Shannon (2:33)

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

Matt Jones (2:39)

Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky sports radio. Monday, March 16, probably one of my favorite days of the year. The day after the bracket comes out, where you spend the day sitting there going through it and picking who's going to win. You can give a shout in the Clark's puppet Shop phone line 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine which I plan on using a lot today is 772-774-5254. In this edition, sponsored by the T.J. smith Law Office you call TJL, make them pay. Ryan and Drew are back in Lexington. Shannon is in Louisville, and I'm in Bristol, Connecticut. I met ESPN this morning on a terrible, cold, windy, rainy day in Connecticut. Came up here last night to do the ESPN radio bracket show with Myron and Tom Crean. Then when it was over, you know, Ryan just spent some time, as bros do, hanging with Tom Crean and. And now ready to go this morning.

Ryan (3:37)

I'm anxious to hear you some of your stories from the bracket show. That's a big deal for you. Did you get the brackets early? Did you see them as they came out?

Matt Jones (3:44)

You don't get them this year. We haven't gotten them at all early. I see them on the tv. Our direct feed from CBS is a little bit faster than you all see, so probably I see him a minute early just so that we can say them on the radio. But it is. It's a very hectic hour because I'm having to look at them, write them down and try to keep a radio show going. So, like both, right? It's hard to talk. Drew, say one thing while your hand is writing another thing. I don't know if anybody's ever tried that. That's not ex. That's not very easy to do. And then, you know, try to set up Tom and Myron for analysis. But really exciting. And I'm glad that the bracket announcement now comes quick. They used to try to spread it over the entire hour.

Ryan (4:31)

Drew.

Matt Jones (4:31)

It was all done within the first 30 minutes.

Drew (4:33)

Oh, it was so fast. I sat down at like 6:01, had a little plate of food in front of me, and they just started naming teams. I was like, well, we got to lock in and get focused. So I'm glad they got that knocked out out of the way. But, you know, even though we're still not the most excited as Kentucky fans, selection Sunday still just awesome. Wherever your team lands it's fun to follow along.

Matt Jones (4:51)

Well, I want to talk about that for a minute because I, I have gotten the sense just sort of watching online of the most kind of muted excitement for the NCAA tournament in a while. And on one level, I get it, but I'm going to make the case. Shannon, why we should be excited about this.

Shannon (5:10)

Yeah. Yeah.

Matt Jones (5:11)

Okay. I'm going to make the case. And if people don't want to be excited, that's fine. But you know, this is in about three weeks, two weeks maybe for Kentucky, maybe one week. We're not going to have major sports basket, major sports for Kentucky outside of baseball until next September. So I'm excited. Going into it, I thought there were basically three teams Kentucky could draw in the first round. They could either draw St. Mary, Santa Clara or Central Florida. Those were the three teams. If you looked at all the bracketologies now, these guys have gotten so good that you kind of have a sense of. Of where things are going to go. And once St. Mary's ended up being a lower seed, you basically had. It was either going to be Santa Clara or Central Florida. I prefer Santa Clara as a first round matchup. Central Florida is very athletic. They're in the Big 12. They're used to playing very athletic teams. I thought that, that they would be a team that could easily give us problems there. For me, they were drew like a Georgia in the sense of if we didn't play well, they would just beat us because it's not like they're going to. We're going to overwhelm them with athleticism or anything. And they've seen and played Drew all year teams better than us.

Drew (6:30)

Yeah. Central Florida also had the, the Jordan Burks connection. I was trying to dodge. Just, you know, if you're going to play a team like that, I'd rather not have an extra incentive for someone on the other side or another storyline that we don't want in that game. So I. That was another angle of. Go ahead.

Matt Jones (6:45)

You end up getting a 10 seed. Yeah. You guys probably have like a half second delay. So you got the. You end up getting like a 10 seed that you're going to have to play. And you can be upset that you're playing a team that good, but that's ultimately on you, Ryan, for not having a good enough season. Once you have a season where you're a 7, you're going to get a 10. And Santa Clara, I have watched them play only one time, but I went back last night and looked at their record and the reality Is. Here is. Here's who they've played. This is who they've beaten. That is good. They've beaten Xavier, Nevada, Minnesota and St. Mary's twice. They've lost to Loyola of Chicago. They lost to New Mexico by 30, who didn't make the tournament. They lost to Arizona State, who came in last place in the Big 12. They lost to Utah, who came in next to last place in the Big 12. They lost to St. Louis, Gonzaga three times and St. Mary's and then basically everybody else they played was not good. So they have not beaten a team as good as we are all year. And again, if you're a 7 seed, Ryan, I feel like playing a 10 seed that hasn't beaten a team as good as you the entire season is about as good as you can ask

Ryan (8:03)

for, I think so. You know, the only thing I really knew about Santa Clara was their coach by Herb Sendak, who's a former patino assistant here at Kentucky. And he's a good coach. And the fact that Steve Nash played there 40, 30 years ago, whatever it was. But from hearing, hearing the like on the Leech Report this morning, they're talking about Santa Clara. Sounds like they do some things. We've had trouble defending. They shoot a lot of threes. Like to push up, up and down.

