cannot unless they fix the offensive

(24:52):
line and the defense. And those things will be true
regardless of what happens with T Higgins. Chad Breundle next,
ESPN fifteen thirty. I hear music, I don't hear Chad Hi, Chad. Hello, Okay,

(25:28):
is Chad there?

Speaker 6 (25:31):
Good?

Speaker 5 (25:31):
This is awesome, fantastic, Let's try this, Chad, are you
with us? You know this, this medium has been around
for over one hundred years, and for most of it
we have put phone calls on the air, and yet
we have somehow not figured out a way to do
that today, Drew, is there something we need to do?

Speaker 7 (25:49):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (25:50):
I hear something?

Speaker 4 (25:52):
That is that?

Speaker 5 (25:53):
Chad Hi, Chad.

Speaker 7 (25:55):
I'm oh, I don't know what happened.

Speaker 5 (25:59):
You're here in the that's all accounts today. You know,
as I mentioned, radio goes back well over a century,
and somehow we're still trying to figure out how to
get a telephone call on the air, and so all
the advancements in this medium, we sometimes struggle with things

(26:19):
that radio stations were doing ninety five years ago.

Speaker 3 (26:24):
It reminds me, it reminds me of my greatest radio.

Speaker 7 (26:30):
Drama ever.

Speaker 5 (26:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:32):
I was trying to get Joe Price and Dusty Baker
from two different locations on the air at the same time,
and it didn't work, and Dusty was not happy.

Speaker 5 (26:43):
Yeah, I believe I can relate. You know, after the
Georgia Tech Game, I think everybody was feeling like, oh boy,
here we go. This team's going to take off. This
team could run through the non conference undefeated. This team
might be even better than we thought. And since then,
the air has come out of the balloon. Why is
the air come out of the balloon?

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Not having Dan Skillings, I think would be the primary.

Speaker 7 (27:10):
Reason.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
And they didn't have him against Georgia Tech. But one
of the things that you know was a.

Speaker 7 (27:18):
Strength of this team was that you.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
Had, you know, three or four guys you felt like
could really carry the load. And with Dan out, that
drops down to three, and you know, it changes the
math quite a bit.

Speaker 7 (27:34):
And I also think Dan is just such a rare.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
Talent and that he plays on the wing, but he's
an elite rebounder, and you know, he's kind of like
to me, it reminds me like the Tasmanian Devil.

Speaker 7 (27:47):
He just swirls in and all of a sudden you're like,
where did Dan come from?

Speaker 3 (27:50):
And not having that on the floor, I think makes
this team a lot less dangerous, and it is it
is going to be a very good thing to get
him back in the flow. I think that is going
to help this team get back to what we thought
they could be.

Speaker 5 (28:07):
What can I expect to see from him on Saturday?

Speaker 3 (28:11):
I mean I would expect According to west Miller, they
had another rotation for him set up in the Howard
game where he probably would have gotten the closer to
twenty minutes, but then they get up by twenty six
and they decided against that. I would guess somewhere in
that twenty twenty two minute range I would think would

(28:32):
probably be around the right spot for Dan. But you
also have to consider that, you know, there are two
variables there. What if his knee doesn't feel great and
you have to use them a little less, or what
if he feels fine and you've got the opportunity to
use him for twenty five plus. So you know, I
feel comfortable probably saying we'll see him in that twenty

(28:56):
minute or so range, And honestly, I would be surprised
if he isn't back in the starting lineup. If you've
got him and you're gonna use him, their most effective
starting lineup is JIZZL, Dan Simos, Dylan Mitchell and his ease.
I would think that's especially with the propensity to be
down six, eight, ten points by the second media timeout.

(29:18):
You want to start well, and Dan is a big
part of that.

Speaker 5 (29:21):
So you just spoke to my biggest fear so in
this game. Now, it sounds like an obvious statement because
they've lost the last five. Clearly, Xavier has led the
majority of time. But it's remarkable if you look at
these games in recent years how little the Bearcats have
played with the lead. This is typically Xavier jumps ahead
and stays ahead. Now, that didn't quite happen last season.
Bearcats did take think at one point of forty three

(29:44):
to forty lead early in the second half last year
because of Gigsel James, but more often than not, five, six, eight,
ten minutes into the game, Xavier's ahead. You see, he's
got to play catchup. Most notably two years ago. Right
u SE's team was not as good as the years,
but you know, fervent atmosphere places on its head. It's awesome.

(30:05):
It feels like, all right, there's no chance they lose.
And then three and a half minutes into the game,
it's thirteen to one in favor of the Musketeers. I'm
fearful of something similar this year.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
I mean, we kind of saw it in a way
versus Villanova, right, like you come out and the other team,
even though I think they got Villanova to take the
shots that Cincinnati wanted them to take, Villanova made some
shots early and then Cincinnati was fighting from behind, and
you know, I think ultimately it's a focus thing early

(30:41):
in games. I don't think Cincinnati has ever come out
and not played with intensity. In fact, I think the
problem at times might be they came out a little
over you know, over hyped, and that allows the offense
to be wonky or shots to be missed that normally
would be made, and then you start pressing and then

(31:04):
it's snowballs, and then all of a sudden it's the
undertime eight time out and you're down twelve and you
spend the rest of the game digging out of a hole.
I think they there's a there's a balance you have
to find between playing with intensity and playing with confidence,
and I think that's really when you start losing in

(31:24):
a series regularly. I think that confidence is the difficult part,
and this team's going to have to figure out a
way early in this game to play with some confidence
and to be the team that throws the first punch
and not the team that's you know, on the mat,
seeing the the the official count to ten early in

(31:48):
the game, and you know that I think is something
where you have to be relaxed, but the intensity has
to be there as well. That's a very fine line
that the team across town has done a much better
job walking.

Speaker 5 (32:00):
Where do they have a clear advantage over Xavier and
where does Xavier have a clear advantage over them?

Speaker 3 (32:08):
I think obviously Zach Fremantle is is Xavier's biggest advantage.
Ryan Comwell is not far behind, But I think Cincinnati
has some answer more answers for defending Tomwell than they
do defending Freemanel. Overall, I think, you know, Xavier is
not a super athletic team, so defensively they are, you know,

(32:35):
the a team that can struggle getting stops at times.
I think, you know, there's a lot of talk about
both of these teams wanting to play fast, and they do.
Both teams want to get out and run and score
and transition. I think the key for Cincinnati is is
being more effective in their half court offense. Again, you
go back to Villanova. Villanova did some things that Cincinnati

(32:56):
maybe didn't expect. Early in that game. We saw them
switching a lot of ball screens. We also saw them
go into that kind of matchup zone. Look that through
Cincinnati off Cincinnati has got to execute in the half court.
This is not going to be just both teams flying
up and down the floor getting layups. If they struggle

(33:18):
in the half court, that's advantage to Xavier. They have
to take advantage of Xavier's I don't want to say
lesser van but but Xavier's not shouldn't be as good
defensively as Cincinnati. Cincinnati's half court offense has to take advantage.

Speaker 7 (33:37):
Of that.

Speaker 5 (33:38):
Awesome stuff. I can't wait. We'll see you Saturday. Thank
you as always appreciate Tomo you got joll Well, we'll
do our best. That's a Chad Brendel Bearcat Journal dot
Com on x at Chad Brundle. All right, it's closing
in on four o'clock. Five one three, fifteen thirty is
our phone number. From a human perspective, From a human perspective,

(34:01):
perhaps the wrong perspective. I badly want this T. Higgins
thing to get done. I'll explain.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
Next begins Sunday morning at nine on ESPs sifteen thirty,
the official home of the Bengals.

Speaker 5 (34:21):
What's up. I'm Mullegar. This is the Orthos since The
Mullegar Show on ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening.
We are We're really busy today. We've got a lot
of stuff, a lot of guests. Jay Morrison. I don't
think I've been on the air on a Thursday since
like early November, because the holidays an off time and

(34:43):
stuff like that. So it's it's good to be here
and good to be talking with some of our normal
Thursday people, including Jay Morrison, who was I was on
a podcast with earlier today. We'll chat coming up in
just about ten minutes or so. Our guy Paul Frischner
is going to talk XU as we get set for
the skyline Chiley Crosstown Shootout, mister college Basketball. That is

(35:03):
a nickname we have given him. We'll see if it
is stuck. And it's Fantasy football playoff time in one
of the two leagues I'm in. I'm actually in the playoffs.
I go in with no head of steam whatsoever, three
consecutive losses, but I'm still in. Danklaskins is gonna help
fantasy football owners as the playoffs begin starting tonight, with

(35:27):
the Monday nighter Rams and forty nine ers. Dan joins
us at four forty five. More on the shootout coming
up here a little bit later on good guest as
well in the five o'clock hour Evan Miakawa, who's become
one of my go to college basketball analysts. We'll talk
you see Xavier, We'll talk Kentucky, Louisville, and might sneak

(35:49):
in some Dayton Marquette as well. We will see, we
will see. Looking forward to that. Obviously, the big story
of the week, the big theme of the week has
been t Higgins. T Higgins is a guy worth rooting for,
and I think most of us feel that way regardless
of who he plays for. But he is a I
think at least a player worth rooting for. For the

