March 19, 2026 • 20 mins
Mo is LIVE at the Holy Grail, and he chats with UC Hall of Famer and voice of the Bengals Dan Hoard, on ESPN 1530!
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
It's the light turning ten off the Holy Crown.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We are here till twelve o'clock in the NCAA Tournament.
First round gets underway in just over one hour. Thanks
to our friends at Corps Light Mountain, Cole Refreshman made
the chill. We still have teams to give away to
when the Bertram Golf Package Tennessee Golf get Away prizes
from Sports Investments, as well as tickets from Riverbend Music Center.
(00:29):
The Hall of Fame voice of the UC Bearricats and
the iconic voice of the Cincinnati Bengals, Dan Horde is
with me.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
What's up, pal?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
How you doing? And I believe the runner up in
the Struggle for the Stake.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
First second straight for the second year in a row.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Congrats.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to the dinner again this year.
We have somebody who's volunteered to pay as long as
he can join us, so no loser does not have
to pony up.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Wow, how about that.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
That's that's awesome for you guys. I wasn't paying either way,
that's true.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
It's good to see it going on.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
I was just telling Jim Mooring that I found a
picture on my phone today.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Of my son Sam.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Filling out his first ever NCAA tournament bracket here at
the Holy Grail when he was eight years old.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
That's good fathering, isn't it. Yes, you're sitting at the bar.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yes, thankfully the picture shows him with the water, not
an alcoholic beverage. But yeah, he got off to a
good start by filling out his bracket here.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And so there's my daughter Crosley.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
This is not at the bar, at the table yesterday
while watching the first four game yesterday, filling out the bracket.
And I explained to her that the only way to
do it is to write the teams out, because she asked,
is there basically is there a computer option? And I said, yes,
but you got to do it the right way. You
got to fill it out by hand.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
You're right, She's right. I'm glad she did that. House
her bracket. Who does she have winning it?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
She has duke winning it.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
She came in third in a pool that I'm in
last year. Impressive and did it by.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Doing what most of us probably should do, just picked
the higher number or pick the lower number.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
So she went total chalk pretty much total chalk.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Well last year work because all the number ones made
it most years, Most years, that'll keep you in the hunt, right,
that will not win?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
She did ask where the Bearcats are and I had
to had to explain their home. Yes, sorry, not so much.
What was those last two minutes of regulation like for you?
Last painful?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Really painful, frustrating and painful? Feel badly for Wes. Had
the final two minutes gone differently, he might still be
the head coach depending on how things would have gone
the next game against Arizona.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
But really painful.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Did it feel to you that night that because of
how they lost, that sealed his feet?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Probably a factor.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
But I do think what everybody said at the beginning
of the year really turned out to be true. The
bar was set at trying to make the NCAA tournament,
and unfortunately they didn't make it. It was kind of
similar to coach Saderfield. Everybody said, seven wins in a
bowl will allow him.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
To keep his job.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
That's the bar that they set, that's the bar that
he hit, and unfortunately Wes did not hit the bar
that I think most people.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Said, why did this team this season not played to
the level that so many of us hoped they would?
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Eventually? They did but it was too little, too late.
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I hate to be.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Like X's and O's critic of Wes because he knows
a lot more about basketball than I do. I do
think that early in the year he tolerated things that
came back to bite him. Bad guys are bad shooters,
taking too many bad shots, costing them games, things like that.
I think you get what you tolerate as a coach,
(03:47):
and I think early this season he tolerated too much.
I think he eventually fixed it. The right guys were
taking the best shots, the right guys were playing the
most minutes. I think he was trying to figure it
out when some guys were not available early in the year,
and ultimately it came around to cost him the season.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
In his job, every sign points to Jared Calhoun being
the guy spent some time at UC toward the tail
end of Bob Huggins's tenure.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Is he a guy that you remember it all?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Did you all? Absolutely? I remember him? Well.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
So that was the year that we went to Velpo
with Chuck and a perch and two two thousand and three,
did the game on the phone? Yeah, yeah, so yeah,
I talked to him a lot that year. The thing
I remember about him was that he was a little
bit like Mick at that stage in that he was
really tapped into Ohio recruiting. Remember Jamar Butler, he went
(04:39):
to Ohio State and had a great career. He committed
to Cincinnati when he was in like ninth grade, and
eventually by the time he was a senior, he flipped
to Ohio State and went on to have a really
good career with the Buckeyes.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Jared really knew him well.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
He was kind of keeping me up to date on
Ohio State swooping in. I don't know since he's going
to be able to hold on to him. So he
was really tapped into Ohio recruiting back then. Now, of
course that's not as important, right you know, in the
transfer portal era, you'll still try to get the best
players in the state if you can, but it's not
(05:14):
like being a grassroots high school guy is as valuable
as it used to be. But I thought he was
really impressive young guy at that time. If he turns
out to be the guy, and honestly, I do think
that's the way it's probably going to go, I think
it'll be a good hire. He's a really sharp guy.