Matt Jones (8:23)

Let's take that one. That, let's take that one about the shooting threes. Okay? Cause I saw that everywhere. Yeah, they shoot a lot of threes. Okay, fine. But the question is not do they shoot them. The question is, Shannon, do they make them? Right, That's a bigger question.

Shannon (8:35)

100 threes for a luck here.

Matt Jones (8:36)

Okay. Do you want to know what Kentucky's three point percentage is this season? Does anybody know what's our three point percentage on the year? Anybody know?

Ryan (8:45)

Probably low 30s. I'm going to say low 30s.

Matt Jones (8:48)

Well, that's not a guess. A number. Give me a guess.

Ryan (8:50)

Okay, I'll see. I'll be 31.

Matt Jones (8:53)

Drew.

Drew (8:54)

I will say 34.2.

Matt Jones (8:57)

We are. Drew's good. We are. 34.1.

Radio Advertising Host (9:03)

Wow.

Matt Jones (9:03)

That's very, very good guess. Would you like to know, Shannon, what Santa Clara is? 3 point percentage?

Shannon (9:09)

Yeah, yeah.

Matt Jones (9:10)

34.3.

Shannon (9:12)

Oh, there you go.

Matt Jones (9:13)

So we basically shoot the exact same percentage they do. So everybody says, oh, they're a great three point shooting team. Do you consider us a great three point shooting team? No, I really don't know. So we shoot the same percentage they do. I, you know, they, the one thing they do have is they do have some athleticism. That you don't always get with teams at that level. But my point is just to say, if you lose this game, then you lose it and it's a. It caps what would kind of be a failure of a season. But I also think it's not a bad draw at all. Then you get to the next round and you get Iowa State. All right, so again, let's look at the bracket. What were our options? Our options were Houston, Iowa State, Purdue and Yukon. But here's the problem. The 10 seeds are Texas A and M and Missouri. We can't be in the bracket with the 10 seeds. So that takes out Houston and Purdue. Which means Our only two options to get as a two seed were either UConn or Iowa State. Those are our two options. We either get UConn or Iowa State. I am fine not playing UConn. UConn's going to have a top 10 pick. Iowa State is physical. Iowa State is tough. But I look at Iowa State, their last 10 games, there are 11 games, they're five and six. They had some great wins in the non conference, but in conference play they were kind of inconsistent and up and down. And I have to say, are they better than us? Yes. Yes. But can we beat them? They actually kind of have the makeup of the teams that we've beaten, like Tennessee this year. So I would say Drew, Kentucky at their best day has a chance to win that game. And when you are a seven seed, I think the best you can hope for is to draw a two that you would have a shot at. And I feel like Drew, you have a shot at Iowa State.

Drew (11:12)

I'm, I'm confident Round one, I'm, I'm terrified of Iowa State. I glad we avoided Houston. I wanted Purdue there. I think the Big 12 is much, much, much better than the Big Ten.

Matt Jones (11:24)

I would get Purdue, but we can't.

Drew (11:25)

I understand, but I'm just saying looking

Matt Jones (11:26)

at who we could have played, but we couldn't get them. Because if you look at the bracket toddlers again, the way the NCAA does it, once they put Purdue in the west because of the. The 10 seed being an SEC team, we were not allowed to play Purdue.

Drew (11:41)

And I'm talking about going into the. Before they said anything, I was like, I do not want to play Houston or Iowa State in our second round. And then of course, as it comes out, we lose that option. But they are a defensive nightmare for us. I think both of those are two very physical teams that will be in trouble with.

Matt Jones (11:56)

I, I'm good with It. I am. I think that in a perfect world, would you have liked to play Purdue?

Radio Advertising Host (12:03)

Sure.

Matt Jones (12:04)

But once they did their little bracketing principles, then I would say was who we get. And I'll also note this. I believe Shannon in. What is it? Mojo of the teams. There are some years that you just. There are certain teams I just don't believe in in March because every year I'm told they're going to win and they don't. And two of those are Iowa State and Virginia. Virginia did win the national championship once, but they have lost in early rounds virtually every year. Our 2 and 3 seed are Iowa State in Virginia. And so again, it would have been awesome to get a better bracket. But Shannon, we didn't have a good

Shannon (12:46)

year when you're the six.

Matt Jones (12:47)

So if we didn't have a good year.

Shannon (12:48)

Yeah. Then you.

Matt Jones (12:49)

This is what you get.

Shannon (12:50)

You got to play somebody. You know, all the two seeds are going to be good. But if you told me before the bracket came out, you got to beat Santa Clara and Iowa State, you're in the sweet 16. And then you maybe get Virginia or Tennessee to get the, the Elite Eight. I'm taking that all day. I like that.

Matt Jones (13:04)

Me, too. I like it, too, Ryan. I mean, I'm not. Everybody else has, of course, can disagree, but there are six teams I think can win the national championship. I'm going to pick five. I'll probably eliminate Yukon, but I do think they're one of those teams and we didn't get any of them until the Elite Eight. And Tom Cream had me convinced last night that of the six teams that can win, Michigan's playing the worst. So I just. Look, do I think Kentucky is even going to get to the second weekend? Probably not. But I think if you wanted to have the special run to where you can forget some of the problems you had in the first half of the year, I think you got the bracket with the best chance to do that that you could.

