00:00:00
Speaker 1: Matt Schick, ESPN. And I love listening to him and, you know, Roddy Jones. They do a good job, too, Boney, on the College Sports Radio as well. And he joins us here on the Mac and Bone Show. Matt Schick, proud Charlotte resident as well. Matt, do your young ones like the Hornets at all? Have y'all got into Hornets basketball in Charlotte?
00:00:23
Speaker 2: Oh, we're all in. And it might've been because, you know, their daddy put their Christmas budget on them making the playoffs on a bet last year.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: That's right.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: You know, we were, yeah, we were, we were, we didn't hedge. So they, you know, it wasn't a Merry Christmas, but yeah, I was talking to my oldest last night. He's like, yeah, it was a good win. He's like, They're just not as exciting. I said, you know what?
00:00:45
Speaker 3: Without LaMelo, you're not going to be as exciting, but you'd be a little more dependable, a.
00:00:50
Speaker 2: Little more disciplined, maybe a little more balanced and predictable. There you go. That's a good thing.
00:00:56
Speaker 3: Maybe you lose some entertainment play, but gain some stability. It's fun to watch.
00:01:00
Speaker 1: Why do I think? And you got to also point out Kobe and Khan not there yet. You know, that's going to obviously change that offense. But that's good, Dad. That's good parenting right there. How many dads in Charlotte do y'all think are telling their kids that are so upset that the fun lamello's not there? I'm telling you right now, though, they're going to protect the basketball. They're going to take better shots, son.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: Like boring.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: Exactly. Exactly.
00:01:23
Speaker 4: Matt, the way it's playing out right now in the college football world with the SEC beating the heck out of each other, the Big Ten is now we're trying to figure out how many national title contenders they have with the Julian Sane injury. How much right now does Miami have a chance to to win the national title out of the ACC?
00:01:45
Speaker 2: Well, they're going to be the lone representative unless there's an upset in the ACC championship game. So that's what that feels like right now. But I think they've got enough offensively. I think the Florida State game, you kind of throw some of that out the window because of the rivalry. You know, this is a team that will finish at least 11-1 and have a great shot at being the number one overall seed when they win the ACC championship. So, you know, we start the season going, how many teams can win?
00:02:12
Speaker 3: And, ah, maybe six, seven, eight, nine.
00:02:15
Speaker 2: You could probably go like 13 or 14 deep right now with how much parity there is in college football, which might be one of the benefits once we get to that 2014 playoff.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: Matt, let me follow up with what you said there first, though. You said pretty confidently, hey, Miami's going to be the only ACC team in the playoff. And listen, speaking of betting, wagering, I wouldn't bet against you, but I am curious. We got a lot of Deacons fans that are loving this football team, and they seem to get better every week. Like that Cal spot, we thought that was a scary spot for them. Late night at Cal, they went up there and jumped up 34-0.
00:02:52
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:02:54
Speaker 1: Like, could you see them getting in the mix? I guess the problem is if they lose to Miami, even if it's a field goal game and they have beat everybody, but Miami, I guess there's not enough meat on the bone in terms of who they beat though.
00:03:07
Speaker 2: Right.
00:03:08
Speaker 4: Is that the problem?
00:03:09
Speaker 2: There's not enough. There's not enough meat on the bone, but it's also about the equity that they have not built up over the last few years. They're not a brand. You look at the wake forest helmet. There's nothing sexy about the, about the program. And there, yeah, they won nine games last year, but they, you think about what it takes to move up in this world. Like Vanderbilt went 10-2 last year. They weren't getting in at 10-2 because they don't have a Longhorn sticker on the helmet. So when you look at Wake Forest, I called their opener against Akron. I thought they had a ton of talent. I didn't think they'd be where they are right now. But there's a ton to like about this. They'll go to SMU next month, and that game will likely be a playoff elimination game. The question is, in order to get into the playoff, you're going to have to get the AQ, which means you're going to have to likely beat Miami. And they hung with Miami. The good news is they're not going to be scared of them if they play them. I think Jake Dickard is probably the best, probably outside the top big names, the best coach in the country in terms of what he does, getting less with more. And I hate to say it for Wake fans, but I can't wait to see if he gets an opportunity to do more with more.
00:04:19
Speaker 4: Matt, the never-ending rollercoaster ride for the Gamecocks enters an upswing week against Tennessee at home this week. Tennessee off the big win at home against Bama. When you look at this Gamecocks team, and this might be the hardest question ever, what are you expecting here the rest.
00:04:38
Speaker 2: Of the way?
