SEC PREVIEW: Florida, UK preseason favs; Auburn post-Bruce; Bama and Tenn still stacked. What does the league do after its best season EVER?

Summary

Eye On College Basketball: 2025-26 SEC Preview

Podcast: Eye On College Basketball
Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander
Date: October 17, 2025
Theme: In-depth preview of the SEC conference heading into the 2025-26 college basketball season. The hosts break down the league’s top teams, key storylines, major roster changes, coaching shifts, and offer their predictions for league outcomes, awards, and NCAA tournament bids.

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Overview

This episode is a thorough preview of the 2025-26 SEC men’s basketball season, emphasizing how the league will follow up last year’s record-breaking performance. With Florida as reigning national champions and Kentucky, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Auburn all reloading, the hosts analyze contenders, coaching changes, roster rebuilds, and whether the SEC can maintain its status as the nation’s top conference. They also debate over/unders on NCAA bids, share their full order of finish, and pick their Player, Freshman, and Transfer of the Year.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Is Florida Built for a Repeat? (00:43–09:41)

• Theme: Florida enters as defending champions and a consensus top-3 preseason team, but lost its top three guards.
• Roster Changes: Lost Walter Clayton, Elijah Martin, and Will Richard; incoming transfers include Xavian Lee (Princeton), Boogie Fland (Arkansas), and A.J. Brown (Ohio).
• Preseason Ranking: #3 in the AP Poll, higher than UConn after their 2023 title.
• Main Questions: Can Florida replace elite guard play and find enough shooting? Will the return of their frontcourt (Thomas Hauk, Alex Condon, Micah Handlogten, Ruben Chinilu) be their backbone?
• Panel Split:
  • Norlander: “I’m a hater. Florida this season is not better equipped or set up to be better than UConn was the year that UConn was the most dominant national champion arguably of this century.” (02:57)
  • Parrish: “I do think this is among the most interesting teams in the country because I believe they’re legitimate back-to-back candidates... There are some real interesting questions with the roster.” (07:35)

Notable Quote:

"I need to see how the backcourt will replace the outstanding trio that we had a season ago..."
— Matt Norlander (05:54)

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2. Can the SEC Match Last Year's Historic Depth? (09:41–11:35)

• Historic 2025: SEC received 14 NCAA bids—the most ever for a conference.
• This Year’s Outlook: Hosts agree the league won’t match last year but will still be the nation’s deepest.
• Parrish: “I still think the SEC will be the best league in the country this season. I don't think it will be as dramatic as last season, but I still think it'll get more bids than anybody else.” (11:35)
• Norlander: “Biggest storyline: How close can this year’s SEC be to last year’s... Are we going to see a real run of dominance here, or will the bottom fall out?” (09:46)

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3. Kentucky’s $22 Million Roster: Contender or Financial Folly? (15:05–24:36)

• Headline: Kentucky reportedly spent $22 million on its roster, more than any football program’s title team to date.
• Roster Management: Much of the NIL money was processed before new rules on July 1, 2025.
• New-Look Team: New coach Mark Pope, key returnee Otega Oweh (preseason SEC POY), point guard Jalen Lowe, transfer Jaden Quaintance.
• Quaintance's Availability: Returning from a February ACL tear, speculated debut in the CBS Sports Classic in December.
• Title Contender: Both hosts see Kentucky as a legitimate title favorite, especially if Quaintance returns healthy.

Notable Moment (speculating on Quaintance’s return):

"December 15th... after Indiana but before St. John's so he makes his debut in the CBS Sports Classic... that's my understanding."
— Gary Parrish (22:24)

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4. Post-Bruce: Auburn’s Uncertain Projection (28:10–32:40)

• Major Topic: How will Auburn fare under first-time head coach Stephen Pearl after Bruce Pearl’s sudden resignation?
• Roster: Returns star guard To’Haad Pettiford, plus transfers Keyshawn Hall, Keyshawn Murphy, D2 standout Elijah Freeman.
• Team’s Ceiling: Both hosts drop Auburn slightly in their rankings, emphasizing it’s not a slight to Stephen Pearl but rather deference to Bruce Pearl’s established impact.
• Door Open: “Who was Brad Stevens before Brad Stevens was Brad Stevens? You never know with this stuff.” (28:34)

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5. Arkansas & the John Calipari Adventure (24:36–27:33)

• Narrative: Can John Calipari have a “normal” season at Arkansas after several up-and-down years at Kentucky?
• Roster: DJ Wagner, Carter Knox, Brazil headline a talented, more experienced team; newcomer point guard Acuff.
• Expectation: Both expect Arkansas to be solid, possibly without the typical chaos.

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6. Alabama, Tennessee, & the Contender Tier (34:52–41:16)

• Alabama: Seen as a top-3 league team; boasts a loaded backcourt and the return of Jalil Bethea—a candidate for sophomore breakout per both empirical data and host “gut feel.”
• Tennessee: Rick Barnes receives enormous trust—team features top NBA prospect Nate Ament but has significant roster turnover.
• Key Quote:

  “There is a five-star sophomore breakthrough thing that exists in college basketball. Can Bethea be that for Alabama?”
  — Gary Parrish (39:27)

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7. Dissecting the Second Tier & Bubble (43:19–54:44)

• Texas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M all bunched together—little separation, huge influence from coach reputation and transfer impact.
• Oklahoma: Norlander’s “buy-low” pick, citing key transfers Xavier Brown, Nigel Pack, and excellent continuity.
• Mississippi State: Josh Hubbard named as a potential SEC household name.

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8. Bottom of the SEC: Clear Separation (54:44–56:56)

• Consensus: Georgia (14th), LSU (15th), South Carolina (16th) in some order.
• LSU: Coach Matt McMahon on hot seat—must make NCAA Tournament or face a likely change.
• South Carolina & The Michi Johnson Saga: Player ping-ponged between Ohio State and South Carolina, perhaps the wildest transfer story in NCAA hoops.

Memorable Moment:

"Is Michi Johnson living a double life? Does this man have two families? Is he secretly working for the CIA?"
— Matt Norlander (56:11)

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Predicted SEC Standings & NCAA Bids (34:52–54:44, 62:26–65:15)

Gary Parrish’s Predicted Top 8

1. Florida
2. Kentucky
3. Alabama
4. Arkansas
5. Tennessee
6. Texas
7. Auburn
8. Ole Miss

Matt Norlander’s Predicted Top 8

1. Kentucky
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Tennessee
5. Arkansas
6. Auburn
7. Oklahoma
8. Texas

Bottom Three (Both): Georgia, LSU, South Carolina

Bubble & Parity

• Little difference between teams ranked 8–13. “You could put them in almost any order and it would be acceptable.” (46:20–47:23)
• High coach quality cited as a reason why bottom/middle teams could outperform.

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Tournament Bid Debate (62:26–65:15)

• Over/Under (NCAA bids): Set at 11.5.
  • Parrish: Takes the over—predicts 13 teams will make it (“The only teams that suck are Georgia, LSU, and South Carolina. Everybody else is good.” — 64:09)
  • Norlander: Takes the under—predicts 11.
  • Emphasize the unprecedented nature of last year's 14-bid season, skepticism it can be repeated, but consensus that the SEC will again lead nationally in bids.

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SEC Preseason Awards (66:20–70:32)

Player of the Year

• Both: Otega Oweh (Kentucky)
  • “That was easy for me. Yes.” — Parrish (66:49)

Freshman of the Year

• Parrish: Nate Ament (Tennessee)
• Norlander: Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas)

Transfer of the Year

• Parrish: Boogie Fland (Florida)
• Norlander: Jaden Quaintance (Kentucky, if healthy); if not, Jalen Lowe (Kentucky)

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Notable Quotes & Lighthearted Moments

• On Florida’s Title Defense:

  “I need to see how these guards are going to replace... the third best player in the sport at worst last season Will Richard.” — Norlander (05:54)

• On Kentucky's Spending:

  “When you’re talking about $22 million for a basketball team, you’re talking about basically nothing but millionaires—and in many cases, multimillionaires. Good for them.” — Parrish (19:29)

• On SEC Parity:

  “There’s just not much difference on paper between these teams.” — Parrish (46:20)

• On Rick Barnes:

  “Is Rick Barnes a better basketball coach in his 70s than he’s ever been?” — Parrish (41:12)

• On Michi Johnson’s Transfers:

  “Is Michi Johnson living a double life?... Is he secretly working for the CIA? I have never heard of a player ever going from place one to place two, back to place one, BACK to place two in a college career.” — Norlander (56:11)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Florida’s Outlook: 00:43–09:41
• Best SEC Ever? Encore or Regression? 09:41–11:35
• Kentucky’s $22 Million Roster: 15:05–24:36
• Jaden Quaintance Rehab & Debut Speculation: 20:40–24:36
• Arkansas/Calipari, Has the Chaos Ended?: 24:36–27:33
• Auburn Post-Bruce Pearl: 28:10–32:40
• Predicted Order of Finish, Teams 1-8: 34:52–43:19
• Bubble Teams & Parity Debate: 43:19–54:44
• LSU/South Carolina/Michi Johnson: 54:44–58:56
• Tournament Bid Predictions/Over-Under: 62:26–65:15
• Preseason Awards Picks: 66:20–70:32

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Summary Table: Top Storylines

| Storyline | Key Details | |-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------| | Florida’s Repeat Bid | Loaded frontcourt, guard turnover, skepticism about shooting, AP #3| | Kentucky’s Spending/Title Hunt | $22M NIL, new coach Pope, Oweh, potential star Quaintance | | Auburn Post-Bruce | Stephen Pearl debut, major departures, expectations tempered | | SEC’s Depth/Parity | Last year: 14 bids, this year: 11–13 predicted, high coach quality | | Backcourt Explosion | Several top guards, “short kings league” narrative | | Rick Barnes’ Renaissance | Tennessee is a perennial top-4 team under longtime coach | | Oklahoma’s Buy-Low | Norlander has them top 8, based on underrate NIL/fresh talent | | LSU Hot Seat | Matt McMahon must make NCAA or be replaced | | Wildest Transfer: Michi Johnson | Ohio State–S. Carolina ping-pong, possibly secret agent! |

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Tone & Style

• Playful, irreverent, and deeply knowledgeable. The hosts poke fun at themselves (and each other), roast media narratives, and offer well-supported yet sometimes contrarian takes. Major topics are teased with inside jokes (e.g., “You could say things these days, and they don’t...you don’t have to back them up with anything” (24:01)). They blend stats, historical context, and humor for both casual and hardcore listeners.

