Andy & Ari On3 - Syracuse coach Fran Brown will have you ready to COMMIT | Clemson sues ACC | Proctor leaves Iowa

Episode Date: March 20, 2024

We have a great interview with new Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, but first we’ve got to examine two HUGE news stories that broke Tuesday.(0:00-2:12) Intro(2:13-6:13) OL Kadyn Proctor is Heading BACK to Alabama after a brief stint at Iowa(6:14-12:45) Clemson Sues the ACC Preview(12:46-31:53) Syracuse Head Coach Fran Brown joins(31:54-34:11) Syracuse 2024 Schedule(34:12-48:09) Kentucky Basketball before March with Nick Roush(48:10-1:05:13) Deep Dive into Clemson Suing the ACC with Pete Nakos(1:05:14-1:08:46) Conclusion - Wednesday's First Four PicksFirst, Clemson sued the ACC in a South Carolina court in an attempt to clarify whether the grant of rights all the ACC schools agreed to is legally binding. The Tigers joined Florida State, which sued the ACC in December in a Florida court. (The ACC filed a preemptive lawsuit against the Seminoles in North Carolina).Next, offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor appears headed BACK to Alabama after transferring to Iowa earlier this offseason. Proctor started all 14 games for the Crimson Tide at left tackle as a true freshman in 2023, but he entered the transfer portal shortly after Nick Saban retired and headed back to his home state. He told Iowa coaches this week that he intended to re-enter the portal, and he told On3’s Hayes Fawcett on Tuesday night that he intends to re-enroll at Alabama.Later, new Syracuse coach Brown joins the show to explain why he’ll chase the same five-star recruits at Syracuse that he chased as a Georgia assistant. He also explains why his relationships helped him reshape the Orange roster very quickly. After hearing Brown’s philosophy, you’re probably going to be very high on Syracuse next year.Next, Nick Roush of Kentucky Sports Radio joins to preview Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats haven’t made the second weekend of the tourney since 2019, but John Calipari’s team is capable of going deep in the tourney this year. But it’s also inconsistent enough to duck out in one of the first two rounds, and that’s what makes this team such an adventure to watch.After Nick, On3 national reporter Pete Nakos joins to break down Clemson’s lawsuit against the ACC. The Tigers’ suit has some similarities to the one filed by Florida State, but Clemson attacks from a few different angles as well. Does this mean the best brands leaving the ACC is inevitable? It does, but we’ve been telling you that for months.Want to watch the show instead? Head on over to YouTube and join us live every morning at 8 am et, M-F! https://youtube.com/live/GpofMiur42k

Welcome to Andy Staples on three. One mere day away from the best sports day on the American sports calendar. The start of the NCAA tournament proper. Yes, there are first four games tonight. Yes, there were first four games on Tuesday night. No, we will not talk about them because they were. Well, the first one was good, but the second one, yeah, it made your eyes bleed. Colorado State beat Virginia by 25.

Virginia put up a whopping 42 points, put up 14 points in the first half. Didn't belong in the NCAA tournament. We could have been watching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Indiana State committee. You blew it. Maybe next time, put the regular season champ with the higher net rating in the tournament instead of the power conference team that was not very good all year. Crazy thought, I know. All right. We got some news to talk about. We have an incredible interview with new Syracuse coach Fran Brown.

And by the way, you're going to be ready to commit to the Orange after you hear Fran Brown. If you've not heard Fran Brown before, and remember, he was an assistant at Georgia. They don't do a lot of interviews when they're assistants at Georgia. If you've not heard him talk before, you're going to be very bullish on the Orange after hearing him. You're going to be very excited. It will explain how Syracuse flipped this roster the way they did after Fran Brown got hired. And also, by the way, it wasn't a program that needed that much. They returned a lot of production as well. So we'll have Fran Brown later in the show.

We will also talk about why Kentucky is the most exciting slash maddening team in the NCAA tournament. With our friend Nick Roush of Kentucky Sports Radio. We also will talk about Clemson suing the ACC with Pete Nacos. We're going to talk about that in a second to get you prepared. But first, some transfer portal news from Tuesday night. Caden Proctor, remember? Nick Saban retires. Caden Proctor, offensive tackle who started 14 games as a true freshman at left tackle.

Five-star-plus recruit from the state of Iowa. Had flipped from Iowa to Alabama. Nick Saban retires. Caden Proctor enters the portal. He heads to Iowa. Caden Proctor apparently spent spring break with some Alabama teammates, some former Alabama teammates, and decided, you know what? I think I want to keep playing in Alabama.

So he's back in the transfer portal or says he's going back in the transfer portal, has told his coaches at Iowa that he's going back in the transfer portal. Kirk Ferentz has acknowledged that Caden Proctor has told him that he's leaving. And Caden Proctor told R. Hayes Fawcett on three, he plans to re-enroll at Alabama very soon. And then Caden Proctor's Instagram story, just the Michael Jordan, I'm back. This is a very interesting transfer portal story that would not have happened without a federal court decision in December. So remember, you had the free one-time transfer,

but because the NCAA was so weird about whether they were going to give waivers to people who transferred the second time or not, because you're supposed to sit out a year. And instead of just saying everybody sits out a year when they transfer a second time, the NCAA had this convoluted waiver process. There was no rhyme or reason as to why they would give them out.

Naturally, that pissed some people off, got taken to court, and a judge said, hey, you know what? These guys that you keep telling us are not employees, you can't really hold them to non-competes the way you could an employee. So yeah, no, those rules don't apply anymore. So until that trial happens, there are no transfer rules. So Caden Proctor could transfer to Iowa, spend two months there, and transfer back to Alabama and play at Alabama.

He doesn't have to sit out. He's good to go. And this is obviously huge for Alabama because Caden Proctor, while he struggled a bit early because he was a true freshman playing in the SEC at left tackle, he got real good by the end of the season. Like, go watch that SEC championship game. He was excellent in that game. He has the potential to be a first-round draft pick. This is a big, big pickup for Kalen DeBoer.