00:04:38
Speaker 4: Is it more of what we saw early, or are they starting to turn the corner where they can have a pretty good season here?
00:04:46
Speaker 2: Well, the good news is outside of their game with Georgia, their toughest part of their schedule is behind them, and thankfully they get Tennessee at home. But if you look at what's happened in the SEC, for some reason they can't handle tough games and then winning another game after that. Kentucky's the only one that's done that. They won three consecutive challenging games, including last week at Oklahoma, if you want to call that challenging. But I look at this one with South Carolina– off of the bye, taking on Tennessee.
00:05:15
Speaker 3: With an emotional win. Now they have to go to Columbia.
00:05:18
Speaker 2: The SEC wheel of death tells me that South Carolina is going to win this game. They certainly have enough talent. We saw that at Gainesville. And then you'll go to Oklahoma, which is dead man walking. You'll host Texas A & M, which doesn't know how to play football anymore. You'll go to Arkansas, which will punt on fourth down at midfield. And then you host Georgia. So by the time you get to the last couple of games, you're going to have an opportunity to make some noise. No, they're not going to make the playoff, but they have a good opportunity to get to eight wins, which after their start would be admirable.
00:05:53
Speaker 4: A Fox show that only lasts like one episode because they realize that it's not a good thing.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: The pilot didn't get picked up.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Matt Schick.
00:06:00
Speaker 4: Ken Jeong is one of the guest judges.
00:06:02
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely.
00:06:03
Speaker 2: Clearly.
00:06:04
Speaker 1: Matt Schick with us, ESPN, College Sports Radio, hanging out with us, talking college football. You mentioned the wheel of death, right? And we said the same thing yesterday. We have people texting in about it right now. It just kind of feels like, okay, Tennessee had the big win. South Carolina's winning this game and they were made favorites in Vegas as well. One game where I think one team I think could buck the trend is Ole Miss against Texas. This is a wheel of death would say, oh, Texas is going to bounce back. And Ole Miss has had too much prosperity with the two blowout wins. But I think Ole Miss is legit and they can fight the wheel of death. What do you think about that?
00:06:50
Speaker 2: I think they're the second best team in the SEC. I think they're kind of waving their hands going, remember us guys? Remember we're the team that took down LSU?
00:06:58
Speaker 3: And then, yeah, I got blasted the next week against Florida.
00:07:01
Speaker 2: But that's what's happening to everybody after they get big wins. Yeah, I mean, they outscored Vanderbilt and Missouri 83-20 in their next two games. They've beaten LSU. That win over Missouri is going to carry a lot of weight. They're averaging 38 points a game. Defensively, stopping the run, those are going to be potential questions. But I think you're getting Texas at the perfect time. I mean, they're splitting the first-team reps between Arch Manning and K.J.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: Lacy.
00:07:30
Speaker 2: They don't know what they're doing offensively. They can't run the football. They haven't been able to run the football since they joined the SEC. And so if you're an Ole Miss fan, I think you're liking the way this shapes up.
00:07:41
Speaker 3: You've got Auburn after that.
00:07:43
Speaker 2: Um, you've got Georgia, which would have title game implications. You could probably afford to lose that one, but then you're at Oklahoma home against Mississippi state. I mean, this is shaping up to be a 10 and two playoff team, which I did not anticipate going in.
00:07:57
Speaker 4: What are your thoughts on the 2014 playoff in the future and the, the impact that'll have on the regular season, which has been the, the big debate in the sport this week.
00:08:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's no question that when you expand to 24, you're going to have some games that maybe don't have the do-or-die mentality. Oh, if we lose this second game, we're going to be out. But I think what we saw with five of the top seven teams losing is that you're going to just cast a wider net for significant games for more programs.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: I think we.
00:08:33
Speaker 2: we get into this thing about there's haves and have-nots, and then we have an opportunity here for more teams to gain access to the championship, and we complain that too many teams have a chance. I just think we're going to have to expand our horizons a little bit about what's acceptable as a successful season. And when we get to this point of going 8-4, that's not acceptable, and making the playoffs not acceptable, that's a problem that a lot of programs, probably 85% of college football programs, would love to have in terms of playing for the national title. And I think the thing that I say to all of those that are skeptics, and I, again, would I rather stay at 12? Yes, but I'm starting to buy into 24. One of the reasons guys is we only play 12 games. You know, we could talk about all the stakes that might get lost, but we only play a three month long regular season. This isn't five months of 30 plus games in college basketball. We're only playing 12. People still show up to the games. And frankly, a team like South Carolina would still have hope, you know, a bunch of teams would at this point. And I think the illusion of hope in a sport where it takes a ton of investment to be relevant, I think is important, especially with bowl games going away.