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a comprehensive, witty, and data-rich look at the 2025-26 SEC basketball race. From roster shake-ups and the Kentucky arms race to the unknowable variable of a conference recovering from its “best year ever,” every team is scrutinized for its upside, question marks, and how it fits into the new SEC hierarchy. Expect continued league chaos, wild storylines, and another record-setting haul of NCAA tournament bids.

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For those who crave context and sharp, entertaining debate—this episode is a must-listen for understanding every angle on the nation's most loaded basketball league.

Transcript

[Gary Parrish]

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With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download Today Foreign Gary Parrish welcome back to the CBS Sports Ion College Basketball podcast, where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and Leaky Black. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to the like button shouts to Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel. I don't. I don't know what you're doing. Let's get into it. We are here to continue our conference previews. We're previewing some of the best conferences in college basketball, and today we are turning our attention to the Southeastern Conference. They call it the SEC for short, where the reigning national champs, Ty Golden's Florida Gators, are the projected favorites. So Norlander, let's start with Florida, if you don't mind. The Gators. They lost their top three scores from last season's team. That was Walter Clayton, Elijah Martin and Will Richard. All three of those players were very good college guard. So the backcourt is going to look a lot different in Gainesville this season. But Florida did do good work in the transfer portal. They added Xavier Lee from Princeton, Boogie Flan from Arkansas and A.J. brown from Ohio. As a result of those developments and other things, Florida is third in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll, which means Florida is actually ranked higher coming off of the 2025 national championship. Then UConn was ranked coming off of the 2023 national championship, even though UConn, of course obviously went on to back to be back to back national champions by winning that 2024 NCAA tournament. So I guess this is the first question. Are you a believer? Is Florida a better candidate on paper right now to go back to back this season than UConn was on paper heading into the season in which the Huskies actually did win a second straight national title? Let's see if you're a hater or not.

[Nate Norlander]

I'm a hater. Florida this season is not better equipped or set up to be better than UConn was the year that UConn was the most dominant national champion arguably of this century. So no, I will say you got.

[Gary Parrish]

To take it up with the ap. Voters disagree with you.

[Nate Norlander]

Well AP porters, they're wrong. I don't know what to tell you. I'm a seller relative to most others with Florida this season. This is the number two storyline in the sec. Will Florida have enough to make a second straight Final Four? Will Florida have enough to go back to back? Will it be a program, a team that on a near week by week basis we are discussing as a top 10 team, a team that is consistently in the conversation to be one of the three or four best teams in the country? I do not think that will be the case with the Florida Gators this season. The way these things tend to go, UConn's back to back championships aside, is that it's very hard to do Florida of course as a program. Gators fans listening and watching know all too well what it feels like because your team did it back in the mid 2000s. I don't think we're going to get a repeat here. I do think Florida will be a top two team in the sec. I think Florida will spend plenty of time within the top 10 of the AP top 25 this season. But I I need to see how these guards are going to replace hello, the third best player in the sport at worst last season Will Richard. We see what he's practically I mean Steve Kerr is ready to give this guy a long term deal. He just got to the NBA. Elijah Martin, one of the better on ball defenders in the country. I mentioned this during our Gator summer shoot around. Again, this is just a little bit of a zag to avoid all the group think because again there will be teams that are in the preseason top 10 that don't wind up as top 10 teams in the country. I think Florida is going to be a candidate for one of those because I need to see how the backcourt will replaces the outstanding trio that we had a season ago and that front court. Yeah, the front court has the case to be the strongest in the country. Florida has the benefit of returning absolute dudes. Just, you know, Thomas Hauck might be able to make a jump to be the best player on that team and be one of the better players in the country. If not, maybe it'll be Alex Condon, Micah Handloggings back Ruben Chinliu. Those four are tremendous. Those four won't play on the court together. How they're going to play three together. I mentioned how I spoke to a coach over the summer who was very interested in Florida's roster because he thought there was a lot of potential there, but he was just kind of asking aloud, where's the shooting going to come from and when you really dive in? Florida does not have some. Some sharpshooters, some Surefire 3 point dependability. So maybe they'll get there. Xavian Lee, he's taken a big jump from the Ivy League up to the sec. And I've seen Xavian Lee play in person many times. Really interesting talent. Is he going to be able to step in and be as impactful as those guards a season ago? Boogie Flan had some really nice moments in Arkansas. His season was cut in half due to injury a season ago there. So I'm not as in on Florida as you as most AP voters. I will not have the Gators in my preseason top five when my rankings publish next week. I do think this is a very good team. I think it's going to be one of the two or three best teams in the sec, but I don't consider it to be one of the three or four most likely national title contenders. That's my projection going into the season.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, a few notes here on things you said. First off, in fairness, Steve Kerr mostly loves Will Richard because he's not Jonathan Kaminga. It's just as simple as that.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Are you John?

[Nate Norlander]

I don't care about the reasons. I just know what he's been saying about the dude.

[Gary Parrish]

This is what I was told I was until Steve Kerr met Will Richard. He was like, what's your name? He's like, will Richard. He's like, you're not Jonathan Kaminga.

[Nate Norlander]

Right?

[Gary Parrish]

And he was like, no, I'm not Jonathan coming. And he was like, cool then. I like you. I only. I only dislike Jonathan Kaminga. Right. So that's. That's.

[Nate Norlander]

That.

[Gary Parrish]

Didn't you have to spend the entire NCAA tournament last season.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

Getting yelled at by Ty golden for stuff Just like this.

[Nate Norlander]

That's true. You know, what are you doing? In all seriousness, I had forgotten about that. But this is absolutely. No. Well, it got reached the point where once Florida made the final Four golden and the entire staff were half joking, half serious, saying don't you dare pick us to win a damn game in this, in the final four for the title. And I didn't and they won. It's a good news. Florida fans. I guess in some way I'm still picking against you. If by picking against you it means I'm not just going to follow the herd and just slide in Florida to two, three or four like everyone else. Sorry, there's going to be some variants and I'm going to just fade them a little bit. That's all. But you are correct. I picked against Florida like four games around the tournament and every single time I was wrong. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

This is one of those things you'll learn as you get older. You try to learn from your mistakes and not make them again. You'll learn this as you get older.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

All right.

[Nate Norlander]

Coming from you. Right? Okay. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

In all seriousness, I, I do think this is among the most interesting teams in the country because I unlike I believe they're legitimate back to back candidates. I, you know, I don't have them preseason number one. So I'm not going to pick them. But can I see it? Absolutely. I can see it. But there are some real interesting questions with the roster. First off, you know I like the three guards that they enrolled from the transfer portal but I take last year's over these, you know, I think it's a net negative so that should be taken into account. And then you touched on it and I'd like to settle here for just a second. They've got how Condon Chinulu and they want to play them all together and they didn't really do that last season. How came off the bench and Todd is on record you know, saying that and this isn't unique stuff but like I want to have my best players on the court and having my best players on the court together probably involves me playing how Condon Chigniello together and that means how at small forward which is probably good for his, you know, NBA stuff and perhaps good for Florida. But he is going to be asked to play a different position this season and it's not like some big concern if it doesn't work because like these are smart guys and the smart staff and if it doesn't work they'll just switch it. Right. They'll Just they'll get smaller. You know you can very easily go from a starting lineup of of Xavier and Lee Boogie Flynn. How conducting J. Lou to all right, that's not working. Pick two of the frontcourt guys. Let's throw Brown in there and go back to a three guard lineup. So this is all adjustable and will be the. But I think the way they're probably going to start the season is is. Is going to be with a jumbo lineup with a 69 small forward in Hauk and I'm just interested to see like how he handles that that change in role. He's. He's maybe of high profile programs and high profile teams going to have as big of a role change as. As perhaps anybody in the country.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah, I'll be big. I think he's good enough to adjust. I don't know who's going to be the better player, Condon or Hauk. It's a good. It's a good problem to have. I think that both of those guys should be evaluated as top 25, top 30 level players in the country overall. I think Flan could enter into that conversation as well. But how all the pieces gel together. I'll be interested. It's not. By the way I mentioned the big three guards also. Denzel. Aberdeen left Florida for a bigger payday at Kentucky. We'll get to the Wildcats in just a second here. So they lose like four and Aberdeen was opportunistic last season. They. They lose a lot of impactful players on a national championship winning team. Again. I still think. I think they're going to be very good but I just need to see something. I got to see how Lee and Fland play together. It's just. It's a little bit of skepticism on are they going to be the upper crust the uppermost tier Congress of Florida for preseason ranking number three overall. Obviously hopes are high that deserve to be. You're coming off a national championship. Times are good in Gainesville. That's one of the five biggest storylines in the sec. Run down the others. I think the biggest Florida was number two. But I think the biggest one is just how close can this year's SEC be to last year's because it's not going to match it. The SEC last season was the best league in the history of college basketball. They're not going to repeat that. They're not going to put 14 teams into the tournament. That's a spoiler. We do our predictions on how many teams at the end of the preview show so we'll save our specific number for about 40 minutes from now or so, but this quite clearly, this is one of the three or four biggest storylines in the country going into November. Is gp how good can the SEC be? What will the encore look like? Are we going to have a real run of dominance here or are we going to see, you know, the teams that were in that, you know, say 11 through 14 spot? Are they just going to kind of slip significantly enough where the SEC is brought back to the pack? Does it get jumped by the Big Ten? Does it could jump by the Big 12? Or can it maintain its number one.

