2025-07-22- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

Kentucky Sports Radio Episode Summary – July 22, 2025

Hosts: Matt Jones, Ryan Drew, Shannon, and Mario
Produced by: iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 (WKRD-AM)
Duration: Hour 1
Release Date: July 22, 2025

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1. Introduction and Context

The episode begins with Matt Jones welcoming listeners to Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) on Tuesday, July 22nd. Matt shares his hectic schedule, juggling multiple shows and podcasts, highlighting his dedication to delivering comprehensive sports coverage. The team is joined by Ryan Drew, Shannon, and Mario, setting the stage for an engaging discussion.

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2. Major Discussion: Budget Allocation Between UK Basketball and Football

a. Matt Norlander's Report on Sports Budgeting
The primary focus of the episode centers on Matt Norlander's recent report, which raises concerns about the University of Kentucky's (UK) revenue-sharing model between its basketball and football programs.

• Matt Jones [04:27]:
    “What’s the revenue situation at UK? Matt Norlander reports that Kentucky is allocating $20.5 million in revenue, with $9.5 million directed towards basketball. This is significantly higher compared to other Power Four schools, which allocate around $3–3.5 million to basketball.”

b. Contradictory Claims from the University and Football Department
Matt reveals that after the report's release, he received conflicting information from various university and football department contacts, suggesting that the actual budget distribution might be more balanced.

• Matt Jones [07:56]:
    “The football side asserts that they are receiving a substantial amount, competitive with other SEC schools, directly contradicting Norlander’s findings.”

c. Hosts' Perspectives and Debate
The hosts delve into a spirited debate about the appropriate budget split, considering the implications for both programs.

• Shannon [09:06]:
    “Kentucky would want the football team to remain competitive, but it's unclear if the proposed budget aligns with SEC standards.”

• Mario [23:45]:
    “I would allocate 70% to football and 20% to basketball, ensuring football remains robust while still supporting our premier sport.”

• Drew [24:00]:
    “I stick with a 9-9 split for basketball and football, aligning with Norlander’s report for balance.”

Matt counters with his own suggestions, emphasizing the need for transparency and proper allocation to maintain competitiveness.

• Matt Jones [25:03]:
    “A 12-6 split could provide basketball the boost it needs without severely underfunding football.”

d. Listener Engagement and Opinions
Listeners call in with their own perspectives, advocating for various budget distributions. Common suggestions include:

• Caller [27:13]:
    “I support a 13.5-4.5 split, giving basketball a slight edge while keeping football competitive.”

• Caller [50:03]:
    “A 13.5-4.5 division allows basketball to excel without neglecting football’s financial needs.”

e. Implications for Competitiveness and Recruiting
The discussion highlights how budget allocations directly impact team competitiveness and recruitment efforts.

• Matt Jones [36:02]:
    “Kentucky’s football competitiveness suffers if we don’t align our budget with SEC peers. Recruiting becomes a challenge when funds are disproportionately allocated.”

• Shannon [37:05]:
    “A $12 million allocation could help develop key players and maintain a competitive edge in football.”

f. Call for Transparency from Athletic Department
The hosts unanimously agree that Mitch Barnhart, UK’s Athletic Director, needs to provide clear information on budget allocations to quell fan speculation and internal debates.

• Matt Jones [13:05]:
    “Mitch Barnhart owes the fans a clear breakdown of where the money is going. Transparency is crucial for informed discussions.”

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3. Secondary Discussion: The Best Biscuits in America

In a lighter segment, the hosts shift focus to celebrate local cuisine, highlighting a Louisville bakery recognized for its exceptional biscuits.

• Matt Jones [46:52]:
    “A Louisville location of Butcher Town Grocery Bakery has been named the sixth best biscuits in the United States. Their fluffy and delicious biscuits have lines out the door on Saturday mornings.”

• Shannon [47:32]:
    “I’ve never heard of them, but now I’m eager to try these top-rated biscuits!”

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4. Light-Hearted Banter and Listener Interactions

The episode concludes with the hosts engaging in playful conversations about personal matters, such as dealing with reading small texts and plans to visit the award-winning bakery. These moments add a personable touch to the show, fostering a connection with the audience.

• Matt Jones [44:14]:
    “I had to put on these glasses to read texts without squinting. It’s either this or get those old man lines!”

• Shannon [44:50]:
    “I’ve been texting UK baseball coach Keith Madison about getting an old jersey for our restaurant. We’re excited to display some memorabilia.”

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5. Conclusion: Emphasizing the Importance of Budget Clarity

The hosts wrap up the episode by reiterating the significance of resolving the budget allocation debate for the future success of UK’s sports programs. They call on the athletic department to provide clear, transparent information to help fans make informed opinions and support their teams effectively.

• Matt Jones [28:05]:
    “Football is your budget’s backbone. If you don’t prioritize it correctly, the entire athletic department’s finances could suffer.”

• Shannon [37:19]:
    “Developing star players should be a priority, but we need to spend wisely within our budget constraints.”

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Notable Quotes

• Matt Jones [04:27]:
    “At Kentucky, of the $20.5 million they get to rev share, they're going to spend nine and a half on basketball. Now the other schools, the number is supposed to be like three to three and a half which would mean Kentucky is spending triple what any other of the power four schools are spending.”

• Mario [24:00]:
    “I'm doing 70%, 20%. So it'd be... 4 million for basketball.”

• Shannon [23:25]:
    “I'm probably going, like, somewhere around 12 and 6.”

• Matt Jones [13:05]:
    “Mitch Barnhart owes people the explanation. Do you think Mitch Barnhart and this athletic department should tell the fans where the money's going?”