00:09:47
Speaker 1: All right, real quick. We got like a minute and I'm sure you're about done talking with us, Matt, at this point too.
00:09:53
Speaker 4: Hanging the fight, Matt.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: The heels. Like I got, we're bouncing all around. I gotta talk about the heels bill belichick's got him at four and two there's seven point favorites or so against syracuse saturday night they could get to five and two like we were all over him for a lot of good reasons there's some coaching up going on there's some progress right.
00:10:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's nothing flashy about them, but they're becoming increasingly respectable, which is, I think, more than you could say from last season. It's not just they're winning, it's how they're winning. They're finding ways to close out tight games, something that was missing a year ago. I mean, you surrender a big lead against Duke, but you hold on to win that. So you do wonder if it's just... modest improvement from a low starting point from last year. But if you're a North Carolina fan, I think you're kind of in a glass case of emotion here because I thought you were going to be done with this whole thing after this year. But maybe Bill Belichick is going to be an answer enough to keep you relevant for the next couple of years. I don't know the answer to that, but you can't argue with the fact they've gotten better. And perhaps he's one you know, half dozen Superbowls for a reason.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: All right, Matt, you are the man. Somebody texted in, I think it was her guy, bagel guy and said, Matt strikes me as a guy that has a pair of moose antlers that he wears to Hornets games.
00:11:14
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, but I was thinking of this idea, guys.
00:11:18
Speaker 3: Maybe I'll bounce this off you.
00:11:19
Speaker 2: I think that Charlotte Orange should sell moose antler antennas for Channel 64. I don't know if you guys have thought about that, but I think that would be a really good idea.
00:11:28
Speaker 4: That is insane that you and I had the same idea.
00:11:31
Speaker 1: For a second, I was going to be so excited about it that you and him had the same idea, and then I realized what just happened there.
00:11:36
Speaker 4: Am I being mocked?
00:11:39
Speaker 1: I don't know.
00:11:40
Speaker 4: I'll figure it out later.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: All right, Matt, be good, brother.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: Take it easy, man.
Speaker 1: Matt Schick, ESPN. And I love listening to him and, you know, Roddy Jones. They do a good job, too, Boney, on the College Sports Radio as well. And he joins us here on the Mac and Bone Show. Matt Schick, proud Charlotte resident as well. Matt, do your young ones like the Hornets at all? Have y'all got into Hornets basketball in Charlotte?
00:00:23
Speaker 2: Oh, we're all in. And it might've been because, you know, their daddy put their Christmas budget on them making the playoffs on a bet last year.
00:00:30
Speaker 3: That's right.
00:00:30
Speaker 2: You know, we were, yeah, we were, we were, we didn't hedge. So they, you know, it wasn't a Merry Christmas, but yeah, I was talking to my oldest last night. He's like, yeah, it was a good win. He's like, They're just not as exciting. I said, you know what?
00:00:45
Speaker 3: Without LaMelo, you're not going to be as exciting, but you'd be a little more dependable, a.
00:00:50
Speaker 2: Little more disciplined, maybe a little more balanced and predictable. There you go. That's a good thing.
00:00:56
Speaker 3: Maybe you lose some entertainment play, but gain some stability. It's fun to watch.
00:01:00
Speaker 1: Why do I think? And you got to also point out Kobe and Khan not there yet. You know, that's going to obviously change that offense. But that's good, Dad. That's good parenting right there. How many dads in Charlotte do y'all think are telling their kids that are so upset that the fun lamello's not there? I'm telling you right now, though, they're going to protect the basketball. They're going to take better shots, son.
00:01:20
Speaker 3: Like boring.
00:01:21
Speaker 2: Exactly. Exactly.
00:01:23
Speaker 4: Matt, the way it's playing out right now in the college football world with the SEC beating the heck out of each other, the Big Ten is now we're trying to figure out how many national title contenders they have with the Julian Sane injury. How much right now does Miami have a chance to to win the national title out of the ACC?
00:01:45
Speaker 2: Well, they're going to be the lone representative unless there's an upset in the ACC championship game. So that's what that feels like right now. But I think they've got enough offensively. I think the Florida State game, you kind of throw some of that out the window because of the rivalry. You know, this is a team that will finish at least 11-1 and have a great shot at being the number one overall seed when they win the ACC championship. So, you know, we start the season going, how many teams can win?
00:02:12
Speaker 3: And, ah, maybe six, seven, eight, nine.
00:02:15
Speaker 2: You could probably go like 13 or 14 deep right now with how much parity there is in college football, which might be one of the benefits once we get to that 2014 playoff.