He's obviously had a lot of success. He was the
(05:34):
best man at Joe Missoula's wedding before you there. Okay,
so Joe Missoula was his assistant at Fair State. Yes
Vision two so uh yeah. I think he's an oppressive coach.
Hopefully Utah State does well in the NCAA tournament and
that makes the sizzle grow even more.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Not that this should be the biggest factor, but I
have talked with a few former players who have given
been Jared Calhoun their seal of approval, which.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Is not insignificant.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Always good.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
You know, Wes did a great job of kind of
building bridges to the alums as well as somebody that
played at North Carolina possibly could. So Jared has an
advantage in that he was an assistant here for one
year and worked for Bob Huggins for many years, so
that will help with those bridges. But good to know
that the guys that you've talked to are already on
board if he turns out to be the guy.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Weird that I have no Big twelve teams in the
final four.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Who do you have instead of Michigan?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I have, well, Michigpig twelve like you said you don't
have Arizona, I don't Houston.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I have both, do you I do?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I want Houston.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We've talked, we talked a year ago. No, yeah, I don't.
But yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
We sat here, we sat here at this time last year,
and I made a great case for why Houston had
no chance, right and then you know they were one
Emmanual sharp gaff from winning the National Championship.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
So it shows you. I know. I do think.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Home court advantage essentially in the sweet sixteen and the
Elite eight will help them get to the final four
this year. But I have Arizona winning at all, Okay,
And I do admit to having the having seen them
in person bias.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
This ruins my bracket every year.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
I always favor the teams that I've seen in person
that were impressive to me when I saw them, I
thought Arizona looked incredible when you see lost to them
at Arizona.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
So Arizona is my team. I think they're going to
win it all.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
But I think that is the majority of most of
the people on ESPN dot com.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So there I am thinking, just like everybody.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I wish because I didn't like the result, but I
had it was lucky enough to go on the love
it trick. See you see play Texas Tech, and I
love Christian Anderson may love how that team played. I
wish they had JT.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Topp.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, and I wish I knew that Christian Anderson was
one hundred percent so after he's straight is growing on
the glass Courtansas City, for the way, Is that a
sentence you ever thought you'd say? Yeah, I'm also coming
down from my stance of every team in the NBA
will have this in a year or two, which I
said at Kansas City that was before you know a
(08:13):
great player.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Strange is growing on it.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
And they changed the next day, so that might not
have been a great take. You know, they looked really
good that night, but then teams started to figure them
out and they didn't look as good.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
So I don't have them going very far, all right.
Iowa State, Iowa State, I have in the Elite eight.
Iowa State has long.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I mean, obviously they lost to Cincinnati, they lost to UCF.
They're capable of not being great, but when they've played well,
they played really well. They looked great against Houston in
the Big Twelve tournament. I think they're going to go
to the Elite eight. I think they're good. That gives
me three Big twelve teams in the Elite eight and
two in the Final four, and one winning the National
(08:59):
Chief Championships. So my seeing them in person bias is
really strong.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Cincinnati played TCU the last regular season game, and I
think that game was more about how poor the Bearcats played.
But TCU does play Ohio State the first game of
the tournament today.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
What do you making The horn Frogs.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Got TCU winning that game, but that's it. They were
better than I thought. Again when I saw them in person,
I thought going into that game that UC was going
to win, and then after seeing tc I'm like, Okay,
I get it now. Jamie Dixon's really good. It's a
really good offensive team. The ball pops, They've got good
inside outside balance.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
So I think TCU wins today.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
No Richie Saunders and BYU against Texas.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Texas wins for that reason, right. You know?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
BYU won two beat two good teams after Richie Saunders
was hurt, but lost all of their other games, obviously
lost by twenty two at UC. I think if Ritchie
Saunders were still on that team, they could get to
the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I don't think they win a game without them.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
We talk about being chalky and the sort of separation
of the elite teams, with all the talent being distributed
to teams like Michigan, Arizona, etc. It makes it more
and more difficult to forecast upsets. That's the prevailing sentiment.
Is your bracket reflective of that? I've got a few upsets.
(10:26):
So I heard Skinny on as I was driving over.