And remember, we hit the panic button when Caden Proctor and Caleb Downs hit the transfer portal shortly after Nick Saban retired. Well, now Caden Proctor's back. Caleb Downs is still at Ohio State. But it seems like Kalen DeBoer has got things settled down pretty well at Alabama. We talked to Tim Watts from Bama Online last week about how they've been recruiting, the number of visitors they brought in for spring practice. It seems like Kalen DeBoer has got things humming along and it seems like Caden Proctor got some pretty good reports from his former teammates about what things are like

in Alabama now which makes people want to come back Zach in the chat the NCAA didn't want to give that waiver for good reason yes and they shouldn't give any waivers at all that's what pissed people off it wasn't that they made you get a waiver or that they didn't give you the waiver it's that they gave some people waivers and some or that they didn't give you the waiver. It's that they gave some people waivers and some people not and didn't have any clear cut criteria for why. If they just said there are no waivers, maybe they would have been okay, but maybe not. Because again, you can't hold non-employees to non-compete clauses. It's pretty simple. So Caden Proctor headed back to Tuscaloosa. Big, big news. That was a bombshell that came out Tuesday. Another bombshell that came out Tuesday,

Clemson suing the ACC. Now we knew Clemson felt the same way as Florida State. We're pretty sure North Carolina feels the same way as those two. But to this point, Florida State was the only one out there with a lawsuit against the ACC. Not anymore. Clemson has joined the fray, suing the ACC in Pickens County, South Carolina, which is where Clemson is located. Adding a third venue to the legal fight over the ACC grant of rights. So now you have the ACC's case against Florida State in the state of North Carolina, Florida State's case against the ACC in the state of Florida, and Clemson's case against the ACC in the state of South Carolina. Further muddying the waters, Clemson taking a little different tack than Florida

State in its legal argument. And the main thrust of its legal argument, the one that jumped off the page, is Clemson saying, hey, the grant of rights should not apply if we're no longer a member. And obviously, that's what Florida State's going for. That's what Clemson's going for. Florida State and Clemson don't want to be stuck in the ACC when SEC and Big Ten schools make so much more money than ACC schools. They want to try to compete for national titles. The rest of the ACC is not particularly concerned with competing for national titles and does not care as much.

But for Florida State and Clemson, this is an existential crisis. So they want out. And they are trying to find a way out. Will they get it? We'll see. We'll talk to Pete Nacos later in the show about this. I don't think this changes my opinion at all. In fact, it reinforces it.

Eventually, they will find a number, whatever that number is, for Florida State, for Clemson, for whoever else wants to leave, to pay the ACC to get out. And somebody will pick those schools up. Either the Big Ten or the SEC will pick them up because they're too valuable as football brands. It's going to happen because the ACC cannot afford for this case to go to trial because there is a non-zero chance that the ACC might lose at trial. If the ACC were to lose at trial, they lose the entire conference for nothing. And your Boston College is your Wake Forest. They go away with nothing. And then they have to renegotiate a TV deal and they will get pennies on the dollar. And they still may have to

do that. But at least if they take some money from these other schools, they can be sitting on a pile of cash and try to invest that or try to save that and mitigate the change because the change is coming. Now, why did this happen on Tuesday? We don't exactly know, but I have a theory. Tuesday also marked the day that the conferences officially approved the new college football playoff contract. That contract specifies how much money each conference splits from the college football playoff. And guess what?

The Big Ten and the SEC get the most. They each get 29%. Each one of them is shelling out $22 million per school from the CFP every year once 2026 hits. The ACC, meanwhile, will get $13 million per school. So that is another $8 million. Sorry, I'm bad at math. Bad at math show. Another $9 million that they're not getting. Add it to the gap. And remember, the SEC and Big Ten already have bigger regular season TV deals, much, much bigger than the ACC. So you're adding that to a gap that was already between $35 and $50 million a year per school. It's not tenable. It can't hold. And everybody's looking for somebody to blame.

Is this Jim Phillips' fault, the commissioner of the ACC? I don't know that it's his fault. I think this was set in motion before he even got the job. The one thing I will say, the Alliance, remember the ACC, the Pac-12, and the Big Ten, getting together to slow down the 12-team playoff. That looks dumber and dumber with each passing day because had they not slowed the 12-team playoff, it might have started earlier. It might have allowed them to get a new TV deal on for the playoff earlier before the SEC and the Big Ten had as much leverage as they have. Now, maybe they still would have done this. But it would have given them a better chance.

Florida State would have never been screwed out of a playoff spot this past year. But Jim Phillips got okey-doked by Kevin Warren in the Big Ten. George Glyavkov of the Pac-12 got okie-doked by Kevin Warren. Those two blew it. They completely blew it. And the Pac-12 is no longer a conference, and the ACC is getting sued by two of its own members. We'll talk more about that with Pete Nacos,

on three's national reporter, about what it means, what happens next later in the show. But let us turn to the current ACC, the one away from the courtroom, the one on the field, and a team that you should probably be thinking about in terms of improvement and in terms of a team that could surprise you in the ACC this year, because Syracuse has a new coach. His name is Fran Brown. He was the DB's coach at Georgia. He's worked at Temple. He's worked at Baylor. He's worked at Rutgers. He's a New Jersey native. Tight recruiting ties in the Northeast. He joined the show and holy cow, when you hear this guy talk, you will understand why so many good players in the transfer portal said, you know what? I think I want to go play for him at Syracuse. Here's Fran Brown. We are joined now by the head coach at Syracuse, Fran Brown. One of the most exciting new coaches this year because he came in and shook things up, changed that roster dramatically.

Fran, how are we doing? I'm doing good. How about yourself? I'm amazing, and I am just fascinated by what you've done with this program. And you haven't even had a spring practice yet. You start spring practice on Thursday. Yeah. How different are things now since when you got there two, three months ago?

It's a lot. It's more work. as the practices get closer for a head football coach. You know, there's a lot of things you have to do now and there are different pieces. But, I mean, the kids are just, they understand and they're buying into our culture, you know, which is dark, detailed, accountable.

But it's been tough. Over the last two weeks, we haven't had a single player miss a class, you know. So they're locking in on academics, you know so they're locking in on academics you know they're locking in on their faith and then we're just becoming closer as a team so i think it's different just because uh the guys care for each other you know we brought new guys in not saying they didn't care last year or whatever but we brought a lot of new guys in i mean we brought in at least 20 different new guys you know and it's gonna be like 34 total 35 totals that was

already have committed to this new team, but we bring in at least 25 new guys. So those new guys get an add on with the guys that were here. I think they're becoming they're gelling together. Well, you know, they're becoming they're trying to become real brothers. I wouldn't say they're brothers. Yeah, they like step they step brothers or cousins right now. They're working in to becoming you know brothers so you talk about guys locking and you locked in on this job and i the story you've told about this is incredible this is not how people normally get head coaching jobs but you texted john wildhack the ad at syracuse and just said hey i want to be in the mix for this you didn't even tell your

agent till after you'd already gotten the job yeah Yeah, I just felt it was the best thing to do. I'm represented by a really, really good agent. I asked him to just get me a number. I wanted to do it all myself and just different pieces. And, you know, they got so many guys that they got to represent too, and there's a lot of pieces on it. So I just felt as though, let me go and speak for me. You know, if I do it for for myself and that way i won't have

any regrets and i won't be able to point any fingers or do anything of that nature to just be all on me so i just went and did it for myself like you know what i'm gonna get this job for me i'm gonna do it myself i'm gonna make sure that i speak what's needed to be spoke about me i want to make sure that i uh just dot all the i's cross all the t's and that way if it don't happen at least i know it didn't happen on myself this time your recruiting philosophy is really interesting to me because i think people look at it like oh how i recruit depends on what school i'm at and you've been at rutgers you've been at temple you've been at georgia you've been at baylor all very different

kind of places in the in the college football universe. But you haven't changed your philosophy one bit. I saw you on the Keeping it a Buck podcast, and the host was giving you a hypothetical, like, okay, let's say you got the head coaching job at Monmouth, and this is when you're the DB's coach at Georgia. Do you recruit different players? And you're like, no same i just go talk to

the same guys man you have to i mean because like why would you not go get a player that you really want to coach why would you not try to go get the best the objective of this is two pieces recruiting i'm recruiting you to come be able to play for me so that way we can win the championship because you're a player that we feel is going to help us. Also, I'm recruiting you, and I'm hoping that you want to come play for me because you feel that I'm going to be able to better you in your life, in your future, help you become the man that you want to become. So why wouldn't I go do that with who I feel is going to give us the best opportunity of winning the championship?