(36:09):
obvious reason is I root for players once they have
success here, if they do leave, if they've been a
big part of moments that made me happy and they
bounce and they go to other teams, I root for
them to do well. We'll do that with T Higgins.
But you know, we talk a lot about culture, We
talk a lot about you know, the type of player

(36:32):
that Zach wants in his locker room. And the Bengals
are going to be going through here, or that at
least they should be going through here a bit of
a transition period because their team's not very good, and
so while they don't have to clean house, they got
a lot of work to do. And so maybe that
starts with identifying the players who you want to build around,

(36:56):
both mechanically in terms of the positions they play and
the value they bring from a productivity standpoint, but also
these are the guys that establish the culture. I think
T Higgins is one of those guys. Just look at
the entirety of his career. So the guy gets drafted
in twenty twenty, Joe Burrow's rookie season, T higgins rookie season,

(37:20):
AJ Green is still here. Te has a good rookie season,
and I'm sure there's a part of him that, as
that first season is unfolding, is like, Dude, I am
gonna be the number one wide receiver on a team
that has Joe Burrow as the quarterback. AJ Green wasn't
gonna be here beyond twenty twenty. T Higgins is, I'm

(37:43):
gonna be the guy. And then after year one they
draft Jamar Chase, who instantly becomes the number one. T
Higgins takes a back seat. Now, not way in the back,
not like front seats up here in the backs heats,
you know, you know, thirty thirty rows deep, but still

(38:03):
a little bit of a backseat to Jamar Chase. Never
heard him say a peep, never heard him express any displeasure,
never seen him do anything but be a really good teammate.
He has a very successful first few years as an
NFL player. He's thinking I can cash in. He watches

(38:28):
the Jesse Bates thing not get done. To a degree.
The rationale behind that was because they want to pay
tea and yet they don't. And yet I have never
witnessed T Higgins take a playoff or do anything but
play his ass off. You know, back this summer when

(38:53):
some were wondering what was he gonna is gonna make
a business decision even this summer, and I thought this
was so blatantly unfair. When we found out the Friday before,
maybe the Thursday, right before the opener, the T was
dealing with a hamstring issue, and some people defaulted to, dude,
he's not really hurt. I'm like, you sure about that?

(39:14):
Because number one, why would he want to amplify the
narrative that's already there that he's hurt all the time.
Number two, did you watch that player against Kansas City
last year when the Bengals were fighting for their postseason
lives and he was willing himself back onto the field
when some players might have said, uh, huh, ain't doing it.

(39:39):
I've never seen any compromise in his effort. I've never
seen him not play hard. I've never gotten the impression
this is a guy who, whatever is happening from a
business perspective, isn't locked in when it's time to go
to work and when it's time to play the game.
He did ask for a trade. Don't blame him, right, Like,
why would you blame He did ask for a trade.

(40:03):
He didn't make it a spectacle. He didn't pop off
on social media, he didn't go in a bunch of podcasts.
He asked for a trade, uh, and then kind of
just let it play out and let it play out
in private. He got franchise tagged. He didn't wait until

(40:25):
the last minute to sign it. He signed it in June.
He showed up for day one of training camp, which
many of us assumed he was not going to do
when asked about it, When asked about well, you know,
you signed the tag, you're playing under the tag, he
went out of his way to say, like, dude, I'm

(40:46):
gonna be making twenty two million dollars this year, Like
I'm good. Man, If if that's planned, be like fine,
I am set, I am good. I got years more
to make. Whatever I'm gonna make, I'm gonna make twenty
two million dollars this year. Boo hoo. Right, Like, I

(41:07):
thought that was awesome. I thought that was awesome. And
frankly wasn't talked about enough. Signed the tag, showed up
to camp, said and did all the right things, practiced,
got ready for the season. And this year he has
been an absolute pro. You know, unfortunately he's dealt with
injuries and like it or not, that that comes with

(41:30):
the territory when you're in the T. Higgins business. He's
played hard, He's watched Jamar Chase's value explode, He's heard
the noise around him. I don't know what's happening behind
the scenes, but this is a guy to root for.
This is the kind of guy you want on your team.
This is the kind of guy that you want to

(41:53):
use to establish your culture for what's next. Now, I
understand financially, him being on your team is maybe gonna
make it a little bit more difficult to accomplish the
things they have to accomplish this offseason, which are fix
the defense and fix the offensive line. But I could
totally understand the argument coming from Joe Burrow, Like, dude,

(42:18):
have you watched this guy? He's a good player? Is
he owned number one wide receiver? Not really? But he's
the kind of guy forget player, He's the kind of
person you want on your team. He's the kind of
culture guy you want on your team. Puts the team first,
plays his hard out, doesn't let the business get in
the way of his effort, plays hurt, puts himself, puts

(42:40):
the team in front of himself. Like, this is the
kind of person that you want to personify your culture.
There is maybe not a specific monetary value attached to that,
but there is value in that and part of me
that's where Joe Burrow is coming from. By the way,

(43:03):
speaking of Joe Burrow, what an awesome teammate. I mean,
think about it. This season, Jamar Chase had an awesome
game on Monday. He's having an awesome year. He should
be considered for the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award.
Jamar Chase maybe should be considered for the NFL's MVP Award,

(43:24):
Like he's been that good. On Monday night, Jamar Chase
on the field was the story. T Higgins is having
a good year, not great. He had a forgettable game
on Monday And yet what did Joe Burrow do? He
talked about the other guy? He talked about T Higgins.
What does that do? It gets people talking about t
gets people talking about his value, gets maybe maybe somebody

(43:47):
taking a look at Well, wait a minute, that's the
kind of guy we want. Like if Joe Burrow wants
him that badly, shouldn't we want him that badly? That's
the kind of quarterback you want to play for. I
know nobody wants to hear and say these things in
the middle of a five and eight season, but like,
that's I don't think that gets talked about enough. In
the middle of a bad year with Jamar doing Jamar things.

(44:09):
Joe has just gotten hurt and he goes out of
his way to talk about this player that did not
hurt T higgins value. It could have only helped it
and maybe could have only helped his bargaining position with
the Bengals. That's the kind of quarterback you want to
play for. T. Higgins is the kind of guy you
want to build around. So yes, from a spreadsheet perspective,

(44:34):
you know I can. I can get behind both the
pros and the cons to give and tee the money
that you would set aside for a player of his
caliber and his position. And I understand that what the
domino effect involves then is maybe it being a little
bit more difficult to make the offensive line as good

(44:55):
as you want and the defense as good as you want.
I also can understand the argument against keeping T. Higgins
and trying to figure out, you know, what life is
like without him with a different wide receiver number two,
and then send those resources to the offensive line and
to the defense. But as hard as it might be

(45:15):
to replace the player, I think it's equally hard to
replace the person. If you're trying to you're trying to
establish or maybe even continue the culture that you've built.
Do not discount that part of it. T Higgins is
a guy worth rooting for, and from a human perspective,
like that's a guy that's the kind of guy you

(45:36):
root for. It's the kind of player, the kind of
person you want to root for. It's the kind of
player you better make sure you get it right with
if you let him go. Could you find another productive
number two wide receiver? Sure? Can you find a willing
second Banana? Who did and didn't do some of the

(45:56):
things I just talked about? I don't know. Eighteen minutes
after four o'clock at Moegar on x thanks to Delton Dental.
By the way, we're watching the game on Sunday. It's
Smoke Justice, so you should join us. It's gonna be
awesome Bengals Titans. If you're not there at Smoke Justice,
I assume you'll be glued to the radio. One o'clock
on ESPN fifteen thirty pregame coverage beginning at nine a.

(46:18):
Jay Morrison next Ortho Cincy Moegar Show, ESPN fifteen thirty,
Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Since she is Football im theinetti brought to you in
part by modern opus methods on the official home of
the Bengals, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (46:36):
Oh wowood, look at Drew playing like the old school
NFL Timetime music. Jay Morrison's with US Bengals Talk dot Com.
I don't think I have talked to Jay on this
show in weeks because of all the Thursdays I've missed Jay.
As I mentioned covers the Bengals for Bengals Talk dot Com.
I was on a podcast with Jay today, still on
Cloud nine, about his Ohio University Bobcats getting ready to

(47:00):
play in the Cure Ball and he's on x at
by Jay Morrison and he's with us now, hij I
don't hear Jay. I don't hear Jay. Drew, do do
we have to do what we did before with the phones?

Speaker 7 (47:14):
Do this?

Speaker 3 (47:18):
You know?

Speaker 5 (47:19):
The first radio broadcast was in nineteen oh six, and
I believe the first telephone transmission on a on a
radio station was right after World War One. So that's
how many years we've been putting phone in this business,
in this industry, we've been putting phone calls on the air.
Yet that has proven to be a challenge today, Drew,

(47:39):
what do I do? There's hi? J How you doing
at my Jane? We just lost Jay. Hey, don't forget
the Bengals and Titans. Are are we going to be
able to get the game on the air from Nashville.

