This is an I Heart podcast. Guaranteed human. What's the top storylines of SoKon early this season? We'll explore it. SoKon Fast Break starts now. Okay, here we go. We're getting really close to the end of non-conference schedule and obviously things are going to amp up with the SoKon conference schedule getting ready to start at the end of December. But we have to start taking a look at some of the things that are happening, things that are shaping up right now. And a lot of times we talk about observations versus conclusions. It's too early to make conclusions right now, but we can start making some educated observations on things that we're seeing, especially as the non-conference schedule is wrapping up. We can, and you're exactly right. I think we're at a point in the season now where, and we talked about this a little bit last week, we're at a point in the season where you said like, we can't make conclusions, but we're starting to see trends. And so you can now start to have a little bit of an idea of, hey, this group's come together a little quicker than we thought. Hey, this group's maybe a little bit behind. Or, well, they were expecting to get more contributions out of this guy or the flip of that of, hey, this guy's been better than expected. So, yes, short story long, we're starting to be able to see where these trend lines are kind of leading us. Yeah, and also how these are impacted by expectations. To your point, sometimes how we view things, how we evaluate it, is biased based on the expectations coming into the season when you see a Chattanooga preseason favorite. And then when you see some of the struggles, do you start over-correcting your evaluation because you're thinking, well, Chattanooga, why are they struggling right now? This should have been a plug-and-play type of situation, but we know we've talked about it so many times. When you're bringing in a lot of transfers in whatever it might be, or if you're dealing with injuries, those things do affect how we evaluate, but ultimately we are biased by expectations. We 100% are. And to your point, Chattanooga is probably the perfect example. They've not been bad. No. They just haven't been great. That's right. And they haven't necessarily been the best team in the league so far, or even one of the top two teams in the league like we expected them to be. And so that's why I think we do have to take this with a great assault in that, hey, we're starting to see some stuff here, but there's still plenty of time for these teams and these groups to progress and just to pause as opposed to not overlook expectations. We want to jump to those observations and make them conclusions and figure out because that's what we do. That's part of it. And at the end of the day, though, the players and the coaches, they decide, and more importantly, it's the players. They have to go out there and execute because, as you know, you can have the best X's and O's out there, but if your players can't play in terms of executing that plan and sometimes being able to step up in those big moments, it doesn't matter. 100%. I mean, and I think we'll probably talk about one of those teams here and one of the storylines. That's right. It was very well coached, but struggling a little bit. That's right. Yes. We've got a lot of storylines to get to. We're going to do our top 10 storylines, but I did want to at least first start off now that we do have net rankings that are out. And obviously we know how important those are. And again, when you're a one-bid league, though, if there's ever any opportunity to eventually get to multiple bids for the NCAA tournament, net rankings are going to be part of the equation. That's just going to be plain and simple. So as we start down at the bottom, Citadel, 364, the initial rankings, 365 last in all of college basketball. And obviously they're struggling right now, trying to get their rhythm, trying to get some type of semblance of connectivity, giving up a lot of points, allowing teams to shoot extremely high percentage against them. That's just not a recipe for success. No, it just isn't. And you hit the nail on the head. I mean, when you're struggling defensively and you're struggling offensively, it doesn't take rocket science to know that you're probably going to struggle. And you know what, you just overall, you really feel for coach Conroy. That's right. Because he's a really good coach and he's an even better human being. But you start looking at what their kind of past season and almost a half now and probably even going back to two years ago, they've lost 29 straight Division 1 games. And I say that not to throw shade, but to say like at what point does that kind of start to creep into your head and be a mental block of, man, when are we going to get one? That's right. And they had two games, you know, last week or two that you thought, okay, these are games. They might be able to get one. Yeah, these are games that we got to probably try to get one of these. Yeah, I would agree. VMI 341 UNCG at 294 in the net. Chattanooga as we talked about 293. Western Carolina 277. Samford at 268. Wofford at 246. Furman at 166. Mercer at 115 and ETSU at 90. And I think when you look at all of those net rankings