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Conclusion

This episode of Kentucky Sports Radio delves deep into the critical issue of budget allocation between basketball and football programs at the University of Kentucky. Through insightful discussions, listener interactions, and expert analysis, the hosts underscore the need for transparency and strategic financial planning to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of UK’s athletic programs.

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Transcript

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[Matt Jones]

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Matt Jones]

KC Rocket July 10th through the 12th, then catch Lexington first timer Marcus D.

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[Drew]

This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.

[Matt Jones]

Welcome everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. Tuesday, July 22nd. I'm Matt Jones here with the full house. We got Ryan Drew, we got Shannon. Mario is roaming around with his phone ready to do his thing. You can give us a shout on the Clark's puppet shop phone line. That's 859-280-2287. Avision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254. In this dish and sponsored by the TJ Smith Law Office. You call TJ, he'll make them pay. I'm on day two of my four day marathon of yapping, doing the show in the morning, ESPN at night and then taping a couple of podcasts during the day. So a lot of talking. Very excited. Last night when the show was about to start, Ryan found out. Big Dallas Cowboy story. That's what I wanted, you know. You know, when you go on national radio, let's talk more about the Cowboys. Got to do that last night.

[Shannon]

Well, yeah, you guys don't talk enough about Dak Prescott and the Cowboys.

[Matt Jones]

This was Jerry Jones said that Micah Parsons could just get in a car wreck. He was like, well, why should we give him a contract? What if he gets in a car wreck? And I thought, why speak that into existence?

[Drew]

And when that happens, who do you think is going to be suspect number one?

[Matt Jones]

I think that's probably tr. So we got to do that. And then you also had the Bengals. Those, the two big topics were him and then the Bengals owner saying that I guess their first round pick, he didn't want to sign him with. He wanted to make sure he didn't get into, quote, any foolishness. Which is exactly what a 90 year old man would say. Don't you get into any foolishness.

[Mario]

They want to pay him if they get in trouble.

[Matt Jones]

Yes, don't go. But I like that he used the word foolishness because that's. Yeah, that's really something. An old person says, don't you go out there getting into any foolishness.

[Shannon]

I don't know the last time I've even heard somebody use that word.

[Matt Jones]

I think my grandparents use the word foolishness. They would say, you know, anytime you're out at night, after 10pm it's just a bunch of foolishness. And so they didn't. So, you know, those were the two big topics last night. It was, it was fun.

[Mario]

And you had to stretch those two topics into how many hours?

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I just ended up talking about other things. I mean, if you haven't listened to Myron and I on Sunday mornings and now we're on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday this week from 7 to 10. It's just KSR but me and Myron and a little less TBT and a little more everything else.

[Mario]

A little more Jerry Jones.

[Matt Jones]

A little more because I just, I can't talk about that stuff. So we end up talking about other things. And you know, I fully transferred ESPN into. I'm just going to talk about whatever I going to talk about.

[Mario]

Well, we're currently living it. I, if we had to keep talking about it. I have already hit my max with the Bingles owner and Jerry Jones, Micah.

[Matt Jones]

And then they have three more segments of this.

[Mario]

I think there's another hour 45 to go.

[Matt Jones]

So. So. Yeah. Well, all right. So I think the biggest story in UK land today is is this whole question of, of the revenue situation. Right. So let's go through the, let's go through the little, the timeline. We'll start with the Matt Norlander comes out yesterday. He has been at the Peach Jam, which is where it's not just now a recruit thing. It's where all the coaches get together and it's where these people find out gossip. Right. I'm always interested when the national reporters go to the Peach Jam, what they say after because they usually find out a lot of important stuff. And Matt Norlander writes, he's talking about how and if you've been listening to the show, Ryan, we've been talking about this for a while. The Big east could spend all their money on basketball. And the coaches in the other conferences are worried.

[Shannon]

That's right.

[Matt Jones]

They don't have basically they're worried that Villanova, Yukon, St. John's are gonna just have so much bigger Rev Share budgets. And they said that this past year it wasn't a big deal because all these people put their nil money in before the, before the Rev share started. But it'll be a big deal next year.

[Shannon]

Sure.

[Matt Jones]

And in the course of the article he throws in though. Well, except Kentucky because at Kentucky, of the $20.5 million they get to rev share, they're going to spend nine and a half on basketball. Now the other schools, the number is supposed to be like three to three and a half which would mean Kentucky is spindling triple what any other of the power four schools are spending. Well, that's a pretty amazing number in part because it would ensure that Kentucky basketball has Shannon any player they would want.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

But then price the implication on football is that the football team would have five to six million dollars less than every other SEC school, which would be. It would make being good at football even harder than it is now. So that was Matt Norlander's report. Later in the night, I started getting calls from people associated with the university and football. I was on espn, so I couldn't take these calls. But, you know, when you start to see certain names pop up, it's like, okay, there's a message.

[Shannon]

They got something to tell you.

[Matt Jones]

They got something they need me to. But so I, you know, I'm sitting here talking about Jerry Jones and foolishness, and during the commercial breaks going, well, should I call these people? And then finally I did. And then I was told by a number of different people that that report is not 100% accurate, that football is getting a substantial amount of money and is getting. I was told the language was competitive with the other schools in the sec. So I don't really know how to read that. Matt Norlander is almost never wrong. He texted me later in the night when he saw my tweet and was like, hey, man, I'm just telling you what everybody said, and I've confirmed it with a lot of people. So Norlander is basically saying basketball and UK people are saying this. I spoke to football and UK people saying the opposite. So I don't really know what to believe. I really don't know what to believe. And I'm not sure what's accurate, but one of them can't be true. So what do you make of it?

[Shannon]

It's interesting to hear your angle the story because I came in thinking that Matt Norlander's report was probably pretty close to being accurate.

[Matt Jones]

Did you not read my tweet?

[Shannon]

No.