I have Akron getting to the Sweet sixteen. So that's
not a yeah, maybe they can do it. I think
they are going to do it. I think they catch
two teams that have very significant injuries Texas Tech obviously
with topping, and then Alabama after that.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
I think at less than one hundred percent, they can
beat each of those teams. So Akron is my biggest
upset pick getting to the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
What a season.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
They lose one game in the league, they win the
MAC Tournament, nobody's talking about them because of my en.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
And the one game they lost was by two at Miami.
Is that correct? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
So you could make the case that they were the
best team in the MAC as great as Miami is.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Would you give Miami a shot against Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Yes, I don't think they'll win, but I give them
a shot because of their three point shooting and the
fact that they did it last night. Now was a
de facto home game, which helps, but they showed that
with the lights the brightest, that a bunch of guys
could hit threes with the pressure on. Now, the defense
will be a little bit tighter against Tennessee with that
(11:34):
athleticism in that length. But anytime you've got that many
guys that can make threes, you've got a shot. So
I think they'll cover, and I think it'll be a game,
But ultimately I think Tennessee posts it out.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Having been in.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
This market for thirty years, did you ever think you
would be not covering I guess, but around for a
Miami team that wins every game in the regular season,
it becomes the Darling and college basketball.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
That's what it was described as last night.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah, and that was accurate. No, No, I did not
see that coming. Yeah, absolutely, I mean, you know, I
was here for the Wally's Derby X Sweet sixteen runs,
so that seemed like a once in a lifetime type
of thing, and radio it's not.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
You know, maybe they do it again, But kudos to
them phenomenal season.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I watched a bunch of their games, and I feel
like I watched every game where it looked like they
were dead. Yeah, and they managed to win, which happened
like six or seven times. So what a phenomenal accomplishment.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, and I I mean last night.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I'm not a Miami fan necessarily, but in that environment,
the way they played felt like they were in control
the entire way. And you know, it didn't work out
for Travis Steel Xavier, but it's fun to watch folks
who care about XU basketball say all the nice things
they're saying about Travis because I think, you know, I
talked about Wes Miller a lot. There was a blueprint
for Wes. Yeah, you know where hold your head up high,
(12:56):
handle the exit. Well, go find a place that'll take it,
give you a shot, which I'm sure he'll get and
take it and run. And I'm hoping for Wes. You've
gotten to know very well over the last five years
that there's a similar sort of outcome as we've seen
with Travis Steele in Oxford.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
You know, I think it's very possible because I think
their ten years were very similar. You know, Travis Steel
didn't make an NCAA tournament, he was close a couple
of times. Wes didn't make an NCAA tournament. He was
fairly close a couple of times. I think he's a
good coach. I think if Jalen Haynes weren't hurt this year,
(13:33):
that in and of itself might have been enough to
get him to the NCAA tournament. If Gisel James didn't
miss the first ten games they lost four, that might
have been enough to get him to the NCAA tournament.
So I think, like Travis Steele, maybe the best is
yes yet to come.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Do you think it's.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It's possible to win in year one where you're not
sitting here with me, in a year you're calling an
NCAA tournament game in this league? Can you get things
to say turned around? Because it wasn't like they were
that far away, But can you win instantly? You see
in this environment?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Absolutely, I mean I think the other Miami the Hurricanes
have shown that it's possible. Horrific last year NCAA Tournament.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
This year.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Now, the ACC is not the Big twelve, but it's
a power conference. So absolutely, you know at least as
of now, Corey Evans is still the GM.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I think he's going to stay.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
He had a multi year contract, so you know, he
is already working on potential portal guys and things like that.
Now we'll see if the new head coach wants to
maintain that relationship.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
He might have his own guy. Yeah, who knows, but.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Yeah, it's very possible if you're willing to spend, and
they spent this year, and it is absolutely possible.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Does Jared Calhoun or whoever the coaches have to walk
into a situation where the roster is empty, do you
think some of these guys would be at least open
to staying.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Maybe because they have a little bit of time to
work on them. So the portal I think reopens April ninth,
something like.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, So whoever the.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Next head coach is is going to have roughly a
week to work on it. So you're talking about how
much money you're able to offer them. Hopefully they had
good experiences for the guys that you would want to keep.