(47:59):
That's that's going to require a connection from Nashville. The
game on Sunday one o'clock live on ESPN fifteenth through.
I hear background noise. Is that Jay? Are you there?

Speaker 8 (48:09):
I am here. I didn't know if that was me
or if it was on your guys end. I heard
the intro, I heard the ding, and then.

Speaker 5 (48:15):
It most definitely was not on your own, my friend.
But thank you for your patience. Nonetheless, how are you?

Speaker 7 (48:21):
I'm great? How are you?

Speaker 5 (48:22):
I'm good? Joe Burrow still limited today, but yeah.

Speaker 8 (48:28):
There was no changes in his status today, really no
changes than anybody except b J. Hill and Trey Henderson
got the day off for rest days. But today's other
than those two, today's injury report looked the same as yesterday.
It's talking to Joe yesterday, it didn't seem like it
was going to be an issue. You know, it's sore,

(48:50):
but I don't think it's anything that's going to keep
him out very good.

Speaker 5 (48:54):
If you were to if you were to wager amount
of money that matters to you on whether or not
t Higgins will be a Bengal next year, or where
are you putting your money.

Speaker 8 (49:04):
That's a great question. I mean I would lean towards no.
I just I And let's until I know what those
conversations are like between the players, their agent at.

Speaker 7 (49:16):
The front office.

Speaker 8 (49:17):
Is it Is it one of those things where they
just say, hey, is this even a possibility? And you know,
when you're a kid and your parents tell you maybe
that's just good, that's a yes in your mind. And
so maybe they they're they're leaving the door open, and
so maybe the players are getting a little too excited,
a little too ahead of himself.

Speaker 7 (49:34):
I don't know.

Speaker 8 (49:35):
I don't know what those conversations are like. I know
it sounds like Joe would be willing to do a restructure,
whatever it would take to keep Tea here. It sounds like,
you know, Jamar would would be I don't know if
he would be willing to take less but they want him,
they want Tea around. I guess the questions, you know,
would he be willing to take lesser or does he

(49:55):
have to do a does a Joe restructure enable t
to get what he would get elsewhere and get it here.
I still would lean no, but it does sound way
more optimistic than it did. Maybe this time Sunday.

Speaker 5 (50:08):
Yeah, I'm like I, and you're a lot closer to
it than I am. I almost feel like it's fifty
to fifty. I must feel like it's fifty to fifty.
And things have changed so dramatically over the last couple
of days that what I'm fascinated by is and I
mentioned this on the podcast with You and Paul this morning.

(50:28):
You know, T can't sign a new deal before at
the end of the season, and so he is going
to play a game later this year that could be
his final home game, which means this topic is going
to be brought up again. And I'm really curious as
to what is said by Joe and T and other
teammates about this particular topic. We're not done with this

(50:50):
this season by any stretch.

Speaker 8 (50:53):
No, And that's the standard case. Anytime a guy's in
a contract year, you're always talking about that final home game,
the emotions and all that. It's a whole other level
when you're talking to Tea or are you talking about Tea.
He didn't want to talk today. He was in the
locker room. I asked him if he was going to
be around after Jamar did his thing, and he said no,
And I said, well, can I talk to you right now?

(51:13):
And he said, I'm not going to do any interviews today.
So I think he knows the questions are not going
to be football related. I don't think he wants to
get into discussions about the agent and you know, firing
or moving on from his agent whatever that is a
contract deal. I think he just wants to go out
and play and hopefully he can have a good game
against Tennessee and then he might be more willing to
talk after he has a good game.

Speaker 5 (51:35):
Was the Bengals defense on Monday Night good or the
Cowboys just bad?

Speaker 8 (51:41):
I think a little of both. I mean the Cowboys,
I see Ceedee Lambs a wellgit top receiver. They just
they don't have a lot else around that. I mean,
Rico Dadle's really coming on his running back. Cooper Rush
is seven and three or was seven and three as
a starter. But both those teams, the Cowboys and the Bengals,
you look at their wins and they're all paper thin.

(52:03):
They've all beat teams that are really bad, and so
I don't think the I guess i'd be kind of
where you were with a teething fifty to fifty, where Yeah,
the defense did play a lot better. They had a
rough start tackling, but they got better with that. The
coverage I thought was really good, So I guess when
they're playing is the way they were. You'll take it.

(52:25):
Any kind of step forward is progress, and you're going
to see kind of a similar thing this week's We
may not know if this defense is actually getting better
because that's not a great Tennessee offense they're going to
play against. So I just I think it was a
step in the right direction, but it's going to take
a lot more than that to kind of change some
opinions on lou Anroumbo and on this defense as a

(52:46):
whole moving forward.

Speaker 5 (52:47):
Well, Jay, it's been good to talk to you. It's
it's been good to get a phone call.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
On the year.

Speaker 5 (52:51):
I'm glad we could accomplish that. I'm glad you could
be the person who helped usccomplish that. Thank you so much,
all right, glad to get you through the problems. Thank
you very much. There you go, Jamie Morrison, who does
a terrific job on Bengals Talk dot com. It is
four thirty one, mister college basketball. Paul Frischner, by the
way when we landed a man on the moon in

(53:13):
nineteen sixty nine, July twentieth, Neil Armstrong, right, the President,
Richard Nixon called Neil Armstrong. They used a telephone called them,
We called the moon. They got a phone call through
from Washington to the Moon. And so it would stand
a reason that in twenty twenty four we could get

(53:34):
phone calls on the air in a radio station. Drew
is not happy that he filled it for Tarran today,
mister college basketball Paul Frischner, assuming we can get him
on the air next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
You've been listening to football in thenetti on the official
home of the Bengals, Cincinnatis, ESPN fifty Cincinnati.

Speaker 5 (54:02):
So historians believe that it was election night nineteen twenty
November where Katie K, a radio in Pittsburgh put phone
calls on the air from Washington because they were reporting
on the election. So that was one hundred and four

(54:23):
years ago they were getting phone calls on the air
at that radio station in Pittsburgh. We are we're going
to see if we could actually perfect or match that
technology by putting a phone call on the air and
getting our friend Paul Frishner on. Paul is part of
the Sean Miller podcast, which, by the way, the episode
came out last week with Amy Miller was awesome and

(54:43):
Paul was a part of that's we've dubbed a mister
college Basketball and he's on the verge of becoming like
one of those regulars that we asked to come on
all the time. We'll see how he does as we
get set for the shootout on Saturday. Hi, Paul Mo,
it's an honor.

Speaker 7 (54:56):
How are you.

Speaker 9 (54:57):
How's everything going?

Speaker 5 (54:58):
I'm good. Has the mister college Basket of all thing
taken off?

Speaker 7 (55:02):
You know?

Speaker 9 (55:02):
I would say, we haven't done a podcast since you
dubbed me that, so we're still workshopping it with Sean
like you ask me too, But I.

Speaker 7 (55:09):
Would say, you know, it's got a nice little ring too.
We can work with that.

Speaker 5 (55:12):
Are you starting to like introduce yourself to people as
like mister college Basketball.

Speaker 9 (55:17):
Well, you know, I think it's gotta it's got to
come naturally, right. I don't think I can do that myself.
It's kinda it's got to fit in. But yeah, no,
I think to your point about the show with Amy Miller,
I thought it was fantastic. I thought it was a
good look into a different side of coaching. Right, you
always see what is public, You always see what's going
on on the sidelines or anything like that. But to

(55:38):
hear the family side of it, it's a little bit different,
and it shows the realities of the highs and the
lows of what this this industry can be like.

Speaker 5 (55:47):
And you showed the audience the picture of Sean dressed
up like a cowboy when he got the job at Arizona,
which I really enjoyed. If Xavier wins this game on Saturday,
how do they do it?

Speaker 3 (56:00):
You know?

Speaker 9 (56:00):
I think I heard Rick on the air with Tony
and Austin earlier and he made a great point that
I think is exactly what Xavier's key is today and
are on Saturday, and that is limiting turnovers. And it's
not rocket science, but you saw in that three game
stretch against Michigan and South Carolina State and then the
other day against CCU, Xavier fifty turnovers in those three games.

(56:23):
And that's uncharacteristic for a Shawn Miller team and and
uncharacteristic for this Xavier team, at least in the games
that we're leading up to that three game stretch, Xavier
took pretty good care of the basketball. Now, they did
that against Morgan State the other day. They only turned
it over six times, only had two turnovers in the
second half. But you can't turn the ball over against Cincinnati.
Both of these teams like to get out and run,

(56:44):
they like to play fast, they like to score. But
can Xavier take care of the ball against the defense
in Cincinnati? That matches up pretty well with Xavier and
gives them a lot of issues. I mean, it really does.
On the perimeter, athleticism, all of that, I mean you
see is going to present a lot of issues for
Xavier out there.

Speaker 6 (57:01):
And if you can.

Speaker 9 (57:02):
Limit the ability to give Cincinnati more possessions, that's going
to be a huge factor for Xavier if they want
to come out on top on SAT.

