Hour 1: Live From Lexington

We all know Saturday's game time can get a little messy. Your crew just came over to watch. Snacks on the table, drinks in hand, and somebody's celebrating like they just won the whole season and beyond. And when that energy gets going, your walls can end up taking the hit. Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where bare ultra interior paint comes in. It adds an extra durable, stain blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season. It also delivers outstanding coverage to hide in fewer coats with easy application and a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass. Plus, that easy clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer. So before the next kickoff, give your space game ready defense and coverage that goes the distance. Bear Ultra, only at The Home Depot. The pride, passion and pageantry of college football lives here. This is The Paul Finebaum Show, our one podcast. This might be college football, Heather. We're in Lexington, Kentucky, and everybody here is fired up. And the biggest home games in years. As Kentucky tries to do something that hasn't happened in nearly 30 years, and that is knock off the Crimson Tide. I was here the last time it happened. You were barely born. Yep, I was. But this campus is pretty fired up. And we talked to a reporter a couple weeks ago said, this is the biggest home game, probably, I don't know, there were some pretty good years, about 15 years ago, 10 years ago, under Mark Stoops, but it feels different being on campus. Roman Harper here, we have a cast, I don't want to say of thousands, but more like about 15, including the head football coach at the University of Kentucky, Will Stein will join us. So will so many other people. A week where very little football was discussed, let's get right to it. What about the Alabama and Kentucky game, first road game for the Tide? It should be a really good game. I think the reason why everybody's so fired up, Paul, is because there's hope. The offense looks better, they're scoring points, and when you put up points as an offense, fans like it, they're going to show up. It gives them something to cheer for besides just defense. And so I think under Will Stein, this offense, some of the things that I saw this past week versus Youngstown State, I literally paused the tape, Paul, and said, I've actually never seen that before, and that doesn't happen for me a lot of times. And so I'm really looking forward to this challenge for Alabama. Can Alabama truly be a better team? They looked better at times last week, but it wasn't a clean outfit either. Keelan Russell did a lot of running around. That won't work all year long, and especially against this Kentucky defense. So Kentucky plays a lot more zone. It'll be some windows for Keelan Russell to try and throw the ball through. And I want to see if he's actually able to throw the ball on time and accurate. And when he's accurate with the ball, do the wide receivers catch it? And is there another wide receiver, not named Ryan Coleman Williams, that can actually make a play for Alabama, because I hadn't seen that either. So I want to ask you, and I want to ask some of the people that have joined us here, and we'll ask Will Stein this, but he said something this week that was really interesting. He said he wants people to sneak a flask in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It looks like they didn't have to sneak a flask in to hear that they're ready. And he wants obscenities, he wants essentially bring violence to the crowd. Now, I've been here a lot of times, we were here, what, two or three years ago when Alabama came up here. It was exciting for about five minutes. It was. That was Saban's last year, but I should be asking you folks out there, because you're too old to answer this question. But if you're 19 years old, do you like that coming from your head coach? I love it. I love it. Look, get them excited. I'm not saying, look, if the speed limit is 70, are you really going 70? I'll go 45. Okay, you see? Okay. So that means you wouldn't sneak in. All right. So I would say, Will Stein wants the crowd fired up. He wants the crowd to be an advantage. They call it a home field advantage for a reason. And if the crowd's not into it, you don't have an advantage. And so that's what he's trying to make sure. He breaks that trend and he wants Kentucky to have a home field advantage. This place has gotten loud. I've seen it loud. I've seen the big blue nations show up in large waves. And that's what he's encouraging them to do. This is a big home field, home game for them. He wants the loudest crowd in the history of the world. Now, again, I think that's a bit much. Coach, you're getting a little too much there. But sneak a flask into it. Now, here's what I and maybe this is a better question for the AD or the president. But if students sneak a flask in and get in trouble, I will personally represent any of you