You know, I think some people are just comfortable with getting the second guy or getting this one again that like i chased my wife literally i chased my wife for two and a half years before i ended up you know us being together you know i was chasing her from 14 years old all the way to ninth grade she wouldn't talk to me 10th grade and talk to me then she finally came to her senses and ended up talking to me after two and a half years so you know i went after the best there so i'm gonna do the same thing now when it comes to recruiting and being able to do that well and the relationships matter so much because even if you don't get that first guy or that second guy they remember you they like you they said and i was thinking about that i was reading

about you recruiting kyle mccord your new quarterback from ohio state and the relationship piece of that your your offensive coordinator's son played with kyle mccord your new quarterback from ohio state and the relationship piece of that your your offensive coordinator's son played with kyle your your wife worked with kyle's dad when she was when she was a nurse i mean how much does that matter just being able to say hey we've met we we know each other well first off she's still a nurse we got a lot of school loans so she don't have to be keep working right now she's still a nurse. We got a lot of school loans, so she don't have to keep working right now. She's still a nurse. But I think it means a lot, especially nowadays with the portal, you know, and different things of that nature and they're not just making the best decision for them at 33. They're making the best decision for them for the next month or what's going to look really, really good on Twitter

or what they may feel is going to happen because all they picture is the best scenario. And they just automatically feel the best scenarios will happen. They haven't been able to really put the other scenarios into play. They haven't thought about those other scenarios and uh you know i i think those pictures are the worst scenarios also you know just being able to understand everything that could happen there's more than just one possibility yeah of course we want you to come here go to the guys set the record be a hall of famer go to nfl but that doesn't always happen to everybody you know that happens

one out of 25. you know what i mean so those other 24 what happens with them how are you treating them who are they you know when things are bad for them where you at as a coach and there's a piece of that nature so you know i even hate going that far because most coaches don't even talk about all that stuff so kind of giving up that's what i was about to say is i i've you know i've talked to so many coaches who talk about that first meeting with a freshman class. And they always ask, how many of you go in the NFL? Every hand goes up. And reality is it's maybe one or two are going to the NFL.

When did you decide to start talking about that in the recruiting process? As soon as I got hired to be a football coach at Temple University, I understood that and I knew that that was important. When I was a freshman basketball coach, I came in high. I knew that all those kids that were on that team, they played freshman in the ninth grade. So it's a great chance. If you play freshman in the ninth grade, you're probably not going to the NBA. So you already started talking to them about life and things that what I mean, and things that are going to be important.

And instantly I went to college. I was from Camden. I'm sitting right there coaching all these freshman kids in basketball. It is my job to get them to want to go be successful. It's my job to allow them to see that I'm a married man and I'm doing things the right way, so that way these young guys can be able to follow the right path. I mean, sometimes it's not about how you get money. right way so that way these young guys can be able to follow the right path i mean sometimes

it's not about how you get money as long as you don't have to degrade your name and things of that nature you know i mean some of these guys just want to be good fathers and husbands you know if yeah if i tell you hey you're going to become a millionaire but it's because of someone that you work with before they own something and now you're gonna come and start to work with them and your degree is going to pay off would you really care when you become 35 years old and now you're multi-millionaire because you did pay attention in the classroom you did have the right education because you knew how to treat people and things of that nature so my mindset is just it's more about life it's more about your faith like like man men. Like, our job is to get these young men closer to the man above. You know, football just happens to be my job while I'm working here.

It's helping me fulfill my flesh. But the man above wants me to help young dudes get closer to them and show them how to be men so that way they can raise their children and bring their family up the same way. And that way we just continue to just have a better place, you know, make the United States a better spot to live overall. Well, you talk a lot about growing up in Canada, New Jersey, and it's obviously not the easiest place to grow up.

But I've heard you say it several times, like you saw kind of the gamut of people. You saw bad, but you also saw good. You also saw hopeful. You also saw people who who could be role models for you who were some of your biggest role models growing up some of my biggest role models aren't even alive and there's some are but like so those guys that everybody thought was just bad were out of that you know i mean of course they did other things to make ends meet you know i'm not saying that all those things were right and things of that nature

but they pushed me to go the right way you. They would always push us to go do the right things and to make sure you stay from around here and make sure you do this. We'll buy a basketball court and put us at the top of the block. Stay from around here because this ain't going right up here. Y'all stay up there and play basketball. Stay out the way. Do things of that nature. My uncle, Charles Brown, he became a cop. My mom's brother, I think, do things of that nature. And, you know, my uncle, Charles Brown, he became a cop. My mom's brother, I think he was one of my biggest role models, still is. Like, he was more so like the father to me. Like, that was like my, that's my pops.

You know, when it really went back and looked at him, just taught us everything, done a lot of stuff. I seen him get to his highest, and then I seen him get to his low, where something bad went on. And then I watched how, when things were bad, how he how he just stayed of course you know he worked the same way like i was the environmental service manager for croco i ended up hiring my uncle who i looked up to and who i loved like a father i ended up giving him a job after some stuff and then now he runs that entire piece years later my head coach said he was my uncle runs that whole Croco environment. So that just tells you, like, the type of men I was around. My high school football coach, Mark Pease, you know,

I even actually call him Pops. He just was just there, you know, just – that was the first guy that I saw, like, sit down with his wife and family eating and having dinner. My mom, he would let me come and live with him in the summers. I stayed with him one year. Then my mom, she allowed me to go there she trusted coach bees a lot so like before she passed that's who i would go and just spend a lot of time with you know he taught me just to be different um and honestly the role models like just my uncles in the

neighborhood and you know different people with different names of guys that i'd rather not really say but you know just to bring their names up. But those guys were role models. My wife, just from being with her and just watching how she was pregnant, had my youngest son, still went and became, went to school for anesthesia. And I just watched how she worked

and just kept getting A's on every test. Every test was like the fucking deal breaker of the lifetime. And she would always come back with an A, like she became a role model. Just people that work hard, you know what I'm saying? Like Matt Rule, I can't sit there and tell you that I didn't, like I don't look up to Coach Rule. Like, you know, man, Matt was like always,

like he's my oldest son's godfather. And that was like, well, like- And so you were playing juco ball in New York and a young Matt Rule who worked at Western Carolina, Cullowhee, North Carolina, shows up. So there's this dude from New York coming to see a guy from New Jersey to come to Cullowhee, North Carolina. What does he say to get you there? I'll tell you this, and Coach Rule will tell you this.