[Matt Jones]

Why not?

[Shannon]

I didn't know.

[Matt Jones]

Well, Shannon, he doesn't read my tweets. You don't want to before the show?

[Drew]

Like a lot?

[Matt Jones]

I don't tweet that much. I think I probably have sent two tweets yesterday.

[Drew]

Mr. Pectacular, I can't keep listen to.

[Matt Jones]

You say, I do not tweet nearly as much as Mr. Pectacular. He is a lot more.

[Shannon]

I don't know.

[Matt Jones]

He's a lot more tweet tacular than I am. Okay, but now that you've heard that.

[Shannon]

I think Kentucky would want to have the football team be competitive, but I don't think it's going to be near what the other SEC football schools are going to get. So I still think basketball gets a.

[Matt Jones]

Proportionately larger share three times more than the others.

[Shannon]

That's a big number. That's a big number, Maybe double.

[Matt Jones]

But if it were the case that basketball was going to get so much more Drew, wouldn't the football people be up in arms?

[Mario]

That's my thing. I find it hard to believe. I think Kentucky will give a little more than most SEC schools than they should. But the number Norlander put out was way too high. Like basketball doesn't even need that much for one. And then I feel like in the last six months, Stoops has been talking about how he and Mitch are on good terms and he feels like he's starting to get the support he wants. If he was getting the percentage that Norlander put out, Stoops would not have been so happy about his status here lately. He would have been on fire at media days of basketball was getting three times what it is everywhere else.

[Matt Jones]

I could just tell you that privately, when the football program has felt disrespected or felt like they weren't getting their fair share, they may not say it publicly, but they're blowing me up private. Yeah, okay. Like I'm hearing privately. I can't say this publicly, but okay, this was the opposite. This was almost saying, I don't know, whatever, what everybody's talking about. So, I mean, Matt, I know Matt Norlander, he would not make that up somebody. So I'm sure the basketball people or the university people that he talked to are saying that. But I also know what the football people are talking about, which gets me to my point. Mitch Barnhart needs to tell people I'm a. So when they went to this private, you know, the athletic department is now this private entity.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Jones]

When I, a member of the university, called me when that happens and explained it to me. And then I asked them one question at the end. Are you all going to comply with the rules that require you to release public information? Are you doing this basically to make it to where the public doesn't know where their money's going? And they said to me flat out, no, we will still release the same things we always released. Okay, I'll take them at their word. But don't you think Mitch Barnhart and this athletic department should tell the fans where the money's going? Don't you think we should know what percentage of our money is going to basketball is going to, football is going to women's basketball, etc. Don't you think that's something people should know? Like, we have two completely conflicting reports here.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Do you think Mitch Barnhart should tell people what the university is focused on.

[Shannon]

I do. I'm in the. I'm in that boat that I think he should. And I think he'll. He'll be fair. I mean, there's one thing I think he's known for is he's going to be fair to his program.

[Matt Jones]

But don't. But. But fairs in the eye of the beholder. We will have callers who will say, sure, give UK football the same amount of money Alabama and Georgia gets. We will have people like Shannon who will say, give it to basketball.

[Drew]

I think my number was 9 million when we talked about that in Somerset at the Virginia, if you remember.

[Matt Jones]

Fear is in the eye, the beholder.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Don't you think Mitch Barnhart, though, owes people the explanation, Drew, of what is true?

[Mario]

Oh, absolutely. That's the whole takeaway from all of this, because yesterday people are fighting on the Internet when we don't even know what's accurate. Like fans defending football, fans defending basketball. We really don't even know the true story. That's why Barnhart, at least he's say this is what it is, and then let fans decide.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, right now, Barnhart's only said it'll be flexible. Well, flexible is a good way to say it could be anything, right? Like, I mean, flexible is the. Flexible is the least meaningful word in the, in the English language when it comes to this, because flexible could mean $20 million to basketball or zero.

[Mario]

Well, the timing is good because a week from Friday's media day football, and he hasn't done it a while, but most times he opens media day with his own press conference.

[Matt Jones]

Usually.

[Mario]

Yeah. This year, I think especially with this happening right now, a week before media.

[Matt Jones]

Day, he's got to say.

[Mario]

He has to say. Maybe they don't even know yet, but say this is the way we're leaning. This is the direct.

[Matt Jones]

Well, they have to know because they're paying these rosters.

[Mario]

They do know.

[Matt Jones]

They should. I think it's. I think it's fair to go, hey, we're about to start a season. What? I don't necessarily think the general public needs to know what each player is being paid. Okay. I don't know if that's good, but I strongly believe. And you should be recording this, Mario. I strongly believe.

[Shannon]

Wait a minute. Hold on.

[Matt Jones]

Give me a second. Turn it on. Of all the times to stop, why did you stop right there?

[Drew]

Hey, Matt, what do you strongly believe?

[Matt Jones]

I strongly believe that he should say what goes to each program. It is the case that, like 10% is going to go to like women's basketball, slash baseball. So let's assume $2.6 million is going okay. That means there's $18 million left between football and men's basketball. Mitch Barnhart should be telling people where that money is going, and I think it would be interesting to see where the fans think it should go. 7 7-277-45254. What should go to basketball? What? Let's assume it's $18 million, because I'm pretty sure 10% is going to go to baseball, women's basketball, et cetera. So throw that 10, 2. 18 million bucks. Which. What goes to what? You got Matt Norlander saying we're going nine and nine.

[Shannon]

Yeah, right.

[Matt Jones]

That I haven't got numbers. But the football people are saying we're going to be competitive with the SEC, which is like 15 and 3. So which is it? That's a big difference. That's the difference between having the best basketball team in the country and having a football team that cannot compete. What are you going to do? Mitch should tell us. I don't think there's. Do you. Is there any reason to hide that number?