and get you out of trouble. Paul is a man of the people. He's a man of the people, everybody. This is what Paul Finebaum does. I know some judges in Louisiana we can take this case to. I would also say, Paul, I think they don't want them sneaking in flasks because I think they sell alcohol in the stadium. So they cut down their sales as well. So I think it's a double-edged sword. They want to get the sales up to it. Beer or? I think it's beer and wine. Beer and wine. That just doesn't do the job fast enough. You come to a Kentucky football game, you drink bourbon, don't you? You're supposed to. That's why Will Stein understands the homework. He's trying to give these kids homework to do. I'm looking forward to it. And I think if you create the environment, you got to build it and it starts with baby steps. It starts with winning as well. And so they got to win these games too. If you're going to build it up to be what is going to be the largest and the biggest, it pays dividends if you win the game as well. And right now, I feel like Kentucky has a chance. They have hope. And this is a game where Kentucky has beaten Alabama two times in history. But these are the games that Kailin DeBoer has found a way to lose the last couple years. You look at Florida State last year. You look at Vanderbilt two years ago. It's these games that everybody just, oh, it's just another one. Alabama is going to do what they do. They can't beat Alabama. There are a couple of Michigan fans here. And you say, well, why? I mean, we are at the northern point of the SEC here. You shouldn't still let Michigan fans invade. But after watching their team Saturday night, I don't blame them for coming south. And you know what? Also, I asked the young man why he didn't go to Michigan. He said he got weight listed. Oh, oh, oh, weight listed. Pretty sad when you can't get it in Michigan. Oh, he's already gone. They already ran him off. They already ran him off. Oh, they're. This guy, he's wearing a JJ McCarthy uniform. You can tell he has no faith in Bryce Underwood. Does anyone? It's a scary outfit right now. Michigan has a long way to go offensively. They got to get some thing corrected. And Oklahoma is looking for an opportunity. And I think the SEC as a whole is looking for opportunity this weekend to really take it to the Big Ten. You have Texas hosting Ohio State. These fans are coming back. They're just like the officiating. Oh yeah, by the way, we were wrong. Let's come back and do it again. Yeah, they're trying to get back on TV. They're not going to get the same spot as they had in the front row earlier either. We're going to throw them out. But you look at Oklahoma. If they are able to go into the big house and get a big win. And then also Mississippi State versus Minnesota is a really sneaky, good game that could put everybody in the nation on notice of who Camario Taylor is. So the SEC will be keeping score this weekend as far as their matchups to the Big Ten. And what about the biggest game of the country and arguably the biggest game of the year so far in college football, Ohio State going to Texas? Texas did not look good last year in this game. And Matt Patricia played a big part in that, really confusing Arch Manning. Arch Manning played awful. But this is a different team, a new look at Texas team that went and got two running backs. They have two bona fide first round wide receivers. They got a quarterback that's going to be a top ten. I look at the film and I look at Ohio State's defense. They are not what they've been the last couple of years in the front seven. So upfront, they've lost too many talented guys. But the secondary of Ohio State, they have elite coverage skills. And so I'm looking at that. Can the Ohio State cornerbacks, how confident are they that they'll be able to cover Cam Coleman and Ryan Wingo one on one. And that will free up more action for the linebackers in the defensive line to do more things. I'm going to be looking at that matchup. That will be the best good on good as far as talent that you'll see in the country this year, as far as best secondary guys that can cover versus elite wide receivers. That's the matchup that I'll be looking to. And naturally, as a defensive back, that's where my eyes go. So much has been made about arch manning. Do they win the game? Do you know who you're picking in that game? Oh, I always pick the Texas against Ohio State and always lose. They have not been able to beat them. It's the same thing, Sark struggle versus Georgia as well, where you just have not been able to physically hold up and win a game in four quarters versus these teams. Ohio State the last two times, and then of course Georgia the last two times have really put it on Texas. Roman Harper, off to a fast start here. We have a long guest list. Oh, they're back. The two. Oh yeah, go home. So you guys, where are you guys from? The boo about it here. Listen guys, get lost, okay? We don't need it. We don't need any Big Ten interlopers here. We got the two guys who are on the call, Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy joining us next. We will see Roman all afternoon long and tomorrow. He's already got the nine holes of golf in here in the bluegrass. Twenty-seven. Yeah. There's nothing worse than waking up sick. And this time of year, with the kids back in school surrounded by hundreds of others, yours may bring home a whole new world of viruses and bacteria your family may have no immunity to. No kids. Viruses are everywhere. And one ugly strain just showed up. Now it's 2 a.m. Your throat feels like strep and your fever's spiking. Urgent care? 