00:02:26
Speaker 1: Matt, let me follow up with what you said there first, though. You said pretty confidently, hey, Miami's going to be the only ACC team in the playoff. And listen, speaking of betting, wagering, I wouldn't bet against you, but I am curious. We got a lot of Deacons fans that are loving this football team, and they seem to get better every week. Like that Cal spot, we thought that was a scary spot for them. Late night at Cal, they went up there and jumped up 34-0.
00:02:52
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:02:54
Speaker 1: Like, could you see them getting in the mix? I guess the problem is if they lose to Miami, even if it's a field goal game and they have beat everybody, but Miami, I guess there's not enough meat on the bone in terms of who they beat though.
00:03:07
Speaker 2: Right.
00:03:08
Speaker 4: Is that the problem?
00:03:09
Speaker 2: There's not enough. There's not enough meat on the bone, but it's also about the equity that they have not built up over the last few years. They're not a brand. You look at the wake forest helmet. There's nothing sexy about the, about the program. And there, yeah, they won nine games last year, but they, you think about what it takes to move up in this world. Like Vanderbilt went 10-2 last year. They weren't getting in at 10-2 because they don't have a Longhorn sticker on the helmet. So when you look at Wake Forest, I called their opener against Akron. I thought they had a ton of talent. I didn't think they'd be where they are right now. But there's a ton to like about this. They'll go to SMU next month, and that game will likely be a playoff elimination game. The question is, in order to get into the playoff, you're going to have to get the AQ, which means you're going to have to likely beat Miami. And they hung with Miami. The good news is they're not going to be scared of them if they play them. I think Jake Dickard is probably the best, probably outside the top big names, the best coach in the country in terms of what he does, getting less with more. And I hate to say it for Wake fans, but I can't wait to see if he gets an opportunity to do more with more.
00:04:19
Speaker 4: Matt, the never-ending rollercoaster ride for the Gamecocks enters an upswing week against Tennessee at home this week. Tennessee off the big win at home against Bama. When you look at this Gamecocks team, and this might be the hardest question ever, what are you expecting here the rest.
00:04:38
Speaker 2: Of the way?
00:04:38
Speaker 4: Is it more of what we saw early, or are they starting to turn the corner where they can have a pretty good season here?
00:04:46
Speaker 2: Well, the good news is outside of their game with Georgia, their toughest part of their schedule is behind them, and thankfully they get Tennessee at home. But if you look at what's happened in the SEC, for some reason they can't handle tough games and then winning another game after that. Kentucky's the only one that's done that. They won three consecutive challenging games, including last week at Oklahoma, if you want to call that challenging. But I look at this one with South Carolina– off of the bye, taking on Tennessee.
00:05:15
Speaker 3: With an emotional win. Now they have to go to Columbia.
00:05:18
Speaker 2: The SEC wheel of death tells me that South Carolina is going to win this game. They certainly have enough talent. We saw that at Gainesville. And then you'll go to Oklahoma, which is dead man walking. You'll host Texas A & M, which doesn't know how to play football anymore. You'll go to Arkansas, which will punt on fourth down at midfield. And then you host Georgia. So by the time you get to the last couple of games, you're going to have an opportunity to make some noise. No, they're not going to make the playoff, but they have a good opportunity to get to eight wins, which after their start would be admirable.
00:05:53
Speaker 4: A Fox show that only lasts like one episode because they realize that it's not a good thing.
00:05:57
Speaker 3: The pilot didn't get picked up.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: Matt Schick.
00:06:00
Speaker 4: Ken Jeong is one of the guest judges.
00:06:02
Speaker 3: Oh, definitely.
00:06:03
Speaker 2: Clearly.
00:06:04
Speaker 1: Matt Schick with us, ESPN, College Sports Radio, hanging out with us, talking college football. You mentioned the wheel of death, right? And we said the same thing yesterday. We have people texting in about it right now. It just kind of feels like, okay, Tennessee had the big win. South Carolina's winning this game and they were made favorites in Vegas as well. One game where I think one team I think could buck the trend is Ole Miss against Texas. This is a wheel of death would say, oh, Texas is going to bounce back. And Ole Miss has had too much prosperity with the two blowout wins. But I think Ole Miss is legit and they can fight the wheel of death. What do you think about that?
00:06:50
Speaker 2: I think they're the second best team in the SEC. I think they're kind of waving their hands going, remember us guys? Remember we're the team that took down LSU?
00:06:58
Speaker 3: And then, yeah, I got blasted the next week against Florida.