[Mario]

No, not at all.

[Shannon]

Especially when football is your money maker, your budget maker, depends on what you bring in for football.

[Matt Jones]

And just so you know, the other SEC schools have acknowledged, not publicly, but kind of privately, we're doing the 15 and three. Yeah, right.

[Mario]

Yeah. Like, everybody's.

[Matt Jones]

Everybody's kind of agreed 15 and 30.

[Shannon]

So when you. When your people were telling you that they were going to be competitive, like how.

[Matt Jones]

They did not say 15 and 3, but I. They said, I don't know where people are getting the 9 and 9. That's not even close to accurate.

[Mario]

And that seems pretty outrageous if they were to go that route.

[Drew]

Do you think that maybe Mitch feels like if he does put these numbers out, which I think he should, but do you think maybe he's thinking, well, I'm just going to divide this fan base. I'm going to have football fans hating me.

[Matt Jones]

Well, guess what? Get over it like that you're being a leader does not mean you're always going to be popular. When you make your leadership decisions only to be popular, you know, you're going to get criticism. But I'll tell you this. I'd much prefer him to get up and say, it's going to be 14 and four, it's going to be 13 and what at five and explain why and let people know. The worst position is to have it where fans are arguing, like Drew said, and don't even know the correct information.

[Mario]

Yeah, and as fans, we need to be able to set our expectations. The football team wins six games, but I don't know if they had 2 million or 12 million. There's a pretty big difference.

[Matt Jones]

It's actually not fair to Mark Stoops if he's getting half the money for people for people to not know that.

[Shannon]

Competing against schools that are against competing.

[Matt Jones]

Against schools that have 6 to 8 million more dollars. People should know that. And by the way, if Mark Pope's getting three times as much money as the teams in the sec, Shannon, we should know that, right?

[Drew]

As a national team better be winning some games.

[Matt Jones]

So I think that they should know 859-280-2287 how would you split the money? Text machine is 772-774-5254 we'll take a break. Be right back.

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[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Drew]

Oh yeah, I see that.

[Matt Jones]

So like it's really, it's really only for my phone cuz like if I'm going to look at these texts I, I noticed I was squinting a lot and I don't want to get those old man lines.

[Drew]

Are you going to do like the old man thing like where you push them down to the bottom of your nose?

[Matt Jones]

Well, we were at the horse track here at the horse track for the, for the oaks and I had, I had them on and my friend Tall was like look at old man Matt. Because I did have him on my nose. Like.

[Mario]

You can hang them around your neck.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I can't do that. But so I do. I have to. I put these on. It was. It's either that or, like, get, like old man lines, squinting. So I had. I have to put these on. One person writes, matt, there you go again. Tried to cause trouble in the athletic department. Why don't you give Barnhart time to address the issues? That's become a big thing recently. People saying about leadership. Give them time. Well, how much time do you get? I mean, the season's about to start, Right. So I. I mean, I'll give him till next week, but next Friday he should get asked. And if he gets out there and says it'll be flexible. Flexible is a good way to not answer the question. The question is, what is the amount of money? And I'm fine if they say, well, we don't want to give all the specifics, but we are in line with, you know, I'm okay with that. But, like, there's a big difference between 9 and 9 and 15 and 3. Yeah, there's a big difference. So my question to you before we go to the phones, because we got people on, is, let's just assume it's $20.6 million. 2.6 is going to baseball and women's basketball. I think that's. I think that pretty much everyone in sports has agreed to that. Okay. Because they want. Some schools are given baseball a little bit more, but they've all agreed you can't give women's basketball, women's sports, nothing. True. And you have to have a baseball team. So let's just assume that's there. 18 million bucks. You're in charge of the athletic department. Not. Not asking to be goofy. Be real. Which are you? What are you given to each program? Ryan, you go first.

[Shannon]

I'm probably going, like, somewhere around 12 and 6.

[Matt Jones]

12 and 6 now. So that would be 3 million less than the rest of the SEC in football and double the rest of the SEC in basketball.

[Shannon]

I think that's what. I think most of our fans want to see our basketball program get to that level, be the elite. Unless I think 12 main still were competitive with the other schools in the SEC.

[Matt Jones]

12 and 6.

[Shannon]

12 and 6.

[Matt Jones]

All right. What about you?

[Mario]

I am doing 70%, 20%. So it'd be. Was that 4 million for basketball? 4 ish. 4 to 5 ish. Low over 4.

[Matt Jones]

70 and 20. Oh, I see. 70 point. Got you.

[Mario]

Football gets 70% of the pie.

[Matt Jones]

You're doing 14 and 4?

[Mario]

Yeah, a little over 4.

[Matt Jones]

Mario, come on up here. What are you doing now? Getting on the mic. I'm gonna go. Let's see.

[Mario]

I'll probably go like 80 basketball and then the rest football.

[Matt Jones]

So you're going what, like 80%? Wait a minute, 80% basketball?

[Mario]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

To get all the money? Yeah. So you're going like, 14? 14, four. Basketball. Football only gets $4 million. That's what I'm gonna. I mean, you're gonna put, like, a Mac team on the field.

[Mario]

He wants to unplug Krogerfield forever.

[Matt Jones]

Are you. Are you serious about that? I'm serious. So you want 14. So, like, you're just saying, I want the best basketball team on earth and the football team. Who cares? Yes. Okay. All right. Well, that's. That's an opinion. Shannon, what about yours?

[Drew]

Yep. I'm sticking with my number that I had a couple of months ago when we had this conversation. I said 9 million for the basketball team, 9 for the football team. If you remember, most people agreed with me. Who were.

[Matt Jones]

You want to be on? You want Norlander's report to be true?

