BRP Live from Thompson-Boling Arena feat. Sam Doughton

[00:00:00] That's right. Welcome to the Blue Raider Podcast. We are live here at Thompson-Boling Arena after the MTSU road contest against the number one right Tennessee Vols. Thanks for joining us wherever that is, if that's YouTube, X, or Facebook. And if you're not already, make sure you're following us on all of our socials so you don't miss special episodes like this. I'm happily joined by the one and the only Sam Doughton. We both made the road trip up here. Sam, first things first, what a ball game that was.

[00:00:28] Yeah, very fun game for the Blue Raiders. Certainly the first half, the run that the Blue Raiders went on, I think it was 26-9 to end the half, one of which was a 7-0 run by Cam Weston by himself at one point. Very exciting evening here in Knoxville for the Blue Raiders. At the end of the day, the Vols proved why they were one of the best teams in the country. Incredible defense. Something I was very impressed with. You've seen it in person today.

[00:00:54] But something the Blue Raiders can build on, too, that you were able to hang with this team for 34, about 35 minutes of the night. Really until Jalen Counter went down with some cramping issues sort of late in the game. They were still right in there. And I think if Jalen stays healthy, you maybe keep the single digits going down the stretch late because he's such a stable force out there. But a lot to build on. And you've got to feel decent driving back home if you're a Blue Raider or if you're on that Blue Raider bus today.

[00:01:18] Yeah, you mentioned that about the Jalen Counter situation. For those that don't already know, we just came from the press conference. It sounds like it's just cramping. So it's a false alarm for those that may be trying to draw the equivalent to what happened in South Florida. I think Jalen's all right. He was on the bike there during the game, although I know you can't see that on the broadcast. But yeah, I think that's well put. I know that Nick McDevitt's not one to give himself a moral victory. He's not going to pat himself on the back for coming out as an 18-point loss.

[00:01:46] But as a fan, there's a lot of reason to be excited for a game like that because, as you already said, the number one defense in the country, you scored 40 points in the first 20 minutes of this ballgame. You were up by six going into the break. I think we all anticipated that Tennessee was going to do what they do best. They're going to make some adjustments on defense, which they put a stronghold on us. They were doing a lot of off-ball pressure. We weren't able to get much movement.

[00:02:10] And that's one thing that I know McDevitt said after the game was, keep the ball moving. And that was something that never got still. And even as we've seen in years past, when the ball does move as much as maybe he wants, we turn it over. We matched him tonight on the turnover. There's just so many positive things that you can pull from the game, albeit the margin of loss.

[00:02:27] But this team looked poised. They looked in control. This is quite the atmosphere in front of 20,000 people on Christmas Eve, Eve. A lot of orange here.

[00:02:39] So I think, again, you're going to walk away from Thompson Bowling Arena thinking that this team has what it takes to go on the road in two weeks when conference play picks up in Miami.

[00:02:47] But more importantly, the Lynchburg game, because you're going to face a hostile environment much like you did tonight.

[00:02:52] And I think we asked McDevitt this in the postgame there that this team is ready.

[00:02:56] And I would agree. I think you saw what you wanted to see.

[00:02:58] Yeah, no question. And, you know, you mentioned the 20,000 people here in Thompson Bowling.

[00:03:02] It's my second time here in the Arena. It's your second time here watching the Blue Raiders play this year.

[00:03:06] And really an incredible home environment for the Vols.

[00:03:09] You know, obviously, the men's game is a little more packed than the women's one that we came up for earlier this month.

[00:03:14] And you really felt it. One thing I want to compliment the Vols fans on is that when the team is down, they rally them up.

[00:03:20] Like there was a lot of times where we were built in as he was coming down and they had a chance to take a shot for the lead or take a shot to stretch their lead.

[00:03:28] And the crowd swelled on their own. No crowd prompts, anything else.

[00:03:30] They sort of got up on their thing.

[00:03:33] As someone who's a fan of a school that has a trademark Dean Dome swell that sort of happens when the Tar Heels get on the 8-0 run.