there, ETSU sitting there at 90. And I think that's a huge kudos to Brooke Savage and what he's been able to do so far early in the season. It really is. I mean, we've talked about it past week or two. They've been thus far the most impressive team in the league. I was a little bit surprised at the Dayton score. I thought they were going to play that game tougher based on how they'd been playing. And frankly, their style of play, I thought that was going to be a more competitive game than it was. But they've been really good and credit to Coach Savage for them to be top 100 in the net when frankly, at least statistically, the league is down this year. That's right. That's a really good step forward for representation for the league. Yes, no, I would agree. And so again, we'll keep a monitor on these net rankings each week. And as we're recording here on Monday, December 8th, we know it's going to change once you start playing some more games. And we'll talk about some of the upcoming games. But just from a perspective of last week, some of the key things that we were able to pick up on. And the first one is Chattanooga, but Sean Casano, that he's out for the season with an injury. And again, maybe not a starter type of minutes guy, but a good rotational guy. And we know how important depth is and you got to have that in this league. Now, you have to. And to your point exactly, when you finally start to get into a rhythm with your rotation and then you have somebody who's in your rotation, regardless of if they're playing 10, 12 minutes a game or 20, 30 plus minutes a game, it messes with your rhythm. And somebody that probably hasn't played much or at all now has to step in. The hope is, is that they are capable and ready to step into a role. But it's a, it is a domino effect in that someone else's minutes probably are going to tick up now. And yes, you have a new guy to step in, but that guy probably doesn't just completely fill, you know, in this case, Casano shoes minutes change and they fluctuate with some guys getting more now. And so that can have an, that can have a tendency to mess with the rhythm of your rotation. And at this point in the year, you're starting to get to that time where coaches want to have their rotation. It's not set yet, but you're getting pretty close to having it to be in a spot where you're more successful teams are going to have that rotation set within the next couple of years. They are also close to wanting to have a conclusion as far as how their rotation is going to be because you need to be able to have that as you get ready for the conference slate of the schedule just in terms of, so you can start practicing that way and get into those rhythms based on the rotation that you've set. Absolutely. And there's a point where when you're a good team and when you want to be a good team and an elite team, Groundhog Day is good. Yes. When you get into the conference plate. That's right. Right. It is. Because that means you've probably got a pretty even keel. You don't want to have the highs. You don't want to have the lows. And so, you know, a lot of times you joke around of Groundhog Day isn't necessarily a good thing. In this case, when you get especially getting the league play, you want that consistency. Coaches and players are creatures of habit. No, you better believe. And when something does not go according to plan, for better or for worse, the coaching community does not necessarily always do well with change. That's right. Yes. No question. Another big moment. Jordan Frieson transfer thousand point score now. Again, another guy who's taking that next step coming to D1 and showcasing that they can play at this level. I did pick up on this game last night, Sanford beating Cornell and had a nice comeback win 93 to 90. And before that, they played seven games in 15 days and brutal stretch, brutal stretch. And they had some injuries in there. Faulkner missed some time in Jane Booth wasn't 100% with being sick and Keaton Norris being out. That's when they were, you know, right before Thanksgiving. And so to see them come out and be able to play at that type of level and Faulkner and Booth, they were a two man show in this game. And that has to give Lenny A. Cuff signs of, OK, I'm starting to understand how these two are going to work with each other. Yeah, I think you make a great point there. Getting those two guys back and kind of having those guys healthy. Yeah. Against a quality opponent. He's got to be a good feeling if your coach A. Cuff and that staff heading into, you know, what is really the final week or two of conference play. Because just like the vast majority of the country, Sanford has been as much of a roller coaster as almost anybody in the league so far this year. At times they've looked like, man, this team could win the league. And at times they've looked frankly very pedestrian. But I think last night was a good illustrative factor of, look, this team is capable of playing at a high level and we've got stability, especially in the backcourt where we can really go out and score. Hopefully, you know, they can shore up some of the defensive stuff because if it's one thing that they've shown so far this year is when they're going, they can