[Drew]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Matt Jones]

All right. I'm going 12 and a half. 12 and a half. 5 and a half. I'd like to have enough that we can get whatever basketball player we want. But I don't think you need nine for basketball. You don't.

[Mario]

You want to be paying your eighth guy 2 million?

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. I mean, I don't think we need. So I'm going to say, and then football at 12 and a half, it'll be almost like the Tampa Bay Rays. Like, they can't spend as much as the Dodgers, but if they're smart, they can make the World Series?

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

So I would say that that's me.

[Drew]

I don't think my 9 million is right, though, because if you see how grateful Mark Stoops is, he wouldn't be grateful if he's only getting 9 million. So I think, obviously my number is.

[Matt Jones]

Wrong, but that's what you would. Yes.

[Drew]

Yes. Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

All right, let's go to Adam. Go ahead, Adam. What would you do, Matt?

[Caller]

I would go pretty close to here. I was thinking 70, 30. You know, you're not really doubling everybody's budget for basketball, but you still got a lot there for football. And that had a question of, you know, I like the idea of putting more to basketball than everybody else, but isn't there a sense of, like, now you're the New York Yankees. If you spend more than everybody else, if you spend double more than everybody else.

[Matt Jones]

That, yes, you know, there, you better win.

[Shannon]

You better win.

[Matt Jones]

You're exactly right. And. But that, I mean, I would argue and I appreciate the call. That's been the expectation of UK basketball my whole life. The expectation is we put more into the program. We have more fans that go. We care more. At some points in our history, we've cheated more. Like, I mean, like there is. I think that expectation has always been on Kentucky.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

So, you know, and every year they.

[Shannon]

Expect to get another ban.

[Matt Jones]

That's the expectation. And while in basketball, that will be a very big expectation. In football, we can be the plucky underdog. We can be the people like Vanderbilt that when we win a big game, it's like, well, they don't spend as much as everybody. It's even more impressive that they win.

[Mario]

That's why it's so important. People need to know. If I know my team won in Starkville with one hand behind their back because they had half the budget of the team they're playing that win, even though it's not a Georgia or Texas, that's going to mean a lot more to me.

[Matt Jones]

If I know. That's why people should know. Now I know somebody who's going to disagree, which is Jerry. So go ahead, Jerry. Oh, yeah.

[Caller]

I'm at 15 and 3.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Caller]

And here's. I mean, outside the fact I like football better.

[Matt Jones]

Better.

[Caller]

We'll set that aside. How are you gonna pay your bills, Matt, if. Because what they're talking about doing is a surefire way to be playing the SEC again with a Mac roster and getting killed.

[Matt Jones]

And then people don't come.

[Caller]

Football fans.

[Matt Jones]

And then people don't come. And you. That's a fair point. Fair point.

[Caller]

And UK football fans, once again, four years, the administration has taken advantage of the fact that UK football fans have been very low and filled that stadium for terrible football. I don't think that's going to happen again. I think that if they do this, that how are you going to pay your bills of 20 or 30,000 people in that stadium?

[Matt Jones]

That is. Appreciate the call. And that is. That's why you can't do Mario's position. Because if people don't come, football pays for everything else.

[Shannon]

Football is your budget.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, there is Jerry, while we've. He's frustrated us at some point in the last couple weeks, he's not wrong about. No. If you put a team out there that's uncompetitive, that will hurt your budget overall. So that's why this is such a balancing act, but it's also why I would say Mitch Barnhart. You have to tell people what's happening. You have to know. So at least this debate can be informed with actual numbers. 859-280-2287. Let us know. We got other stuff to get to as well, but I think this is the most important thing for the future of UK Sports is this conversation. TJ Smith, personal injury attorney. Call tj. He'll make him pay.

[Drew]

Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

[Matt Jones]

Welcome back. TY Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. Folks on the text machine, given their numbers, I think a lot of them kind of come to where mine and Drew's are. That kind of 13 and 5. Although there are some Shannon 9 and nines. Mario doesn't have a lot of people agreeing with his that I've seen yet. But one person writes, matt, why don't you make your phone font size larger so you don't have to squint? I don't like that because I don't. When you see other people's phone with the big thing, you can read their text messages. And I don't want people reading everything like, you know, you see older people, like, you got these big, huge words. It feels like you know what's in their lives. Right.

[Mario]

And that's just, that's taking another leap farther in life. Like glasses. Okay. That's one chapter. You've moved on, but it's not that far into the book. When you're like, recently I pulled out my phone to look at a menu at a restaurant.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Mario]

I thought, oh, no, I've reached that age. That's still a small step. Glass is the next step. But if you're doing the large font, you've tapped out.

[Drew]

You're one step away from Braille at that point.

[Matt Jones]

You can't, you can't do that. One person says, matt, you're not going to stay young forever. Reading glasses are in your future. It is tough to like, though. When I went to the drugstore and bought the. What was it? Plus one. And I looked, though, but there was like, plus 1.5, plus 2, plus 2.5. And I was like, well, I'm not there yet. I'm just at plus one.

[Shannon]

I'm at the baby.

[Mario]

Very scientific way to find out your prescription.

[Matt Jones]

I didn't realize, though, that you could. I mean, I didn't realize at the drugstore. You know, you go to the. I get contacts and Stuff. And you go and you get a very specific prescription. And then all of a sudden, they're just like. Just get a plus one.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Mario]

And they're out there with the candy. Like, I'm. When you're checking.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. It's only like 20 bucks for plus one to one person says, Matt, I saw you at lunch yesterday with my wife and saw your glasses. It threw me off a little bit. But my one to tell you, my wife said you look good in glasses. Well, that's very nice of your wife. I was eating the hamburger.

[Drew]

Did you have. Did you have a plus one for lunch or was it just you?