Rule wasn't coming there for me. They were coming for someone else. The coach didn't think that I would get down on my schoolwork in one year, but see, I had a plan. I went in the summer, I took 12 credits. During the school year, I was doing football season, I was taking 21 credits. So I took 21 credits, I ended up passing 18 of those 21. I stayed up over the Christmas break.

And then I'd spend Coach Rule, when I see him in the hall, I say, Coach, trust me, I got a plan. This is what I'm gonna do on my pass. I'm gonna take 18 credits now. I'm gonna pass these ones. I'll be up here for Christmas. Next semester, I say, coach, trust me, I got a plan. This is what I'm going to do on my pass. I'm going to take 18 credits now. I'm going to pass these. I'll be up here for Christmas. Next semester, I'm going to take another 15. Then in the summertime, I'll take 12.

I'm going to have 60 credits in a year. You need to recruit me. I'm the best corner in the conference anyway. And then he went through. He watched my tape. Then he called me. And then he was from, Coach Rue from New York. So that kind of took it from there by him being from New York.

And then I just started asking him questions about the school. We was purple and gold. I went to Canada purple and gold. And we was playing against NC State. Our first three games like NC State do different people but NC State had a Phillip Rivers, Jericho country, T.A. McLendon, Mario. Like I mean just all those dudes they was like killing like and that was a real game for us. It was a good I played pretty well. They beat the brakes off of us um and i just remember the whole game crying because i got left back as a senior in high school went to juco was able to do all that stuff within a year and then i was now getting an opportunity to play college football for real after that year like i got a guy on my staff a higher name emmanuel mark we played juco ball together one year and he tell you like it was like every day

was just important to me. I just been on a mission ever since, being able to see every day was important. How much does telling your own story when you're talking to these players, the ones you inherited and also the ones you're trying to recruit, how much does that help you connect, help you build a bond? I think they understand that and they know that. And they know I want what's best for them. And they know I'm not taking no BS.

Like, you're not going to get over them. You know, I'm going to find out. And then when I find out, I'm going to come at you about it. I don't mind confronting the best players. Like, Aranda Gaddis and Kyle McCord, they will be confronted by me. But I'll confront the guys that are the best players on the football team because I think when you really confront them and they see them do it and I do it in front of their peers, it puts everyone else in place.

It's not from a place of I'm trying to show them the man. It's from a place of why are you trying to mess your future up? I'm not going to allow you to do that. I'm not going to do it that way. You've got too much at stake. Why would we mess that up? We're going to do this the right way. Your first college football game was a Syracuse game.

Donovan Darius, Camden guy. Yeah. Dwight Freeney. He's from Connecticut. Like the best Syracuse teams always dominated the Northeast in recruiting, whether it was Jersey, whether it is, you know, New England, whether it's Pennsylvania. How do you get back to dominating those areas?

Just working, Dale. You know, me and me are consistent. You know, you got a lot of coaches in the Northeast, man. There's some great programs up there right now. Everybody's doing a good job, I think. You know, I look at all the schools and I just take my hat off to everybody in the whole Northeast right now. You know, the Big Ten and the ACC, as I'm watching what they're doing, I'm like, wow, these guys are going. So it's no better time, in my opinion, for me to show what our staff can do, you know, and who we are and what the program can do. There's no better time right now because everybody's in the, you know, their scale is up, their trajectory is up for everyone.

So why not show that we can be the best, you know? And I want to compete. You know, these dudes are really smart. They're intelligent men. They've been doing it a long time. It's just to see who's going to outwork each other. And they know, like, I mean, they all understand it. It's going to work because I'm going to work.

I don't have to sleep. So let's put the work in. I'm going to compete. I want to come at every one of them the same way they will come at us. Let's compete. And then we'll get an opportunity to compete on the field. But whatever stage or whatever part of the year it is that we compete, they better be busting their butt to compete because I am.

You know what I'm saying? I'm going to win. You don't have to say that. You got a kid in college, but you also got a young one, like a two-and-a-half-year-old, right? I got a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. I got an 11-year-old son who's here every day. He thinks it's his program, honestly. daughter i got 11 year old son who's here every day yeah his programming honestly so you know he

actually told the uh he told the equipment guy to get his name next to uh mine it's like two lockers and they wouldn't put his name next to it his son said do it so you go in there now they say braden brown next right next to my little locker he's funny um then my two-year-old daughter life changing everyone says it but just to have a daughter, it's a different ball game. And in the brains of the family, my wife is, but then my 19 year old son, Franny's just becoming a good athlete, just watching him. I got to work him out here last week before he went back. I work him out, usually I just try to stay away from him, but I went in there like,

I'm gonna do it, come on. Worked out a few days and just watching him get better. I think they're doing a good job at his school but seeing the way he runs and moves and he's in school for mechanical engineering and then he's still doing a really good job in the field he'll have a chance to compete to play this year so just excited to watch him i'm hoping that our schedules kind of go off a little bit i didn't look at ours yet because i'm trying not to jinx myself or whatever but hoping that i get an opportunity at least watching one spring practice and be able to go up but i'm just man my family like my wife she's amazing uh just those three you know i mean they i don't know what i would do without them i

think i have the perfect family for what i'm doing right now in the time of my life and uh they're all understanding of the time and appreciated my daughter doesn't know but i'm just happy for them before i let you go i do want to ask about this because you mentioned your oldest he's at st francis in pennsylvania playing and did being a dad in the recruiting process change the way you look at the recruiting process at all it changed the way i coached the kids it doesn't change the way i look at the process you know i recruit the same way but it changes the way I coached the kids. It doesn't change the way I look at the recruiting process. I recruit the same way, but it changes the way I coach them because of karma. I mean, you know what it says. Karma comes back on your oldest.

So, like, Franny's not about to get no BS because of what his dad did. So I just look at how do I want my son treated? He's in school right now. What calls do I want to take from him? How would I respond if the shoe was on the opposite foot? So I just treat them all the way I want for any treat, you know, and that's important to me that I make sure I treat them that way. And, you know, it's just like telling everybody right now use this some knowledge tell people say, everybody say, you know, I'm a treat him. I love him. I love you kid like a son, man. I love him like a son. I'm

not gonna love none of these kids the way I love my children. But I'm gonna treat them all the way I want to treat, you know, that love the way I love my children, but I'm going to treat them all the way I want them treated. That love that I have for my son and for my oldest son, for my second son, for my daughter, I can't love none of the kids that way, but I'm going to treat them the same way I want them treated. I do love them. I want the best for them. I want all those things, but my sons, they were life-changing.