So yeah, I think it's possible. Now Mustafa chom by
the way he played over the final four weeks of
the season, is going to get a.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Ton of money.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
I'm sure there are a lot of schools out there
right now that are telling his representation. You know, maybe
Cincinnati can pay you this amount, but we will so.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
We'll see, and then we have to play him. Yeah right,
maybe yeah, stays in the Big twelve. It's possible.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I mean, would it shock you if he was at
BYU or not at all?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
No, that'd be miserable.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
But hopefully he had a great experience and UC is
able to at least come close to whatever another school
would be willing to toward.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
The end of the season. He was the guy that
I read about last summer.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Yeah, at least offensively. Sure, offensively he was rebounding why
he was rebounding wise he was Defensively he wasn't didn't
block as many shots, wasn't as big a factor on
defense as I thought he could have been or should
have been.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
That's the next step.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
But you've got a guy that's seven to two that
averaged nearly twenty points a game for the final eight
or nine games of the year.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
That'll work.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
You've give Hi mc cronin a chance. I want to.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I've I've been two games, actually, calm one filling in
for you where Mick Cronin has coached against Dan Hurley. Now,
Mick's got a healthier team that he's had at any
point this season. Donovan Den's playing really well. I root
for Mick too. Could Nick pull off an upset? He's
got to get past UCF, which you've seen up close.
I don't like that team at all either, do Can
(16:58):
he beat Dan Hurley and Yukon?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
No?
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
No? Uh?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
The game press conference better with Mick losing or Dan losing.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Huh uh, Well, depending on the circumstances of the game
and the officiated. Yeah, probably more entertaining with Mick right
during the game, more fun to watch Dan, yeah, bust, Yeah,
but postgame probably Mick.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Watching when Mick was still at UCE coach against Dan, well,
that was rough for those officials.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's hard.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, And that's when Yukon wasn't very good, right, Yeah,
you know now that they're good, he's toned.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
It down a tiny bit. Yeah. There's still about four
times a year where he's in totally.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
He out of the game against Marquette.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, so that was one of the four.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Yeah, but it used to be just about every game
for all forty minutes It's not quite that anymore, not quite.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Can you make me feel better about watching Barrett Carter
and Demetrius Night next year?
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Still hopeful that they'll sign somebody. I know the guys
that most of us wanted are gone. I'm okay with
Bobby Wagner. Yes, I'm bine okay with Matt Mulano. If
the medical you know, check up says that he's got
a chance to play, you know, at least twelve games.
He played twelve last year. I'd be fine with either
of those guys. And I'd really be fine with Bobby Wagner.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Yeah, thirty seven years old, but still has gas in
the tank.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I mean his.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Stats were great last year. He was PFF's number ten
line back. Fine, he had four and a half sacks.
I talked to Josh Johnson, Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson recently
about Bobby Wagner. He's said great things about Bobby Wagner.
So it sounds like Bobby wants to play. Doesn't sound
like it's going to be Washington. So yeah, I'd be
(18:47):
fine to sign up Bobby Wagner for one.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Now stoked are you about Brian Cook?
Speaker 4 (18:52):
He was the number one guy wanted them to sign,
so extremely stoked. Yeah, I think he's exactly what this
defense needed. Somebody that puts the fear of God into
wide receivers and tight ends running across the middle of
the field that has not existed for a while. I
could tackle, not only make a tackle, but punish a
(19:13):
guy right, you know, totally clean, totally illegal, but really
punish a guy, take him to the ground so that
he's slow to get up. Brian Cooks, that guy can't
wait tremendous signing. You know, he's the highest paid free
agent safety for a reason. He's a great player. I
think he's going to be perfect for this defense. And
(19:36):
if Caleb Downs is there at number ten, has to
still take him.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I still dream of watching those two guys in the
secondary together.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Yeah, I think Caleb Downs could be your slot corner
for a year. And then you know, you don't have
to re sign Jordan Battle unless it goes so well
with the three of them playing that you would want to, right.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
All right, let me know where the steak dinner is.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Well do if you guys aren't going to pay for it,
like I think should be a like something extra for
the guy who wins.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
It pay for the booze.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, well that's no no, now.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I remember in my mind that might be a higher task.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Oh, be careful what you say. I can't thank you.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Time and again.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
It's your booze and not tnl's red wine. So it
probably works out, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Probably for the better. Thank you, as always.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
For doing it my pleasure. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
You're the best.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Likewise, so great, Dan Horde. Here at the Holy Grail.
We are here till twelve noon. It's the Corus light
turny tip off twenty minutes after eleven o'clock since E
three p sixty coming up at the top of the
hour on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports station
It's the light turning ten off the Holy Crown.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
We are here till twelve o'clock in the NCAA Tournament.