Speaker 5 (57:11):
You know, I was I was talking about this with
Chad Breundle from Bearcat Journal last hour about how you know,
from a UC perspective, it just it feels like the
Eras come out of the balloon a little bit where
they these last three games. Though they played okay in
the second half against Howard, but these last three games,
the performance is kind of underwhelming. Obviously including a loss
to Villanova. When you were last with me, it was

(57:34):
on the in the hours leading up to the second
game in Fort Myers where they had just played South
Carolina kind of ug lead it up, but figured out
a way to win. Then they lose that game to Michigan,
which you know was not was not as lopsided as
the final score would indicate, but still a pretty decisive loss,
a really uneven performance. And I'm being kind there against

(57:56):
South Carolina State and then the TCU loss. Right, So,
like the Eras also come out of the Xavier balloon.
Why is that?

Speaker 9 (58:05):
Yeah, again, I think it goes back to a lack
of offensive cohesion.

Speaker 7 (58:09):
Right.

Speaker 9 (58:09):
This is a Zager team that we thought going into
this season was going to be an offensive juggernaut, and
we saw it against Dayton. We heard about it from
the secret scrimmage that they played against Notre Dame that
they just put up a ton of points. They could
shoot the ball exceptionally well, there was a lot of
flow to the offense. The guards were playing well, the
ball was moving, as Sean always says, you know, the

(58:30):
ball having energy, constant flow, constant motion, and then it
became stagnant and it just didn't look like the guys
were playing at that same pace and that same offensive
style that we were so used to, and because of that,
things just sort of sagged off and the offense suffered. Well,
now here you go against Cincinnati, where you have to

(58:50):
try and get back to that and you try to
kind of get some of the win back into your sales.
And I think that's where I look for some encouragement
from that Morgan State game the other day, because Cincinnati
generally doesn't play that midweek by game, and West talked
about that in the press conference the other day. Cincinnati

(59:11):
doesn't play that by game in a week leading up
to the shootout Xavier, except for two years ago. That's
kind of a program staple was to play that midweek
by game. And yeah, Morgan State was not a very
good team and they didn't close out hard, and Xavier
had a ton of open looks and they dominated on
the boards.

Speaker 7 (59:27):
But still, if you're Xavier, you feel.

Speaker 9 (59:30):
A lot better going into this game having just put
up one hundred and nineteen points winning by sixty one.
Then if you're coming into this game on Saturday off
a crushing loss on the road against another big twelve
team in TCU that quite frankly, anybody would tell you
on this team that they should have won that game.
You're up with the ball with eighty one seconds left

(59:51):
and you lose the game. Instead, you come back, you
beat Morgan State, you get a little bit of momentum back,
and now you try and carry that into Saturday.

Speaker 5 (01:00:00):
I think what's interesting about this game from a Xavier
perspective is is what it starts. Because you know they
haven't played great, and look, you're you're right. I mean,
I think there were some things to gain or some
things to glomb onto from the Morgan State game, and
I don't think they were terrible against TCU. But you're
going into a stretch now where it's a road game

(01:00:22):
against the Big twelve team, a ranked Big twelve team
on Saturday, and then, regardless of what happens the turnaround
where you got to go to Connecticut. I don't know
if that game is in Stores or Hartford, but still
it's a road game against Connecticut and then come back
and play the team that I think is the best
of the three, and that's Mark ket And so I
kind of look at this and go from an XT
you perspective, Well, you get this one, you feel a

(01:00:43):
little bit better about the next two. Lose this one,
and ah man, things really then may start to snowball.

Speaker 9 (01:00:49):
No, you're exactly right, mo. I think from a micro perspective,
looking at just this season, there's more pressure on Xavier
to win this game. I think, looking at it from
a macro person, just from a program standpoint, there's more
pressure on Cincinnati to win this game. And you can
argue which one is more important. But at least in
the grand scheme of this season. Now Cincinnati, they'll have

(01:01:11):
another opportunity next weekend against a really good dating team,
and then they'll go play their Big twelve schedule. There
are plenty of opportunity. Take the rival reaspect out of it, right,
Just take the emotions out of it, take the rival
reaspect out of it. Just from a pure selection Sunday
resume standpoint, this is not a soul crushing loss for
Cincinnati if you lose this game, just purely based on

(01:01:34):
the results on the court. But this is a game
that Cincinnati obviously hasn't won in six years, and they're
trying to snap the skid. West Miller's trying to win
this for the first time. So from a program perspective,
that's where it's huge for Cincinnati this season. I mean,
you hit the nail on the head. Mo Zavier doesn't
really have a lot to show for this non conference
so far, and this is their last non conference game.

(01:01:55):
You don't win against Michigan, you don't win against a
TCU team that, quite frankly was was not great. Came
back after that Xavier win and lost to Vanderbilt basically
at home and down there in Fort Worth in Dallas.
So it's just like, if you can't win this one,
you have a lot of work to do in the
Big East. And who do you start off with? The
two best teams in the Big East? And if you

(01:02:17):
lose three straight, it's again all games that you're gonna
be probably a significant underdog in. So it would take
a lot to win even one of these games, much
less two, much less three. But you don't want to
go into the Holidays on an zero to three skid, right,
It just doesn't feel good?

Speaker 5 (01:02:34):
Yeah, Uh, have you nailed down my date for the
appearance on the podcast? Like does does does my appearance?
Hinge on the results of the game on Saturday I don't.

Speaker 9 (01:02:43):
Think your appearance hinges on the results of the game
on Saturday will make it happen. Will make it happen,
I would I would say in the next I would
say in the next two weeks with the holidays, things
are a little hectic. But let maybe let's you know,
let's celebrate the new year and we'll check back in.

Speaker 7 (01:02:57):
How about it.

Speaker 6 (01:02:57):
Might be best?

Speaker 5 (01:02:58):
Well, I mean it could be best for all parts
involved if we let a little distance you know, happened
between the game and my appearance. I mean that just
might be best for the viewers, the listeners, for coach,
and for myself.

Speaker 9 (01:03:11):
Sure, yeah, absolutely, but we will have you on though.

Speaker 8 (01:03:13):
There's no doubt about it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:14):
All right, Well, I'll be waiting for my invitation. I
enjoy the game on Saturday. I appreciate you doing this.
We'll chat again. So man, thanks so much.

Speaker 8 (01:03:23):
Thanks, look forward to it.

Speaker 5 (01:03:24):
We've called him. We've decided to call him mister college basketball,
Paul Fishner, mister fantasy football. By the way, did we
just success successfully execute a phone call?

Speaker 8 (01:03:34):
I think so?

Speaker 5 (01:03:34):
Wow, Drew. I don't know if you knew this, but
WMCA radio in New York in nineteen thirty five became
the first show to take phone calls from people on
a regular basis when they took a call from celebrity
band leader Woody Herman learned something new every day, and

(01:03:56):
that became the first show to regularly take phone calls
from celebrity guests and from folks listening in the audience
nineteen thirty five. So we have found a way to
to match that accomplishment. All right, Fantasy football help with
Dan Klaskins next ESPN fifteen thirty Okay, right now is

(01:04:19):
what's going on in your fantasy football league? Dan Klaskins
has given us a fantasy football assistance all year long,
But like the last five Thursdays, I haven't been here,
so I haven't actually talked to Dan in forever. It's
it's good to have you Dan. How are you always?

Speaker 10 (01:04:33):
Great to catch chug? And what a better time fantasy
playoff time?

Speaker 5 (01:04:38):
Yes, Dan's with get sportsinfo dot com. I I am
I am backing into the playoffs. I've lost three straight.
I was ten and one. Uh, I'm sorry, I was
nine and one.

Speaker 7 (01:04:50):
Yeah, we're back together. I mean you go off the show, Mojo.

Speaker 10 (01:04:55):
Yeah, so yeah, let's start it around with bright.

Speaker 5 (01:04:58):
All right, so let's let's kind of go through some
perhaps we'll say evergreen fantasy playoff tips that can apply
to everybody.

Speaker 10 (01:05:07):
Yeah, these are always the public service announcements to be
like this time of year, and number one, you may playoff. Congratulations,
now you're here.

Speaker 11 (01:05:15):
Don't overthink it, stick to your process, do what you.

Speaker 7 (01:05:18):
Did to get there.

Speaker 10 (01:05:19):
So many times people do these crazy things. Also, you know,
we always want to plan ahead. There's only three weeks
left of the season, and right now you want to
use those bench spots. Accordingly, don't make moves if you're
eliminated from the playoffs mode. This is my worst pet
team in fantasy is like these consolation brackets. You're playing
for nothing and they're hitting the waiver wire. And most importantly,

(01:05:40):
if you're still your lead commissioner, your lead piece, now
is the time to pay up. It's fantasy, but it's
not free.

Speaker 7 (01:05:47):
Friends.

Speaker 5 (01:05:49):
I know some folks who need that reminder often met.
Let's roll through what we'll call playoff streamers. So give me,
give me the best teams per position based on schedule
and other factors going into.