[00:03:40] That's a rare trait for a fan base to have to be able to recognize that and do it sort of on their own.

[00:03:44] So props to the Vols for that.

[00:03:46] And for the Blue Raiders, they're not going to face an environment like this ever the rest of the way.

[00:03:50] I mean, not to say that there's not going to be some tough road games in Conference USA because Liberty is certainly a tough environment.

[00:03:56] Louisiana Tech is a very tough environment to go play in.

[00:03:59] Sam Houston, I'm sure, is going to be another tough one as well.

[00:04:01] And obviously, you know, Diddle Arena for Western Kentucky as they're starting to get behind their team as much as the Blue Raiders are getting behind their team right now.

[00:04:09] So four really tough road games just off the top of my head.

[00:04:11] And that's not even counting.

[00:04:12] You know, some places like New Mexico State had a really good home record last year as well.

[00:04:16] But you feel good about their ability to come out and have a hot start and play well at the start of the games like they did tonight.

[00:04:21] And be able to sustain some things.

[00:04:23] You know, I think, you know, some of that run in the first half was that they made some shots that maybe aren't expected to go in all the time.

[00:04:29] You had some circus layups.

[00:04:30] You had some really deep threes that were contested that rattled in.

[00:04:34] But, you know, you're going to take what you can take.

[00:04:37] And they put themselves in situations to generate those shots in those spots and played really good defense on the other end, too.

[00:04:44] I think that was part of it was that they were able to force Tennessee into taking some shots that maybe weren't the best shot selections for the balls.

[00:04:51] That really sort of started that run there.

[00:04:53] So all things that are very transferable to Conference USA.

[00:04:57] So, you know, very solid non-conference schedule.

[00:05:00] Going to end up 9-4 at the end of it.

[00:05:02] But I think you really want particularly that Belmont game back in that situation.

[00:05:06] I think if you win that Belmont game on the road, you feel really great.

[00:05:08] But you're not conversation.

[00:05:09] Now you just feel pretty good because you won almost all your home games.

[00:05:12] You only lost sort of a fluky, sleepy game to Murray State that, you know, very quickly seems to just sort of be an outlier in that non-conference stretch.

[00:05:20] And, you know, Bradley team that you're facing, you know, probably your best guard at that point in the season in Jalen Counter, who got hurt in that game, you know, in South Florida, you know, two days before.

[00:05:29] Or, you know, against a team that's favored to win the NBC.

[00:05:32] But otherwise, you know, pretty solid non-con and a lot of stuff to build on for the Blue Raiders.

[00:05:37] And I'm excited, you know, in the new year to watch them start the Conference USA journey.

[00:05:41] Yeah, they draw a lot back to that Murray State game that you talk about.

[00:05:45] As you said, sleepy game.

[00:05:47] I think that's well put.

[00:05:48] But I think that's something that they will call upon in practice often that they talk about all the time about not letting something like that happen.

[00:05:55] But, yeah, that's a great summary of what the non-conference was because I think going in, a lot of us, I know those that are on GoMiddle.com thought that it would be a lackluster non-conference schedule.

[00:06:05] And as you saw, this being the ultimate game at the end of it, it's a tough non-conference schedule.

[00:06:11] You talk about the Lipscomb game last week.

[00:06:13] That was one that you really wanted to win, not just from a Ken Palm perspective, but the fact that that's another sub-100 team, really could boost whatever Ken Palm, RPI, whatever it is you care about.

[00:06:22] But winning games like that proves yourself right, if you will.

[00:06:26] But as we look back at this as a whole, back in early November, we kind of woke up.

[00:06:32] The part of the fan base that maybe put this team to rest, you go on the road, you win by 20-plus at Abilene.

[00:06:39] You win some big games over that stretch like Ohio, like South Florida, on the road at UAB.

[00:06:46] And for what it's worth, a half year at UT, I think you've put a lot of this fan base energized for good reason that this team has a lot of potential moving.

[00:06:56] forward.