First round gets underway in just over one hour. Thanks
to our friends at Corps Light Mountain, Cole Refreshman made
the chill. We still have teams to give away to
when the Bertram Golf Package Tennessee Golf get Away prizes
from Sports Investments, as well as tickets from Riverbend Music Center.
(00:29):
The Hall of Fame voice of the UC Bearricats and
the iconic voice of the Cincinnati Bengals, Dan Horde is
with me.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
What's up, pal?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
How you doing? And I believe the runner up in
the Struggle for the Stake.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
First second straight for the second year in a row.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Congrats.
Speaker 4 (00:44):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to the dinner again this year.
We have somebody who's volunteered to pay as long as
he can join us, so no loser does not have
to pony up.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Wow, how about that.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
That's that's awesome for you guys. I wasn't paying either way,
that's true.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
It's good to see it going on.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
I was just telling Jim Mooring that I found a
picture on my phone today.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Of my son Sam.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Filling out his first ever NCAA tournament bracket here at
the Holy Grail when he was eight years old.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
That's good fathering, isn't it. Yes, you're sitting at the bar.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Yes, thankfully the picture shows him with the water, not
an alcoholic beverage. But yeah, he got off to a
good start by filling out his bracket here.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
And so there's my daughter Crosley.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
This is not at the bar, at the table yesterday
while watching the first four game yesterday, filling out the bracket.
And I explained to her that the only way to
do it is to write the teams out, because she asked,
is there basically is there a computer option? And I said, yes,
but you got to do it the right way. You
got to fill it out by hand.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
You're right, She's right. I'm glad she did that. House
her bracket. Who does she have winning it?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
She has duke winning it.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
She came in third in a pool that I'm in
last year. Impressive and did it by.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Doing what most of us probably should do, just picked
the higher number or pick the lower number.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
So she went total chalk pretty much total chalk.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
Well last year work because all the number ones made
it most years, Most years, that'll keep you in the hunt, right,
that will not win?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
She did ask where the Bearcats are and I had
to had to explain their home. Yes, sorry, not so much.
What was those last two minutes of regulation like for you?
Last painful?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
Really painful, frustrating and painful? Feel badly for Wes. Had
the final two minutes gone differently, he might still be
the head coach depending on how things would have gone
the next game against Arizona.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
But really painful.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Did it feel to you that night that because of
how they lost, that sealed his feet?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Probably a factor.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
But I do think what everybody said at the beginning
of the year really turned out to be true. The
bar was set at trying to make the NCAA tournament,
and unfortunately they didn't make it. It was kind of
similar to coach Saderfield. Everybody said, seven wins in a
bowl will allow him.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
To keep his job.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
That's the bar that they set, that's the bar that
he hit, and unfortunately Wes did not hit the bar
that I think most people.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Said, why did this team this season not played to
the level that so many of us hoped they would?
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Eventually? They did but it was too little, too late.
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I hate to be.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
Like X's and O's critic of Wes because he knows
a lot more about basketball than I do. I do
think that early in the year he tolerated things that
came back to bite him. Bad guys are bad shooters,
taking too many bad shots, costing them games, things like that.
I think you get what you tolerate as a coach,
(03:47):
and I think early this season he tolerated too much.
I think he eventually fixed it. The right guys were
taking the best shots, the right guys were playing the
most minutes. I think he was trying to figure it
out when some guys were not available early in the year,
and ultimately it came around to cost him the season.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
In his job, every sign points to Jared Calhoun being
the guy spent some time at UC toward the tail
end of Bob Huggins's tenure.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Is he a guy that you remember it all?
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Did you all? Absolutely? I remember him? Well.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
So that was the year that we went to Velpo
with Chuck and a perch and two two thousand and three,
did the game on the phone? Yeah, yeah, so yeah,
I talked to him a lot that year. The thing
I remember about him was that he was a little
bit like Mick at that stage in that he was
really tapped into Ohio recruiting. Remember Jamar Butler, he went
(04:39):
to Ohio State and had a great career. He committed
to Cincinnati when he was in like ninth grade, and
eventually by the time he was a senior, he flipped
to Ohio State and went on to have a really
good career with the Buckeyes.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
Jared really knew him well.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
He was kind of keeping me up to date on
Ohio State swooping in. I don't know since he's going
to be able to hold on to him. So he
was really tapped into Ohio recruiting back then. Now, of
course that's not as important, right you know, in the
transfer portal era, you'll still try to get the best
players in the state if you can, but it's not
(05:14):
like being a grassroots high school guy is as valuable
as it used to be. But I thought he was
really impressive young guy at that time. If he turns
out to be the guy, and honestly, I do think
that's the way it's probably going to go, I think
it'll be a good hire. He's a really sharp guy.