I became a man because I had children i was able to grow up i couldn't do the same things that i did when i was i mean just me and my wife just us two i was a little bit different i'm going to the club i'll see you later are we getting an argument i don't care i'm going out are you going out like now you got children it's like okay listen what did i do it became all that and i ain't worried about that so now now what did I do? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's about more. It's just the other piece of it. But, you know, just having no, my children saved my, they changed my life. Can't say they saved me because I knew what I wanted in life, but my children changed my life. They changed my thought process. My wife, she changed my life and my thought process. So it was just a different ballgame.

Well, cannot wait to see what this program becomes. Spring practice this week. Coach, thank you so much. I appreciate you, man. You be safe. Yes, sir. That's Fran Brown. Look at that Syracuse schedule, by the way. Take a look at that schedule. Look at what they bring back. Look at what they brought in. We mentioned Kyle McCourt, Fadil Diggs, who started every game for Texas A&M and Edge last year. Look at the schedule. Yes, Georgia Tech in week two, that's going to be tough. I've

told you time and time again, Brent Key's doing a great job there. At UNLV, won't be fun. At NC State, won't be fun. But there's a lot of winnable games on this schedule. This is a team that if they are improved over last year, you are talking about a pretty darn good record at the end of this season. So be excited about Fran Brown. If you're wondering what the win total is at FanDuel, it's six and a half. So if you're thinking about what you just heard and what you're seeing on this schedule,

six and a half over seems kind of manageable. Seven wins, eight wins, that seems manageable. And I don't want to be the sunshine pumper who says take every over. But this case, Tennessee's case the other day when we were talking about it, it feels like it's doable. You know what else feels like it's doable? Kentucky roaring through the NCAA tournament and winning a national title because when this team is on, it's electrifying to watch. You know what's also doable?

Kentucky not getting out of the first weekend. It is both teams at once, and that is the never-ending source of fascination and frustration for Kentucky fans. Why the pressure is on John Calipari this week heading into the first round. This is a team that can win the national title. It needs to make a deep run. Otherwise, Big Blue Nation is going to be Big Blue Mad. Nick Roush from Kentucky Sports Radio joins us to preview the most fascinating team in the NCAA tournament. We welcome Nick Roush from Kentucky Sports Radio.

And the last time we talked to Nick, it was like things were going to hell in a handbasket. Kentucky's about to lose its offense coordinator in football. The Cats were having a little bit of a losing streak on the court but that was that was like a month and a half ago Nick and I gotta say the SEC tournament results aside Kentucky feels like a very dangerous team going into the tournament oh there's it's total devil on your one shoulder angel on another of just competing thoughts right your your head is telling you all of these crazy stats like no team has ever won a national title after losing in the first round of its conference championship every kentucky final four team since 1978 has at least gone to sec championship game but then you remember like oh we can't we can't let conference tournament week poison the well

that was their four but their ceiling is so high, and that's kind of been what this team has been all season, a team with an incredibly low four, but also it can reach the highest of highs, and so I think the Big Blue Nation is just trying to tell itself, hey, that was the four. Maybe we just got it out of the way. Maybe we got the bad out of the way before we see the best of the best

for Kentucky, and when you look around at the draw um Kentucky fans we love to complain about the draw we've done it time and time again no complaints this year no complaints whatsoever right this this is a very palatable draw where you can see Kentucky getting to Phoenix in the final four for the first time since 2015 yeah and you mentioned the Angel and the Devil on the show. I feel like we saw the Angel and the Devil in a two-game span with Kentucky going down to Knoxville, beating Tennessee, the last game of the regular season, looking like a team that could cruise to the Final Four.

And then the Texas A&M game, all of the stuff you worry about comes back so all right let me give me a perfect scenario like what needs to happen who needs to play well what what would make it possible for Kentucky to get through this region which Marquette on their side of the of the bracket you wind up with duke or houston probably if you're trying to get to the final four like what does kentucky need to do very well to get through this bunch i think some of it is just how well do the complementary players play uh when you saw them at their worst right against texas a m justin edwards and aduthi arrow come on for nine

points justin edwards didn't hit a three. He had been on a heater to end the season. I think four out of his last six games were in double figures. He knocked down a bunch of threes against Tennessee. I think he plays a really significant role because you kind of know what you're going to get with Reed Shepard. Antonio Reeves is going to score 20 points unless the refs foul him out. And then Rob Dillingham is like on every other game pace, right? He gets nuclear.

So you kind of know what you're going to get there. You're not expecting a ton from the centers, but it's that a Duthiero and Justin Edwards combination at the 3-4 spot. How reliable are they both defensively and offensively? Because I think they played a key role in that Tennessee game. And also, I mean, Connect had 40, but they were all up in his face. They didn't give him nothing easy. And the guys that have typically given Kentucky trouble in March

are those sort of stretch fours. So I think those guys play a huge, huge role for Kentucky. And then the other thing is, Andy, it's been the biggest talking point of the year, and I think Calipari might finally be willing to wave the white flag and say, all right, guys, you might be onto something here. The starting lineup is, it's just been an issue. They were down eight to one against A&M.

They're down, I think, nine to two early. Like, it's just, you don't need to dig yourselves into early holes. And Andy, I'm like, I think some of the yelling and screaming about who's starting Cal was right when it came specifically to Justin Edwards you know he doesn't want to give up on guys in fear of losing them for the season and it worked for Edwards um but you're at a point now where like that that five that starts the first half in the second half they never play again they only start for like three minutes and Dillingham and Reeves come in. So it's like you're just wasting time.

There's no time to waste. The time is now. It's March. At least Cal alluded to potentially making some changes to the lineup in his coach's show. But he's seemingly the only person that likes that lineup. I don't understand it. It's funny that you mention it, though, because I was thinking back.