[Gary Parrish]

Status overall, I still think the SEC will be the best league in the country this season. I don't think it will be as dramatic as it was last season. I don't believe it'll get as many bids to the NCAA tournament as it did last season, but I still think it'll get more than anybody else. For what it's worth, I have seven SEC teams in the top 25 and one right now. Also seven big tens and then six from the big 12. But the SEC also has, you know, 13 teams in the top 40 at Torvik. For some comparison. The big ten's got 10, big 12 has eight. So 14 bids to the tournament last season. Spoiler alert. I would take the under on that, but not by much. Not by much. FanDuel's got an offer you don't want to miss this NFL season. New customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right, pick a bet, bet five bucks and if it wins, you'll unlock 300 bucks in bonus bets to use all across the app. You can build parlays, bet player props, ride the Whatever your style, fanduel has you covered. The NFL season is here. The only question is, are you ready to play? Visit FanDuel.com I that's eye to download the FanDuel app today and get started.

[Nate Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Nate Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Nate Norlander]

On Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found. Okay, we'll do the over under here and just, just a little bit storyline 3. Kentucky is a national title contender. The Lexington Herald leader Ben Roberts actually reported this week that he was told the roster is 2222 million, which obviously would be the most in the sport I remember asking if it was 20 million some months back and was pushed back on that a little bit. But whatever. Kentucky is believed to be the program that is spending the most in college basketball. It is a national title contender. I do have. We can just dive into Kentucky right here, right now. Parrish I have Kentucky winning the league. I have Kentucky placed highest in my preseason top 101 rankings. I do really, really like the roster. Is this the best team money can buy? Well, we're about to soon find that out, but Mark Pope in year one did a really, really, really good job. Eight wins over top 15 opponents, tied a record for most wins versus top 15 teams by any program in a single season in the history of NCAA Division 1. They got a three seed. They made the second weekend of the tournament. Ortega Owe is back. He's the preseason SEC player of the year and if you want maybe he's too good, like he plays for Kentucky. If you want like a true dark horse to win national player of the year, like he wouldn't be a terrible pick if Kentucky is the best team in what could be the best league again and he's the best player and Kentucky can be in that one seed conversation, like always going to be in the national player of the year conversation. But the reason why I like Kentucky so much and Kentucky being a national title contender, which it wasn't going into the season a year ago, now it is big storyline SEC and nationally is because they bring in a point guard and Jalen Lowe, who I think is going to be one of the better transfers in that league. Jaden Quaintance might be the best transfer in the league if he can return on a good timeline. We had Pope on the podcast over the summer and he seemed to be optimistic about his chances to return at some point. He wasn't going to. I tried to pin him down, but he wasn't going to give us a specific time frame. But as we've gotten closer to the start of the season, I know Kentucky fans are getting more and more optimistic that this isn't going to be a deal where Quaintance doesn't return until say the end of January. It's hopeful, it's hoped that he could be back by December. And if he does come back and he's healthy and he's fully impactful gp, that could be one of the best defensive players in the entire country. There they bring over Aberdeen, who I mentioned before, obviously a really good player and they've, they've got enough piece is coming back that I actually Think it's going to be a good blend. Not just away, but Brandon Garrison with a year under his belt. Colin Chandler is going to have a big pop. Trent Noah, I think he's going to get some real burn in addition to Cam Williams, Mohammed Diabate, he'll get some real run in the early going with Quaintance not being available to start the season there. There's just a lot here in addition to some freshmen who we'll see with Jasper Johnson, Malachi Marino, Braden Hawthorne. We'll see what those guys can do, how much they're going to actually play in the first six weeks or so of the season. But good. Good for Kentucky, good for the sec, good for college basketball. Uk, objectively a true national title contender. That's storyline three for the sec.

[Gary Parrish]

For people who are maybe wondering how did they spend $22 million on a basketball roster? My understanding is a lot of that, the bulk of that is going to be nil deals that were shoved through before July 1st. That's the way that happened. Right.

[Nate Norlander]

Overwhelming amount of that. Is that if. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

So, like, as long as the rules are the rules and who the hell knows, but like, they won't be able to do this again.

[Nate Norlander]

Theoretically. Theoretically. Although I would never put anything ever past Kentucky.

[Gary Parrish]

They'll figure it out. All right. But like, this was a lot of programs, football and basketball, shoved a lot of deals through before July 1st so that they didn't have to deal with what amounts to the clearinghouse with nil.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah. If you. And by the way, keep going. GP but it just, just popped in my head, I think the numbers. Right. Just to show you where we are for this specific season and shoving it all ahead of the house settlement coming to play. Didn't Ohio State's national championship team in football, which was a title in 25, didn't it have a 20. Hold on. Didn't it have a $20 million figure attached to it?

[Gary Parrish]

The number. If you would have asked me what was Ohio State's, I would have said 21, but it's in that range.

[Nate Norlander]

And here we are. If the, if the reported number is actual reality, you have Kentucky outspending arguably the biggest program in football. Now this year, Ohio State would be more. But you see what I'm saying, Like, it's just, it's. That's, that's how much they love their hoops at Kentucky and, and they are. They are far outpacing the rest of the sport. There are some other schools that got above 15 million. There's about six or seven of them in that territory. But Kentucky is the is the lead horse in that race.

[Gary Parrish]

And don't ever forget about the numbers. I mean, you know, a football team got a lot more people to pay than a basketball team. I mean when you're talking about 22 million for a basketball team, you're talking about basically nothing but millionaires and in many cases multimillionaires. Good for them.

[Nate Norlander]

Hey, good for more power to you kids.

[Gary Parrish]

Good for them. To me, the big question here, or at least among the when is Quentin's gonna play? Because he, he is in an awesome physical specimen. Maybe the most awesome physical specimen in college basketball. I mean 6 foot 10, 7 foot 5, wingspan jumps like crazy. Is a projected top 10 pick in the 2026 NBA draft. You know, he averaged nine points, eight rebounds last season at Arizona State before he tore his ACL. Only played in 24 games. But that that ACL tear was in February. He is rehabbed it by all accounts done everything he could possibly do to get himself. Yeah head of pace, all that stuff. But, but we do not know when he's going to be ready and that's obvious. And even when he is ready he has missed a lot of like basketball stuff.

[Nate Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

And any coach will tell you that is particularly somebody in a new program. You miss an entire off season, entire preseason, that, that, that, that matters. That's, that's not something you just skip past reckless speculation.

[Nate Norlander]

Let's just blindly guess I've got the Kentucky schedule up here. When do we think Jaden Quaintance makes his debut in a Kentucky uniform? I will say they're going to want him and hope he can be back for, for December 2nd or December5. That's North Carolina Gonzaga. I say he doesn't play in those games. I'm going this is still an aggressive return, but I'll say that he makes his debut Tuesday December 9th against North Carolina Central. That's my, that's my blind guess. I know you're up for always some good reckless speculation. GP what's your man?

[Gary Parrish]

I love reckless speculation. First off, it's just amazing. Not amazing perhaps I'm overstating it but like ACLs that you the idea that you can now tear an ACL and come back in the same calendar year, that's not something as somebody who tore his ACL in 1994.

[Nate Norlander]

Insider information here long was that recovery four years.

[Gary Parrish]

It was it. I mean I played baseball the following season but I was not the same player I, I pre acl. They were comparing Me to Juan Soto.

[Nate Norlander]

Stop.

[Gary Parrish]

Post acl. I was something less than Juan Soda. I was very mediocre baseball player pre acl. And. And even I was less than that. I. It. It. I wouldn't say a year later, I was not even close to the same. I could not move the same way at all. Now, I'm not trying to compare myself to an elite athlete, but now you can come back from this in six months. And that was not even something professional athletes thought they could do, you know, 25, 30 years ago.

[Nate Norlander]

So we'll see when he comes back. Parrish is not picking a date, by the way, so.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, yeah, here's my date. Here's my date. December 15th. Okay.

[Nate Norlander]

After Indiana, but before St. John's so he makes his debut in the CBS Sports Classic.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, that's what. That's my understanding.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay, I want to be clear.

[Gary Parrish]

That is not my understanding. I don't want. That is.