He's obviously had a lot of success. He was the
(05:34):
best man at Joe Missoula's wedding before you there. Okay,
so Joe Missoula was his assistant at Fair State. Yes
Vision two so uh yeah. I think he's an oppressive coach.
Hopefully Utah State does well in the NCAA tournament and
that makes the sizzle grow even more.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Not that this should be the biggest factor, but I
have talked with a few former players who have given
been Jared Calhoun their seal of approval, which.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
Is not insignificant.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Always good.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
You know, Wes did a great job of kind of
building bridges to the alums as well as somebody that
played at North Carolina possibly could. So Jared has an
advantage in that he was an assistant here for one
year and worked for Bob Huggins for many years, so
that will help with those bridges. But good to know
that the guys that you've talked to are already on
board if he turns out to be the guy.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Weird that I have no Big twelve teams in the
final four.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Who do you have instead of Michigan?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I have, well, Michigpig twelve like you said you don't
have Arizona, I don't Houston.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
I have both, do you I do?
Speaker 1 (06:40):
I want Houston.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We've talked, we talked a year ago. No, yeah, I don't.
But yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
We sat here, we sat here at this time last year,
and I made a great case for why Houston had
no chance, right and then you know they were one
Emmanual sharp gaff from winning the National Championship.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
So it shows you. I know. I do think.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
Home court advantage essentially in the sweet sixteen and the
Elite eight will help them get to the final four
this year. But I have Arizona winning at all, Okay,
And I do admit to having the having seen them
in person bias.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
This ruins my bracket every year.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
I always favor the teams that I've seen in person
that were impressive to me when I saw them, I
thought Arizona looked incredible when you see lost to them
at Arizona.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
So Arizona is my team. I think they're going to
win it all.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
But I think that is the majority of most of
the people on ESPN dot com.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
So there I am thinking, just like everybody.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I wish because I didn't like the result, but I
had it was lucky enough to go on the love
it trick. See you see play Texas Tech, and I
love Christian Anderson may love how that team played. I
wish they had JT.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Topp.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, and I wish I knew that Christian Anderson was
one hundred percent so after he's straight is growing on
the glass Courtansas City, for the way, Is that a
sentence you ever thought you'd say? Yeah, I'm also coming
down from my stance of every team in the NBA
will have this in a year or two, which I
said at Kansas City that was before you know a
(08:13):
great player.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Strange is growing on it.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
And they changed the next day, so that might not
have been a great take. You know, they looked really
good that night, but then teams started to figure them
out and they didn't look as good.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
So I don't have them going very far, all right.
Iowa State, Iowa State, I have in the Elite eight.
Iowa State has long.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I mean, obviously they lost to Cincinnati, they lost to UCF.
They're capable of not being great, but when they've played well,
they played really well. They looked great against Houston in
the Big Twelve tournament. I think they're going to go
to the Elite eight. I think they're good. That gives
me three Big twelve teams in the Elite eight and
two in the Final four, and one winning the National
(08:59):
Chief Championships. So my seeing them in person bias is
really strong.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Cincinnati played TCU the last regular season game, and I
think that game was more about how poor the Bearcats played.
But TCU does play Ohio State the first game of
the tournament today.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
What do you making The horn Frogs.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Got TCU winning that game, but that's it. They were
better than I thought. Again when I saw them in person,
I thought going into that game that UC was going
to win, and then after seeing tc I'm like, Okay,
I get it now. Jamie Dixon's really good. It's a
really good offensive team. The ball pops, They've got good
inside outside balance.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
So I think TCU wins today.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
No Richie Saunders and BYU against Texas.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
Texas wins for that reason, right. You know?
Speaker 4 (09:46):
BYU won two beat two good teams after Richie Saunders
was hurt, but lost all of their other games, obviously
lost by twenty two at UC. I think if Ritchie
Saunders were still on that team, they could get to
the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 3 (10:03):
I don't think they win a game without them.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
We talk about being chalky and the sort of separation
of the elite teams, with all the talent being distributed
to teams like Michigan, Arizona, etc. It makes it more
and more difficult to forecast upsets. That's the prevailing sentiment.
Is your bracket reflective of that? I've got a few upsets.
(10:26):
So I heard Skinny on as I was driving over.