So that Kimball Walker team, the one that won five games in five days and then ripped through the NCAA tournament, Calhoun did that with that team. I always was so confused by it. But you would trot this lineup out, and at the under four timeout, you'd bring in your real lineup. And I didn't understand why you wouldn't just start with that one. Some coaches, especially college basketball, real lineup and I didn't understand why you wouldn't just start with that one some coaches they just especially college basketball where you have your just grips on everything like there's

just a a hesitancy to relinquish power to admit you're wrong and here's the thing is like those individuals have their moments right like you're gonna and you know to start the Tennessee game block three shots right off the bat and you knew like okay this is a game he's going to be vital um same thing with a dude the arrow or Edwards but it's just that combination with DJ Wagner and rings like DJ DJ had a streak where he was I want to say oh eight of 12 from three over three game span he's he's taking steps forward but it's just pairing him together it just doesn't work so maybe you sit a dude the air out and you let reed shepherd play there so you have three guards and you play a little bit smaller uh this opening round games against a team in oakland that plays a ton of

zones so that makes more sense i just really the the centerpiece of this all andy is this this felt like a make or break year for kentucky going in and it was all going to matter to march well now it's here we had all this excitement going in the SEC tournament and the air got let out of the balloon right away and so the anxiety the pressure it's mounting and you can kind of feel with John Calipari too because he's talking about getting rid of the clutter and don't put any more pressure on the players it's like Cal Cal we ain't putting the pressure on them buddy it's all on you well it's all and that's exactly right it has been five years since by god kentucky basketball made the second weekend in the ncaa tournament now i realized there wasn't a tournament in 2020. that's still not an excuse no like this is

this is and and you look at the situation if they get past Oakland they're going to get NC State or Texas Tech both teams they should be able to beat correct like there's no excuse for them not to be in the second weekend no none whatsoever um and I just I've I feel like I have all those spidey senses tinkling where every time I say something like that, I feel like I'm putting bad juju on them. Kentucky plays in the 7-10 slot on Thursday, the same time slot they lost to St. Peter's. So there's all sorts of PTSD just hanging over this team. And then you are like, well, it's a homecoming for John Calipari to Pittsburgh and a dude to the arrows from there.

And so is Trey Mitchell and Justin Edwards is not too far away in, in all the while it's just Kentucky means we just love this team. There's so much fun and you don't want to see this fun team. You don't want that road to come to an end early and have it be a, what if instead of a banner year where you think about this team finally for years to come. How hard will Kentucky fans laugh if St. Peter's eliminates Tennessee in a 15-2 game? Fortunately, that game is being played after the Kentucky game because I think there may have been some folks, myself included, who might have enjoyed that Tennessee loss Friday morning at the SEC tournament a little bit too much. But here's the thing, Andy. Rick Barnes has a reputation

in March for a reason, but one thing he does well, he does not lose to mid-majors in opening round games. He's good against mid-majors in opening round games. So he can take care of business, but St. Peter's can do the funniest thing the funniest thing oh yeah oh yeah all right before I let you go Nick I'm gonna give you a scenario and this let's just say they get past Oakland and and Greg Rimpey 40 years you know congratulations here's your gold watch all that good stuff and they're playing either Texas Tech or NC State to get to that second weekend for the first time since 2019. And it comes down to the wire. There's eight seconds left. Kentucky's got the ball. They're down one. Who do you want taking that shot? Rob Dillingham or Reed Shepard?

I'm saying Reed Shepard, seven out of 10 times with the caveat that it could be a Rob Dillingham nuclear game. And that's the only way to describe it. Cause there's times where he's just like Allen Iverson is the only comparison I can think of because he's just doing stuff that like you and it's no, no, no, no. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, it's stuff that just makes no sense, but he's just flicking it from his waist over his head, over three guys, and banking it off the glass. So if he's having one of those games where he's unstoppable, untouchable, a walking flamethrower, then I say Rob.

But I trust Reed Shepard's decision-making skills. He's already got a buzzer beater to his name against Mississippi State. And in that game, we remember the buzzer beater, but he also had the block shot before that, the steal and dunk and transition. He is cool as a cucumber and collected under pressure. Reed Shepard is the guy that has exceeded the Big Blue Nation's wildest dreams, and he can really submit himself as an all-time great with an outstanding run this March. Counter counterpoint LSU was one of those Dillingham nuclear games he made what looked like basically two NBA game winners and Kentucky lost on a buzzer beater so I think I make a Reed Shepard on this yeah and I the the part of me is that like, it's great that you have those options and there's so many like,

oh, well, yeah, you have Mississippi state, but you also had LSU where it was like kind of fluky at the end. Uh, Mississippi state, they were up by eight with a minute left and they blew that lead.

They blew a lead against Kansas. So I, that, that's my ultimately, I think we're going to end where Kentucky fans are the most conflicted. It's going to be the most conflicted March possible where they're looking great. They stormed the Sweet 16, possibly get some revenge against Florida who upset them in overtime at Rupp Arena. That could be a high-scoring, dramatic affair where they win a tight one.

You're feeling good about them. And then they just get completely swallowed by Houston and the Elite Eight where, hey, it's good, we're back to the Elite Eight, but it's still not good enough. And that could lead to just another six months of arguing and bickering of uncertainty. And we'd have it no other way over the last five years of John Calipari. Just the total gray area. And that's

unfortunately how I kind of see things going for this team in the NCAA tournament. Nick, we're going to talk next week, no matter what happens. I'm not sure what I want to have. I hope I want, I'm not sure which version of Nick I want. I just want you on the show. That's all I care about. Okay. Okay. Well, if it's, if there's any sort of heartbreak involved, I'll give Tennessee fans what they want, okay, Andy? I can promise your Tennessee viewers and listeners they will get what they want.

But if not, I'm going to be the most obnoxious person possible. So if the cats are in Phoenix, oh, buddy. Whoo! Whoo! Well, I think the only response to that is go Big Blue. Because that's the Nick I want. Yes. Yes.

Nick, thank you so much. Appreciate it, Andy. Watching Nick Roush vacillate between, I know this team can win the national title, and I might be looking at another first weekend exit is fascinating to me and Nick is emblematic of the folks in the big blue nation he he expresses it better than most but there's there's thousands more than hundreds of thousands, maybe seven figures of people just on pins and needles right now because they know they've got a team that can go deep.

But what if it doesn't? What if it doesn't? Willie in the chat, does anyone else think Nick sounds like Mr garrison from south park he kind of looks like mr garrison we're gonna blow his head up a little more but he didn't once say first weekend losses are bad he didn't say that i love nick roush we're having Nick Roush on next week, regardless of what happened,

regardless of whether Kentucky is still in the tournament or not. And again, even though I said obnoxious Nick's the one I want, heartbroken Nick is a highly entertaining too. So we're going to win either way. Kentucky may not win, but we're going to win. You know who's not winning right now? The ACC. It's been a bad week for the ACC.

Florida State was already suing the ACC. The ACC was already suing Florida State. But on Tuesday, Clemson joined the fray, filing its own lawsuit against the ACC. Pete Nacos, On3 national reporter, joined us to break it all down. You hear the horns and you know what that means. It's breaking news. Clemson has sued the ACC, the second member institution to sue the conference in the past three months. Pete Nacos from On3 joins me. Pete, we've been reading through this complaint,

and basically it is Clemson saying, we would like some clarity from you, state court in South Carolina. This lawsuit was filed in Pickens County, South Carolina. So if you are keeping score, the ACC has sued Florida State in North Carolina. Florida State has sued the ACC in Florida. And now Clemson has sued the ACC in South Carolina. So we have three venues here. And Clemson is saying we need some clarity on this grant of rights, on these withdrawal penalties. And basically, Pete, there's a lot of, what if Clemson wasn't a member of the ACC?