[Matt Jones]

That's. That's the problem is right now, my only plus one at lunch or my glasses. 859-280-2287. One person writes, Matt, what if we just put it on football and got good at every sport but football? I know that wouldn't work from a budget standpoint, but do you think our fans would be cool if we were good at baseball, women's basketball, men's basketball, but just not football but football?

[Mario]

The whole country. The whole country in the conference care about football sticking out your chest. I mean, I love those sports, but sticking out our chest saying, we're winning all those when everyone else is competing in football? I don't know if that's where you want to be as a fan.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I don't know. I don't think you can do that.

[Shannon]

Can't.

[Matt Jones]

Also, I do think whenever they say what these numbers are, it'll have an effect on how we get coaches in the future.

[Shannon]

Oh, yes, it does.

[Matt Jones]

Because you think a coach is going to come here if he knows he's always going to be playing with one hand behind his back, you know, so.

[Shannon]

There was that conspiracy theory going around that one of the reasons Vince left, because he knew this was coming and he wasn't, football wasn't gonna get a lot of money, so he bolted.

[Matt Jones]

Plausible. I don't think that's why he left. But I think if you were making the argument for why Louisville could be in a better position going forward. But the problem for Louisville and schools in the ACC is they better change something to even have the $20.6 million to give away. A lot of schools are not going to have that.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Matt Jones]

Kentucky's gonna have it. There are schools out there that are going to struggle to have that $20.6 million. I'm not sure if Louisville's gonna be one of them. We gotta see how stuff develops. But if this had started four Years ago, when Kenny Payne and Steve Cragthorpe were here, then I think Louisville would have had a hard time coming up with that $20.6 million.

[Mario]

On the thing about hires and them looking at where budgets are, it's quote, mitch, it is fluid. They can slide it a little bit. And I had this thought of, we all agree Pope will be here longer than Stoops. Whatever Stoops, his time's left. Will there be a time where, like, we have this big fish Pope, we got to just slide a little more to football to get it done. And maybe Pope will just have to take one for the team there and help out on making a big hire.

[Matt Jones]

Well, and the other part of Norlander's article was, we don't know how much people are going to cheat. Right? I mean, Norlander was like, there's still this belief that the collectives are still going to do what the collectives do. One of the things we've seen is that our collective is crushing it on the basketball side, which I'll say this about John, about Mark Pope, John Caliper. Everybody can have their beliefs on who has the more exciting style play, who gets the players you want, who will have the most success. Here's a fact. It's indisputable. You cannot argue with it. It's a fact. If we had still been rolling with Calipari in this new era, we'd be in trouble because the collectives with Calipari were raising no money. None. People were out on it. And if we were trying to go into this new era with the excitement we had with Cal, we'd have no shot. Now, could we still get high school guys? Hopefully. But remember, they launched the La Familia Collective and it raised like, $31. It's still up.

[Mario]

It's pretty embarrassing. Just if you're out there listening, delete the site. It's hard to look at. It's got the little meter.

[Matt Jones]

Like, our goal is a million and we have 1002.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Jones]

So that's important, I think, to realize how bad it could have been in the other system. Steve, Go ahead, Steve.

[Caller]

Hey, you know, Matt, I don't know if it would help Kentucky football. They gave him every dime of the $20 million. I think Kentucky football is just kind of treading water. They put a lot of money into the facilities. They're paying the coach big money, you know, all that stuff. And they're just really not really not competitive in sec. And I don't know what's going to stop it.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I Don't know if that's fair. I mean, they weren't particularly competitive last year, although they did win at Ole Miss. But, I mean, we've had a number of years where we were as competitive as we've been in my lifetime. I mean, if you mean competitive, like winning the league, I'm not sure that's ever going to happen. But I think the reason.

[Caller]

Five years.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, yeah.

[Caller]

But I mean, certainly not being competitive.

[Matt Jones]

That's. I don't think that's true, though, George.

[Mario]

On the road several times.

[Matt Jones]

When you say they're not. I mean, we won 10 games like four years ago.

[Caller]

I love Kentucky football, but that's not.

[Matt Jones]

Fair, though, to say not competitive. They. If you're taught if competitive is win the national championship, then fine. But 10 games at Kentucky is of historically a very rare occurrence.

[Caller]

I understand. And that's the reason why Stoops is still there, because he got 10 wins twice. I mean, man, he's got. He's got. He's got it made. But, you know, Kentucky football, Kentucky is a basketball school and a football league and they're just basically treading water. You got Oklahoma in. You got Texas in. Kentucky is just vis a vis those teams. They're not. They're not getting better, but the conference is.

[Matt Jones]

Well, Oklahoma stunk last year, and I appreciate the call, but, I mean, I'm not. There's a difference between have we been better in the last two years and can we ever be good? Those are different conversations. We have not been better in the last two years. Can we ever be good? Yeah, because we've been good before now. Can we ever win a title? My argument would be no, but that is what it is. I think part of that is, you know, it's not as important now as it once was, but we don't produce the players. Other places do. We are playing a road game in every recruitment. Right. We're playing a road game in every recruitment. It's gotten better in the last few years. More players are coming from here than used to. But it's still. I mean, our best years. We still have a third of the players in these other SEC states.

[Shannon]

Up until the last two years. Stoops run has been some of the best we've ever had in UK football here ever. Bear Bryant and Mark Stoops at their runs. Last two years have been a little disappointing. Okay. Get back on the horse. Get to get it. To get the job done and try to get back.

[Matt Jones]

That's going to happen.

[Shannon]

I'm leaning that way.

[Matt Jones]

It's why you're grateful.

[Shannon]

We need, listen, we need $12 million.

[Matt Jones]

Well, $12 million, that was going to be less than everybody.