I have Akron getting to the Sweet sixteen. So that's
not a yeah, maybe they can do it. I think
they are going to do it. I think they catch
two teams that have very significant injuries Texas Tech obviously
with topping, and then Alabama after that.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
I think at less than one hundred percent, they can
beat each of those teams. So Akron is my biggest
upset pick getting to the Sweet sixteen.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
What a season.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
They lose one game in the league, they win the
MAC Tournament, nobody's talking about them because of my en.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
And the one game they lost was by two at Miami.
Is that correct? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (11:04):
So you could make the case that they were the
best team in the MAC as great as Miami is.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Would you give Miami a shot against Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Yes, I don't think they'll win, but I give them
a shot because of their three point shooting and the
fact that they did it last night. Now was a
de facto home game, which helps, but they showed that
with the lights the brightest, that a bunch of guys
could hit threes with the pressure on. Now, the defense
will be a little bit tighter against Tennessee with that
(11:34):
athleticism in that length. But anytime you've got that many
guys that can make threes, you've got a shot. So
I think they'll cover, and I think it'll be a game,
But ultimately I think Tennessee posts it out.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
Having been in.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
This market for thirty years, did you ever think you
would be not covering I guess, but around for a
Miami team that wins every game in the regular season,
it becomes the Darling and college basketball.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
That's what it was described as last night.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah, and that was accurate. No, No, I did not
see that coming. Yeah, absolutely, I mean, you know, I
was here for the Wally's Derby X Sweet sixteen runs,
so that seemed like a once in a lifetime type
of thing, and radio it's not.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
You know, maybe they do it again, But kudos to
them phenomenal season.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I watched a bunch of their games, and I feel
like I watched every game where it looked like they
were dead. Yeah, and they managed to win, which happened
like six or seven times. So what a phenomenal accomplishment.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, and I I mean last night.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I'm not a Miami fan necessarily, but in that environment,
the way they played felt like they were in control
the entire way. And you know, it didn't work out
for Travis Steel Xavier, but it's fun to watch folks
who care about XU basketball say all the nice things
they're saying about Travis because I think, you know, I
talked about Wes Miller a lot. There was a blueprint
for Wes. Yeah, you know where hold your head up high,
(12:56):
handle the exit. Well, go find a place that'll take it,
give you a shot, which I'm sure he'll get and
take it and run. And I'm hoping for Wes. You've
gotten to know very well over the last five years
that there's a similar sort of outcome as we've seen
with Travis Steele in Oxford.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
You know, I think it's very possible because I think
their ten years were very similar. You know, Travis Steel
didn't make an NCAA tournament, he was close a couple
of times. Wes didn't make an NCAA tournament. He was
fairly close a couple of times. I think he's a
good coach. I think if Jalen Haynes weren't hurt this year,
(13:33):
that in and of itself might have been enough to
get him to the NCAA tournament. If Gisel James didn't
miss the first ten games they lost four, that might
have been enough to get him to the NCAA tournament.
So I think, like Travis Steele, maybe the best is
yes yet to come.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Do you think it's.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
It's possible to win in year one where you're not
sitting here with me, in a year you're calling an
NCAA tournament game in this league? Can you get things
to say turned around? Because it wasn't like they were
that far away, But can you win instantly? You see
in this environment?
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Absolutely, I mean I think the other Miami the Hurricanes
have shown that it's possible. Horrific last year NCAA Tournament.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
This year.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Now, the ACC is not the Big twelve, but it's
a power conference. So absolutely, you know at least as
of now, Corey Evans is still the GM.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
I think he's going to stay.
Speaker 4 (14:25):
He had a multi year contract, so you know, he
is already working on potential portal guys and things like that.
Now we'll see if the new head coach wants to
maintain that relationship.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
He might have his own guy. Yeah, who knows, but.
Speaker 4 (14:40):
Yeah, it's very possible if you're willing to spend, and
they spent this year, and it is absolutely possible.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Does Jared Calhoun or whoever the coaches have to walk
into a situation where the roster is empty, do you
think some of these guys would be at least open
to staying.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Maybe because they have a little bit of time to
work on them. So the portal I think reopens April ninth,
something like.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Yeah, So whoever the.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
Next head coach is is going to have roughly a
week to work on it. So you're talking about how
much money you're able to offer them. Hopefully they had
good experiences for the guys that you would want to keep.