Would the grant of rights still hold? I don't think they would hold, Andy. But man, just reading through this lawsuit in the, I guess the first 30 minutes since it dropped, maybe 40 minutes, full of bangers. I mean, Clemson just kind of kicks it off right away, right? The ACC grant of rights hinders Clemson's ability to meaningfully explore its options regarding conference membership.

Clemson wants out, and this is official. Yeah, they definitely want out. And so it is amazing how many times they come to this. And obviously in a complaint, you're trying to cover all your bases. But it says the media rights to games played while Clemson is a member of the ACC are the only rights necessary for the ACC to perform the conference's obligations under the ACC's media rights to the ESPN. The media rights to games played at a time when Clemson is not a member of the ACC were never part of any

grant of rights. And our assumption all along, and that's from talking to people at the conference, and this is going back years, is that this was this ironclad thing that lasted until 2036, and we've seen Florida State state challenge it and now we've seen clemson challenge it in florida state's challenge of it and i believe this is also in clemson's challenge pete but this is redacted in clemson's challenge because it's part of the esp and acc contract which uh they basically the clemson said just redact this and then make the ACC prove why it should be redacted. Otherwise we're going to open it up. But Florida state sort of let the cat out of the bag. ESPN has an option that it can pick up as of February, 2025 for 2027 through 2036. So this

is all coming down the pipe really fast. And. And it sure seems like Clemson, like Florida State, is ready to explore other conference membership. So Clemson is definitely willing to and happy to explore new conference membership. This is something that Clemson has been working on for months, right, Andy? I mean, you and I both heard this. This is not some major shocker. The other thing that jumps up too is the ACC, I wrote it in my story, they just don't want to pay the exit fee.

They're not exactly challenging the current grant of rights in the sense of they just want to be able to move on. I guess what I'm trying to get to, what I mean, and correct me if i'm trying to get to what i mean and is um and correct me if i'm wrong here right but clemson just wants to get out of the grant of rights and they're not challenging the actual grant of rights they're just trying to move on and i know that and i know and i know that's a word yeah if you ask jim phillips he would tell you that no we the acc owns the rights after you leave right that's what i'm trying to say yes clemson's saying that's not true but what clemson is also saying and this is something florida state has said is the 140 million dollar withdrawal fee

is pen is an exorbitant penalty that isn't enforceable and that's what all of these entities are trying to get clarity from the court system before they make a move. And even the ACC's lawsuits against Florida State essentially asked for clarity. It asked for the court to affirm the grant of rights and say, hey, this is legal and binding. You guys are stuck. So we have now three venues we have two schools that have sued we know there are two others who want out and could potentially do the same thing north carolina and miami now north carolina has been pretty diplomatic about all of this uh bubba cunningham just last week was in an interview he's the the athletic director of North Carolina,

was saying, hey, we can protect ourselves and look ahead, but we also don't have to be as aggressive. But I do wonder now that Clemson has joined the fray, because before it feel like everybody was looking at Florida State going, yeah, but that's a little, I don't know, you guys are a little aggressive for our taste. Maybe we do's a little, I don't know. You guys are a little, little aggressive for our taste. Maybe we do this a little bit differently, but now that Clemson's joined the fray, I feel

like this could open the floodgates. Right. And the other thing that's in this lawsuit that we haven't talked about that indicates how Clemson feels and maybe other schools feel is Clemson writes in this lawsuit that they weren't asked to vote on the ACC filing the lawsuit against Florida State, and they didn't sign off on it. That's the clearest as day as Clemson can be that, hey, we're on Team Florida State now. We want Florida State to win in their lawsuit. We want to win our lawsuit.

And it probably also signals to North Carolina probably didn't sign off on this lawsuit. So that really jumps out. And obviously, getting back to the point I was trying to make is Clemson wants the court to rule that it doesn't have any fiduciary duties to the ACC. Correct. Yes.

That they're not in a joint venture together. That those schools are not in a joint venture. And that was interesting. I don't believe that's in Florida State's lawsuit that that's a little bit different tack so we'll see and and interestingly not like these different schools attacking the ACC in different ways probably bad for the ACC CU Tigers win in the chat says what is the

conference war chest for lawsuits before they have to ask the team in the conference for more money to fight the lawsuits? They could be fighting four to six at once. That's true. Cause if, if, if North Carolina and Miami were to join, or if say Virginia decided to join, I don't know that they would, but that would be pretty tough and, and to fight in on all these different fronts and all these different states because you have to hire attorneys who are experts in that state's law. Yup. And it could get pretty expensive. Now, I've said for a long time, this is going to come to a number at some point.

Yes. This is never going to trial. This will get settled. Florida State and Clemson or whoever else and the ACC will come up with a number yep the question is what's the number you know what is it going to cost you've written about it before right I mean the ATC clearly is very open to negotiations they alluded to it in a previous filing um I believe that one was in the oh I don't know if they're open to negotiation that was well that was the that was in the Florida State against ACC. Oh, I don't know if they're open to negotiation. That was in their lawsuit against, or the Florida State lawsuit against the ACC in Florida. And basically what the ACC was saying is it's a commercial possibility that you could just buy your way out. But from what people have told me, that is the lawyers just basically countering all of Florida State's arguments,

not necessarily ACC saying we're open for business, let's negotiate. I do think they're going to have to come to that at some point, though. Yeah, no, I definitely think it has to happen. You've written about this. I've kind of talked to some people about it. It seems like the number, right, is what, 275, give or take, with the highest being around 500 million, I believe. 572 million is what Florida State put in their lawsuit as what they feel is kind of the max, where you add the total of the TV rights through 2036 plus the withdrawal fee, 572 is the number they come up with yeah i think if you told them you could get out for 150 million today they would write the check tonight so realistically the number you come to is somewhere in between there and the thing about this pete that i think

is interesting people always want we got a lot of questions when the ACC added Stanford and Cal and SMU. Yeah. And my thinking was always, this is backfilling to make sure you're still taking care of your TV agreements if you lost members. And that way you're already set up to have 15 members, including Notre Dame, which is non-football member. Yeah. Even if you were to lose, let's say you lost Florida state Clemson, North Carolina, then you'd still have the right

number of members. Your TV contract could still be in effect, but this is, this is interesting because you wonder how quickly anybody else jumps in. Cause it took, it took a few months for Clemson to get here they're kind of operating under the radar yeah what do you think it was that that generated this now they have obviously been working on this for months i don't think it was exactly a hey like this happened so now we need to file the lawsuit i think they did their due diligence and they got to the point where they felt very comfortable moving forward with this i do think though and this is overarchingly right like the ncaa is as powerless as ever right with these preliminary

injunctions with the transfer portal on nil i think the college sports landscape lends itself to clubs and forest state winning these lawsuits. And I think the pressure is, is bigger than ever against the ACC where the ACC will probably want to settle at some point rather than see how this plays out in the court. Because in my opinion, and in some attorneys I've talked to, I think that there's an opinion that, that Florida state and Clemson probably could win in the court.