Ryan (13:45)

I totally agree with that. You know, I think this is a team that, that can't make a Final Four run, but it's a team that can definitely pull off some upsets. And if you don't make us forget about some of those crazy losses and the fact that it's in could be St. Louis, Chicago, Indianapolis, get the Final Four. We got the locations we wanted and we got a draw that you can't really argue about. So the people who think NCAA is biased against Kentucky, many, many years, it ain't this year.

Matt Jones (14:08)

All right, so here's what we're going to do. We are going to take a break. I'm told there's a delay, Shannon, so let's do. Let's take a break. Let's figure out who the delay is with. It may be with me. Let's figure out who the delay is with. We'll try to fix it during the break and then come back. Talk more about the bracket and a ton of things including the revenge in some ways of Calipari. It is 859-280-2287 KSR no one knows

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Ryan (17:07)

Ed is experiencing some technical difficulties up in Bristol, Connecticut with the weather and the situation going on up there. So we'll talk about our brackets and who we're picking. And we were just all talking during the break. Vandy's on a head to hand collision course with Florida again. Shannon. So he's talking to Matt right now. But that could be a. Could be. It just played him in the SEC tournament. Then you may meet him again a week later in the NCAA tournament.

Matt Jones (17:28)

Right now in the mic.

Drew (17:29)

There you go. There he was.

Ryan (17:30)

There he was. We heard him. Hang on. Shannon's talking to me.

Drew (17:33)

Or I can talk about Vandy in Florida. All right, I'll talk about vanity in Florida. If you're Vandy, do you, do you like seeing that on one hand? It's like, well, I know I can beat him. But also you're being asked to beat them, you know, back to back times here in a week because you only

Ryan (17:45)

lost by floor and gain four in Gainesville.

Shannon (17:48)

Beat him in the NCAA tournament was actually in Nashville. They lost Buffalo. Okay, but I say bring them on. I'd rather have them in Arizona as my one seat or even Michigan.

Matt Jones (17:56)

Are you something too?

Shannon (17:57)

Yeah, yeah, we got.

Ryan (17:58)

Yeah, there we go. There he is. Go for it.

Matt Jones (18:01)

I don't know what happened there but we are back. 859-280-2287 Text machine. 772-774-52541 Person writes Matt, I like our draw. I don't like grumpy Drew not thinking we can win. Drew is always the one that makes me feel like we can get a victory. Well I Thursday I need him to thinking we can win these games.

Drew (18:26)

Well, a calm down. I think I feel good about the first round but I think it's dreaming big to take down Iowa State. Not impossible but they're a legit team with only a few losses. I don't think any of them were outside the top 40. They might have lost the home game. No more than one.

Matt Jones (18:42)

Two losses to Arizona, one at the

Drew (18:43)

buzzer St. Louis is equally close to them and they're a fan base that travels well, too. I just don't love that draw. But I'm not. I'm not sweating Santa Clara at all. There's a lot of fans writing us out in the first round. I actually like the Santa Clara part of the draw.

Matt Jones (18:58)

Yeah, I don't understand. I really. I think, honestly, Shannon, the fans that are worried about Santa Clara should all look in the mirror and just remind themselves it is Kentucky. If we lose to Santa Clara, then we lose to Santa Clara, then it's a horrible year. But the people scared of Santa Clara, everybody needs to calm down. I mean, you are scared of Santa Clara. Santa Clara's best win this year is St. Mary's and they're basically the same team. When they've played anybody from a good conference, unless that team is the worst team in their conference, they've lost. And twice they've played the worst team in their conference conferences. Shannon. And excuse me, they've won. And twice they've lost when they lost to Minnesota or Arizona State. And. And Loyola, I mean, come on. Loyola, I think was like the non seed in the Missouri Valley. I do not understand. New Mexico beat him by 30. This idea we should be scared of Santa Clara, to me is just a ridiculous. This is on some level still Kentuck,

Shannon (20:02)

as our football coach said, if you're scared, go to church. I think there's a little bit of Jack go key. Like the ghost of Jack Golke is still haunting this fan base. But you gotta play somebody.

Matt Jones (20:12)

You gotta play somebody.

Shannon (20:14)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (20:14)

Who did people want to play? You want to play a Central Florida team that's bigger and more athletic. Ryan. Than we are? I mean, is that who you want to play? I don't. Central Florida's playing in the Big 12 all year. Santa Clara. Now, look, if we lose, then we lose. But I've listened over the years as I. You remember a few years ago when everybody was scared we were playing Davidson, right? And then everybody was scared. Last year we were playing Troy. Like, come on, this is Kentucky. And if we lose, I'll be the first to say that it was. It's terrible, but come on, it's Santa Clara. And I guarantee you most of the people worrying about it haven't even seen them play. I've seen them only play once. I'm not going to say I'm an expert, but I can look at their results and say a team that loses, you know, to new Mexico by 30 and loses to Arizona State that fired Bobby Hurley, on some level, you cannot be scared of Santa Clara.