[00:06:56] I think there's a lot to be excited about.

[00:06:58] I want to kind of steer this conversation over to Conference Play, where we go from here.

[00:07:02] And I know in the upcoming episodes, we will have a Conference USA breakdown with your favorites of Connor Newt and Oliver Balts over from GoMiddle.com, our favorite basketball analyst, to break down all that is for men's and women's Conference USA.

[00:07:15] But Sam, we'll steer it back for what we see from the interior of us.

[00:07:20] One thing is I feel really confident on the road.

[00:07:22] Like I said, the Abilene game in particular, you talk about what you did in this environment for 35 minutes tonight.

[00:07:28] I think there's a lot of pride.

[00:07:29] And you're going to get a taste of it.

[00:07:30] You get the best of both worlds.

[00:07:32] You're going to play Miami.

[00:07:33] You're going to play a road game with not very many fans.

[00:07:35] And then Lynchburg, as you already touched on, is going to be the more hostile environment you're going to see in Conference USA.

[00:07:40] So as we move forward to Conference Play, I've kind of had my keys.

[00:07:45] But for you, what are you hoping to see from this team as we've seen them grow since early November?

[00:07:49] I think the big thing of Conference USA this year is that it's so strong and deep in particular.

[00:07:54] You know, middle is probably most people outside of Middle Tennessee, outside of the program.

[00:07:59] Maybe the more national guys or the more conference-focused guys sort of have middle in sort of that second tier of the league right now.

[00:08:05] You sort of compare us with UTEP, I believe is the other one there.

[00:08:10] And then let's look at this.

[00:08:11] Yeah.

[00:08:12] So you sort of have Liberty and Louisiana Tech are, in my opinion, the clear one, too.

[00:08:15] And then West Kentucky, I would maybe put in that first tier as well.

[00:08:18] And then we're right there behind them with Sam Houston and UTEP.

[00:08:21] And then you have sort of a little bit of a – Jack State's probably also in that tier as well.

[00:08:24] Then a little bit of a bigger drop to New Mexico State.

[00:08:27] And then the Kennesaw team that beat Rutgers early this year.

[00:08:29] You can't sleep on the bottom half here.

[00:08:31] They just took down the top 25 teams.

[00:08:32] But my point is that when you're playing an 18-game conference schedule with a league that's this deep,

[00:08:37] a conference record like 12-6 or 13-5 might be the one seed in the tournament.

[00:08:42] So you're going to have to live with some ups and downs and protect your home court.

[00:08:46] So, you know, you can't get too low off of a road loss to a really good team if and when that happens.

[00:08:51] And you can't get too high if you happen to beat somebody on the road there

[00:08:54] because you have to go back to your home court and face some really good teams as well.

[00:08:57] I mean, I think the key to that, you know, 2021-22 squad that, you know, won the CUSA East

[00:09:02] is that they defended the home court.

[00:09:03] They were undefeated on their home court, which put them in position in a division that was kind of similar

[00:09:09] where you had some parity in that to be able to split their games on the road,

[00:09:13] at least against their East opponents, and, you know, come out on top in the conference scannings.

[00:09:17] So I think that's going to be the key again is win as many road games as you can,

[00:09:21] take care of business against the bottom half of the conference in particular,

[00:09:24] and then really defend your home court.

[00:09:26] And that should put you in a good spot to be in a good position at Huntsville

[00:09:31] because, you know, unless Middle Tennessee runs at the table, and even if that,

[00:09:35] I think they're probably going to be in a position where they need to win the tournament in Huntsville

[00:09:39] to make the NCAA tournament.

[00:09:41] So it's all going towards that, and seeding is very important in Huntsville,

[00:09:44] as we saw last year in particular.

[00:09:47] You know, I think UTEP had a really good run, sort of, I think, of the sixth seed

[00:09:50] in that tournament last year, but sort of ran out of some steam

[00:09:53] because they had to play the tougher games than Western Kentucky did down the stretch.