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Whether it's a big spill or a noticeable scuff, that's where bare ultra interior paint comes in. It adds an extra durable stain blocking finish that helps your walls hold up for the whole season. It also delivers outstanding coverage and hide in fewer coats with easy application and a smooth, even finish that goes on clean from the first pass. Plus, that easy clean finish helps walls stay looking new longer. So before the next kickoff, give your space game-ready defense and coverage that goes the distance. Bare Ultra, only at The Home Depot. You're listening to The Paul Finebaum Show Podcast. We're back with a couple of folks you'll be hearing a lot from tomorrow. Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy on the call. It just seems like you finished doing the Louisville Ole Miss game about a minute ago. Because we did. Yeah, we're both a little tired. We had a Sunday game, so it's a shorter week. Coaches talk sometimes when the schedule is different, they have a weeknight game. We had a short week, whatever, deal with it. And he and I are whining about, oh, we had a short week. Less time to prepare. You guys are, cumulatively, you belonged to about 17 golf clubs and 14 different locales. Yeah, but we are not out playing during the week, like Matt Berry and Roman Harper. I thought I was... It's accurate. I did not like hearing that the previous guest has already played 20, 70 holes. They've been seeing the golf courses all over town. Yeah. It would be nice to have a schedule that would allow you to play some golf before you do a big game or a big show. You get your golf shoes on still over there. Greg, if you didn't have nine jobs and 11 kids, it might be easier. That's confirmed and all accurate. Golf has gone out the door for now, but it's football season, Paul. It's a fun time to give it up. It's a big game, which do you think the sun waited till the exact time we came on the set to come fry us? I mean, Sean and I will be a dermatologist by five o'clock this afternoon. Our fair Irish complexion is being bombarded now by TV lights and the sun. We were talking about, I think this is going to be a problem for college football going forward in future years. I mean, to be playing football games when it's 120 degree heat index is not healthy. I'm one of these people, I guess, who believes climate change actually has happened in Israel. There is global warming, so I think it's going to be a problem going forward. And to put high stakes games early in the season too. I mean, if you go out. Have there been any of those? There haven't been many. Not as many as normal. Tomorrow there's one right here, baby. Tomorrow there's several. And of course, for a long time, it was the neutral sites. So you'd go play in Atlanta, you'd play in the domes, no big deal. Put it whenever you want. It's 1,000 degrees outside, doesn't matter, it's 75 inside. But now with the importance of the home field and people ever trying to generate money and IL, all this other stuff, more and more home and homes were created and now in outdoor environments, it becomes really hard for those teams that aren't used to it. Nashville, last week, we were looking longingly at that dome next door that's not quite ready. Could it please be ready? There's probably going to be air conditioning in that thing. That was about as hot as ever been in a booth. Yeah, it was definitely up there. And it pales in comparison to your set right now. Correct. The surface of the sun was not available for your show today. So here we are. I would have dressed up if I knew the sun was going to be out. Let's start with Keele and Russell, because you live in Alabama. You know what everybody's saying. What did you see when you watched that game? I thought it was a really solid first start. I mean, but it was a first start. I can't emphasize that enough. There were a lot of times where he probably could have done something a little different, but he relied purely on physical ability to make the play, which is awesome. He has the ability. We know that. We've known that forever. Now it's about advancing as an actual quarterback. All right, when the guy's there, I don't have to pass up a guy that's open five yards downfield and favor a guy that might be open 20 yards downfield and a second