[Nate Norlander]

It's under. That's Parish's understanding.

[Gary Parrish]

That's. That will get aggregated, and it'll be like Gary Paris said, his understanding. And I'm just talking.

[Nate Norlander]

If there's any. If there's any team where it actually will get aggregated, it would be this podcast about this team and saying that is my understanding. Jaden quaintance, mark it down, 100 guaranteed returning for the CBS Sports Club.

[Gary Parrish]

So let's see if we can get it aggregated.

[Nate Norlander]

He might have just. He. He hit a little bit of. Of. Of grind city autopilot there with the. That is my understanding. All right.

[Gary Parrish]

My understanding is that it is Jaden Quaint's lifelong dream to play in the CBS Sports Classic. That's. He was dreaming about this when he was a child. He grew up watching it, and he grew up watching it. His first basketball memory is the CBS Sports Classic. And among the reasons he transferred to Arizona from Arizona State School, by the.

[Nate Norlander]

Way, to Kentucky, really is. We're in 2025. This event's, what, like, 12 years old at this point? 13 years old. Like, he very well could have. His first basketball memory could be the CBS Sports Classic.

[Gary Parrish]

My understanding was he was. He was driven home from the hospital, and they settled in front of the television and watched the CBS Sports Classic.

[Nate Norlander]

It's literally that timeline adds up. But.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, I don't know if you've been paying attention, but you could say things these days, and they don't. You don't have to back them up with anything.

[Nate Norlander]

All right. I've been on this podcast with you for 15 years. I'm well so.

[Gary Parrish]

So why did he transfer to Kentucky? Not never just one thing, but is it tied to a lifelong dream to play in the CBS Sports Classic? Yes, that was part of it. And so now it's like that's been the goal the whole time. Can I be ready for the CBS Sports Classic, Coach? I'm tired. I don't want to get back in the training room today. Do you want. What's your lifelong dream, Jaden? To. To play in the CBS Sports Classic. Okay, then let's. Let's get back in that training room again.

[Nate Norlander]

That is your understanding?

[Gary Parrish]

That's my understanding. At least that's the way I understand it.

[Nate Norlander]

Storyline 4 Can Arkansas have a normal season? Can John Caliperi just have a normal one? Or is what we saw a season ago where it was up and down for the first two and a half, three months and a lot of what we saw in the final five, six seasons with Kentucky, is that just going to be the John Caliperi experience? Arkansas preseason top 25 team. You've got them in your preseason top 25. They bring back key pieces. They probably bring back more talent than anyone in the league except for Florida, considering all the front court pieces there. Can Arkansas have a normal one gp? That's storyline number four. Your thoughts on the Hogs?

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know. When's the last time John had a normal season?

[Nate Norlander]

Let's actually look into this. The last time he had a normal season. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, I guess you gotta define normal season.

[Nate Norlander]

Let's. Let's run. Let's run through it here. Okay. Last season, not normal. 23, 24. They were a 3C. They were a good team. Got knocked out the first round by Jack Golkey.

[Gary Parrish]

Getting ruined by Jack Golke is not normal.

[Nate Norlander]

Not normal season. Before that was a six seed, completely up and down. 22, 23. Didn't make the sweet 16. Not normal. 21, 22. They were a two seed and they got upset by St. Peter's that was the Oscar Sheepway national player of the year season. I'm sorry, if you're Kentucky and you're a top seed and you're losing in the first round, not normal. Doesn't. It's a no. 20, 21. They were nine and 16. Not normal. 2019, 20, that was the COVID year. Nothing normal about that. 20, 18, 19 would be the answer. Kentucky was a two seed. It went to the Elite Eight. It won 30 games that season. That Kentucky team had. Man, let's take a trip in the time machine here. Tyler Hero And Keldon Johnson and Ashton Hagens were all freshmen on that team. P.J. washington was a sophomore. Quad A Green if you want a name that really takes you back there. Reed Travis, Nick Richards. Emmanuel Quickley was a freshman on that team. That group got beat by Auburn. Oh yeah that's right the overtime loss to Auburn and the Elite eight. Man I do remember that game. But if you want the answer that's that's really the last time Caliperi start to finish had a quote unquote normal one 20182019 we gonna see a normal one in 2526 I I think they'll be good.

[Gary Parrish]

I do not think it's going to be anything like last season. I I like bringing back D.J. wagner for another season of college basketball. Carter Knox, Brazil like they the experience and then you throw in the five star point guard and acuff. How about this I think this team will be consistently good from start through the end and if it's not then I think you really got to start wondering like where is this whole thing going because the roster to me looks like it's talented and it is experienced. I don't know it's the best roster in the country but it is talented enough and experienced enough to where you should have a good college basketball team.

[Nate Norlander]

I agree but at the same time I do think there'll be at least once or twice on this season where we hop on this show and we're just talking about things being out of sorts there just it's happened too much. So until it doesn't happen again I'm gonna say it happens but I tend to side with you storyline 5 then we'll take a break and do our league predictions here. I think it's it's a clear one that is that has come to light in the past couple of weeks. What does Auburn look like after Bruce Pearl? Stephen Pearl is now running the show. They just had an exhibition earlier this week but what are the Tigers and I won't reveal where I've got them. GP do you still have them top 25 and one I I do.

[Gary Parrish]

I have not updated it since the Bruce Pearl resignation but I will close or to the start of the season and yes I will drop Auburn from where I had them. Yeah and I know that that could be interpreted as a slight towards Stephen but I would actually like argue it the other way. I think to not adjust Auburn at all would be a slight to Bruce Pearl.

[Nate Norlander]

Correct.

[Gary Parrish]

Because if you don't move Auburn at all after Bruce Pearl stands high what you are, what you are tying yourself to is an argument that says, I don't think that, at least in my mind, likely future Naismith Memorial hall of Famer mattered. I don't think once the season started, he would have mattered any more than somebody who has quite literally never coached a Division 1 men's basketball game. And I just don't believe that that's true. It doesn't mean I don't think Stephen will or can do a good job. I mean, who was Brad Stevens before Brad Stevens was Brad Stevens? You never know with this stuff. I can give you a list of assistant coaches who I was sure when they get their shot, they're going to knock it out of the park and they got fired in four years. All right. I can also give you a list of assistant coaches where I was like, yeah, I've been around. That guy looks like a good assistant coach. That's probably where he belongs. They get a head coaching job and it's like, oh, wow, he's really good. We don't know. And so I'm not gonna have any grand predictions about how Stephen Pearl's career is going to go. The only thing I will say is that to me, it's nonsensical to think that losing Bruce Pearl as your basketball coach does not matter. Period.

[Nate Norlander]

Agreed. By the way, Bruce news this week, it was announced Thursday, he has joined CBS and Turner on Warner Brothers Discovery. He's gonna. Frankly, I felt like this was inevitable. Incoming because he did TV work when he was not coaching, but he is going to be on. He's going to be a college basketball commentator this season. Congrats to him. And we got Robbie Hummel on our team as well, which is, uh, which is great because two great hires.

[Gary Parrish]

He's a student, Bubble's great, and BP has done tv and he's. He's super famous and he's good. That's perfect. He's super famous. He's got a big personality and he's good. That's. That's all you need to do this stuff.

[Nate Norlander]

Yep. Team wise here. Let's talk over real quick before the break, since we're addressing them. Todd Pettiford's back and he can be an All American. I really did. I. I didn't know what to do with placing Auburn this year or, of course, talking. Talking about the team that a year ago I vastly undersold and was as wrong about as any of my preseason predictions in recent memory. But I did knock them a few slots down. I'm. I actually gave the staff credit. I basically, I kept them, I put them where I put them based on the idea that Pettiford will be an all American because he's the only like impactful returnee on the team. And I do think they're going to give him the keys in the green light and we'll see if that works. There's real like, if he really does hit and he's the guy, he could be as watchable as anyone, just about anyone in the sport this season. But also they do have a, like, Bruce did put together a very, very, very good staff. So I toyed with dropping them even further, but I was like, you know what? They've got Pettiford. I don't have him as high as I'd have him if Bruce. Bruce was coaching. But I actually gave them a little bit more of the benefit of the doubt and maybe a little bit of a. Make it of my whiff last season. If you're wondering some other names real quick, they got a couple of Keyshawns spelled differently. Keyshawn hall, one of the best scorers in the Big 12 last season on a, whatever US UCF team. He's there. Keyshawn Murphy from Mississippi State comes aboard. There's a, there's a D2 player named Elijah Freeman who was pretty aggressively coveted in the portal by a lot of high major teams. Well, Auburn's the team that got him, so we'll see if he can step in and be an impactful player as well. We'll figure that out. They've got some freshmen undetermined on how impactful they'll be, but one player after another after another is gone. Broom's gone. Denver Jones is gone. Chaney Johnson's gone. Chad Baker Mazara is gone. Jakai Howard's gone. Dylan Cardwell's gone. There's a lot of really good players from a 1 seed not on this team anymore. Wide variety of options that Auburn could take this first season under Stephen Pearl. I'm interested to see how that. What goes down.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I still will have them in the top 25 and 1, but I, I'll move them from where they were prior to BP's resignation. I still have them safely as an NCAA tournament team, at least on paper. And yeah, Pettiford's gonna be fun to watch because I, I assume he's gonna have the ball in his hands a lot and like could if you were having to pick a lead. I know we don't focus on this type of stuff too much, but leading score in the sec. He could be that, couldn't he?