[00:09:57] So getting a high seed, and that starts on your home court,

[00:10:01] and winning as many road games as you can, but particularly protecting that home court,

[00:10:05] don't drop any games there, and that'll help you move up the standings, you know, as fast as you can.

[00:10:09] Yeah, the seeding in particular, like you said, but as deep as this conference goes,

[00:10:13] I always say you've got to be on high alert with this conference,

[00:10:15] and as you just gave us a good rundown there of everybody, it's tough.

[00:10:20] And the schedule here, as I've got it, you're on the road, FIU Liberty,

[00:10:24] then you've got that home stretch with Kennesaw, Jacksonville State,

[00:10:26] you have a weird week where you're going to be off, and then you have Western at home.

[00:10:30] So you've got, really, by terms of Kim Palm, you've got four wins, you know, four or five wins,

[00:10:35] and three of those are at home.

[00:10:36] And as you said, you've got to take care of business at home,

[00:10:39] especially particularly against the Kennesaw State, the Jacksonville States,

[00:10:42] because those are teams on paper you should be winning,

[00:10:44] but you've got to defend the home court.

[00:10:45] And so for those that I know are listening to this, if you're going home from Knoxville,

[00:10:49] if you're in Murfreesboro right now, I can't stress this enough.

[00:10:52] You know, you're a big part of what makes Murphy Center special,

[00:10:54] what makes this team in particular do so well is creating an environment for them.

[00:10:58] So I look forward to seeing a lot of you guys there in Murphy Center

[00:11:01] because this team is special.

[00:11:02] And if they, you know, did anything tonight,

[00:11:03] it was to prove that they have what it takes to compete at a high level.

[00:11:08] And something too that Nick said in his postgame is now we have a taste of what this team has to do

[00:11:13] to win a game like this, because this is a particular opponent you might draw

[00:11:17] if you make it to the NCAA tournament.

[00:11:19] As if you're a 16 facing a one in this particular situation,

[00:11:23] I think they're a little bit better than that.

[00:11:24] But all things do fair.

[00:11:25] Even if you're facing a two or three, it's still going to be the same quality of team.

[00:11:28] Absolutely.

[00:11:29] So you look, you look, you got to take, take this game with a grain of salt.

[00:11:33] But look, as you move forward to Conference USA season,

[00:11:35] there's a lot of games that you've got to win.

[00:11:36] You got to take care of business.

[00:11:37] I think, again, you can get caught up in a game like this, myself included,

[00:11:40] patting yourself on the back, thinking, wow, look what we did for 35 minutes.

[00:11:43] But a lot of season left ahead.

[00:11:45] One thing, again, as we kind of close up the conversation here with this team,

[00:11:49] I think a lot of our attitudes have maybe shifted about the starting lineup.

[00:11:52] One thing, Cam Weston, you know, was the starter day one.

[00:11:55] Now he's coming off the bench, who seems to be doing well.

[00:11:58] I mean, he scored 30 against Cal Baptist two weeks ago.

[00:12:00] He scored 23 tonight.

[00:12:02] Or was it 24 tonight?

[00:12:03] And so, but with him, it's not always his night,

[00:12:07] as we saw with three points against Lipscomb on Thursday.

[00:12:09] But he was your all-CUSA point guard.

[00:12:12] Now it looks like Jalen Counter, if he can be healthy,

[00:12:14] he might even be a guy that could maybe steal that spot from him.

[00:12:17] Justin Porter has kind of been who we thought he'd be.

[00:12:19] He's kind of steady.

[00:12:20] Eddie tonight wasn't his night.

[00:12:21] You could have certainly used a few more buckets from him.

[00:12:23] And then Esam.

[00:12:25] I think he's all what we thought he would be.

[00:12:26] And then lastly, I think Chris Loof is a guy that kind of deserves some pats on the back.

[00:12:29] I know he had a rough night tonight with a flagrant foul.

[00:12:32] All tongue-in-cheek.

[00:12:34] A foul was called, that's for sure.