Ryan (21:12)

No. And Kentucky are probably favored in the game. I don't know if the odds come

Matt Jones (21:15)

out they opened it two and a half, but now it's all the way up to five and a half on some because maybe because people know the name Kentucky, but it is. We are favored.

Ryan (21:25)

I think Shannon's right. I think we're just a little gun shy of how the season has gone and the Jack Golke game. But yeah, you're Kentucky. You're expected to win a game like this. You should win a game like this. Your dudes are better than their dudes. Go out and just win the game.

Matt Jones (21:37)

I'm glad to hear your. You're confident about that one, Drew. When did our fan base become so scared? I'll add that. When did we get so scared that we're like, oh, no, Santa Clara.

Drew (21:49)

I guess we have our guard up from St. Peter's in Oakland, knowing it's possible where we lived our entire lives, not thinking it could be possible, But I'll add, sure, they take a lot of threes, they play fast, but I would rather see that than some team that's going to muck it up and try to play in the 50s and get Kentucky in the half court. I think the way they play and the way they run and getting out in transition can benefit Kentucky.

Matt Jones (22:08)

I agree. We're more athletic than they are. They have a big. That's, you know, he played well the game I watched. We have a big. That's. They have a big. That's all right. But he's only averaging eight points a game that they don't. They don't have the kind of dude that does worry you. That goes for 30 in a game. They kind of spread their points out a lot. I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but I am sort of like, you know, folks, come on.

Shannon (22:32)

They play in the West Coast.

Matt Jones (22:34)

They play in the West Coast Conference and they've. When they've played Gonzaga, a team that granted beat us, they've gotten beat every single time by double digits. So on some level, this, this just, this woe is me about every. If we lose this game, then we deserve to be upset and Mark Pope and the. And the team will hear it. But until then, you know, if you want to be scared of Iowa State, that's fine. I just would challenge you. Everybody give me their best Iowa State tournament memory.

Shannon (23:08)

Hopefully not this year.

Drew (23:09)

No. But just give it to me.

Matt Jones (23:10)

What's your best Iowa State Tournament memory.

Ryan (23:13)

I have zero memories of them in the tournament.

Matt Jones (23:16)

I don't remember. I honestly cannot think of one. We played them. Was it when Royce White was there?

Drew (23:23)

Drew, the guy afraid to fly. He talked a lot of trash.

Matt Jones (23:27)

He talked a lot of trash. I mean, we played him in Louisville. Was that 2015 or. No, 2012, the year we were.

Drew (23:34)

That was Anthony Davis because he wanted all the Anthony Davis smoke and he got some.

Matt Jones (23:38)

Yeah, we play. We played them in the second round and listen, they're good. And what the. What I'm most worried about the game is what Drew said about the fans because we will be out fanned there probably. I think. I think they will probably have more people than us because they are close and because Ryan, I do kind of wonder if our fan base is going to travel to these games.

Ryan (24:00)

Yeah, we talked about it last night. Lexington to St. Louis is like six hours, so it's probably like five from Louisville. I mean, we'll get a little. We'll have a lot of fans there. And Kentucky's had great success in St. Louis, won the 78 title there. Jack scored 41, Tayshawn scored 41 in St. Louis. So maybe that St. Louis magic will carry over.

Drew (24:15)

Well, the run where we're in 18, an eight seed, you know, one spot behind this went there and that's where the run started.

Ryan (24:22)

Uh huh.

Matt Jones (24:23)

Yeah. So I would say I'm kind of with Shannon if you say to me, okay, if you had said to me even a week ago, Matt, to get to the sweet 16, to get to the elite eight, you have to beat Santa Clara, Iowa State and Virginia Shannon, I would have signed up for it. Yeah, I would have signed up for it.

Shannon (24:44)

And if you get.

Matt Jones (24:44)

I would have been like, okay, yeah,

Shannon (24:46)

if you get lucky, maybe you see Tennessee again. You've already beaten them twice.

Matt Jones (24:49)

Well, we did that last year too.

Drew (24:51)

I prefer to avoid that.

Matt Jones (24:54)

I actually don't want to play Tennessee a third time. I'd rather see Hugo in Virginia.

Ryan (25:01)

Ugo was a man child the other night. By golly. What do you have, like 45 sudden records?

Matt Jones (25:06)

He did play well against Duke. All right, so. So that's our. Our path. Yesterday for the first time that I can ever remember, Kentucky did not have their little watch party where you. Where the media watches the bracket with the team. But even more so than that, Mark Pope has yet to speak about the bracket. He hasn't said anything about Kentucky's draw. He. He hasn't said anything about how Kentucky. Anything about Kentucky in the tournament. And we are Told at least, I think. Drew, you told me that he's not going to speak until Thursday in St. Louis. Is that correct?

Drew (25:43)

I don't know about that. I think he, he should have his radio show, I hope, but I don't know if that's official.

Matt Jones (25:48)

I don't know when he's speaking for the media, though. Yeah. Oh, you mean just taking questions? Yeah. I don't know. There's been no comment. So he has, as far as I know. Am I wrong? Has he said anything about the bracket?