or two later. So I thought it was a really solid start. We know he's got legs. We know he's got wheels. I think it's opened up some of the run game for Alabama, which was a huge problem last year. Now it's about continuing to progress and kind of taking what the defense gives you. As you look at both sides of this game, and sometimes you may have talked, I don't know if you've talked to the coaches yet. Yes, we have. Okay, never know. Usually you're telling me I just, I'm on my way when I ask you that question. Yes, we came straight from our meeting with the Kentucky. Let's talk about the Kentucky side. Stein's made a lot of news with things that have nothing to do with the game. What did you hear from him in relation to the actual contest? I think he was pleased with the start. He should be. If you watch the game against Youngstown State, they look terrific from the first snap. They looked like a well-coached team. They look like a talented team. They play with a lot of energy. I think the most important thing, we talked about this with Joe Sloan, the offensive coordinator. He said, we went out and made sure we spent money on really good offensive linemen. I think that showed up in the first week. That'll be really important in the game tomorrow, obviously, playing against the upstepping class in Alabama. You know what about Keelan Russell? Alabama has proven that can win a national championship with a quarterback who's not athletic at all. The era has changed. But as far as Kentucky's concerned, for sure, I just have to absorb the blow there for a second. You made that joke about yourself. That's a completely fair joke, Russell. Not only did you see it coming, I mean, somebody in Ohio saw that. It's a fastball right down the middle. A mile away. But they looked so crisp last week, and with the new offense, new personnel, new offensive line, five new guys, none have ever played together. That was just a very crisp performance. And while people will say, it's Youngstown State. Totally true, but Youngstown State's one of the better FCS teams in America, with one of the better FCS players in America. The guy won the Walter Payton Award last year, and they held him in check in a big way. So I think there was a lot of progress made already in one week of the Stein era, and now a huge step up this week, but you got to love what they put on tape last week. Did you notice Paul's iPad went away because it was so hot? It was overheating. I've been to Kentucky. I've had it freeze up here before, but never overheated. Yeah, it's overheated. I've got a question for you, off script and everything, but I'm sure at some point you've caught up on what happened at Michigan last week, and I'm just really curious, because you guys have had a lot of crazy things happen. As you're doing a game and suddenly that happens, what's the protocol for the broadcasters? What are you doing? Well, now we know, because I think every broadcast group in America has received several e-mails, I'm sure you have, about what the procedures are. Now the NCAA has reminded everybody, here's how it's supposed to go. I've never seen that before. I don't know, you've been around as long as I have. I've never seen that specific episode before. You know, and it was interesting, because when it first happened, when the Big Ten put out their video with their explanation, and then the Mac said, okay, yeah, we buy it. They're like, okay, end of story. They got it right, even though it didn't look like it was right if you watched the game on TV. And then when you did a deeper dive, it really, they didn't get it right. And I feel bad for Western Michigan. I feel bad for the Mac. I think John Steinbrecher did the right thing. You know, he changed his mind once he had more information, which is the right thing to do and try to get it overturned. Clearly, that's not going to work if it hasn't been swatted down already, but they should have won the game. What's unfortunate is there was a lot of things that we didn't know. I mean, I didn't know about any type of transmission delay between clock, that's the official clock. I'd always operate on the assumption like these are things you just take for granted, I guess, in a broadcast room. It stands to reason if you're watching it, if you're one of five, 10 million people watching on TV, that maybe that's exactly what is happening elsewhere. But now, we've cleared it. It's kind of like everything else in college athletics. So new rule, whatever you thought was the rule is no longer the rule. Yeah. Well, sometimes the rules just don't get applied correctly. I think technology played a part in it. You'd like to think there's nothing nefarious about it. It would have been interesting to me if Western Michigan was the team throwing the ball in the end zone, where they put the clock time back on the clock. There probably, to me, should be national officials and national replay, rather than conferences still have their own groups that do