[00:12:36] I was going to say, before we move completely off this game,

[00:12:39] I am bound by certain CUSA sportsmanship bylaws

[00:12:42] and by the commissioner, Judy McLeod.

[00:12:44] But you can read the box score for me on the foul count and let me know.

[00:12:49] Just what did the numbers say, Jay?

[00:12:50] Yeah, for those that haven't already reviewed it,

[00:12:51] it is personal fouls, 21-13.

[00:12:56] I believe at one point that was 17-6.

[00:12:58] Yeah, it was 17.

[00:12:59] And in the first half, they were in the bonus

[00:13:04] with three minutes into the half.

[00:13:05] Three minutes into the half.

[00:13:06] When they were making their run, they got their fouls.

[00:13:09] But anyways, we'll reel it back in.

[00:13:13] But as I look at this roster, I think a lot of these guys,

[00:13:16] again, GoMiddle.com, we had this conversation ad nauseum

[00:13:19] at the beginning of the year.

[00:13:20] What kind of contribution do we expect these guys to have?

[00:13:22] I think we've been super impressed with who Jalen Counter is

[00:13:25] and what he brings to the table.

[00:13:26] That's why, as you saw there at the late of the game,

[00:13:28] that injury kind of hurts us, not only on the offensive end

[00:13:30] but both sides of the floor.

[00:13:31] He's such a smart guy.

[00:13:33] But him, Esam, we all know what he was going to be.

[00:13:35] Chris Loof has taken the steps necessary

[00:13:37] that we thought he should have going into this year.

[00:13:39] So I kind of turn that over to you here.

[00:13:41] I think this roster has done what the development we thought

[00:13:44] that they were going to be moving into this conference year.

[00:13:47] And I'm really excited to see kind of what this team

[00:13:48] can continue to build off of this.

[00:13:50] Well, you know, they got some great depth sort of in that group too.

[00:13:52] You know, two guys that didn't play tonight

[00:13:54] that could be big contributors in games on the stretch,

[00:13:56] Jacob Johnson and Alec Oglesby.

[00:13:58] When you have a guy like Jacob Johnson that defends as well

[00:14:00] as he has is sort of, you know, a break glass

[00:14:03] if needed defense option on the bench.

[00:14:05] Like that can win you games if you just like need to get some stops.

[00:14:08] You know, sort of the stop or run, particularly in the first half

[00:14:10] where you're sort of trying some things out

[00:14:12] and maybe, you know, defensive game plan you had isn't working.

[00:14:15] Like a guy like him can sort of gel you defensively

[00:14:18] for, you know, three to four minutes

[00:14:19] and get you back on track and get the team, you know,

[00:14:22] focused in the right direction.

[00:14:24] I mean, Alec Oglesby is a guy that had a sharp shooting reputation,

[00:14:26] still sort of recovering from that shoulder surgery

[00:14:28] he had in the offseason.

[00:14:30] But he's a guy that, you know, at the right moment,

[00:14:32] at the right time could drop 15 in, you know,

[00:14:35] in five shots and really big shots in a conference environment.

[00:14:39] But yeah, no, I was actually very impressed with Chris Loof

[00:14:41] and Chris Loof had a pretty quiet six boards.

[00:14:44] But when middle was making that run sort of at the end of the first half,

[00:14:47] it was a lot of Chris Loof getting the ball

[00:14:49] on those defensive stops and not letting second chance buckets happen.

[00:14:52] That's going to be huge for this team.

[00:14:54] You know, they're on stretch, had the rebounding presence.

[00:14:55] And, you know, Tori Alston had seven boards as well.

[00:14:57] We knew, we know Tori can get those rebounds,

[00:14:59] but Chris has really come into his own

[00:15:01] and made that a part of his game.

[00:15:03] And that's helped keep him on the court too,

[00:15:05] because obviously I think we all agree that Esam's

[00:15:06] a little bit more of the offensive threat

[00:15:07] in the post compared to Chris.

[00:15:09] But when Chris is rebounding,

[00:15:10] and particularly when he's doing the work defensively

[00:15:13] that he often does, particularly in screen coverage,

[00:15:16] you know, he's a big weapon that Nick can bring off the bench.