Drew (26:00)

Not that I've seen. And I think it's very lame. They didn't do that event last night that spans multiple coaches. It doesn't matter what seed they were, how they finished in Nashville. Coach Cal had us in some rough spots and he opened his living room and said, come interview me. And coaches before him did that, too. I think it's lame that they didn't do anything. That's part of the experience. Until election Sunday.

Matt Jones (26:20)

I talked to a reporter that said Joe B. Hall started that tradition of having like it used to be open to the fans and then they didn't stop doing it with the fans. And then it was, it was the media. But this is the first time this reporter could remember them not doing it since Jo B. Hall. Now, I think when, when media gets outraged, sometimes the fans don't care. But I also think, Ryan, for me, it's more symbolic than it is like an outrage thing, which is. It's almost like they're trying to shut the world off, you know, Last night we had five coaches on my show. Other coaches went on other shows. I think I saw virtually every big coach on some show. Mark Pope is in hiding. And I just, I don't understand.

Shannon (27:14)

Football team did the same thing. That didn't turn out too well.

Matt Jones (27:17)

I.

Ryan (27:19)

It's a bad look.

Matt Jones (27:20)

I'm not mad about it, but I don't understand why this athletic department just hides. We'll be right back.

Podcast Advertising Host (27:29)

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Ryan Seacrest (27:31)

Call T.J. he'll make them pay.

Shannon (27:33)

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

Matt Jones (27:39)

Welcome back. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. 859-280-2287. Text message text machine 772-774-5254. A lot of good comments I will say today, coming in on different sides of issues. I like fake David Beckham on Twitter. I don't think people think they're going to lose to Santa Clara more than they're just worried we'll simply lose in the first round, considering what happened with results with the former coach. The perception we're losing the divorce after Cal Perry won yesterday gives more evidence for that. I get it. But if you're worried about the. The. If you're worried about the game against Santa Clara because of what Cal did in Oakland and St. Peters, then you can't also go. But also Cal's winning the divorce, like Cal lost those games. Now, Cal won the SEC tournament. We'll talk about that in a little bit. But I do think on some level, Ryan, you judge Mark Pope on Mark Pope, and Mark Pope's been in the NCAA tournament with us once, and he handled Troy relatively easily, and then we won in the second round. Now we'll. He'll be judged by what happens this year. But I don't. You can't blame St. Peter's in Oakland on Pope and say, I'm worried we're going to lose to Santa Clara because we lost to Oakland and St. Peter's. That had nothing to do with Mark Pope.

Ryan (28:55)

Totally agree. And, you know, last year, that was Mark Pope's first ever win in the NCAA tournament as a coach, and he got us to the sweet 16. And I think most fans were kind of satisfied with that. He drugged that team to the Sweet 16. If he's able to pull that off this year with this team, I think you have to pat him on the back and say, well, job well done.

Matt Jones (29:12)

Now, if he loses to Santa Clara, Drew, that's a different conversation. There's no way. If they lose to Santa Clara, Drew, it's going to be a failure of a year completely. But, I mean, I guess if people want to spend the next four days worried about Santa Clara, I just don't get it, I guess, is what I would say.

Drew (29:29)

Yeah, I mean, we've been prepared to be the seventh seed for a long time. So the you could lose round one has been in my head for a month and a half. Now that it's Santa Clara, I mean, they're a good team. We know the coach. They've got a player that might be like a Yaxel that goes to a big school next year. He's the freshman forward that's been awesome. Alan Graves. I mean, they have some powers, but it's Kentucky and Santa Clara. If they lose this game, my goodness,

Matt Jones (29:54)

that's a big Pope problem.

Drew (29:55)

Honestly. I mean, the year's already sucked enough. That'll just be like, all right, finally, it's over.

Matt Jones (30:01)

Yeah, there's a bigger problem. One person writes, Matt, the only people that seem to care about them not having their event. Are the media people. I know. I don't care. I get that. That individual events, not a big deal. I would say this though, if, if that person that told me last night that that's a tradition that goes back to Joe B. Hall is true. And I don't know that because I don't remember if like Eddie Sutton did it or Rick Patino or Tubby Smith. Ryan, do you remember you worked during some of those years.

Ryan (30:26)

I've been here now for 30 years and every coach, every year has done a post game, like a post bracket news conference to talk to the media, kind of just initial thoughts, maybe see the reaction of the players. That's another like a video opportunity that I think fans enjoy. But none of that.

Drew (30:40)

Last night, separate of you all, someone that's covered the team since the early 90s told me he can't remember a year they didn't do it.

Matt Jones (30:46)

Okay, so. So, I mean, it's not the worst thing in the world to me, but I would say to you. Mark Pope respects tradition as well as any coach we've had here. It's kind of weird that he would end a tradition that goes back to Joe B.

Radio Advertising Host (30:59)

Hall.