that stuff. But every conference needs to go to the full transparency in replay, like the ACC did, and now other conferences are getting there at varying speeds, but they all need to get to, we can listen in real time to the replays, the conversation that the officials are having with the replay people, and we can fully understand why they made the call that they made. The good thing about Sean is that no matter what the protocol is, he's still going to comment on the officiating, isn't he, Greg? Well, only, we talked about this today with some of our bosses, the Auburn, Georgia game that we did last year with the play at the goal line. Right. You know, we talked about it obviously quite a bit, and people agreed and disagreed, and a lot of it apparently depended on how many pixels you had on your TV screen, whether you thought the ball got to the goal line or it didn't. Your bosses get nervous when you start saying all this stuff, frankly. The reason for the phone call this morning, as a matter of fact. I was just glad to hear that. But you know, my philosophy is always been, we should be talking about- He's a star in the making. Yeah, he's a star. I don't know about that. But we should be talking about, I try to talk about what I would be thinking about if I was sitting on my couch watching that on TV. Wait a minute. Like if we were watching the Michigan game live the other night. That's not a touchdown. The clock is at all zeroes. The ball is still in the air. It's game over. Would you have said that? So we should be talking about, yeah. I thought so. Yeah. He definitely would have. And you were to say, but Sean, we're not really sure of that. And Sean was, yeah, I know, the game is over. And then again, if the Big Ten had allowed, and I wasn't watching, I don't think it happened this way. If the Big Ten allowed you to hear that conversation in real time where they said, okay, you know, 18 started from out of bounds. He touches the ball. There's still a second on the clock. That's where we're going. Everybody got it. Good. I think everybody in real time would have been, okay, good. Yeah, we see it. We understand it. But when it comes out two hours later, whatever it was, get these guys off the set. I don't like this conversation. How's your iPad doing? It doesn't matter. It's a company. This is good. If it blows up, I'll get another one tomorrow. Greg, thank you. Sean, it's always great to see you. Good to see you, Paul. Keep being awesome. We'll take a short break. We are back right after this. As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products, you can count on to fast, dependable delivery. They're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner and protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER. Click grainger.com or just stop by. ESPN's going to Super Bowl 61 and so can you. Enter for a chance to win the trip of a lifetime. Four tickets to Super Bowl 61, plus a three night stay at Disneyland Resort where you and up to three guests can enjoy the magic of Disney, plus the Super Bowl Champion Cavalcade. Enter at www.espn.com/sblxi by December 31st, 2026 for your chance to win. No purchase necessary ends 12-31-26 at 11-59 p.m. Eastern. Open only the legal residence of the 50 US states in Washington, DC who are 18 plus at time of entry. For odds of winning and full official rules, visit www.espn.com/sblxi. Void were prohibited. You're listening to The Paul Finebaum Show Podcast. And we're back in Lexington as football takes center stage. You hear a lot of chatter going on here, a lot of singing, but that noise is the Kentucky basketball coach, Mark Pope, being serenaded by nothing like basketball season, but this is football season right now. By the way, great research. We'll talk to coach and admit Chase Daniels, joining us with Matt Berry. Chase, let's start here, because this is a game that these fans care the most about. There's a couple of big games tomorrow, but what do you look forward to the most in this particular game? I mean, look, for me, it's Alabama, and it's Keelan Russell. Can he continue his hard start? Look, I heard Greg McElroy last second talking about the play of Keelan Russell. And for me, when Russell went out last week, it was definitely a first career start. There were some good, there were some bad, there was some in between. Who's going to step up other than Ryan Williams on the receiver side of the things? More importantly, Keelan Russell had over 80 yards rushing. And running back two and running back three didn't even eclipse 86 yards rushing either. So you can't have your quarterback be the number one rusher that game. And then you look at the opposite side, Will Stein, Kenny Menchie, everything that they're doing. To me, it's excellent. I think a lot of misdirection, a lot of NFL style stuff, a lot of NFL style plays. How does Bama's defense handle that? But Kenny Menchie, to me, played really well as well. Yeah, I mean, here's what we've been talking