[00:15:19] And, you know, really sort of a change up

[00:15:21] to what Esam offers, you know,

[00:15:22] sort of when you're matching up as well,

[00:15:24] often forcing teams to sort of have to sub

[00:15:26] a different big end,

[00:15:27] the sort of deal of what Chris can do defensively in particular.

[00:15:31] And another guy too is Trey Green.

[00:15:33] Like we haven't really mentioned him.

[00:15:34] And again, he's not a guy that necessarily shows up

[00:15:35] on the scoreboard or on the box score every night,

[00:15:38] but he's a guy that affects the game on the defensive end.

[00:15:40] I know he had his troubles tonight with Ziegler

[00:15:43] as everyone did.

[00:15:44] He led the team in plus minus tonight.

[00:15:45] That was because he was on the court

[00:15:47] when they were making that run in the first half.

[00:15:48] But still, like that means he was doing positive things.

[00:15:51] And he probably is the team's best

[00:15:53] all-around on-ball defender overall.

[00:15:58] So, you know, he's somebody that's really coming to his own.

[00:16:01] And Nick's talked a lot about how, like,

[00:16:02] he's the fourth guard that this team's sort of needed

[00:16:05] early in the season.

[00:16:07] And, you know, him server merging has allowed

[00:16:09] them not to have to rush Alec back,

[00:16:11] not to have to, you know, play Jacob Johnson

[00:16:13] in situations that don't work best for him.

[00:16:16] And that's made it for a fun team environment so far.

[00:16:18] And, you know, one player I think, you know,

[00:16:19] maybe he's a little bit unsung tonight,

[00:16:21] Kamari Lance, you know, 13 points.

[00:16:23] You know, he was five for 10 from the field,

[00:16:25] three for seven from three.

[00:16:27] You know, he had some stretches

[00:16:28] where he was the only offense.

[00:16:29] You know, particularly, I think,

[00:16:30] like right at the start of the game,

[00:16:31] he really got hot and, you know,

[00:16:33] had a couple quick fouls,

[00:16:34] but was able to get back into things.

[00:16:36] And, you know, he's somebody that's going to be key

[00:16:38] for this team down the stretch.

[00:16:39] You know, someone with a lot of talent,

[00:16:40] obviously, you know, with his pedigree.

[00:16:42] And it's just getting more comfortable

[00:16:43] every single day.

[00:16:44] And so I'm excited to see what he can do

[00:16:46] in conference play where maybe things

[00:16:48] are a little more consistent, you know,

[00:16:49] week to week with some of the talent level

[00:16:52] he's facing.

[00:16:53] And something, too,

[00:16:54] that I've noticed a lot with his game,

[00:16:56] and particularly this game, really,

[00:16:57] is when he has the mismatch.

[00:16:59] The thing I saw with Kamari

[00:17:00] in maybe, say, the first three, four games

[00:17:02] was no matter who was guarding him,

[00:17:04] if he had the space at the three-point line,

[00:17:06] he was going to throw up the shot.

[00:17:07] Tonight, there was a switch multiple times

[00:17:09] where Ziegler was on him.

[00:17:10] He took the ball directly to the rim.

[00:17:12] Whether that meant a foul,

[00:17:13] whether that meant he was going to pass it off

[00:17:14] to someone else,

[00:17:15] you can see that his game in itself

[00:17:17] is changing where he's willing to exploit

[00:17:19] those mismatches.

[00:17:20] He's willing to use that large frame of his

[00:17:22] because when you see,

[00:17:23] and again, if you haven't seen him in person,

[00:17:24] he's a very big human being.

[00:17:25] And sometimes one of his drawbacks

[00:17:27] is that he doesn't play as big as he is.

[00:17:30] He kind of plays small.

[00:17:31] He's a quick trigger on the three-point line,

[00:17:32] which, again, he's a shooter

[00:17:34] that when he gets hot, he'll get hot.