Matt Jones (30:59)

It's kind of weird. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I think we just add it to these things that Pope's done this year that are kind of weird. It's just kind of weird to not have that. It's a bit. My bigger issue is with the overall UK lack of transparency. I don't know if we'll get to it today because it's tournament day or, or if we'll do it tomorrow. But the whole. Why hasn't UK said anything about the fact that we have a new. And the ads leaving, hasn't defended the contract, hasn't talked about the search process. There continues to be this pattern of just not talking. And I would say if you don't, if you're cool with that, that's fine. But then when things flame out, you cannot then say, why didn't the media report on it? You don't kind of get to have it both ways. If you don't want to know anything about the team, fine, that's okay. But you can't want to know something and then also defend when they don't. When there's no transparency, at least in my view, I think that's. Those two things don't work for each other. One person writes, Matt, what's the worst case scenario for Kentucky in this Bracket. I think the worst case scenario is you lose to Santa Clara. But the second worst case scenario for me, Shannon, is getting to Sweet 16 and losing Tennessee again.

Shannon (32:19)

Yeah, yeah, that would.

Matt Jones (32:20)

That, that would stink to do that two straight years.

Shannon (32:23)

Well, yes, it would. But again, if we get to the sweet 16, I think that that's kind of what we were talking about a couple of weeks ago. What do you think the ceiling is for this team if we get to the sweet 16? I don't think you get to call it a failure. If you lose the Santa Clara. We call this season a failure. So as much as I would hate to lose the Tennessee, I would rather get to the Sweet 16 and lose this first game.

Matt Jones (32:43)

Which would you rather, Ryan drew Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee, which is worse? I mean, obviously I think you'd rather do that. But do you. I mean, do you agree with me? A Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee would be brutal.

Ryan (32:55)

That would stink. There's no doubt about it. The fact that it's Tennessee, a team you beat twice this year, but just the fact that we would get to the second weekend and get to the Sweet 16, I would be. It would be. It would be less painful for me anyway.

Drew (33:08)

Yeah. At least having that extra game, another trip for Big Blue Nation. I think I was. State's a really good team. Mark Pope could use that as. Hey, look, we didn't go as far as wanted Tennessee got us, but we beat a very good team in the second round. So I mean, it stink losing the Vols again, but I would take that.

Matt Jones (33:25)

Let's talk about Arkansas for a second. I think you have to because our fan base talked about it a ton. They win the SEC tournament, Calipari, you know, which he has a right to do. Kind of stuck his chest out quite a bit. Made a comment about. He talked about. He was talking about Porter Moser at Alabama. But I also think that this applied to probably his former employer. He said, coaches win games, administrations win championships. And then he said, I will always be about the name on the back of the jersey. That's how I've done it. Some people don't like it. That's fine.

Ryan (34:02)

And I.

Matt Jones (34:02)

He said. And then Shannon, I didn't understand this. You can be peed off or peed on.

Shannon (34:07)

Yeah, yeah.

Matt Jones (34:08)

Which. That was a really weird frame. We don't have to go into detail about that one. But it's like Cal may be a different phrase in that scenario. But, you know, look, I. My cow one. He. He gets the credit. If you were doing the. Who won the divorce. You. You clearly. I would say he's. He's ahead. I don't think he's his head by as much as everybody thinks. We, we. We had a bigger, better regular season last year. Both teams went the same place in the tournament. They've had a better regular season this year. We'll see what happens in the tournament. But. And, and they beat us last year and we beat them this year. I will say, though, I will continue to make the argument, Drew, that I don't care what Caliperi does. Even if he wins a national championship, I will hate it. It will bother me. I won't like it. I'm not cheering for him. But it. He would not have done it here. That divorce was good for him. I think it was good for us. Now, if we ended up making the wrong decision, that's a different conversation after. But he wasn't going to do that here. And I don't know that he's going to do it there. But I know, Drew, it wasn't going to happen here.

Drew (35:23)

If I had more time, I'd go find the clip. But I said over and over when he left, don't get jealous. If he goes and does something there, he probably will. He needs the reset. We need the reset. Whatever he does at Arkansas, you can't just say that would have happened here because that wouldn't have been the case. Now, I won't say I was bothered by it, but I couldn't help but grin and just kind of roll my eyes that, you know, one of. Especially me, the biggest complaint was nothing in the SEC tournament lately. Absolutely nothing in the SEC tournament lately. And it took him two years to go win the tournament he didn't care about. So as the confetti was falling, I did think, now you care about it.

Matt Jones (35:57)

Well, and that's also very much him. Like, he. And I get this because I have a little bit this sometimes in my life, although less so now as I get older. But there's a part of him that part of what he needs is to be motivated by people saying stuff or whatever. He didn't care about the SEC tournament, but now he goes to a new school and he cares. Had he cared here, Ryan, we might have had a different result. Had he not done the I get to go home to my dogs yesterday. He's very happy, I would just say, to say if he had done that here, we wouldn't have had this situation. But, you know, good for him. They. The bracket opened up for him a little bit. They had to Beat Oklahoma and Ole Miss. Now, Vandy's good, but they avoided. Avoided Florida, avoided Alabama, but they played the games they were supposed to play. They won. Darius Acuffs a star. Trayvon Brazil has taken a huge leap up, and they've played very well. D.J. wagner hit three threes yesterday. But at the same time, I am confident, and I don't care if they win the national championship. I'm confident. Ryan, he wasn't going to do that. Here. It had fallen apart here.