And I don't think that is something the ACC wants to see play out. They can't. They can't. That's the thing that I – that's why I've been so certain when I've said this. As long as there's a non-zero chance of the ACC losing any of these lawsuits, they can't go to court. They can't take it to trial. They would have to settle it because the option if you lose or the consequences, if you lose are all of this falls apart and you get

nothing. Now, if you settled with Florida state and Clemson and let's say North Carolina, and let's say you settled for 250 or $300 million each, which sounds like a lot of money, but in the grand scheme, it's actually basically paying a mortgage. If they wind up in the Big Ten or the SEC, they kind of break even over the next 10 years. Right. At least you'd have a pile of cash sitting there to deal with whatever happens next yeah that feels like the best alternative at this point i guess the question i pose to you now andy those let's say that does play out right and let's say i don't know virginia and north carolina joined now

you're four schools down at what point does the acc need to like really sit down and consider what happens next right because you lose those four schools and the TV product is devalued and the conference is devalued and you have to think at some point does Jim Phillips turn to the Big Ten or the SEC and ask will you absorb us and I know that sounds so earth-shaking and i know some people he should have been asking that two years ago well right i mean yeah the alliance did what it did but i guess the question is do you think that day is coming sooner than a lot of people think well i i think the answer to that would be no i think the answer to that we will take what we want and you guys deal with whatever

happens next and and so here's here's what I'm thinking. One significant thing that happened on Tuesday, or I think it happened late Monday. Remember, we knew that the conferences were set to agree on the new college football playoff contract that went through 2032. And so we saw Ross Dellinger report, I think Tuesday morning, that that memorandum of understanding has been signed and it's, it's been executed. Well, what does that do? What does that particular thing do that's significant? What it does is it codifies the ACC as a second-class citizen and the big 12 for that matter. So the revenue split, the way the new college football playoff revenue split will work starting in 2026, is the Big 10 and the SEC each get, I believe, 29% of all the money.

Roughly $22 million per school, I believe. $22 million per school. The ACC gets 21%, which is $13 million per school, I believe. 22 million per school. The ACC gets 21%, which is 13 million per school. So you've just added $8 million to a revenue gap, $8 million a year per school to a revenue gap that was already going to be 30 to $50 million a year, depending on whether it's the SEC or the big 10 we're talking about. Yeah. If you're Florida State and you're Clemson and you're North Carolina and you could potentially go to one of these things if you were available, you have to do something at that point.

They've put it in writing now. You read the lawsuit today, right? At one point, the Clemson attorneys writing a complaint, it's Clemson's athletic department responsibility. I'm paraphrasing here that they need to go seek new membership in another conference because of the revenue gap. And, yeah, it's bigger than ever. It's where college sports is right now. It doesn't seem to be slowing down, especially with this new ESPN deal.

And I know that there's been plenty of reports out espn isn't going to give more money if they go to 14 or 60 right but at the same time right this is this is the landscape they're in and the money isn't going to change which also means that the sec and the big 10 are the richest of the rich right and that's not changing and that's only going to get bigger and worse and so if you're florida state if you're clemson and here's the thing a lot of people keep asking this and that's only gonna get bigger and worse. And so, if you're Florida State, if you're Clemson and here's the thing. A lot of people keep asking this and and it's a legitimate question. Let's say they get out. Is somebody going to take them? And I would argue that if I'm the Big Ten, if I'm

Fox, which is really in charge of of the Big Ten in terms of television and everything. Yeah. I look at the SEC schedules, what they came out with with the 16-team version once they added Oklahoma and Texas. And I look at that and I go, you know what? Their product is still a lot better than ours. We've got to find a way to improve our product. If you could sprinkle Florida State and Clemson across all of the Big Ten schedules suddenly it's a lot better product now if you're the sec you go wait a second that's our geographic territory that's our footprint do we want to let them into our footprint or do we choke them out and increa and improve our product yeah i mean and now you have a realignment battle on your hands, right? Yeah. You just made the case.

The Big Ten and the SEC both have great reasons to add. And I know, right, South Carolina loves to be the only SEC school in the state. But at the same time, if you're Greg Sankey, you've got to bring your presence together and say, like, hey, we can only add value to our product with adding in Clemson or a Florida state. So, yeah, it's so, so we currently have a situation where the SEC and the big 10 are working together, but if certain events play out, they could be pitted right against each other. Yeah. It is, it is amazing. And that is,

that's college athletics in 2024 in a nutshell. So to review the ACC sued Florida State in North Carolina first because they knew that Florida State was going to sue the ACC in Florida which happened the next day that was in December on Tuesday Clemson sues the ACC in South Carolina. God only knows what Wednesday will bring. Pete Nacos, thank you so much. Thank you.

That is Pete Nacos. And I realized I made a mistake earlier. We were talking about Nick Roush. Somebody said he looked like Mr. Garrison from South Park. I got my bald South Park Elementary faculty members confused, and I was doing a Mr. Mackey impression. Nick Roush does kind of sound like Mr. Garrison. So we got to get him like a, we got to get him a little puppet.

We got to see if he's got a Mr. Ha. We'll work on that. We'll workshop that for next week. But right now, we got to talk about tonight. We got games in the first four, grambling against Montana State. Listen, I am all for HBCU pep bands in the NCAA tournament proper. So I realized the Bobcats, the chosen school of Dutton family,

I realize they're four and a half point favorites. No, no, no. Give me Grambling State. Give me them to pull the upset. I want that pep band in the tournament. I want that pep band front and center when they're playing Purdue. And remember, Purdue lost to the 16 last year. Fairleigh Dickinson won a first four game to earn the right to play Purdue. So the winner of this game may maybe following in fairly Dickinson's

footsteps. Yeah. Give me Grambling. And then the next game, which assuredly will be more exciting than the Colorado State Virginia game was because nothing could be worse than that game. There is no possible basketball game that could be worse than what you had to watch last night. This one will be more fun. Colorado's two and a half point favorite against Boise State. The winner plays the Florida Gators in Indianapolis on Friday. I don't know where to go with this one. I was one in one last night, by the way. It was one in one. Got the Wagner-Howard prediction wrong.

Got the Colorado State-Virginia one right. Where do I go with this one? And I realize the winner plays my alma mater. So am I supposed to choose the one that I think my alma mater has a better chance of beating? I just don't know where to go with this. Give me double upsets. Give me the Broncos. Let's go.

I have no idea what's going to happen. And that's beautiful. All I know is we better than what we had to watch last night. And I will never forgive the selection committee for not putting Indiana state in instead of Virginia. We could have been watching Larry nerd. You screwed us out of that terrible job selection committee. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Who knows?

You might totally redeem yourself tonight, though. Let's have some exciting basketball. And you know what happens tomorrow. That's right. Hope you scheduled your vasectomies. We'll talk to you soon.