about in the lead up to tomorrow's show is, this is not a Kentucky football roster. I mean, they've got guys, they've got dudes. And Will Stein, one of the youngest coaches in America, he's brought some fire to this program. And typically, you could say that Alabama's won eight in a row in this series. Typically, you know this, Alabama would schedule this game. There's a foregone conclusion. I don't think that's going to be the case tomorrow. I think Kentucky, with the roster they have, the excitement they have, the quarterback they have in Menchie, Paul, I'm excited for this. I think it's getting a lot closer than people think. And I think Kentucky is going to be a team that's on the rise in this league, because they've got buy-in from the head coach, they've got buy-in from the school. Chase, let me get to the game that originally Michigan was favored in. Yeah. Something happened. Let's get to that game, because Oklahoma just feels like the team to pay attention to the most tomorrow. What are you looking for? Yeah. I mean, look, the game Michigan versus Western, there's a lot of talk about the clock, all that stuff. I think Michigan looked good defensively. I thought they looked pretty poor offensively, if I'm being completely honest with you. And it all starts with the quarterback, Bryce Underwood for me. He just didn't look comfortable, he didn't get up, he didn't play well enough. They had three turnovers offensively, they're minus three in the turnover margin, which is a huge stat. And then you look at defensively, like Brent Venables has to be licking his chops, because Brent Venables is going to be blitzing left, right all through the night. He's going to bring pressure on Bryce Underwood because that offensive line from Michigan has showed they cannot handle it. And so when you break that matchup down, I don't know outside of takeaways, I don't know how Michigan is going to score more than 10 points. Like I really don't, if Oklahoma can handle the football, not turn it over, and that's John Mattier, like had three touchdown passes last week, didn't have, had one three touchdown pass game the whole year of last year. That offense is humming, but Brent Venables, defensively like Bryce Underwood, if they turn, I don't know how this line is like six and a half or five and a half. I don't know what Vegas knows that we don't know. But this game to me is sort of a mismatch. I know it's at the big house and that's worth three or four points. But to me, it's got to be Oklahoma all the way. Let me get close to home with you here. And Matt, last year on this weekend, we were in Columbia. Yeah. And I kind of laughed when we first started thinking about it. But I did have a couple of friends who kept telling me, and I've been to Kansas City, to the Tiger Club. And I've never really experienced anything quite as weird as that KU border wall. We were talking about it in the office with Marty and McGee and I said for people that, and you know better than anyone, playing at Missouri, record-setting quarterback there, if you don't know it, it doesn't mean it's not good and it doesn't exist. But people who know that rivalry and know how, it is a nasty, nasty, I can't wait to watch that tonight. Here's the story, Paul, and you'll appreciate this. I went to the University of Missouri, could have went anywhere, went to the University of Missouri though, and wanted to play for Gary Pinkle, Coach Yost, Dave Christensen, the offensive coordinator of the time. And I remember either our first or second team meeting, I told this story last night to the guys, where we're in there, we're going over rules. You know, it's the first team meeting of training camp. I'm just like, yes, sir, I'm a freshman. The first thing or second thing out of Gary Pinkle's mouth, like totally out of the blue, we hate Kansas. I'm like, why? I'm like, yeah, we hate Kansas. It's just sort of ingrained in you. And it's one of those things where it is such, between those two states, the border, it is such a massive, massive deal. It culminated with that 2007 Mizzou KU game. We were two versus four. The whole world was on there. Herb Street was calling it. Everyone was there. And I just think the fact that it went away was sad. The fact that it came back and Mizzou won last year is great. It's a big game tonight. I'm looking for Austin Simmons to have a big game. The one question Mark, Paul, that I have is that O line and D line of Missouri. How do they end up holding up an SEC play? But this will be a tough game. I think Mizzou pulls away late. Just a second left here, man. Let me get your thoughts on the biggest game of the year so far in college football in Austin. Ohio State and Texas to me is going to be the game that shapes the first half of the season. Well, why is that? Because last year Texas went into this game number one. They didn't deserve to be number one, but they did because of the star power. I think not only is Texas going to win this game, I think they're