Ryan (37:05)

It had run its course. Here at Kentucky, it was a mutual parting of the ways. We needed a break. He needed a break. So it was a perfect time to do this. But, man, I'm telling. He said that about the name on the back of the jersey, not the front of the jersey. That. That was such a direct smack in the face at us because it's in our opening and before the. Every game. You know where Pope repeats that when he gets introduced as coach, it's about the front of the jersey. That was a definite smack.

Matt Jones (37:28)

And that's fine if I. I can see why he would do that. And that's okay. By the way, after the game, I think Bruiser Flint said something like, I don't think Cal was treated right at Kentucky. That's fine. This fan base loved him more than any coach in my lifetime. They adored him. They adored him. This fan base did everything possible. What changed? It was the fact that things didn't go well. But I think most Kentucky fans would still say Caliperi is a good person and they appreciate the memories when he was here. But you know what? It had run its course. And it's like this shit. And I always use the analogy, but if a man and a woman get divorced after 25 years and then the man goes out on the market and decides to get himself in shape and, like, get hair plugs and reignite his life, and he meets a woman, and the wife understandably goes, well, why didn't you just do that here? Why didn't you just do that with me? He changed who he was. And good for him. I'm glad for him, but that doesn't mean he. He had taken it for granted here. And that's the way it is.

Shannon (38:43)

This is cow's glow up right now. All of a sudden, he.

Matt Jones (38:46)

This is Cal. This is Cal. Second.

Radio Advertising Host (38:48)

Why?

Shannon (38:49)

Yeah.

Matt Jones (38:50)

And the thing about second wives is they make you happy for a little while, but when life punches you in the face, you call the original wife and you say, I'm sad.

Shannon (39:01)

I don't think that works that way. But I don't know about that.

Matt Jones (39:06)

I think it happens with some people because they know you the best. Yeah, we're not even his original wife, remember, we're his third wife.

Shannon (39:13)

That's true. He's been on, he's on a lot of wives. But Cal at his core is a contrarian. You know, like about the SEC tournament. He knew how much this fan base loves the SEC tournament, what it means to them, and he would just write it off as well. No big deal.

Matt Jones (39:26)

You are exactly right. This is the part of Cal that relates to you. Shannon.

Shannon (39:31)

I'm a contrarian, y' all admit it.

Matt Jones (39:33)

Exactly. He's a contrarian. He likes to say, okay, all of you think this then I think that he likes that. And you know, so that's the SEC tournament I think was an example of that. Skin cancer isn't rare. It's the most common cancer in the US One in five Americans face it and you need to go get catch it and get it treated. And the Kentucky Skin Cancer center can do that. Go to Kentuckyskincancercenter.com they got your back, your arms, your face, your neck, your ears. They'll look and find the spots you don't even know exist. Go to Kentucky SkinCancerCenter.com to take care of any issues. It's 270-842-1999 KentuckySkinCancerCenter.com all right, I want to take your calls about the draw sec, tired of it, et cetera and we'll do more. This is the day after the bracket on ksr.

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Matt Jones (42:52)

Welcome back, Tech Esports Radio. 859-280-2287. One person writes. Matt, I think it's hilarious when you give marital advice having never been married. It's my favorite part of the show. Well, that's what makes it good. Shannon is. I'm not cloudy by actually having had it.

Shannon (43:07)

Yeah. I was asking Ryan. He's been married a few times. I was asking if he's gone back to his original.

Matt Jones (43:11)

Yeah, but clearly that. But clearly he doesn't know how to do it. You and I are not sullied.

Drew (43:16)

That's right.

Matt Jones (43:17)

Having made it not work, you and I should do a marital advice.

Shannon (43:21)

We should single guys here. We could tell you how to get married.

Matt Jones (43:24)

I feel like we would know better. Exactly.

Shannon (43:27)

Here's how you get married.

Matt Jones (43:28)

You don't exactly. Because you know, people think if you, if you've been divorced, I mean, if somebody's been married for like 50 years and everything's been perfect all the time. Yeah, that's A good opinion. Yeah. But I think next to that, two people that haven't. We're not sullied by mistakes. That's true.

Shannon (43:46)

Yeah. We can give you a different perspective.

Matt Jones (43:48)

How you look. It's all. It's all in how you look at it.

Shannon (43:50)

That's right. And how we look at it. The best way to look at it.

Matt Jones (43:54)

I think that's the best way to look at it. That's exactly.

Ryan (43:58)

I do have a question.

Matt Jones (44:00)

Sure.

Ryan (44:02)

Did you hear Seth Davis maybe throw you a little shade yesterday during the broadcast?

Matt Jones (44:05)

Everybody. I heard that people said it, but I didn't hear what he said. And I looked online and couldn't find it. What did he say?

Ryan (44:11)

They were talking about Purdue being a 2 seed and he said, yeah. For those people who think the conference championship game doesn't mean anything, this obviously proves that it does. Something like that.

Matt Jones (44:19)

Well, then how do you explain Arkansas, Seth? Arkansas was a five and they won the conference, so how do you explain that?

Ryan (44:28)

I don't know if he can.