[Nate Norlander]

He could. He's got a chance. I. I think he'll have the ball in his hand as much as maybe any player in the conference.

[Gary Parrish]

Right? All right, let's get to our predicted order of finish in the sec. I might have already tipped my hand as I describe Florida as the projected favorite. It's true. They're also mine. We'll run through the entire league. We'll do that next. First, though, let's get a word from our partners.

[Nate Norlander]

It's football season and you gotta keep up with the action. Listen in to Pushing the Pile part of CBS Sports Podcast Network with Mike Renner, Kyle Long, and now me, Jp Acosta for smart analysis of everything between the lines. With four episodes a week, Sunday night recap, film review, power tiers and weekly previews, you will know ball. Stick with us until one team lists the Lombardi download and follow Pushing the pile on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Anywhere podcasts are found. Your fantasy season doesn't end after your draft. The Fantasy Football Today podcast is going to get you through the season and to a championship. Fantasy Football Today, part of CBS Sports Podcast Network, has episodes every single day. Waiver wire, trade talk, starter sit, mailbags, and more. If you want to win your league, you need to listen to Fantasy Football Today. Download and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found.

[Gary Parrish]

Carolina basketball isn't just a program, it's a legacy. I'm John Henson and we'll be the host of Tar Heel247, a UNC basketball podcast for fans who bleed Carolina blue. Each week I'll be joined by players, coaches and insiders for real, unfiltered conversations about the team, the tradition, maybe some funny stories and everything in between. No filters, no fluff. Just hoop talk the Tar Heel way. Subscribe now to Tar Heel247@ UNC Basketball Podcast or wherever you get your podcast at. We're going to have a good time. Get ready to go. Right, Norland. A predicted order of finish in the sec. I've got Florida one, you've got Kentucky one. I'll let you take yours from there.

[Nate Norlander]

You want. I was going to have you go. You throw up yours first, but okay. Nada. Throw up my. We'll. We'll throw up mine first. I think he split this up into one top. No. Well, that's okay. Nine to 16. Okay. So nada. Let's go one to eight first. Spoilers if you're watching spoilers. Oh, there we Go. All right, top eight. Here are my top eight order in the sec, Obviously, I'll name all these off because a lot of people are listening, not watching. Kentucky first, Florida two, Alabama three, Tennessee four, Arkansas five, Auburn six, Oklahoma seven and then Texas eight. Let's talk Bama and Tennessee first here. Alabama, I've got third. They've got a tremendous backcourt. Our colleague Kyle Boone ranked Bama as the number one backcourt in the country. We talked about Pettiford coming back well to hot. Pettiford flirted with going to the draft. LeBaron Filon seriously flirted. He might have been as close to over the line while coming back than as any player in college basketball this season.

[Gary Parrish]

Do I remember correctly? Didn't he like, say he was gone and. Yeah, he said he was gone, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nate Norlander]

He said he. He said he was gone and I thought he was gone, frankly. But in, in returning, man, to me it just gives Alabama all the more reason to have yet another really, really good season. Nate Oates is just. He's run off a string of seasons here. We're just Alabama near the top of the league if not winning the league and a really, really good seed to boot. With that, they get Latrell Wrightsell back along with Aiden Holloway in the backcourt. So that's why Aiden Cherelle, a big man, returns as well for Alabama. They've got some freshmen whose roles are kind of to be determined with this, but I love the pieces that return. Jalil Bethea is a former top 10 recruit in the country. He played at Miami a season ago. Now he's involved in Tuscaloosa as well. Noah Williamson, Taylor, Bull Bowen, a couple of. Of transfers who. They're not going to make headlines, but I just. The way they play, kind of looking into this, this situation, I like. I like Bama overall. Let me just talk Tennessee, then you can take those two teams as well. Tennessee is going to have a bit of a makeover. They don't have Zakai Ziegler. They don't have Chaz Lanier who was, you know, I know he did a quick stop in, but May. Shaq's gone. One of the better defenders in the country. Igor Milicic is gone, but Felix Akpara is still there. Really good defender. JP Estrella, who I think is going to be one of the breakout players in the. In. In the conference. He's involved there. Incoming is Jacoby Gillespie from Maryland who got a nice. Got a nice check to come and play in Knoxville. And I'm Interested to see whether he or Nate Ament, who could be a top five pick in next year's draft, winds up being the leading scorer. This is a buy on Barnes deal overall. I think if I looked at this roster and it was just, you know, an average coach, I wouldn't project this team to finish top four in its conference. But Barnes's track record has been too good that I'm just going to give him, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm actually not as high on a mint as some others. I still like him but I'm like some folks like really think like he's going to wind up being the fourth pick in the draft next year. Like you've got three big ones, Boozer, Debancer and Peterson, then it's going to be a man like a firm definitive four forth. I'm not there personally yet but he is a, he is a, a really good talent. He's a tall, stretch, stretch forward, can really score. I want to see what his impact can be defensively there. I've got them just a notch behind Alabama, both in the hierarchy of college hoops GP but also within the sec. So Bama and Tennessee, do you join me? Do you have them three and four or in some order and that is that? Well, are those the top four teams in the SEC? Do we share the same top four?

[Gary Parrish]

No, I have Florida 1, Kentucky 2, Alabama at 3 then Arkansas at 4, Tennessee at 5. So I've got the two schools you mentioned, Alabama and Tennessee at 3 and 5 instead of 3 and 4. To me at Alabama, Jalipathea is the interesting piece. He was a one and done talent coming out of high school but obviously wasn't that kind of player. And I, I've made this point before like I'm a broadly speaking a believer in sophomore seasons for former five star prospects like the ones who don't want and done it into the NBA. Those guys can have real breakthrough seasons if they're back in college. And when I had Evan Mikawa on earlier in the off season like you know, he, I asked him specifically about that. I was like it's just something I've always noticed and thought but I'll have data to support it. Do you have data to support it? He was like yes, that's a real thing. There is a, a five star sophomore breakthrough thing that exists in college basketball. Can Bethea to be that? I don't know but if he is then that puts Alabama in a great spot. Obviously I, I think I'VE made a lot of these same points last year about Aaron Bradshaw going to Ohio State after one year at Kentucky, and that didn't really work out in my favor. So we'll see. Yeah, can. Can add some credence to my theory backed up by [e-mail] with Tennessee. I like Nate. I meant I don't like it when people just throw him in there with the other three freshmen. Like, to me, there's a top. There's a clear top three. And then if you want to start figuring out who's the fourth best freshman, you can start that list with him. But I, I don't know that he belongs in the Peterson boozer to Banza conversation. Although I have noticed some people have put him there. Rick Barnes. Just something you said put this thought in my head. You said this is mostly just I believe in Rick Barnes. Vote. Yeah, I was reading our buddy Jeff Borzella like hot seat list that he published earlier in the week.

[Nate Norlander]

I missed that. He did not put. I'm presuming he did not put Rick Barnes on a hot seat.

[Gary Parrish]

No, there was just a part in there about like, you know, retirement stuff and in the 70s and you know, that's always going to be there. But Borzello wrote something along the lines of Barnes, who may be, you know, doing the best job he's ever done or who may be at the peak of his coaching powers. Here's my point. Is Rick Barnes a better basketball coach in his 70s than he's ever been or has he thought of that way?

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah, I think that's probably true. I think that's.

[Gary Parrish]

Which is kind of wild, isn't it? That's not how this stuff works.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah. Reputation is really good now. I, yeah. Rick Barnes, by the way, Tennessee also. I put them. You got him fifth, I've got him fourth. Splitting hairs. But I think it's either seven of the past eight or eight of the past nine years. The only exception being the COVID year, Tennessee has been in the top four of the sec. So it's just, it's just the track record year after year after year. With that one exception, they've been top four. So that's more than anything. That's why I put them top four. Four or five, what's the real big difference? But I just at least wanted to provide that data with you as well.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I just think, I think it's interesting, like the idea that you would get fired from a job, get a new job in your 60s, coach into your 70s and enhance your reputation.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

Is not really normal, but he seems to have done that at Tennessee. So that was my top five after that at six. I've got Sean Miller at Texas.

[Nate Norlander]

Dive into that. For me, that's. That's ambitious. I'm not saying it can't happen. Miller's a good coach. But you had Texas six. We talked Auburn. You got Ola State. So give me. Give me thoughts on just the remaining of your top half year. Why as high as 6 for Texas? And then I think Ole Miss today is entirely justifiable. But, yeah, you're. You're thinking of both those teams.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, some of it. Is Sean, like. I think Sean's a good basketball coach. You know, I know that everything got twisted up at Arizona, but, you know, regardless of where he's been for a long time, he has been one of the better basketball coaches in the country. And I, I think that's the reason Texas was ready to make a move and knew exactly what it was going to do. And I think this is a good marriage, for lack of a better word. And then, you know, Tramont, Mark, Jordan, Pope, they've got. The roster is good enough. Combined with what I think is above average in the SEC coaching to, to crack the top six. I've got Texas in the top 25 of one. Auburn, I slid down to seven in the SEC, still in the top 25 and one, followed by Ole Miss at eight, which I would have just outside of the top 25 and one. Mississippi State at nine, and then Missouri at 10 after that.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay, we'll get. Okay, we'll get there. We'll get there.

[Gary Parrish]

We'll get there.