Speaker 10 (01:06:05):
The playoffs exactly, And that's what I'm looking at right now.
And a quarterback I mean Carolina, Tennessee and Pittsburgh and
one player in particular in there, Russell Wilson. Out there
in a lot of leagues, this is a good opportunity.
I also like Bryce Young. If you're in a Super
Fux little say this I learned last week. First thing,
you can't trust them ev as. The matchup's good running

(01:06:25):
back to Jets, Carolina and Atlanta. And really for me,
the guy there's true Belhobber. We're going to talk about
him a little later on as well, but Las Vegas
has a young guy Seer McCormick worth keeping your eyes on.

Speaker 7 (01:06:35):
It could be a pinch start.

Speaker 10 (01:06:37):
And tight end is really nothing worth talking about.

Speaker 7 (01:06:39):
With the injuries.

Speaker 10 (01:06:40):
I was going to say Cleveland, but they're tight Hurts again,
we'll talk about minute and if you're streaming defenses, maybe
the Ravens got dropped there by week in shallow leagues,
that's the potential Jacksonville and ten today the vegnancy, as
bad as they are in fantasy, it could be worth
a dam in a deeper league to go ahead and
roll them out of especially this week. Will Levis is

(01:07:02):
always good for some turnovers and sacks.

Speaker 5 (01:07:08):
No, no, no question about that. All right, let's roll
through the important week fifteen injuries, lots.

Speaker 10 (01:07:15):
Of them, so I'll get it right to it and
we'll start a receiver. George Pickens a big one here.
He hasn't played since that Bengals match up a couple
of weeks ago. Doubtful for this week as well.

Speaker 7 (01:07:24):
As the Steelers are.

Speaker 10 (01:07:25):
Playing the Eagles to need it back up plan. They're
not really excited about much of his replacement. Lad mcconfney
didn't play last week, going to be up in the
air again. We'll watch his status to mars. He works
through any josh downs, trying in the right direction.

Speaker 7 (01:07:38):
With the shoulder.

Speaker 10 (01:07:38):
For the Colts, a couple of guys coming back from concussion,
Cedric Tillman and Romeo Jobs on the right track. Tomorrow
will be the big day for both. Kind of running
back Grishall didn't play last week. Doesn't like you're going
to play this week for the Jets, and Kenneth Walker
also in doubt. They're looking a little better at all.
He's got a caff injury if he's out of Zach sarbinet.
As he showed us last week in the immense Bucky
Irvin didn't show signs a practice to day per Deep

(01:08:01):
reporters for the Bugs with his hips slash back issue.
He only played a few snaps last week and got
pulled out. It's trending in the wrong direction. Rashad White
obviously getting up pick there. Jonathan Brook's disappointing devastating injury
for the top rookie running back come the end of
the season. He reinjured at ACL his season over, probably
most of next year as well. Tonight, all eyes are

(01:08:22):
going to be on Isaac Correndo with the Niners. Looks
like per Adam Schefter, He's gonna give it a go.
But you dealing with the minor foot sprain. I don't
know how much of a workload enter at your own rest.
Their quarterback. Justin Herbert trending in a positive direction as
a practicing in the day with his leg issue. But
Derek Carr and Aidan O'Connell looking good for car and
I think O'Connell's seasons over for the Raiders. Nevin Inger

(01:08:45):
with the shoulder and Dating the joke with a hamstring
both sort of up in the air for this week too,
especially in the joke I don't think he's playing for
the brunt.

Speaker 5 (01:08:52):
Dan Laskins, Good Sports Info dot Com. I need my
weekly Studs, Dodge and Sleepers.

Speaker 10 (01:08:57):
Yes, Touba Hubbert's my stud running back MO against Dallas here.
Obviously I talked about Brooks' injury. He's going to get
a whole large workload. Love Kyler Murray and his bounced
back to this point. Last leek Versattle gets New England
at meets my top five quarterback in terms of duds.
Baker Mayfield, great team and likes what I've seen in fantasy,
but this week against the Chargers is not a spot

(01:09:17):
where you want to use him outside the super fleace
Kyle Pitts. He's had a no point in less than
five Fantasy points one or the other, and four straight games.
You're gonna bench him even in a good match up
personal Vegas and my Sleepers. I mentioned Cecier McCormick at
Major's running back. I think he's a flex player this week,
and Christian Watson only a non PPR leagues obviously a
high ceiling, but I like him as a flight stops

(01:09:39):
in this week. Two in a game, I think it's
going to be a shootout.

Speaker 7 (01:09:41):
Twin the Packers in this field.

Speaker 5 (01:09:42):
All right, now week one of the playoffs. What's happening
at good sportsinfo dot com.

Speaker 10 (01:09:47):
All my content you can get it there, including to
my podcast obviously the Bed's mo. But most importantly hit
me up on exit, Dan class, and I'll hope you
set the sign ups.

Speaker 5 (01:09:54):
Awesome stuff as always, my man. Thank you so much.

Speaker 10 (01:09:58):
All right, good luck, Happy holiday mail talking.

Speaker 5 (01:10:00):
Brod you too, man. I look forward to it. Dan Klaskins,
get sportsinfo dot com. We have another hour to go.
It'll be the bud Light five o'clock Happy Hour on
ESPN fifteen thirty. We're gonna give away a skyline Chili
Crosstown shootout basketball in just a few minutes five o'clock
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 12 (01:10:20):
Traffic southbound seventy five at Western Hills Viaduct. The right
lane is blocked off from an accident westbound two seventy five.
It's an accident on the exit ramp to Mostellar Road.
It's the right shoulder blocked off on that ramp and
northbound seventy one after Smith Edwards an accident on the
right shoulder. I'm that e's like with traffic.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
Covers the Bengals, like ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnatis.

Speaker 5 (01:10:44):
That's right, that's right, that's right, that's right. Eight after five,
ESPN fifteen thirty. Excuse me, good afternoon, Thank you for listening.
It's the bud Light five o'clock happy hour. And I
could use a bum light right now. My producer today,
Drew Western Heidie could use a bud light right now.

(01:11:06):
Sounds amazing and like, it's it's my Friday, I'm off.
It's it's Friday during the football season, so off tomorrow.
So boy, I could really use a bud light right now.
First things first, we have the rest of the show
to do coming up in just a few minutes. Our
friend Robert Wintrop from Cincinnati Magazine. Always always fun to

(01:11:28):
chat with him, some smart stuff with Robert. He writes
a weekly Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine. And Evan Mia
Kyle was going to join us. What do the metrics
say about the Skyline Chili Crosstown shootout, and we'll maybe
get him to spend some time on Kentucky Louisville as well.
You know I was talking before about the shootout that
the central figure in this game is Wes Miller, and

(01:11:51):
I think that's true when you're the coach who's in
year four, who hasn't won one yet, and your favorite,
which you see will be, and you've got the game
at home and this is the year where it's it's
supposed to be the Bearcats back in the NCAA tournament,
and the Bearcats kind of, you know, reaping the benefits
of all the years of building from what the program

(01:12:14):
was to what it's supposed to be. Now you got
to check off that box. Beach your main rival, Let's
be honest, man. From a UC perspective, when the game
is at fifth third and they lose, it feels like
two losses because of the difficulty that you see has
in winning at the Cintas Center. And that's an inescapable

(01:12:36):
part of this that I don't think is a narrative,
if you will, for Xavier fans, because the Musketeers have
had success obviously at Sintas, but also at UC. You
see has had such a hard time winning at Xavier.
It's been more than two decades that when they lose
one at home, like right now, the streak is fin

(01:13:00):
If they lose on Saturday at six, you just almost
I hate to say this, maybe you don't assume, but
you start to talk almost instantly about how well at
six and it's likely to be seven because the next
one's going to be on the road. I think there's
also this. I wrote a column years ago for The
Athletic about how I love the pettiness of the Skyline

(01:13:23):
Chili Crosstown Shootout. One of the examples I gave was
when Mick Cronin and Chris Mack were the respective head coaches.
I had both on the air, and every year it's
not happening this year for reasons I have not been
made aware of, but there's typically a show that we

(01:13:43):
do at the Skyline Chili Downtown Big Crosstown Shootout media
party and we get both coaches, and that opportunity didn't
come this year, which is fine, But there was one
year where I had on Mick Cronin and I had
Chris Mack on back to back and my Mick Cronin
interview was three minutes long, and I got emails about it.