put the ball. Oh, yeah, no question. I have no question in Faulkner. He's delivering and obviously Jaden Booth is delivering also and somebody else who delivered for Furman, Asa Thomas in the past two games as they get the win there against Harvard and also Elon 18 points, five of nine from beyond the arc and five rebounds there against Harvard and 21 points, five of 11 from beyond the arc there against Elon. And we talked about it. I felt this guy was going to be a potential difference maker for Bob Richie's team. I think we're starting to see some of that just because he can spread the defense out and he is a sniper from outside. Yeah, and obviously you got to see him a lot, you know, over the last two years with the Clemson connection and him being at Clemson, you know, but he's exceeded expectations. I think pretty much anybody you would talk to you would probably feel that way. And that's not to say that there weren't expectations for him, but he's been really good. Oh, no question. And to your point, he's he's shot the ball very well. He's got great size. You know, he's been a really calming piece in that rotation is now we've seen Furman kind of what seems to be hitting their stride. And another thing we've talked about oddly, this group so far really not shooting it from deep as well as we are custom to seeing from a coach Richie team. He's kind of been that one real, real bright spot from deep. He's been able to fill in for Tom House, who Tom House has not been able to connect the way he was last year. I know he struggled the beginning of the season and really caught fire. And Bob Richie is hoping the same thing will happen come conference play because you're going to need Tom House. Absolutely. And I think he will Tom is Tom's a great young man, really smart guy. I think he'll come on and he'll be just fine. That stroke is his stroke is real. It's too good. Yes, for him not to get hot and get it going. But to your point, the way as a Thomas has played to kind of make up for some that's been huge. So really, really good thing there for the Furman Paladins. All right, we did talk about Mercer when they played Georgia State again, getting tested. This is game you need to go in if you're Mercer, if you're wanting to showcase that this team is really coming together and they did. They did that in Armani mighty. Yeah, I'm going to say all nine teams, 22 points, 13 rebounds, career highs, nine of 11 from the field. And if you watch the game, I mean, several of those are just dunks. And so, yeah, you're going to have a high percentage shot when you're able to get the offense and rhythm and get him touches in the paint like that. 100%. And I'll say to like, you talk about a team as we talk storylines that has exceeded expectations and that is probably, you know, the team that everybody, including the coaches when they were voting may have misinterpreted what this Mercer team has been. You know, mighty has been, he's been mighty. He has been mighty good. Yes. That's better, better pun there. Yeah, and obviously, Barakko, Koj, also, I mean, and then Quentin Perkins, the second, I mean, they are showcasing that they've got some offensive firepower. They do. And Amy Throwins, Iyer Williams. Oh, yes. That's right. They've really, they can really score it. I think if we're looking at what could potentially keep them from being real like, hey, we're in the top four and we're competitive to look, we have a very real shot of winning on Monday Night Nashville is on the defensive side of the ball. Yeah. And that's not to say that they haven't been able to do it at times and that look, they've got the makeup. And I know they played a fast pace, but they're giving up almost 80 a game. I think that's got to, that's got to get honed in a little bit as we get the conference play if they truly want to be elite. But man, they have looked really good. And to your point, I mean, might he's been as good as anybody on that roster. And with that size, one of the things we talked about early on was could he stay on the floor long enough? That's right. Especially with an issue and to stay out of foul trouble. And he has been. I've watched several games and he's running down the court. He's leading transitions at times. He's beating other bigs down the court. That's why he's getting some of these layups and dunks and having a high field goal percentage. Also, UNCG gets a big win against East Carolina, 82 to 78. And I thought that was something that UNCG, they needed. Now they're still giving up points, all of that, but at some point you need to get some success and get a victory and especially on the road. So I thought that was big there for Mike Jones's team and Justin Neely coming out there and he's continuing to play really well. Just a double, double type of machine. And even after the game, he had some choice words about getting ready for a conference play. And let's take a listen to what Justin Neely had to say. Justin Neely able to come up big on both ends of the floor consistently for this team. How do you describe the way you're playing right now? We're just trying to do whatever we got to do to get the win. I said we're getting better every game and we're just preparing ourselves for conference