[Nate Norlander]

We'll get there. Okay, I just want to do your top eight and I'll get the rest of my top eight there. Ole Miss brings back Malik Dia. That's probably their biggest name they've got in the AJ store. Jumps on board. Travis Perry from Kentucky apparently has been, like, tremendous in the lead up to the season, is going to be a really impactful player for the. For Chris Beard's team there, I think. I think Ole Miss. Yeah, you put him anywhere from 7 to 11. I think that makes sense. Texas, the Pope and Mark coming back, I think is huge for Sean Miller's program. Simeon Wilcher comes over from St. John's but they've got. I. I was a little bit lower on them overall because I just want to see how they. They blend together. If you're watching, you can see here I've got Texas 8, Auburn 6, and then we'll talk about the team that I have in my top eight that you don't. I have Oklahoma at seven. I this is one of my really buy low stocks if you will. I think Porter Moser, who to be clear had had millions to work with but I think Oklahoma was probably, probably in the bottom four in the SEC and overall nil, maybe bottom five this season. They have enough coming back like some real guys that earn some real minutes. And then Xavier Brown is my dark horse transfer that by the middle of December where he's just one of the most impactful guys in the SEC. He was a really good scorer at St. Joe's and now he comes aboard. One of the St. Joe's assistants actually came with him and joined Porter's most staff. So that was a package deal. Tay Davis from Notre Dame is a good score. Darian Reed from Alabama I think is really good heft. And then Nigel Pack who's one of the best three point shooters. Yes, Nigel Pack still in college basketball. This has got to be this guy's eighth year in this.

[Gary Parrish]

He should be a billionaire by now. He should be. He should, he should own an NBA franchise by now.

[Nate Norlander]

It's crazy. You know, it's actually very true. Unquestionably is Nigel Pack was the player who took the two year deal for 400k each year. So it was an 800k two year deal to go play at Miami. He's got a problem. He's got to be making at least double that to play one season in Oklahoma these days. So good on Nigel Pack. He's involved. He's in the mix there. I'm a big buyer on the Sooners. I've got them in my top eight. Let's transition over to nine through 16. Nada. Let's throw a parishes. Let's throw a parishes nine through 16, back half of the SEC. Let's see what, what he's got. Why don't you read off your. Why don't you read off your order?

[Gary Parrish]

So I got. I told you. Ole miss at 8, Mississippi State at 9 followed by Missouri at 10, Vanderbilt 11, Texas A M at 12, Oklahoma at 13, which I might, which I might be low on but I'll explain in a second.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Georgia at 14, LSU at 15, South Carolina at 16. What I think is interesting about the range, say let's call it from Ole Miss to Oklahoma, like every team you see in between there.

[Nate Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

You could put them in almost any order and it would, it would be acceptable. We could nitpick an order to death, but if you Go to Ken Palm. Right now the preseason computer numbers from 23 to 39. So what are we doing? 16 spots. There's seven SEC teams in that range. Yeah. Or no, eight. I think actually it's basically you get to a range from the mid-20s to the 40s, like, like mid-20s to 40. You get into a range of Ken Palm where every other team is from the sec. So they're all just bunched in there together. That's how you're going to get double digit bids to the NCAA tournament again, at least in theory. And that's why I don't think it's crazy for one person to have Oklahoma in the top seven and another person to have them outside of the top 12 or to have Mississippi State 8th or 13th to have Ole Miss 7th or 12th like it. There's just not much difference on paper between these teams.

[Nate Norlander]

So I would generally speaking agree with that. What would I. Let's. I want to go team by team here with a big picture on something on the SEC that I wanted to make a point of is be it, you know, Kentucky with away or really they got a couple of different potential options there. Florida with Boogie Fland, Tennessee potentially with Gillespie. Auburn with Pettiford, Alabama with Phylon, Mississippi State with Josh Hubbard. This conference really could be a short kings league in just a league where a lot of dudes are capable of going off for 30 on a given night.

[Gary Parrish]

The.

[Nate Norlander]

There is a, there is a ton of just awesome, awesome potential for guys in this kind that, you know, we still even have like Pop Isaacs who's at Texas A and M. You've got them 12th. There's a lot all over the board here with guys that are going to be capable of having huge, huge nights. And I think that's a lot of fun. I have, you have Mississippi State ninth. I have Mississippi State 10th. Hubbard averaged 19 points a game last season. I, I think he'll average 20 plus. Although I don't know if the, I don't know if State will, will have to have him average that much. They, they brought in Jaden Epps from Georgetown. A chore chore comes via Kansas State. I actually think that's a really good fit for Jan's system. And you've got a nine, I've got him ten you've got.

[Gary Parrish]

Hubbard is the guy who like, if Mississippi State could ever figure out a way to like stick in the top 10, he becomes like, like one of the more famous college basketball players.

[Nate Norlander]

Like he's just fun to watch unquestionably by the way, I didn't mention Darius Acuff at Arkansas. He give me another one of those guys. There's just across the board, the guard potential just tantalizing in this league. You've got Missouri 10, I've got Missouri 11. Mark Mitchell's back, Anthony Robinson, Trent Pierce are back. Missouri. I, I mentioned during the Big Ten preview I found USC to be the hardest team to peg. Actually, Missouri is not my pick. It's my team. I've got at 12, which we'll get to in a second. But Missouri wasn't easy as well. Again, it's just, you know, toss them all into a bowl here and what do you got? I have Missouri a bit lower than I thought. I was going to have them going into this whole process just because I'm not, not swooned by the transfer class. But we'll see. Gates had a great year than a bad year and, and you know, and was able to, to bounce back, you know, a season ago or whatever and we'll see what they can do. I think Gates is the long term guy there. I do, I do think that. But can they be better than they were a season ago when they were a top 20 team in the country? It's part of, that's the strength of the SEC as well. They won 22 games. I think they're going to take a little bit of a step back. I don't think the offense will be quite as good, but we've got Missouri in the same realm. You've got Vandy 11, I've got Vandy at 12. So but to be clear, big picture wise, like tiny spoiler, like I've got Vandy at 12 in the SEC, but I've got Vandy inside the top 45 of my rankings. So again, speaking to the, the strength of the conference and there are a few teams and I'll dive into some of this thinking and methodology when we actually do the episode where we talk about the top 101 list. But there are a few teams that I have in my rankings where I seriously debated just saying, you know, what effort I'm gonna try. I'm gonna, I'm gonna fling this team 15 spots higher because maybe they have the coach that's good enough to do it. And Vanderbilt. I didn't do it, but I seriously considered it. If you told me Vanderbilt was a top 30 team this season, top six in the SEC, I would not be stunned by that. Byington has a very good reputation. They brought in some good transfers, Duke, Miles From Oklahoma. I like the Frankie Collins. Like Frankie Collins. Most people know who he is played at tcu. I actually think he's a really good fit for, for Buyington system at Vandy. And he did really, really good in year one. Like really good. Way better than anyone expected him to. To do there. Tyler Nichols back Devin McLaughlin. I, I think I might be too low on Vandy. You've got him 11. I've got them at. At 12 overall. Any thoughts on those teams or if you want to segue to a. I.

[Gary Parrish]

Would just echo what you said about buying. Then you start talking to people within the sport. You know, he, he made an immediate impact when he got to Nashville. Seems like the right guy for that job and is, you know, I, whether you're talking, you know, Chris Beard incredible basketball reputation in the sport. Mark Byington is, you know, he's talked about similarly like there's. And this should be no surprise, you know, these are the schools with them with tons of money and they should have some of, if not, you know, lots of the best college basketball coaches in the country. And I think we've, we've gotten to a point where that is. That's clearly the place. I mean, that's clearly the truth. You, you start running through the roster of coaches in this league and you've got guys who have been to Final Force who could reasonably finish in the bottom quarter. Like, you know, it's loaded with coaching talent.

[Nate Norlander]

It very much. It very much is. If you're watching and not have flipped it over. This is my order. So GP and I like a few differences. There are 14, 15, 16 are the same. We'll get to that in a second. But we'll talk A and M real quick here. Bucky McMillan is now the coach there. How, how he brings over his system. To what extent fully or not. And this is a guy who has thrived off of Buckyball, which is just pressing every, every possession and getting up and down the floor and just wearing teams the hell out. Can you do that? Can you get high major players to do that? We'll see. Pop Isaacs is the biggest name. Pop is only even on this roster because Miles Suzanne decided to go back to Houston at the last minute. And so they basically had to send Pop Isaacs to a spot where he was going to be assured he'd have the ball in his hands. So they have him. They have Mackenzie and Bacco from Indiana. They have Rylan Griffin from Kansas. Here they've got Marcus Hill from NC State, Federico Federico from Texas Tech. There's, there's enough pieces where if you told me Texas A And M in 26 was like Vandy in 25, I'd believe you. I think that's on the table. But literally, Bucky has never lived outside the state of Alabama. He's now taking his first time major job. You and I are kind of on the same page. Let's just see how it goes in year one. We'll set the expectations relatively low, but even still, we don't have them 14, 15 or 16 in the league. We've got them better than that. 14 through 16. Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, we agree on that order. Overall, Georgia, Mike Whitehead got, you know, he got the Bulldogs into the tournament last year. They lose, you know, some of the brain trust on the coaching staff. They lose Asa Newell, Silas Demery, Tyron Lawrence. There's just a lot that's gone blue. Kane is back, Santo Cyril's back. Okay, so there's some good pieces there. But when I looked at the portal hall compared to the rest of the league, Paris, it was just kind of, it was hard for me to justify Georgia higher than this. And then I combine that with White's track record over the past, you know, six, seven years overall, you could prove us wrong, but you got to put someone 14th. And that's where I put UGA.