(01:14:04):
Maybe not the best example of the pettiness, but pettiness,
and like you know, fans of one team always love
to make jokes at the expense of their arrival, and
so you know, from a bear Gap perspective, you'll hear
the Little Brother and you'll hear Norwood, and you know
that stuff starts to really ring hollow when your team

(01:14:27):
never wins the game. If you're going to play along
with the pettiness, which is the small part of the rivalry,
your team has to at least occasionally take business in
the big part of the rivalry, which is the actual game.
Talked about this a little bit with Chad Brendel. I know,

(01:14:51):
I'm sort of looking at this through red and black
colored lenses, But for me, at least, it's it's the
story of Saturday because of the relative sameness of the
last five games two years ago. The game's at fifth third. Now,

(01:15:13):
that UC team was not as good as this UC team,
and that's a Xavier team two years ago that had
soulet boom and went to the Sweet sixteen. But still
I think there was a real sense of Bearcats can
get this one. It's at fifth third. Remember, the previous
shootout at fifth third did not have a lot of
fans because of COVID, so the place in the moments

(01:15:36):
leading up to tip off was turned upside down, Raucus,
Kenyon Martin was in the house. I mean it was awesome.
The pregame pomp and circumstance was off the charts, and
the hype video was cool as hell, and you could
see the team just as they took the floor they

(01:15:57):
were gonna feed off that energy. The problem is they
ate too much and so this overly and uc team
tries to win the game in the first three minutes
and before you know it, it's thirteen to one Xavier
Now Bearcats did crawl all the way back and lost

(01:16:19):
the game by three. That was the game where did
Julius hit the four point play and you see nearly
pulled off a miracle. But if there's been a common
thread to these last five games, regardless of who the
coaches have been, and there have been different coaches, regardless
of where the game has been, regardless of if there
have been fans in the stands, one of the common
threads has been that Xavier doesn't really ever play from

(01:16:41):
behind against Uce. Now last year the Bearcats took a
three point lead in the second half. But if you
look at all of these games, for the most part,
I know it sounds obvious, right, Well, x has won
the last five, so of course they've led for most
of the last five. But I think that's been a
problem that Number one, you see, has had to spend

(01:17:02):
a lot of energy trying to come back from early deficits.
Sometimes with teams that aren't great shooting teams. This has
been a pretty good U see outside shooting team, but
they got to spend a lot of energy coming back,
and when you fall behind sometimes you have to alter
your game plan. And that's where talking about Wes Miller's
depth is maybe gonna become a part of the conversation.

(01:17:23):
So what I'm interested in is, can you see, for
the first time in forever make Xavier in a skyline
Chilli Crosstown shootout? Play from behind? What Dan Skillings do
the Bearcats get? Not just in terms of him coming
back from injury, Dan was not good in this game.
Last year, Dan's absence was felt against Villanova. How much

(01:17:49):
is his presence felt against Xavier. We'll switch gears to
the Bengals. Robert Wintrop next Orthos cin C Moegger Show,
ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sport Words Station.

Speaker 1 (01:18:01):
Cincinnati's ex Football Inninnetti wrote to you in Pipe by
blend Light and by Skyline Shilly on the official home
of the Bengals, Cincinnatis, ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 5 (01:18:13):
Drew wester Heidi is producing the show today, filling in
for tarum Land. Drew a big fan of the NFL
primetime music. I've lost count Robert Wintrob here. Will this
be four consecutive calls we have gotten on the air successfully?

Speaker 7 (01:18:28):
Four?

Speaker 5 (01:18:29):
Third? He's the third. Well, let's see if let's see
if we can extend the streak to three and then
maybe four with our guest after this. Robert Wintrob right
said Bengals column every week for Cincinnati Magazine. Read it
at Cincinnati Magazine dot com.

Speaker 6 (01:18:43):
Hi Robert, Hey Mo, it's been so long since we've talked.

Speaker 2 (01:18:48):
I feel like you were with Sheldon Rankins in a
quarantined I see you somewhere and perhaps not available to
ever return to the airways.

Speaker 6 (01:18:56):
So I'm so glad you're back and glad to be
with you so well.

Speaker 5 (01:18:59):
Thank you very much for saying that much appreciated. I've missed.
I've missed chatting with you. You know, the game itself
on Monday kind of took a back seat to what
was said after the game, and it's reignited the T
Higgins conversation, and I think it's done so from from
angles that aren't stale, which I didn't think was going
to be the case. If we talked about T Higgins

(01:19:19):
again this year, I'll put you in charge of the
team just this once. What would you do with T Higgins?

Speaker 2 (01:19:26):
It's great that they're still feeding the content mission. I mean,
that's let's give him a shout out for that. And
I mean, listen, if if Joe Burrow is willing to
get rid of some of that Batmobile money and give
it to the Higgins, I'm certainly all for it. I
mean the question is at that point is you have to,
you know, trade into Batmobile for the Wonder Woman Invisible

(01:19:48):
Plane or that fan the teenage mutant Ninja.

Speaker 6 (01:19:50):
Turtles drove around horrible.

Speaker 2 (01:19:53):
Listen, it's such a great debate and it doesn't really
get stale because you can definitely see it from both sides, right,
I mean, and can Joe Burrow in the offense function
without T Higgins?

Speaker 6 (01:20:03):
Yeah, of course they can't. I mean he didn't play
this year against the Raiders and Burrow threw five touchdown passes.

Speaker 2 (01:20:08):
He didn't play against the Ravens won those games, he
threw for four touchdown passes. You know, he's had great
stats without Tea out there, and Joe Burrow and Jamar
Chase are who they are regardless of who else is
out there, They'll still get things done.

Speaker 6 (01:20:21):
However, there's you know, other things that the eye here
definitely te helps.

Speaker 2 (01:20:26):
He's gonna be by far the highest paid free agent
if he hits free agency this year for a reason,
He's highly valued around the league. He's gonna have bat
more field money one way or the other.

Speaker 6 (01:20:38):
And you know, when you see Mike.

Speaker 2 (01:20:40):
Tomlin compare him to Shaquill O'Neil because they have to
keep fouling him every time to throw the balls away.
I mean, you know it's gonna be a loss that
the Bengals will field in one way or another.

Speaker 6 (01:20:49):
There's no question about that.

Speaker 2 (01:20:50):
And you know, I think, more to the point, it's
almost like what does t Higgins want? We never really
think about that, and it's kind of gotten lost. And
I think more important than what even Joe Burrow said
with his treasure Kat Graham after the game was the
fact that he fired his agent that dreaded David Mulligetta.
You know, I mean that to me, said Volumes, which

(01:21:11):
was that, you know, is what is the agent's purpose?
Is it to get the guy the most money like
Scott Boris, or is it to do right by his client.
It seems to me like lost in all this is
T Higgins wants to stay in Cincinnati more than just
the usual player X says. He wants to stay with
the team that drafted him and who can blame him.
Maybe he doesn't want to be the number one guy

(01:21:31):
pulling down the huge salary of having all eyeballs on
him catching passes from Drake May and not Joe Burrow, right,
I mean. Or maybe it's a scenario where he's just,
you know, much more comfortable playing with his friends. The
Bengals always stressed, you know, kind of family and friends.
It's like a cell phone plan that got working down
there at Pey Core Stadium. But in this case it's

(01:21:52):
definitely true, and you know, they'll be able to afford
to pay T. Higgins, whether it's even just on a
franchise tag next year and still a rest some of
their gaping.

Speaker 6 (01:22:01):
Holes that they have elsewhere, maybe not all of them.

Speaker 2 (01:22:03):
But you know, if you look at the free agents
outside of the Higgins that are going to be around
and available, it's not a it's not.

Speaker 6 (01:22:09):
A murderer's row that they're going to all of a sudden,
you know, turn this team around and get eleven new
starters on defense for example, I'm or nine or four
even you know, it's going.

Speaker 2 (01:22:18):
To be the same middling group that you're hoping that
a new defensive coordinator, perhaps he said under his breath,
might you know, have better success with And you know,
defenses in general tend to be more much more volatile
than offense from year to year. I think you know,
Cincinnati's identity is totally based in their passing game and
not just Burrow the chase, but the variety of weapons

(01:22:40):
that are available. And you know, there's nothing wrong with
leaning into that. And we always say, you know, what's
what's a team's identity? You need to have an identity
and letting you know a big part of the identity
walk out the door and another player that you drafted
and developed and you know, for once actually works out
and is at the top of his that top of
the league in his position.

Speaker 6 (01:23:01):
You know, the Bengals will let guys like that walk
out the door before and it sends a bad message.

Speaker 2 (01:23:07):
I think to have it continually happen in this case,
I think everybody wants a different result this time around,
and it might not be easy, but I think they're
really working hard to make it happen.

Speaker 6 (01:23:17):
And you know, I think for once we should we
should be glad about that.

Speaker 5 (01:23:20):
Yeah, I would. I would agree with that. On the
long list of things they have to do this offseason
is they have to make the offensive line better. How
many current starting offensive linemen on this team right now
should be starting on the offensive line week one next season?
Should be or will be?

Speaker 6 (01:23:39):
Those are two very different questions. I mean, listen, both
tackles I think should and will be.

Speaker 2 (01:23:45):
And that's a good place to start, right you know,
that hasn't been the case in a lot of seasons
that we've talked over the years, So you know both,
I think Orlando Brown when he gets back to full
health and he was having a very good season, and
a Marius Mims is certainly trending toward being a very
good starting tackle in this league.

Speaker 6 (01:24:02):
So that's a good place to start right there.

Speaker 2 (01:24:04):
Obviously you got to make some moves on the interior,
specifically the guards.

Speaker 6 (01:24:08):
Alex Kappa he's gone. There's no doubt about that.

Speaker 2 (01:24:11):
They probably should have gotten rid of him before this year,
really even but because of his contract, and he just
hasn't been the same player since he got hurt late
in twenty twenty two. That was a bad ankle injury.
He just hasn't looked the same since then.