00:07:01
Speaker 2: But that's what's happening to everybody after they get big wins. Yeah, I mean, they outscored Vanderbilt and Missouri 83-20 in their next two games. They've beaten LSU. That win over Missouri is going to carry a lot of weight. They're averaging 38 points a game. Defensively, stopping the run, those are going to be potential questions. But I think you're getting Texas at the perfect time. I mean, they're splitting the first-team reps between Arch Manning and K.J.
00:07:29
Speaker 3: Lacy.
00:07:30
Speaker 2: They don't know what they're doing offensively. They can't run the football. They haven't been able to run the football since they joined the SEC. And so if you're an Ole Miss fan, I think you're liking the way this shapes up.
00:07:41
Speaker 3: You've got Auburn after that.
00:07:43
Speaker 2: Um, you've got Georgia, which would have title game implications. You could probably afford to lose that one, but then you're at Oklahoma home against Mississippi state. I mean, this is shaping up to be a 10 and two playoff team, which I did not anticipate going in.
00:07:57
Speaker 4: What are your thoughts on the 2014 playoff in the future and the, the impact that'll have on the regular season, which has been the, the big debate in the sport this week.
00:08:10
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's no question that when you expand to 24, you're going to have some games that maybe don't have the do-or-die mentality. Oh, if we lose this second game, we're going to be out. But I think what we saw with five of the top seven teams losing is that you're going to just cast a wider net for significant games for more programs.
00:08:32
Speaker 3: I think we.
00:08:33
Speaker 2: we get into this thing about there's haves and have-nots, and then we have an opportunity here for more teams to gain access to the championship, and we complain that too many teams have a chance. I just think we're going to have to expand our horizons a little bit about what's acceptable as a successful season. And when we get to this point of going 8-4, that's not acceptable, and making the playoffs not acceptable, that's a problem that a lot of programs, probably 85% of college football programs, would love to have in terms of playing for the national title. And I think the thing that I say to all of those that are skeptics, and I, again, would I rather stay at 12? Yes, but I'm starting to buy into 24. One of the reasons guys is we only play 12 games. You know, we could talk about all the stakes that might get lost, but we only play a three month long regular season. This isn't five months of 30 plus games in college basketball. We're only playing 12. People still show up to the games. And frankly, a team like South Carolina would still have hope, you know, a bunch of teams would at this point. And I think the illusion of hope in a sport where it takes a ton of investment to be relevant, I think is important, especially with bowl games going away.
00:09:47
Speaker 1: All right, real quick. We got like a minute and I'm sure you're about done talking with us, Matt, at this point too.
00:09:53
Speaker 4: Hanging the fight, Matt.
00:09:54
Speaker 1: The heels. Like I got, we're bouncing all around. I gotta talk about the heels bill belichick's got him at four and two there's seven point favorites or so against syracuse saturday night they could get to five and two like we were all over him for a lot of good reasons there's some coaching up going on there's some progress right.
00:10:13
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's nothing flashy about them, but they're becoming increasingly respectable, which is, I think, more than you could say from last season. It's not just they're winning, it's how they're winning. They're finding ways to close out tight games, something that was missing a year ago. I mean, you surrender a big lead against Duke, but you hold on to win that. So you do wonder if it's just... modest improvement from a low starting point from last year. But if you're a North Carolina fan, I think you're kind of in a glass case of emotion here because I thought you were going to be done with this whole thing after this year. But maybe Bill Belichick is going to be an answer enough to keep you relevant for the next couple of years. I don't know the answer to that, but you can't argue with the fact they've gotten better. And perhaps he's one you know, half dozen Superbowls for a reason.
00:11:05
Speaker 1: All right, Matt, you are the man. Somebody texted in, I think it was her guy, bagel guy and said, Matt strikes me as a guy that has a pair of moose antlers that he wears to Hornets games.
00:11:14
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, but I was thinking of this idea, guys.
00:11:18
Speaker 3: Maybe I'll bounce this off you.
00:11:19
Speaker 2: I think that Charlotte Orange should sell moose antler antennas for Channel 64. I don't know if you guys have thought about that, but I think that would be a really good idea.
00:11:28
Speaker 4: That is insane that you and I had the same idea.
00:11:31
Speaker 1: For a second, I was going to be so excited about it that you and him had the same idea, and then I realized what just happened there.
00:11:36
Speaker 4: Am I being mocked?
00:11:39
Speaker 1: I don't know.
00:11:40
Speaker 4: I'll figure it out later.
00:11:40
Speaker 1: All right, Matt, be good, brother.
00:11:42
Speaker 2: Take it easy, man.