[Gary Parrish]

I, I think, I don't know if everybody, because I don't think everybody does this, but if you were ranking, it's much easier to rank the bottom three than it is the, maybe the top three in the SEC. I think mostly everybody is going to have Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, 14, 15, 16, in some order.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah, no doubt. Someone in the chat has mentioned, you know, LSU, Matt McMahon. If he doesn't approve, he's on the hot seat. He is. I, it's been explained to me that LSU needs to make the NCAA tournament or there will be a coaching change there, which is, it's a tough business, but you get paid well and you're in the SEC and you're coming off a season in which 14 teams made the tournament. The only two that didn't were South Carolina, which made it the year before in LSU, which is yet to go there under McMahon. He is under significant pressure this season to make a very big jump. I don't have them projected to do that. Dean Thomas for UNLV is probably the best transfer they're bringing in. You know, they brought in guys from uc, Davis and Portland and Northeastern and Omaha. Now there were a couple of high major players. They also brought in there, but not enough to say for sure that LSU is going to make the jump. But there's surprises every year. Maybe there'll be that. And then South Carolina, we both have last there. There's a wild situation at South Carolina. I don't think I've ever seen this before in my life. You know what I'm talking about?

[Gary Parrish]

No, go ahead.

[Nate Norlander]

What's, what's going on with Michi Johnson? He is.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, dude, I, I, I, Yes, I know.

[Nate Norlander]

This is like.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes.

[Nate Norlander]

Actually, I don't know if he's been asked it. I didn't see it, but Michi Johnson was at Ohio State from 2020 to 2022. Then he played at South Carolina from 2022 to 2024. Then he went back to Ohio State last season. So a boomerang transfer, which we see. Yeah, this is beyond boomerang. This is, this is like a ping. I'm calling it a ping pong transfer. He's now back in South Carolina. Is Michi Johnson living a double life? Does this man have two families? Is he secretly working for the CIA? I have never heard of a player ever going from place one to place two back to place one back to place two in a college career. I think this is a first in the history of college basketball. I'm entirely fascinated. What's going on with your life?

[Gary Parrish]

I hope he has a secret family. That would be fun. I think I remember Bartolo Cologne maybe having a secret family.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah, I think, I think you might be onto something there.

[Gary Parrish]

What a wild thing to have a whole other family. Man, I, by the way, sounds stressful. Who wants two families? I would just, I'd probably.

[Nate Norlander]

I don't know what's going on. I just. This is wild. And then there were different coaching staffs involved, you know, between Ohio State to a certain extent. Obviously Holtman wasn't, wasn't the coach the second time around there. But we got South Carolina last. Michi Johnson. I went and checked his bio page to see if there's anything about. No, there's nothing on it. Speaking of bio pages, by the way, before we, before we move on to predictions. Nada. Can you bring up Mr. Bing? Yeah, scroll on down. Nada. I love this. Now, this got shared on Thursday on Twitter amongst the college basketball community. So Vanderbilt has a player named Chandler Bing. Yes, Chandler Bing. And the only note that he has. Keep scrolling. Nada has never watched Friends. That's his only personal note on his biography, which is same. We've talked about this on the podcast. You've never seen Friends.

[Gary Parrish]

It's impossible not to see, if only because there is a TV in the.

[Nate Norlander]

CBS broadcast center that only airs Friends.

[Gary Parrish]

I swear to God, it is on 24 hours a day, and I have never seen anything on it other than Friends. It is a Friends. I don't know what's going on. I'm just. I don't. I. These. These things are both true. I've never seen this. This specific television not turned on. Like, it has never been turned off ever. And it has never not had Friends on the screen. I don't know what's going on there, but if Michi Johnson has a second family, it's crazy.

[Nate Norlander]

So you've seen Friends, but you've never actually sat through and ingested an episode?

[Gary Parrish]

Never watched a whole episode? I gather it's not for me. I gather it was something.

[Nate Norlander]

It was fine for its day. We've had this discussion on the pot. We don't need to rerun it.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't think it was for me.

[Nate Norlander]

I don't think season one was. Season one's genuinely good. Season two and three are solid. I think it really, like season four. I didn't ever watch the Final. I think I had nine seasons. I never watched season nine. I don't think I watched hardly any of season eight. I think I. It goes off a cliff by season four season. Season five. I will do. But in honor of Chandler Bing, the character, not necessarily the player. Although that's incredible to me that he has never watched Friends. And I need to know if just he's a normal Gen Z person who's like, no, why would I need to watch Friends? Or if. Now this is an act of defiance. This dude gets born into the world. Chandler Bing. He's in College in 2025. His parents knew what they were doing.

[Gary Parrish]

Do we know that? Can we confirm that? Do we know they knew what they were doing?

[Nate Norlander]

Come on. Come on.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, I.

[Nate Norlander]

Could this be any more obvious? They knew what they were doing with Chandler.

[Gary Parrish]

But here's the thing. I don't. If you would have asked me at some point, if you'd asked me on the day this Chandler being was born. Am I aware of a television character named Chandler being? I don't know that I would have.

[Nate Norlander]

So you figure he's born in, like, 07, 2025. He's a freshman. Yeah, 2007. Friends is off the air by that point.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, here's my thing. Abbott elementary is like this big network television show right now, right?

[Nate Norlander]

I can't tell you a single Character.

[Gary Parrish]

That's what I'm trying.

[Nate Norlander]

But Abbott elementary in 2025 is not.

[Gary Parrish]

As big as Friends. But my point is, it is possible. Like, I notice this all the time. I will watch some new television show and I'll be like, oh, now I know this person. And now I feel like I know everything about this person. But if, but this person existed. This person existed. And I had no idea they existed until I happened to turn the show on. But now I, now I see them everywhere. I'm at. That's like a real thing. I don't know. It happens to me. So I. It's not crazy to me that you could name your son Chandler Bing and not know what you were doing. We're gonna have to look into it. Pablo. No. Pablo. Can we get Pablo on this? Pablo Torres at the moment, I know he's busy, but he's gonna. This, this whole Steve Ballmer thing is gonna run his course at some point.

[Nate Norlander]

All right, back on. We're back on Belichick.

[Gary Parrish]

I know. I actually listened to that this morning. Taking the kids to school.

[Nate Norlander]

This is your, this is your friends character power rankings. Okay, this is, this is just the order. Chandler is one. Rest in peace, Matthew Perry. Chandler's one. Clearly Chandler's by far one. Although chair like, the reason why the show went downhill is like they changed who Chandler was like halfway through and then showing off cliff. Chandler's one, Joey is two, Phoebe is three, Rachel's four, Monica is five. And Ross six is too high. Ross is 73rd. But that's the, that's, that's the. That's the character order. Anyone listening that's seen the show would agree. Friends not good on rewatch either. We talked about this before. Let's get to. Let's get to our and subway tournament predictions and our. Our awards here and then we'll wrap up the show. Last season, the Sec. 14 bids. I'm going to say the over under is 11.5. Keep in mind that prior to last season, the Sec. Let me double check this in real time. Prior to that. Well, trivia time. Okay, what was the SEC's most bids in a season prior to 2025?

[Gary Parrish]

Got 14 last season before that, the highest ever was 11.

[Nate Norlander]

The highest ever was eight. The SEC never had more than eight teams in the tournament. Eleven was the record. That was done once by the biggies.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, no wonder why Greg Zanki's trying to expand his thing. His link sucked forever.

[Nate Norlander]

There you go. Clip it, aggregate it. Here we are. Okay, so that in mind again from 8 to 14.

[Gary Parrish]

Nice.

[Nate Norlander]

I'm setting the over under at 11.5, which I would argue is still too aggressive considering the history of the league. But 11.5 is the number over or under.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm soaring over.

[Nate Norlander]

Don't be sore. Soaring would be 13.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm going with 13 now.

[Nate Norlander]

13 SEC teams are not going to the tournament. You don't know that. Age horribly for you. You're.

[Gary Parrish]

How do you know?

[Nate Norlander]

I just. Because I know. They're not sending 13 teams. Go ahead, predict it. Someone clip this. We'll run it back. The SEC will not send 13 teams to the tournament in 2026. It's not happening.

[Gary Parrish]

They just sent 14.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah, I know they did. It was. It was a once in a lifetime event. But okay, sure, they're sending 13 teams. Someone please also track. I didn't. Listen. What did you do? You did the. The ACC with Boone. Did you do this with Boone? Did you. Did you predict the teams?

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay, I. I get the sense that when you actually add all of these up, Paris is going to be trying to put. You're an expansionist, aren't you? You bastard. He's going to be trying to put 82 teams into a 68 team tournament. People don't realize.

[Gary Parrish]

I want a 114 team tournament.

[Nate Norlander]

Yeah, people don't realize you got to put 68 teams in that thing. And people don't realize Paris apparently wants 82. Go ahead, 13 teams. All right, so what teams are not going in? What teams suck?

[Gary Parrish]

The only teams that suck are Georgia, LSU and South Carolina. Everybody else is good.