play. Only the second win, but some tough non-conference opponents for you guys in an impressive win tonight. How much belief do you have in this team moving forward? We're a tournament team. We said that from before the season and we're going to continue to say it. We're just going to get better every game, that's all I can say. And we're going to dominate the SoCon. Okay. Dominate the SoCon. Okay. Get ready. He's laid the gauntlet down for everybody in the SoCon. I'll tell you what, all due respect for 2-18. That's some stones, but I like the confidence. I love the bravado. I like the confidence. All jokes aside though, look, I mean, we've talked about it before. Coach Mike Jones teams have a recipe for success. And so if they can get it going on the defensive end and figure some things out offensively, because they have not looked great really on either side of the ball so far. This is a team, this is a staff, this is a program that has a track record of success in this league. So I wouldn't put it past them to be competitive in the league, but I do think like you said, defensively in particular, look, completely agree. I think you made a great point of when you're 1-7 or 1-8, look, you just got to get a win. You do. I don't care who you're playing. I don't care if it's a non-1. I don't care. Just get a win. Yes. But they have to play better because even that went against ECU, like you said, it wasn't your typical traditional Mike Jones type defense. So we'll see, but choice words and hey. Oh, hey, again, you got to have some of that bravado. You've got to have some of that confidence there, especially when you're in a losing streak or you're struggling to find your identity, all of that. I come in just in nearly now. Is he going to be able to back it up? That's the big question. And is it going to be bulletin board type of material for some of these teams in the Southern Conference? But we do know conference play is completely different, but I have seen from UNCG, I think they're starting to play better collectively. And I think there will be a jump in that defensive pressure that we've typically seen from Mike Jones because I think coming into that game, at least I saw some flashes that, okay, that's a little bit more like UNCG coming together and playing as a unit. Yeah. And I think you make a really good point there in that they seem to be finding a rotation a little bit as well as we talked about wanting to find your rotation. They've got some younger guys that I would anticipate they probably were not anticipating playing some of the minutes that they have. And those guys are growing and getting better. So I definitely agree with you that I think they've started to show more moments of it. And look, we said it multiple weeks. They haven't played the toughest schedule in the world, but they've played some tough opponents and they played some tough games where, look, a couple of possessions bounce one way or the other. That's right. And we're having a different conversation about a team that's not two and eight, but they're four and four. That's right. Yes. And one of those could be in a game against UNC Asheville. Yeah. They're in Asheville. And so, again, there's been a few games, but I started to see some things that would make you believe that UNCG is slowly putting it together. Now, again, time is running out in terms of non-competition. You better be ready in just a few weeks. All right. So our top 10 storylines, though, number 10, the Citadels opponent field goal percentage. I referenced this earlier. They're allowing opponents right now to shoot 49% from the field, ranking last in the SoCon. And as you talked about a 29 game losing streak right now for the Citadel. And when you're giving up that type of percentage, it's going to be extremely hard to win because I don't know if you can outscore somebody like that. No. I mean, if you're allowing a team to shoot 50% from the field, obviously you got to shoot better than 50% from the field to win. And I just don't think they have that firepower. Furthermore, you just can't give up 50% from the field. You know, forget the offensive side of it. You're just going to really struggle if you're allowing the team or the Trapayan to shoot 50% from the field. All right. Number nine, the SoCon A-Sun challenge win 11 to 9. The SoCon gets the win. They claim the title. And regardless of who the other league is, it's still important to win. I mean, there's bragging rights and at the end of the day, you're wanting to improve your conference. And so to be able to do that, you have to showcase against somebody that's similarly ranked to your conference. Yeah, absolutely. Look, it's a nice bragging rights to be able to say you've won it now two years in a row. And it provides quality matchups for opponents in the league. And we talked about it with Rocco Miller. It's getting harder and harder to schedule games for mid-major programs. And so this is a great opportunity to get similarly situated programs playing against each other in competitive home environments. That's right. All right. Number eight, and this might actually be higher, Wofford's coaching job, head coach Kevin Giltner. It's easy to say he's got to be the early front runner for SoCon