So yeah, I think it's possible. Now Mustafa chom by
the way he played over the final four weeks of
the season, is going to get a.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
Ton of money.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
I'm sure there are a lot of schools out there
right now that are telling his representation. You know, maybe
Cincinnati can pay you this amount, but we will so.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
We'll see, and then we have to play him. Yeah right,
maybe yeah, stays in the Big twelve. It's possible.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
I mean, would it shock you if he was at
BYU or not at all?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
No, that'd be miserable.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
But hopefully he had a great experience and UC is
able to at least come close to whatever another school
would be willing to toward.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
The end of the season. He was the guy that
I read about last summer.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
Yeah, at least offensively. Sure, offensively he was rebounding why
he was rebounding wise he was Defensively he wasn't didn't
block as many shots, wasn't as big a factor on
defense as I thought he could have been or should
have been.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
That's the next step.
Speaker 4 (16:26):
But you've got a guy that's seven to two that
averaged nearly twenty points a game for the final eight
or nine games of the year.
Speaker 3 (16:33):
That'll work.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
You've give Hi mc cronin a chance. I want to.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I've I've been two games, actually, calm one filling in
for you where Mick Cronin has coached against Dan Hurley. Now,
Mick's got a healthier team that he's had at any
point this season. Donovan Den's playing really well. I root
for Mick too. Could Nick pull off an upset? He's
got to get past UCF, which you've seen up close.
I don't like that team at all either, do Can
(16:58):
he beat Dan Hurley and Yukon?
Speaker 3 (17:00):
No?
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (17:02):
No? Uh?
Speaker 1 (17:04):
The game press conference better with Mick losing or Dan losing.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Huh uh, Well, depending on the circumstances of the game
and the officiated. Yeah, probably more entertaining with Mick right
during the game, more fun to watch Dan, yeah, bust, Yeah,
but postgame probably Mick.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Watching when Mick was still at UCE coach against Dan, well,
that was rough for those officials.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
That's hard.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, And that's when Yukon wasn't very good, right, Yeah,
you know now that they're good, he's toned.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
It down a tiny bit. Yeah. There's still about four
times a year where he's in totally.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
He out of the game against Marquette.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, so that was one of the four.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Yeah, but it used to be just about every game
for all forty minutes It's not quite that anymore, not quite.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
Can you make me feel better about watching Barrett Carter
and Demetrius Night next year?
Speaker 4 (17:59):
Still hopeful that they'll sign somebody. I know the guys
that most of us wanted are gone. I'm okay with
Bobby Wagner. Yes, I'm bine okay with Matt Mulano. If
the medical you know, check up says that he's got
a chance to play, you know, at least twelve games.
He played twelve last year. I'd be fine with either
of those guys. And I'd really be fine with Bobby Wagner.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Yeah, thirty seven years old, but still has gas in
the tank.
Speaker 3 (18:24):
I mean his.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Stats were great last year. He was PFF's number ten
line back. Fine, he had four and a half sacks.
I talked to Josh Johnson, Bengals quarterback Josh Johnson recently
about Bobby Wagner. He's said great things about Bobby Wagner.
So it sounds like Bobby wants to play. Doesn't sound
like it's going to be Washington. So yeah, I'd be
(18:47):
fine to sign up Bobby Wagner for one.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Now stoked are you about Brian Cook?
Speaker 4 (18:52):
He was the number one guy wanted them to sign,
so extremely stoked. Yeah, I think he's exactly what this
defense needed. Somebody that puts the fear of God into
wide receivers and tight ends running across the middle of
the field that has not existed for a while. I
could tackle, not only make a tackle, but punish a
(19:13):
guy right, you know, totally clean, totally illegal, but really
punish a guy, take him to the ground so that
he's slow to get up. Brian Cooks, that guy can't
wait tremendous signing. You know, he's the highest paid free
agent safety for a reason. He's a great player. I
think he's going to be perfect for this defense. And
(19:36):
if Caleb Downs is there at number ten, has to
still take him.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I still dream of watching those two guys in the
secondary together.
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Yeah, I think Caleb Downs could be your slot corner
for a year. And then you know, you don't have
to re sign Jordan Battle unless it goes so well
with the three of them playing that you would want to, right.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
All right, let me know where the steak dinner is.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Well do if you guys aren't going to pay for it,
like I think should be a like something extra for
the guy who wins.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
It pay for the booze.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, well that's no no, now.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
I remember in my mind that might be a higher task.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Oh, be careful what you say. I can't thank you.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
Time and again.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
It's your booze and not tnl's red wine. So it
probably works out, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Probably for the better. Thank you, as always.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
For doing it my pleasure. Thanks for having me on.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
You're the best.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Likewise, so great, Dan Horde. Here at the Holy Grail.
We are here till twelve noon. It's the Corus light
turny tip off twenty minutes after eleven o'clock since E
three p sixty coming up at the top of the
hour on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports station
Mo Egger News
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