[Nate Norlander]

Oh, man. I'm going to go under. And I will say the SEC sends 11, which is still an outstanding, by the way, an outstanding season to send 11 teams to the tournament. I almost said 10, but I'll say they get 11 into the field in 2026. I'll probably be wrong. It'll probably be 10, but I will say 11. Paris is saying 13, which, to be clear, if last season had. If last season hadn't happened, would still shatter the record. But that's what we call recency bias.

[Gary Parrish]

There's 12 teams in the top 40 at Ken Palm from the SEC. So I'm only asking one more to get in there. And by the way, do you know who's like 58, like, way out of this? Is your Oklahoma Sooners.

[Nate Norlander]

Yep, I'm gonna be right on that. It's called not following the Herd also.

[Gary Parrish]

So on October 17th, you're already sure I'm going to be wrong. And you're going to be right.

[Nate Norlander]

That's why we do these.

[Gary Parrish]

Interesting. This is probably how we do these. This is how me too. Johnson ended up with his second family, I imagine.

[Nate Norlander]

I suppose. I suppose that's true.

[Gary Parrish]

His first family was probably sitting there every day being like, I know I'm right and I know you're wrong. He was like, you know what? I don't have to listen to this. I'll get a second family that believes in me a little bit more. I'm start a family with Cal Boone. You keep talking like this, okay? Keep talking like this.

[Nate Norlander]

I apologize for us exposing what's quite which is this the worst parish. As a. As someone who is very familiar with extortion, you'd have to agree that this, if this indeed what we're alleging irresponsibly to be true. This is just entirely true.

[Gary Parrish]

I think the main two takeaways from this SEC preview is that Michi Johnson possibly has multiple families.

[Nate Norlander]

Or could be a CIA operative. Let's give him it.

[Gary Parrish]

Could be a CIA operative.

[Nate Norlander]

Correct.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, I've been watching Task. I know how this works.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

All right. I know how this works. I think that's obviously a big takeaway. And then Jaden Clayton's growing up dreaming about playing in the CBS Sports Classic.

[Nate Norlander]

Of course.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. I just, I look for, you know, it's not often you get to be there to see a man's lifelong dream come true, but I think we both might be there when Jaden Quaint says lifelong dream comes true.

[Nate Norlander]

All right. Preseason awards, not a toss up. Parishes. Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Transfer of the Year in the sec. Let me. Let me learn it in real time here. Let's see who he's got. Ortega away. SEC Player of the Year.

[Gary Parrish]

Nate.

[Nate Norlander]

Amen. SEC Freshman of the Year. And Boogie Flan, the SEC Transfer of the Year. All right, can you at least tell.

[Gary Parrish]

Me I'll be read about some of this? Can you just like, hey, hey, gp as your co worker and friend, I think you might be.

[Nate Norlander]

I think you're going to be right about the SEC Player of the Year.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay.

[Nate Norlander]

Yep. That's the only one we agree on.

[Gary Parrish]

To me. SEC Player of the Year. That was easy for me. Yes, I think SEC Freshman of the Year. That was easy for me.

[Nate Norlander]

Not easy. Not easy. Yeah, it was easy for you. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean he's clearly the highest ranked guy and the guy that gets talked about as close to Peterson. Boozer won't have it.

[Nate Norlander]

Won't have the ball in his hands as much as my pick, though. So.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, I know where you're going. And then Boogie Flynn, like, I guess that's the best transfer. But I. I personally, I would have gone Jake and Quaintance if I knew he was going to be healthy and ready to go from the jump. If. How about this? Take away the ACL tear and I would slot Jaden Quaintness there with the ACL tear. I'm. I'll lean toward Boogie Flame.

[Nate Norlander]

All right, Nada. Let's flash mine here. Okay. I didn't realize. I didn't realize he was gonna do that. That's so funny.

[Gary Parrish]

You're gonna be right. When you get to basically seven picks, like, you're. You're like playing a scramble by yourself. You just get.

[Nate Norlander]

I love it.

[Gary Parrish]

Everything. Two approach shots at everything. Like, I'm out here fighting for my life. Just one. Just one shot. Move on. You get to. You get to take mulligans. Wow.

[Nate Norlander]

Oh, my gosh. I love this. Okay, if you're listening, here's why I'm laughing. We both have Otega away as the SEC Player of the Year. I have Darius Acuff Jr. At Arkansas being the SEC Freshman of the year. I think he is going to be awesome, and I think that he is going to be the biggest reason why Arkansas has mostly, but not entirely, a normal one. And then as for the SEC transfer of the year, what I texted. When I texted the nada was I said Jaden Quaintance if healthy, which he put in the graphic. So, so, so Jaden Quaintance if healthy, nada. If you still have time before we get out of here to change parishes to also, because he just said he would take a healthy Jaden Quaintance not knowing that this was coming. So if you have time in the next, like, 90 seconds to update parishes, he'll get this treatment as well. Quaintance is my pick. I do think he'll be back in time for the SEC slate and he will be a monster and in the process validate Kentucky as the best team in the sec, pushing to a one seed and be the best. However, if Quaintance does not return, then Jalen Lowe, running point for Kentucky, which I am predicting to be the best team in the sec. He is my pick for SEC transfer of the year. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

As long as we're updating everything, yeah, I want you to keep Otega away as the SEC player of the year, but if Thomas Hauck is awesome, I want you to say that it could be him.

[Nate Norlander]

You're Asking a lot. He's got to get photo. This might be too much, but.

[Gary Parrish]

But if there's not much of a drop off at Auburn, it could be to hot Peterford.

[Nate Norlander]

Now that you got all that, you feel free to flip on. He might not even be able to flip on the mic. He's might be scrambling like hell at the moment right now, so.

[Gary Parrish]

Indeed. But you know what? Not just while you're at it. I mean, I keep saying I don't think Nate Almond is. Is the same as the other three, but what if he is?

[Nate Norlander]

So, by the way, is it Ament?

[Gary Parrish]

I think it's a mint.

[Nate Norlander]

I meant amen. Yeah, well, listen, Pearl Jam, it's Jeff Ament, right? So if Jeff Ament, who has been on this show, by the way, if he pronounces it Amen, then I'm sorry, Nate, your last name is Amen. No matter how you want to say thank you. The basis for Pearl Jam calls an Amen. It's Amen as far as I'm concerned.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm gonna call him Nate Vetter, okay? To me, he's Nate Vetter.

[Nate Norlander]

Put that in the graphic.

[Gary Parrish]

Amit changes his name to Nate Vedder, then he could maybe be the SEC player of the year. Put that in the graphic.

[Nate Norlander]

Okay, now that you got the graphic. Ready. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And, like, throw Tremond Mark on there too. Just in case. Just in case you don't know, you know, Just. Just. You don't know.

[Nate Norlander]

I got nothing else. It's been. This has been. This has been a. A show. This has been a show. This has been a podcast.

[Gary Parrish]

I've just had to lock myself up here in the studio. I'm in a house filled with mononucleosis.

[Nate Norlander]

Oh, you're dealing with a mono situation.

[Gary Parrish]

We have a mono situation.

[Nate Norlander]

It's tough. We had.

[Gary Parrish]

That's not me. Look at me. Because I'm strong and not tired at all, okay?

[Nate Norlander]

We had a coxackie situation. You're familiar with the coxacky?

[Gary Parrish]

This is how I prove that I don't have mononucleosis. Look how strong I am. And I'm not tired at all. Do I even look sleepy? Nope.

[Nate Norlander]

Are you familiar with coxacky?

[Gary Parrish]

Have I ever had hot sake? Like, yes, like last Friday.

[Nate Norlander]

Cock sake.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, cock sake. That sounds like something wildly different. No, I've not had coxacky. What are you asking me?

[Nate Norlander]

You said you were dealing with mono. HR Our household coxacky. Hand, foot, and mouth. It was not good. How do you spell yeah, HR this.

[Gary Parrish]

Will be not a clip oh, yeah. I should not be subtracted.

[Nate Norlander]

Cox sacking.

[Gary Parrish]

I thought you had like.

[Nate Norlander]

S, A, C, K, I, E. Viral infection.

[Gary Parrish]

You need to spell it next time. All right. Because I thought you were asking something wildly different. And I was like, I don't even think I should have to answer that question. All right. But the answer is no. But I don't think I should have to answer it.

[Nate Norlander]

You're dealing with the kissing disease. Might want to get that in order. We had the. Yeah, we had a mild hand, foot and mouth situation not so long ago. That was. Was just not ideal. But we're. We're clear. We're in the.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, Good. Well, I'm happy for you and your family.

[Nate Norlander]

Not as not putting up a graphic. I think that's a show.

[Gary Parrish]

Don't forget Tremond Mark, just in case. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend.

[Nate Norlander]

Huck.

[Gary Parrish]

Laurel. Thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the I Own College Basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe Wherever you subscribe to podcasts, appreciate Apple, Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So do that. We'll talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care.

[Nate Norlander]

Paramount Podcasts.

[Gary Parrish]

Sunday, you can count on an NFL on CBS Week 7 schedule featuring divisional rivalries and must see QB beginning with the Raiders on the road against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, a late afternoon showdown with the Colts taking on the Chargers or rookie sensation Jackson Dart and the Giants meeting the Broncos. It all begins at noon Eastern with the NFL today. You can always count on Sundays with the NFL on CBS and streaming on Paramount. Plus.