[00:17:35] But I think one thing we've seen

[00:17:37] as he's developed

[00:17:38] is his ability to exploit those mismatches,

[00:17:40] something that I know Nick has talked to him

[00:17:42] ad nauseum about getting downhill,

[00:17:44] getting to the rim,

[00:17:44] and drawing that second defender

[00:17:46] that would allow someone else to be wide open.

[00:17:48] So I've been, again,

[00:17:49] that's a lot of guys we've touched on.

[00:17:51] A lot of these guys have just developed.

[00:17:53] The game is kind of,

[00:17:54] the team chemistry has kind of gone around

[00:17:57] full circle for these guys.

[00:17:58] I think they're well-prepared.

[00:17:59] And again, this was kind of a culmination of it.

[00:18:01] But Sam, as we close up shop here,

[00:18:04] one, I appreciate you sticking around.

[00:18:06] I know with Nick McDevitt,

[00:18:07] we can be here for a minute,

[00:18:09] but they were,

[00:18:10] TBA in Tennessee,

[00:18:11] their athletic department

[00:18:12] did a great job of getting him through.

[00:18:13] They run a tight ship here in Knoxville.

[00:18:15] Yeah, that's right.

[00:18:16] Compliments to all the,

[00:18:17] you know,

[00:18:17] athletic administration,

[00:18:18] athletic communication staff here at Tennessee.

[00:18:20] We've been treated very well

[00:18:21] both times we've come down here.

[00:18:23] I'm very impressed with what they're doing

[00:18:25] here as well.

[00:18:26] And, you know,

[00:18:27] really fun place to watch a game.

[00:18:28] You know,

[00:18:28] I know that there's a lot of overlap sometimes

[00:18:30] in Middle Tennessee

[00:18:31] and Tennessee's fan bases.

[00:18:33] We've got a lot of,

[00:18:33] you know,

[00:18:33] students who come to Middle Tennessee

[00:18:35] that maybe grew up Vols fans.

[00:18:36] And,

[00:18:37] you know,

[00:18:38] I'm someone that,

[00:18:39] you know,

[00:18:39] grew up in a city

[00:18:40] where there's a lot of people

[00:18:41] with dual allegiances,

[00:18:42] you know,

[00:18:42] to Wake Forest and another school

[00:18:44] just because,

[00:18:45] you know,

[00:18:45] Wake Forest is a small private school.

[00:18:46] Not everyone in Winston-Salem

[00:18:47] gets to go to Wake Forest.

[00:18:49] So,

[00:18:50] I'm very much of the mindset

[00:18:52] that you can be a fan of both.

[00:18:53] But I'm glad so many of y'all

[00:18:54] watching tonight

[00:18:55] were fans of the Blue Raiders

[00:18:57] and fans of your alma mater

[00:18:58] or,

[00:18:59] you know,

[00:18:59] your hometown team in Murfreesboro

[00:19:01] because they put up a good fight tonight

[00:19:03] and showed a lot.

[00:19:04] And we're really just,

[00:19:05] you know,

[00:19:05] a couple stretches away

[00:19:06] from really,

[00:19:07] you know,

[00:19:07] putting some,

[00:19:08] sweating some bullets

[00:19:09] down the stretch here in Knoxville.

[00:19:10] So,

[00:19:11] a lot to build on.

[00:19:12] But I'm excited to get back.

[00:19:14] You know,

[00:19:14] the Lady Raiders are going to have,

[00:19:15] you know,

[00:19:15] one more game

[00:19:16] in their non-conference schedule

[00:19:17] or playing Princeton,

[00:19:18] I believe,

[00:19:18] on the 29th.

[00:19:19] So,

[00:19:19] it's coming Sunday.

[00:19:20] Then they'll wrap up

[00:19:21] their non-conference slate.

[00:19:22] Obviously,

[00:19:23] the Tigers,

[00:19:23] you know,

[00:19:23] one of the best teams

[00:19:24] in the Ivy League

[00:19:24] year in,

[00:19:25] year out.