going to win it convincingly because I think Ohio State lost so much defensively. They're going to go on the road, replace four defensive guys. They were drafted in the top 30. Arch and his weapons. I think Texas makes a statement at home tomorrow night, plants their flag. They'll be the number one ranked team in the country after the game. Let's go Matt. You sound like some clown that you do a Sunday morning podcast with. Matt Berry, Chase Daniels, thank you very much. When we come back, the head basketball coach of the University of Kentucky will join us here. A new podcast series from ABC Audio in 2020 goes inside a case that has captivated the nation. To many people, Luigi Mangione is a modern day Robin Hood. People were cheering the demise of this person they'd never met, who was a father of two and a husband and had a life and was just doing a job. From the manhunt, ending in a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to what authorities are saying about a possible motive. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmeyer. Listen to Bernina Proof, Luigi Mangione, wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the Paul Finebaum Show podcast. And we are back here and pretty fired up to say hello to Mark. You got a few fans here. It's big blue nation. There's nothing like it in the world. It's amazing. I want to start just talking a little broadly because this has been a chaotic week. And you're in the middle of that where you're about to start practice. And a lot of programs don't know who's on their roster. I'd really be curious just how you see it as the shepherd of the most prominent basketball program in America. How do you deal with it? Well, I mean, we're dealing with uncertainty all around. And so everybody's guessing, doing the best they can, being as competitive as they possibly can, trying to find every legal means to make their roster and their team as competitive as possible. What's been so encouraging to me, I'm telling you, so encouraging to me over the last two weeks. And we actually haven't been the beneficiaries of it. It's hurt us a little bit. But for the first time, we've seen the president stand up and empower Greg to be bold and actually get us to a place where there's clarity. I'm super proud of Greg. I think what he's done is he showed that the SEC actually has the authority to actually make decisions that everybody is going to have to live by. And that's what every coach and player and fan of America is asking for. So kudos to Greg, kudos to the whole team of the SEC, kudos to everybody that has pushed the envelope so we could get to clarity right now. And we have a hundred hurdles that we have to chase in the future. Of course, we're chasing federal legislation right now. We're sending a group of coaches and players to Capitol Hill on Monday to make a push there. But I'm seeing daylight in the fact that the SEC now has proven that they can get rules through a litigation process where there brings clarity to all of us. And kudos to Greg, man. It's super impressive. And coach, not to belabor the point, but the perception would be of the opposite. The coaches just want any means possible. But describe your colleagues and others, because this is, when you said that a minute ago, I was fairly surprised to hear. So here's the challenge as a coach. As a coach, we have to be the most competitive people on the planet Earth. And to do that, you have to chase every possible means and avenue where you might gain an advantage, doing it legally. What's been complicated now is we don't, there's been confusion about what is legal. Is it NCAA rules? Is it SEC rules? Is it court rulings? It's a moving target all the time. And so that's what I'm, I'm telling you, I might be an audience of one, but I am so encouraged by the fact that for once, the SEC stood up when the time was right and said, this is going to be the rule. It's very clear. The consequences of not abiding by this are going to be so incredibly severe and they were able to maneuver through the legislative process, the litigative process, at least this far with some success where everybody right now in the league, I think, at least feels clear on a couple of principles. And that's what every coach is desperate for. Just tell me the rules that I need to play for and play by and let me be as creative as I can to build a roster and build a program the best I can within those rules. So you'll take players, but you have to know what is right. You're not interested in doing what others have done. So we'll go to court. Well, so that's not the way we're playing it here at Kentucky. President has shown incredible leadership and Jay just jumped into the fire and has given us real, credible, clear direction. But the cost is, as a coach, you're sitting around, for example, with the fifth year. The rollout of the fifth year was a cluster. It just was. And I'm not pointing any blame anywhere, but it was just. I mean, benevolent there