Drew (44:28)

Got shipped out to Portland right away on a short rest.

Matt Jones (44:31)

He does. He doesn't have a way of saying that. Now, the committee chair came on ESPN Radio and said that. Said if Purdue hadn't won, blah, blah, blah. But then what about Arkansas? Yeah, if it matters, why is Arkansas five? Or are they.

Ryan (44:48)

No, no explanation.

Matt Jones (44:49)

Yeah, they're five. No, they're actually a four. Well, then maybe it doesn't matter. I don't.

Drew (44:57)

Alabama got a better four.

Matt Jones (44:59)

Arkansas. I said Arkansas. St. John's is a five, so St. John's Arkansas. That's what it was. Sorry. Arkansas is a four. St. John's is a 5. So, I mean, that's the one where you might say. And remember, Seth's argument was the last game matters. The committee chair said that Purdue won, so they were a two. They'd have been a three if they lost. I. If they say so. I believe that. But you know what? That's not what they've done in the past. Go back to that Kentucky, Texas A and M year, look at their resumes and try to tell me that conference game mattered. It didn't. But, you know, they can change it every year and maybe they did In. In this scenario. Who's up first? Will. Will. Go ahead.

Caller Will (45:40)

Will, Good morning.

Matt Jones (45:43)

Good morning.

Caller Will (45:45)

What do you think going to the sweet 16 in the region that we have would be considered a win for Mark Pope for this season, and it would.

Drew (45:53)

Further, at this point in the off

Matt Jones (45:55)

season, don't think it'll matter one way or the other. With recruiting. But in terms of the fan perception, it will be a win. Considering the season now. I mean, is it a win? When you consider what people hoped it would be, preseason, I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. But when you consider the season they've had for the reasons Drew talked about, if they beat Iowa State and they get to that sweet 16 play a second weekend, I think considering the season, it would be a win.

Caller Will (46:24)

Okay, thank you.

Matt Jones (46:26)

Appreciate the call. Whether it's. It's an overall win, like I said, depends on kind of how you look at it. And I could understand both cases, to be honest with you. Who's next?

Shannon (46:37)

Richard.

Matt Jones (46:38)

Richard. Go ahead, Richard.

Caller Will (46:41)

Well, I want to thank the kids for playing a good tournament. They played hard, that's all you can ask of them, and won two games played in Florida within reason. I got no complaints at all. I also want to congratulate Travis Perry. I thought him and Ole Miss played a whale of a tournament. I watched him play too, and I'm happy for the kid. In fact, the way he was playing in that tournament, I wish we had him with us heading into the ncaa.

Matt Jones (47:18)

All right, appreciate it, Richard. He had a great tournament. He didn't have a great year, but he did have a really good tournament and I was glad to see it. Drew, you know, you're a Western Kentucky guy I know you liked. He played really well for them throughout the tournament. The year didn't really work out great for him, but I'm glad he got to have that run there at the end.

Drew (47:36)

Yeah, big tournament. I saw his dad around town a few times. You know, Lyon County's in the sweet 16. He's the coach. They were kind of in a predicament. Maybe not expecting to go that far in the weekend, but it's cool watching their run. And he was, you know, we've always known him as a shooter, but he was in there getting rebounds. I mean, taking elbows from Softo to the head. And he just played an all around game that we never got to see here at Kentucky. In his freshman season, he got the

Matt Jones (47:56)

game winning rebound against Georgia. When I saw him lined up with the free throw line, I was like, why is Travis Perry in for rebounding? And then he got the rebound, so good for him. I'm glad he played well. I pull for that kid and it was nice to see him do it. Who's next?

Shannon (48:11)

Bluegrass.

Matt Jones (48:12)

Bluegrass. He got about a minute.

Caller Will (48:15)

What's going on, fellas? Try to be real quick now, since we. I found out we got Santa Clara. I've been going back and watching, you know, everybody just tries to get some info on them. And I tell you what fellas, I like that we're going to be the most talented team finally for a change. Like that's to your point, Matt. I like being better. Like we match up at all the positions. They'll run a lot of flare screens and but they got that six, nine, that Graves. Now he's a hard matchup but don't

Podcast Advertising Host (48:44)

you think

Matt Jones (48:47)

he's the toughest matchup for us, their power forward? That'll be the toughest matchup for us. I agree.

Caller Will (48:54)

And that makes mo. But at least we do have mo. So we do. One of our best defenders will be on him. So I, I do like that. And if we can just bring the physicality. Did you, did you hear OA say that we need to bring this physicality against Florida, against every team?

Matt Jones (49:11)

Totally agree with you. Take the call. The power forward is going to be huge. Diabate is going to have to play well. I think that's a really good point. Out by Bluegrass. We'll come back Hour number two ksr.

Ryan Seacrest (49:22)

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Matt Jones (49:52)

This is Julian Edelman from Games with Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is

SpinQuest Advertiser (50:11)

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Matt Jones (50:13)

But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.

Ryan Seacrest (50:36)

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It is stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for store tags to earn on eligible items from Smart Water, Healthy Choice, Continental, arrowhead, Red Bull, St James, Tillamook and Special K. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

Radio Advertising Host (51:07)

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