[00:19:25] So,

[00:19:25] another tough matchup for them.

[00:19:27] Sort of,

[00:19:27] you know,

[00:19:27] repaying that trip

[00:19:28] that they made down

[00:19:29] to Murfreesboro last year.

[00:19:31] And so,

[00:19:32] I'm sure you'll get back

[00:19:33] with Connor

[00:19:33] and Oliver on that one.

[00:19:35] But that's one I'm excited

[00:19:36] to see when I'm at home

[00:19:37] visiting some family.

[00:19:37] I'll be,

[00:19:38] make sure to turn that on

[00:19:39] and make some time for them.

[00:19:40] And hope y'all do as well.

[00:19:41] I think it's probably on ESPN Plus

[00:19:42] given who we're playing.

[00:19:43] So,

[00:19:44] make sure to do that.

[00:19:45] And in the meantime,

[00:19:46] we'll see y'all on the new year.

[00:19:47] Merry Christmas.

[00:19:48] That's right.

[00:19:49] Happy holidays.

[00:19:49] Happy holidays.

[00:19:50] Happy Festivus for the rest of us

[00:19:51] for those of you celebrating

[00:19:51] on this day.

[00:19:53] But,

[00:19:54] really appreciate you having me on

[00:19:55] for this quick one.

[00:19:56] Hopefully,

[00:19:56] we can do it

[00:19:56] a little bit more often.

[00:19:58] Yeah.

[00:19:58] No,

[00:19:58] definitely a new style

[00:20:00] that we're doing here.

[00:20:01] So,

[00:20:01] maybe something we'll bring to you

[00:20:02] to the fans

[00:20:06] will over at GoMiddle.com

[00:20:07] as it'll be posted.

[00:20:08] This upload will be tomorrow

[00:20:08] as well for those that didn't

[00:20:09] see the entire interview.

[00:20:11] But again,

[00:20:11] I appreciate all of our listeners.

[00:20:13] The Blue Raider podcast

[00:20:14] is a year old now.

[00:20:15] So,

[00:20:15] this is kind of a culmination

[00:20:16] of a celebration for us.

[00:20:18] I didn't even think of that.

[00:20:18] You're right.

[00:20:19] It is a year old.

[00:20:19] Sam has been the longest

[00:20:21] tenured guest we've had.

[00:20:22] So,

[00:20:22] I have to start giving him

[00:20:23] some royalties at some point

[00:20:24] for this.

[00:20:25] But,

[00:20:25] I appreciate again

[00:20:26] all the fans

[00:20:27] not only for listening today

[00:20:28] but that have been

[00:20:29] following along all year.

[00:20:30] We look forward to

[00:20:31] a 2025.

[00:20:32] We'll obviously be taking a break

[00:20:34] next week with the holidays.

[00:20:35] so we'll be coming back to you.

[00:20:36] And,

[00:20:37] we'll put a little pause

[00:20:38] on the basketball talk.

[00:20:39] I got Coach Borendane coming.

[00:20:40] We're going to be talking

[00:20:40] a little tennis.

[00:20:41] That big season

[00:20:42] that's coming ahead for them.

[00:20:42] Speaking of a coach

[00:20:43] playing the balls.

[00:20:43] That's right.

[00:20:44] That's right.

[00:20:45] Their season actually starts

[00:20:45] against the balls.

[00:20:46] So again,

[00:20:47] a lot of good stuff

[00:20:48] coming here at the Blue Raider podcast.

[00:20:49] I appreciate you listening.

[00:20:49] Thanks again to our

[00:20:51] sponsors for the episode,

[00:20:52] Mighty Dog Roofing

[00:20:53] in Nashville East

[00:20:54] and the Canseco Group.

[00:20:55] If you're not already,

[00:20:56] follow the Blue Raider podcast

[00:20:57] at Blue Raider Pod

[00:20:58] and all of our socials,

[00:20:59] X, Facebook, Instagram,

[00:21:00] TikTok, YouTube.

[00:21:02] And until next time,