by calling it that. It was hard. And so, as a coach, are you going to sit back and say, hey, I'm going to give everybody else a competitive advantage that I'm not going to explore because I don't actually know where the rules are coming from. At least in our league right now, I feel like we know where the rules are coming from. They're coming from the NCAA, but mostly the imperatives are coming from the SEC. And that clarity is something that we're all welcoming. Mark Pope was some remarkable comments here. Speaking of dealing with all these pressures, the season is around the corner. You're doing something next week, which I'm really glad to hear. You're putting the media on the spot. I've had coaches many years ago, say the most people in the media probably couldn't describe a box in one, a zone. And I think they're correct. I've been in the media longer than almost anyone else. But tell us what you're going to do here. And I cannot wait to hear what when the shoe is on the other foot. Well, we're doing media madness, so it's really good. So listen, there may be nobody that's taking more shots from the media over the last several months than I have. But we're still working in tandem to make this sport great. And the truth is, is like we have media members that they tell the stories of our players will always be good for that. So just in a really fun event, we're going to bring in. I think we have, maybe we're at 60 or 70 media members. Hopefully, you'll come bring your team. It would be good for your group. And we're going to bring them in. We're going to run them through a practice. We're going to put them through drills. We're going to stat them out. We're going to have our players that have a whistle and be coaching and teaching. And then afterward, the most fun part is we're doing a full-fledged press conference where we put the media up on the podium and our guys and staff get to ask questions. Because I actually want our players to understand that there's more that goes into this media process than just showing up and eating the hot dog and asking a question. There's real work that goes into this and so hopefully, we can continue to build the relationship between our players and staff and BBN and the media because we're all blessed by this game. We're all benefiting from this game and right now, is a time when all of us need to rally around to protect this incredible game and the greatest sporting event in the world, which is the NCAA tournament. It's too late for me to try to sell you on my basketball ability. No, no. Growing up, that was my sport. I grew up a college basketball. I didn't find college football until I got to school. But I was a wicked outside coach. I believe you. I knew you were too. You could do it all. But when is this? Thursday? It's going to be Thursday. Whatever we have scheduled Thursday, I don't even care. I'm going to be here and I'm trying out for your team. Can we give it up to Paul for showing up to meet him? Let's go. That is awesome. You hit a big shot last year in the NCAA tournament to keep it alive. And I think I could have done this. Let's go. That is so fantastic. Man, I'm speechless because this opportunity is coming. What about the team? Which is the most important thing? How do you feel? Forget the media. What about the cats this year? I'm telling you what, I've been on the road for the last two days because the recruiting period just opened. And so every gym, we walked into seven different gyms over 48 hours in states coast to coast. And every single coach right now is feeling the joy of, we're kind of to the end of some of this chaos and madness. And we're remembering how fun it is to be in the gym, just coaching our guys. We just finished a practice that was spirited. We have a special mix of guys that really fit the way we do things and it's going to be a fun group. They're working hard to grow together and it's going to be a special special. This is going to be a special run for our guys. Well, I feel good about that. And coach listen, I'm supposed to be a hardened media guy, but what you've said here today is really remarkable. And I haven't heard another coach express those views, nor have I seen one really with the enthusiasm that you have brought to this program. I hope these folks appreciate what they have in you. They do, man. This is the greatest fan base. Greatest fan base right here. I don't know about you, but I'm kind of sensing another national championship here in the UK, aren't you? Coach, thank you very much. What a pleasure. What a great Mark Pope joining us here at the set. We have a lot left to do. We are just one hour in the football coach. You guys have heard of him, Will Stein. He'll be here. Let's give it up for Will. Get up and well, boys, come on. He only told the students to bring their own flashtimar. I brought one for the show. Tim Tebow, another pretty impressive person, will join us next. You're listening to The Paul Finebaum Show Podcast.