[Shannon]

We still need, you know, that's 3 less. That's just a couple players we can get by without, you know, more than.

[Drew]

Just spend it wisely. It's about how you spend that 12 million.

[Shannon]

Yeah, we'll develop a couple three star guys.

[Matt Jones]

That's what the Reds people have been saying for years. Mike. Go ahead, Mike.

[Caller]

Yeah, I'm kind of more in the line with Mario, but I know that that's not realistic. So I would say like 12, 6. And the reason being you just said like we're pretty much the same age, so Kentucky's probably not going to win a football championship if you give Mark Stoops $100 million in our lifetime. So just, you know, we're, we're definitely, we got a chance to win a basketball championship this year. So we definitely need to give football a semi fair shake. But it don't matter what you give Stoops. I mean, he gets 9 million now a year for himself and you know, I just, he's going to blow a game in the end with 4:00 clock management, whatever.

[Matt Jones]

Well, that's, you know, I appreciate the call. Let me ask you this. Let's say you got Nick Saban in his prime at Kentucky and you gave him $15 million and all the other schools have $15 million too. Could he make a playoff at Kentucky?

[Shannon]

Yeah, I'm in the boat. Yes. Something about him. Yes. He would figure out a way to get it done. He's the elite of the elite.

[Matt Jones]

You think he could?

[Mario]

Yeah, because recruits would just want to be there because of him. They decide all the.

[Matt Jones]

But if that's true, don't you think Belichick should win?

[Mario]

Do people want to play for him as much?

[Matt Jones]

Especially seriousness Belichick? Most people would say greatest or one of the two or three greatest NFL coaches ever, but in the NFL. But I mean, can he get you the NFL? If they're 7 and 5 at North Carolina, then why isn't Saban 7 and 5 at Kentucky?

[Mario]

Well, for me, if I'm a recruit, I'm seeing Saban has made so many NFL players. That's why he's more attractive. I see him as the path where Belichick has.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so let me make the case, even though I don't believe this case totally. Let me make the case for football.

[Shannon]

All right.

[Matt Jones]

It used to be the case when you weren't paying players that Kentucky had no shot. Okay. We didn't have enough recruits in the state. We had no tradition, our fans. This was more basketball than football. Kentucky had no shot. The theory behind a capped salary cap of $15 million would be now that stuff is gone and now it's just who can balance the budget better? Now it's the NFL where you can be in any market. It can be Kansas City and Buffalo playing in the AFC championship or while the jets and LA sit at home. That's the argument. And so I don't necessarily know that that's true, but that's the argument. So if you got the right coach, he's got the same salary cap everybody else does, then he's got a chance to do it. I don't know if I believe that, but that I think there is an argument that Kentucky would have a better shot at doing it in this world than they could have in the previous world. Does that make sense?

[Shannon]

Yes. Yeah. If you lose Coach Stoops is going to be harder to attract a top level coach knowing that you're coming in and your budget is not as much as the other stools.

[Mario]

Yeah, maybe they'll have to change the budget to make it higher if whatever it is right now, if it's so basketball heavy.

[Matt Jones]

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[Matt Jones]

Welcome back Techie Sports Radio. Your girlfriend just wrote drew and said you. You have big texts.

[Shannon]

Look, can't you read my text from there?

[Matt Jones]

I can read it from here. My goodness. Old man, she said.

[Mario]

I noticed Ryan's being very quiet.

[Shannon]

I was not going to participate in that conversation because I am in that.

[Matt Jones]

Category of so, like, you have big man text.

[Shannon]

I do, yes.

[Matt Jones]

Don't you worry about people seeing them?

[Shannon]

Don't care. That's another part of being an old man. You just don't care what other people think.

[Matt Jones]

You are pretty good. Yeah. Just read me your last text.

[Shannon]

Well, I've been texting Keith Madison, former.

[Matt Jones]

UK baseball coach Keith Madison Benzane.

[Shannon]

Well, I asked him if he's got an old UK baseball jersey we can hang in the restaurant, get it framed and hang. Because we talked about.

[Matt Jones]

Nice of you.

[Shannon]

And he's got one. He's got what he's gonna let us have.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. We should also try to get one from maybe now.

[Mario]

Present day.

[Shannon]

Yeah, I'll tell you about that during the break.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, well, now, this is more interesting.

[Shannon]

Whenever you talk to you.

[Matt Jones]

I better.

[Shannon]

Can't say anything. I'll tell you during the break.

[Mario]

Sounds like we have an update.

[Matt Jones]

Wait a minute. Something wrong?

[Shannon]

Must be.

[Matt Jones]

Have you been fighting with Mingyon?

[Shannon]

No, I haven't been.

[Matt Jones]

Somebody has.

[Caller]

I don't know.

[Mario]

I haven't.

[Matt Jones]

I've been a big fan of what's happening here.

[Drew]

Be a fountain, not a drain, Ryan. Come on.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Why aren't you being a fountain?

[Mario]

We need a chaos bar meeting.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Come on.

[Matt Jones]

We might as well. We might as well. I mean, this. This is gonna. This is important.

[Mario]

This is what the people want.

[Matt Jones]

This is their restaurant, too. Yeah, this is the people's restaurant.

[Mario]

They're picking the sauces.

[Shannon]

I really don't know what's going on, but we. We are unable to obtain a current baseball jersey from uk.

[Matt Jones]

Did you offer to pay for it or did you ask for a free one?

[Shannon]

We could buy a replica at the bookstore like everybody.

[Matt Jones]

What did you ask for?

[Shannon]

A jersey.

[Matt Jones]

You asked for just a free jersey.

[Shannon]

An old jersey that we can get framed and hang in the restaurant.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, well, I mean, it'd be nice of them to give it, but also, I don't expect them to give. Yeah, so did you just get all hoity toity when they asked? Okay, well, maybe. Maybe Mingyon will hear this. I can't believe he would say no.