Speaker 6 (01:24:23):
So that's definitely one guy gone.

Speaker 2 (01:24:25):
I think Ted Carris he's had a pretty good year
actually pass protection. He's never really been a great run blocker,
but you knew what you were getting with him. I
think he'll play in some capacity. The question really comes
down to Cordell Olson at the other guard position. Are
you going to be able to sign somebody to replace
both guards or draft one and sign one that's going
to be better and a guy who has that much

(01:24:47):
experience in the system as Volson. I mean, you knew
who he was coming into the year. He's actually turning upward,
you know, and he's on a rookie contract. He's had
arrested development this year, No question, that should be the
time of the Bengals highlight film. A lot of guys
you thought were going on order or you knew what
you were getting with them. I've just not come to
play this year, and I think there's, you know, some

(01:25:09):
possibility that you might see some coaching changes there and
get some different results out.

Speaker 6 (01:25:13):
Of the offensive line too, But.

Speaker 2 (01:25:15):
I find it hard to believe that they're going to
be that big a wholesale changes. You could move Kris
into the guard position maybe and play Matt Lee, the
guy they drafted this past year out of Miami. He's
sort of a similar player to Karris, just without the
experience obviously, and then he's a good pass protector, a
little light to be a very good and effective run blocker.
But you know, he fits their system, so that's a possibility.

(01:25:37):
But you're still looking at Karas playing. So I mean,
you know, as much as you don't want to hear it,
it's probably everybody, but but Kappa and four guys who
played this year are going to be out there again
next year.

Speaker 6 (01:25:48):
It's just a question of them playing better.

Speaker 5 (01:25:50):
I got like ninety seconds here, who are the current
cornerstones of the Bengals defense.

Speaker 7 (01:25:56):
Defense?

Speaker 2 (01:25:57):
Yeah, yeah, uh you got and Trey Hendrickson for sure,
and then you're maybe looking at Logan Wilson as a
semi cornerstone at least he may not be brooking brick
and mortar, but he's not falsible.

Speaker 6 (01:26:11):
It's like so many the other guys.

Speaker 7 (01:26:14):
That's about it.

Speaker 2 (01:26:14):
I mean, it's sad to say, but you know they
used as their free agent acquisitions guys who played well
against them, as the Bengals usually do in Sheldon Rankins
and Geno Stone. But they haven't played well against the
rest of the league.

Speaker 6 (01:26:27):
That's a problem.

Speaker 2 (01:26:28):
And you know we've talked that knows him about the
incredible step backward in the secondary and injuries have certainly heard.
I think if Dax Hill had stayed on the field
all year, you'd be talking about him as a cornerstone.
I think it's possible DJ Turner was turning in that
direction before he went down and you could look at
him at you know, on the corner if not a stone,

(01:26:50):
you know, in his second year. So I don't think
the cover's quite as bare as we all think it is.
I think again that you know, these are guys like
a Cameron Taylor Britt.

Speaker 6 (01:27:00):
Who have had success in this league.

Speaker 2 (01:27:01):
It's I compare him when I wrote about him in
a recent column, to like a Steve Sacks or Steve Blast,
a guy who all of a sudden can't pick up
the ball and throw at the.

Speaker 6 (01:27:10):
First base for no real reason.

Speaker 2 (01:27:12):
He was really good and then he was unplayable, and
it's hard to say why. And there's really, to me
no reason why he can't at least revert to a
semblance of his former star playing ability.

Speaker 6 (01:27:23):
So you know, I don't know about.

Speaker 2 (01:27:25):
Cornerstones, but at least you can have an as semblance
of a functioning defense. And if you do that with
the same level of offense that they've had this year,
that's you know, that translates into at least a team
that can win you ten games and get into the playoffs,
which is really all.

Speaker 6 (01:27:37):
They need to do.

Speaker 5 (01:27:38):
I'll be here next Thursday, so we get a chance
to actually chat back to back weeks two in a row.

Speaker 6 (01:27:44):
Yeah, and will hopefully be coming up to in a
row victories. Yes, wouldn't that be nice? Yeah?

Speaker 5 (01:27:48):
And and remaining entering perhaps the in the Hunt column
because they weren't in it last week in any of
the major networks, So you know, you never know, you
got to be in the hunt column. First before you
can actually make playoffs.

Speaker 6 (01:28:01):
In the him too, with a two percent chance of
making it.

Speaker 5 (01:28:04):
Finally, yes, absolutely, there's a chance. Exactly. All right, man,
thanks so much.

Speaker 7 (01:28:08):
Great to talk to you again about that.

Speaker 5 (01:28:09):
You got it. Robert Wintrob his weekly Bengals column, Cincinnati
Magazine dot com will talk hoops. Evan Miakawa next, you've.

Speaker 1 (01:28:17):
Been listening to football in THENNETI brought to you by
Cincinnati Tax Resolution powered by TORF Sheldon on the official
home of the Bengals, Cincinnatis, ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 5 (01:28:27):
Thirty, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. So Evan Miakau was with
us in a few weeks ago. We had him on
right when we thought, you know what, the UC Bearcats
are cooking and they're going to have a great season.
And since then they haven't played great. Maybe Evan Jinkston.
We're getting set for the Skyline Chiley Crosstown shootout tomorrow

(01:28:49):
and among all the people that we've had on, I
wanted an objective voice based on facts and analytics and
data to break down this game on Saturday. So Evan
kind enough to join us. His website is dot com. Evan,
how are you?

Speaker 8 (01:29:03):
I'm doing good.

Speaker 7 (01:29:03):
I'm doing good.

Speaker 5 (01:29:05):
Are you as bullish on the Bearcats as you were
two and a half weeks ago?

Speaker 11 (01:29:09):
So justin smid less bullish, But I'm not at all
discouraged by the last two games that they've had. So
you know, last time that we talked, it was going
into their their game on the road against Villanova, and
you know, they were probably four or five point favorites
heading into that game. But certainly that's a tough, a
tough game. No matter what, Villanova has looked a lot

(01:29:31):
better in the last couple of weeks. Something that loss
doesn't look quite as bad as it did initially, And
so I only have since he down a couple spots
from when we last talked. So I think they were
a top ten team according to my predictive team ratings
a couple of weeks ago. They're down to I think, yeah, thirteen,
but that's still top fifteen in the country. I'm still

(01:29:52):
very high on them going into Big twelve play, certainly
ahead of this Crosstown shootow against Xavior, I still think
they're a comfortable favorite. So I'm not selling any of
mine since now stock I'm still really optimistic about them
going forward.

Speaker 7 (01:30:02):
All right.

Speaker 5 (01:30:03):
Now, we also talked before Xavier went into I hate
to say tailspin. They lost two games, but they haven't
played great recently. They did House, He's a pretty bad
Morgan State team, but losses to TCU and Michigan, a
very close call against South Carolina State. Where are you
in relation to the Musketeers compared to what we last

(01:30:23):
talked a few weeks ago.

Speaker 11 (01:30:25):
Yeah, I am not at all impressed Xavier. I think
of all of the teams who are kind of in
the maybe top thirty discussion the preseason, they've got to
be one of the most disappointing teams in the country
this year. I came into the season already much lower
on them than I saw from a lot of people.
I had them ranked thirtieth nationally in the preseason, and
I think a lot of people were giving them top twenty,
top fifteen leve according to my statistical models. What I

(01:30:48):
saw from their roster, and this is certainly playing out,
just wasn't quite as impressed. They're down closer to fifty
now and certainly on the outside looking in in terms
of the NCAA tournament picture. Depth for them is a
major issue. Uh. They have a solid starting five players,
but the drop up after those five is huge. According

(01:31:08):
to my player value metric that basically looked at how
impactful of your player's supposed to be, all eight Cincinnati
rotation players rank better than Zager's top bench guy, So
after their top five it's a massive drop and so
I think that's one of the biggest issues they've seen
this season. I think Cincinnati probably in this game, has

(01:31:29):
at least according to the metrics, has a positional advantage
in almost every single position through the bench except for
zager star player in deck Freemantle. So I'm just not
impressed with them at all. I think they've they really
you know, you're they're not expecting to win this game
this weekend, necessarily just because they're going to be on
the road. You know it's going to be a big

(01:31:49):
home game for the Bearcats. But when you already look
at how they've performed so far, A lost to a
TCU team that's not very good. They weren't even close
against Michigan on a neutral They're win against wake Forest
does not look anywhere near as good as it did
the beginning of the season. Definitely a lot of worrying
things rexavior.

Speaker 5 (01:32:05):
Uh, all right, so if if if the Musketeers win,
you'll you'll be the guy that they send me tweets to.
Just just FYI, you mentioned you mentioned metrics in uce
and and I think the toughest game they've played was
the Villanova game and they lost. And so I think
there's a lot of folks who go, well, we don't
know a lot about them because they haven't beaten anybody.
Advanced metrics like the ones that you use tend to

(01:32:27):
flatten that out. So what do you say to someone
who goes, look is as favorably as you may view them,
they really haven't been tested in games that they have won.
They haven't beaten quote anybody, And so I'm not quite
buying in the way that you do.