[Mario]

You made me think there was, like, bad blood.

[Matt Jones]

Maybe you made him mad. Have y' all been fighting?

[Shannon]

No.

[Mario]

You're getting read.

[Matt Jones]

You are Getting read. What's been happening with you and Mingy?

[Shannon]

Nothing.

[Matt Jones]

Is there a Ryan Lemon Mingy own fight that we don't know about?

[Shannon]

There's definitely not. We even tried to get him on that.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, wait a minute. Here we go. Shannon tried to get him on.

[Drew]

Didn't we get.

[Matt Jones]

And then why didn't he come on.

[Shannon]

When you were on vacation? We had that.

[Matt Jones]

So why didn't he come on? He did. He doesn't like you.

[Shannon]

He was on vacation. Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Sounds like he might not like you.

[Shannon]

Maybe. Yeah, maybe.

[Mario]

Maybe we should have sent somebody else to.

[Matt Jones]

Now I know. Don't send Ryan to the baseball cancer Mario either.

[Mario]

He wants them to have zero dollars.

[Matt Jones]

It all goes to basketball. Just to give you an example on the recruiting thing real quick, I'm going to read you. Somebody sent me this. The amount of five star recruits from each SEC state. Are you ready?

[Shannon]

Ready.

[Matt Jones]

Florida in the last 10 years.

[Shannon]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Florida 59, Texas 45, Georgia 39, Alabama 21, Mississippi 9. Tennessee 8. South Carolina 5. Oklahoma 4, Missouri 3. Kentucky, 2.

[Shannon]

Wow.

[Matt Jones]

So we're going up against states that have 59, 45, 39, 17, 14, 19, and we have two.

[Shannon]

Wow, that says a lot right there.

[Matt Jones]

So, I mean, that says a lot. You know, I like to mention when restaurants win awards.

[Shannon]

Yes. Oh, yeah.

[Matt Jones]

They had the Shannon top 10 biscuits in America.

[Shannon]

Oh, nice.

[Matt Jones]

Everybody likes a good biscuit. Top 10 biscuits in America. America. And a Kentucky location came in six.

[Shannon]

Yes. Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Six best biscuit in the United States. Does anybody know where it would be?

[Mario]

So these aren't chain places. They're local.

[Matt Jones]

Well, local biscuit.

[Mario]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Sixth best biscuit in the United States is in Kentucky. Where do we think the six best biscuit is?

[Shannon]

We're just going to throw out spitball some options.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Shannon]

What's that restaurant called in Casey County?

[Matt Jones]

You talking about the. The Amish restaurant? Yeah, it's like Lord's Prayer or something, I guess.

[Shannon]

That's not it, though.

[Matt Jones]

That's not it. I would have the name right. Do you even remember their biscuits?

[Shannon]

Oh, yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Shannon]

Yeah, they're good.

[Matt Jones]

All right.

[Shannon]

Big fluffy biscuits.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. Anybody else? Let me narrow it down. It's in Louisville.

[Mario]

Oh, I'm not good at Louisville.

[Matt Jones]

Louisville Biscuits.

[Shannon]

Shannon.

[Matt Jones]

Anybody want to know?

[Drew]

I don't go out biscuit shopping.

[Matt Jones]

I'll tell you what before I say it. Let's see. Well, but people will Google it. Yeah. Never mind. The answer is butcher town, grocery bakery. Butcher town, grocery bakery. Have you been there, Shannon?

[Drew]

No.

[Matt Jones]

It's not very far from where I live. It's just, you know, it's where they used to slaughter them hogs. Butcher Town. The Butcher town Grocery Bakery. 6th best biscuits in the United States. They are said to be fluffy and delecta and delicious. And the line can be out the door on Saturday mornings to get the freshest.

[Shannon]

Wow. No kidding.

[Matt Jones]

Never even heard of this place. But I will tell you one of these weekends where I have nothing to do, I'm going to find my way to the Butcher Town Grocery Bakery for the sixth best biscuits in the United States. It is trial.

[Mario]

Hozal, give us an update. Take Mario, make a little video out of it.

[Drew]

One mile from where I'm at right now. I may be. I don't know if they're open later, but I might just swing by and get a biscuit.

[Matt Jones]

You might just. May I have one biscuit, please, ma'? Am?

[Drew]

I need to see if this is the sixth best biscuit.

[Matt Jones]

If you've been, let me know on the text machine. They got to be good. If they're the sixth best in the.

[Shannon]

Country, the line is out the door for it on Saturday morning. They've got to be good.

[Matt Jones]

Jacob. Go ahead, Jacob.

[Caller]

Hey, Matt. I just wanted to talk about the. The rib share. I think that. I think Kentucky's kind of magic number is 13 and a half. Four and a half.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that's exactly where I was.

[Caller]

Yeah, I think that that is. That is kind of where we need to be. It gives us a slight edge for basketball while, you know, remaining competitive with recruiting in the SEC for football. I think when it comes to money, we have it in our minds like money is going to equal success. And that's just not always the case. I'm a Pacers fan and they are not one of those teams that go into luxury tax for.

[Matt Jones]

No, they don't.

[Caller]

They intentionally.

[Matt Jones]

But then there's baseball. I have to cut you off. We're about to go to break, but I appreciate it. Then there's baseball, where money doesn't guarantee success, but not spending money guarantees you won't have success. So.

[Shannon]

And they just got to the College World Series.

[Matt Jones]

The Indiana Pacers.

[Shannon]

No. UK baseball team. Don't you want to give some money to UK baseball?

[Drew]

We weren't talking about Major League Baseball.

[Matt Jones]

We're talking about Major League Baseball.

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