Speaker 11 (01:32:43):
Yeah, certainly, we don't have the full picture yet on
how Cincinnati is going to perform against a top twenty
five teams. They're obviously going to get plenty of those
opportunities in Big Twelve play because the conference is loaded.
But basically, when you're looking at a predictive team stat
like mine, which is basically saying, going forward, how good
is this team supposed to be?

Speaker 7 (01:33:01):
Essentially what it looks like is.

Speaker 11 (01:33:02):
It says, for every single game that a team has played,
what was the expectation for how much they should if
they're a favorite, how much they should win that game by,
and then did they exceed or not exceed that expectation.
And for most of the games that Cincinnati has played
this year, they have far exceeded expectations for those games
in terms of beating teams by a much more convincing margin.
And so even though they don't have a marquee went

(01:33:25):
on their schedule yet a team like a top fifteen
team should be beating teams as good as they are,
and if they weren't this good, they would not have
been handling competition as easily, because a lot of other
teams struggle to put away opponents like Cincinnati has, So
you take all that step into account. I still think
once we enter some of their harder matchups obviously you

(01:33:48):
know this, this matchup against Savior or certainly one of them,
but it's going to get even harder going forward. I
still think from what we've seen from them in their
previous matchups, based on how they've handled business, even that
with a step up in competition, I still think they're
going to fare pretty well.

Speaker 5 (01:34:02):
All right, emmmiakall was with us evanmia dot com.

Speaker 3 (01:34:05):
You have.

Speaker 5 (01:34:07):
A game predictions section on your website, brain fart by me.
You've got matchup previews, and so I don't want to
give away your content. Can I ask you for a
snapshot of two other games happening on Saturday?

Speaker 7 (01:34:21):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (01:34:21):
Look good, Kentucky versus Louisville.

Speaker 11 (01:34:25):
Let me pull that up real quick here. It's certainly
a matchup with a lot of storylines. You know, this
is a tough matchup for Louisville just because they're going
on the road against the Kentucky team that has obviously
far surpass expectations. I have Kentucky favored by thirteen points
in this game, which you know, seems like a lot,
But really I think that speaks as much to Kentucky

(01:34:47):
being good. The other travel with Louisville is that they
just are completely hammered in terms of injuries. They've had
four players coming into the season that you would have
hoped to be major rotation pieces that are all out
for the rest of the season. And you've got another player,
you know, who's a rotation piece for them, who's also
not going to.

Speaker 7 (01:35:05):
Be in this game.

Speaker 11 (01:35:05):
So I mean I mentioned Xavier has depth, is yues.
Louisville basically only has like six serviceable players, and no
matter what, that's going to be tough for you for
you in any game. So you know, prospects for them
in the short term are not very good. They're going
to have a hard time getting through even once they
get slightly more healthy. I still think it's a much
tougher task for them to make a tournament this year

(01:35:26):
than even a couple of weeks ago. So even with
Kentucky having some issury injury issues with themselves to both
their point guards, you know, kind of having to heal
up from injuries there, I still think Kentucky should be
a firm favorite.

Speaker 7 (01:35:38):
In this game.

Speaker 5 (01:35:39):
One more Dayton versus Marquette.

Speaker 11 (01:35:43):
Yeah, this is a very exciting game. I think I
heard somewhere that this is the highest ranked team in
a long time that Dayton has hosted at home in Marquette,
and so I have this game pretty close to a
toss up. I actually have Dayton favored by about a
point in the game, and part of that is because
not only is it that home, which is a huge

(01:36:04):
boost for them, I think they're top thirty five team nationally.
I certainly think they could cause a lot of damage
in March, but they've also played One of the things
that track on my website is how will teams play
based on if you're playing a really good opponent or
really bad opponent, Because there are some teams that really
can dog walk teams that they're a major favorite against,
but in big games that kind of struggle, and other

(01:36:25):
teams are kind of the opposite, where they struggle to
put to win big against teams that are they should be,
you know, destroying, But they always show up for big
time games and that is what Date is this year,
and a lot of their biggest games, they haven't won
all of them.

Speaker 8 (01:36:38):
But they've showed up really well, and so I.

Speaker 11 (01:36:41):
Certainly have a lot of confidence in them this game.
Not necessarily picking them as a firm favorite, but I
certainly think they have a pretty decent chance of winning
this game. It's going to be very exciting, a big
test for Marquette on the road. Led like Kim Jones,
who's you know, probably top two right now in the
national Player of the Year.

Speaker 5 (01:36:57):
Watch for sure, what will folks find when they go
to EV and me.

Speaker 11 (01:37:02):
I mean, there's a lot of stuff. There's a lot
of free There's a lot of free things that you
can see if you just want to kind of dip in.
There's play ratings, team ratings, but if you want to
subscribe to any sort of level of data access, I
have game predictions, matchup previews. As you mentioned, I do
a lot of lineup analysis, so a lot of different
lineup metrics looking at which team's lineups or even combinations

(01:37:23):
of two or three players are playing the best. You know,
come to off season. The transfer portal is another big
part of my website and a valuating players. So there's
really a lot for pretty much everyone.

Speaker 5 (01:37:33):
Awesome stuff. Man, love having you on. Appreciate you talking
about those games. We'll chat soon. Man, thanks so much.

Speaker 11 (01:37:39):
Sounds good. Looking forward to a really fun weekend of basketball.

Speaker 5 (01:37:42):
You and me both, my friend. Thank you so much.
Go to evanmia dot com evanmaca with that guy does
a nice job, Drew. How are we on time.

Speaker 7 (01:37:52):
Doing good?

Speaker 5 (01:37:53):
Do we have time to give away a basketball and
a gift card? If you are all right? Five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty. I need a uc or a Xavier fan
who wants to win a Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout ball
and a fifty dollars Skyline Chili gift card. That's pretty good.

(01:38:15):
You get the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout basketball that has
both of the U see Xavier logos on at the
Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout logo and fifty dollars to Skyline
Chili first caller who wants to uh play a silly
little game and you could be a UC or a
Xavier fan. I've got a game for either five one three,
seven four nine, fifteen thirty five one three, seven, four

(01:38:37):
nine fifteen thirty and uh, if you play, if you win,
you get the ball, you get the gift card, and
you get my unending admiration on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station. What our football team wins on Sunday Now
basketball that it could be Andrew, he also has a
chance to win a fifty dollars Skyline Chili gift card.
By the way, right now, you get a Skyline Chili
gift card. By thirty dollars worth get a five dollars

(01:38:59):
sky Line Chili gift card for yourself. And and I
know this because I swung by Skyline yesterday. They still
have at participating locations the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout basketball
on sale right now? All right, Andrew, you got a
chance to win this ball and the gift card. You're
a UC fan, it says on my screen. That's right,
all right, big UC fan, hardcore UC fan, die hard

(01:39:22):
UC fan or casual UC fan?

Speaker 4 (01:39:25):
Uh?

Speaker 5 (01:39:26):
Pretty die hard, pretty die heard on a scale of
one to twenty, one being you know basically that each
basket's worth two points, and twenty being you're an encyclopedia.
How would you rate your knowledge of UC hoops?

Speaker 7 (01:39:44):
Thirteen?

Speaker 5 (01:39:45):
Thirteen? Okay, thirteen, he said, Drew. All right, here's what
we're gonna do. Andrew. You set the number thirteen. We're
gonna put twenty. In fact, I'll do thirty. I'm gonna
put thirty seconds on the clock. Okay, the number thirteen.
I need you to name at least thirteen of the

(01:40:05):
top twenty scores in u SEE basketball history. This is
total points in all time Bearcat history in thirty seconds. Drew,
are you ready? Do you have a tim or do
you have something like that? I am ready to go,
all right? Uh, Andrew, are you ready? I need at
least thirteen? Here we go. All right, all right, on
your mark, it's set.

Speaker 4 (01:40:27):
Go Danny forts and Steve Logan, Tony Bobbitt.

Speaker 7 (01:40:43):
H got aout. Let's see five seconds.

Speaker 4 (01:40:54):
Ocar Robertson.

Speaker 5 (01:40:57):
Uh wow, how about that sort of a modern buzzer. Andrew,
you named three? You got Oscar Robertson number one, Steve
Logan number three, Danny Fordson number five. My apologies, Andrew,
you could not name thirteen. Kenya Martin, Tony Bobbitt not
in the top twenty all time leading scorers in Bearcat
basketball history. So our apologies. You don't win the ball,

(01:41:20):
you don't win the gift card. But Joe in Fairfield
on line six, he's gonna win, so did Joe. Congratulations.
You accomplished absolutely nothing, but you get a ball and
you get a good gift card. Congratulations. Alright, No, there
you cover very good. Drew, get Joe's info. I gotta
go Bengals pep rally in our place tomorrow. Have a
great night.

Speaker 7 (01:41:44):
I had that.

Speaker 5 (01:41:45):
I was like driving a bus with three wheels that show.
Have a great night. This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati
Sports station

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