Coach of the Year. I know we will talk about Brooks Savage. As well. But I mean, based on integrating the team, the way he's been able to do that when he took over and how he took over, I mean, it's impressive right now what Wofford's been able to do. Now, I know they had a tough loss against Elon, but they continue to show that this is a team. Yeah. No, and I think that's the biggest thing to me is how this team has responded and come together. You know, you said it one word, team. Yeah. This is a team. Teams that also do have some talent, which they do. They do. Yes. Can typically create some problems for people, right? Because they play well together. And so can't emphasize it enough how good of a job Coach Giltner has done. And without getting too far ahead of ourselves, looks like from people I've talked to in Spartanburg, they're building some momentum for that program beyond this year, where there's some real bright spots where I think, just think it maybe take another step forward. And I think they've got their guy now. Oh, no doubt. No, that's no disrespect to Coach Perry. Look, footprint instead of a tournament. That's right. But I think they've got their guy that like he ain't leaving. No. Unless he gets big time, high major job. He fits. So he's your point. He just fits. And I think that's really good for their stability. He's going to be there for a while. And he's got some talent right now. So the here and now he's got Kamari Holmes. One of the top scorers in the Southern Conference. You got Niels Mawowski. He continues to play extremely well. Kate and Vasco. I mean, there's several guys that have been playing extremely well. Speaking of extremely well, number seven, Samford, Starr, Duo, Jaden Booth and Dylan Faulkner. Jaden Booth scoring 18.6 points per game right now and Faulkner at 16.6 and almost seven rebounds per game. And they just had a big game against Cornell. They're showcasing that they've got some great players there at Samford. They do. They can really score it. Yeah. They can really shoot it. No doubt. It's a little bit of a shame because I would love to see what this roster was like if Dijon Humphries did not suffer that ending injury in the in their exhibition game. But you know, that's certainly going to be one of the best backcourts in the league this year. And that's a dynamic duo. I mean, they can like I said, they can really put some points on the board. Yes. No question. Number six, Ferman's freshman phenom. Alex Wilkins and we've talked about him before and there's no doubt that he's been playing at a different level. It hasn't been playing like a freshman and you could honor him with freshman of the month and whatever you want to do. He's among the leaders in scoring but also assist. I mean, this guy is playing at an elite level considering he's just a freshman. He is. And look, I'm not sitting here with the hot take of trying to say he's the next Steph Curry, but he might be the best freshman or certainly one of the best freshmen that we've seen in the Southern Conference since Steph Curry. I mean, he is hard to argue. He is playing at a high level on a good basketball team. That's right. And and he's the he's basically the leader of that team as the point guard. Right. And so he's continued to cut down on the turnovers to yes, he is a he is a high level contributor. No doubt about it. Exceptional speed there at point guard position. So number five, speaking of backcourt, Mercer's backcourt dominance and so con assist leader Barakko Kojai as we talked about average in six assists per game, but also he's not afraid to score. And then you also throw Quinton Perkins a second in there. You throw Zyre Williams in there. I mean, their backcourt could be and maybe we could look at all of that because I don't have the exact statistics. Yeah. Statistics, but arguably it's got to be the most productive in the league in terms of the backcourt. I mean, I think it would be in frankly, at this point in the year, it would get my vote for top backcourt. I continue to be impressed with what Coach Ritter's done there and making. Number four, UNCG's uncharacteristic struggles. We talked about this a little bit just from a perspective of their defense and they've got the worst point differential minus 11 or it's actually 10.9. But their struggles are uncharacteristic for Mike Jones. Now, we've got a lot of basketball left to be played and it's really more important come conference time, but you're starting to see some things. Okay. You're going to have to turn that around. 100%. I mean, look, there's no sugarcoating it. You're two and eight, right? So to a degree, you clearly haven't played good enough basketball yet. Do I think they can turn it around? Yeah. I think you and I both agree that we talked about it earlier in the show, but the concern, the most concerning thing to me is what you hit on and it's the defense, right? Because at times they've been up and down offensively over the years, but they've always had defenses or calling card and they've always been able to, for the most part, control pace and tempo and get stops when they needed to. And they just to date have not been able to do that this year. So I think if they can do that, they can certainly be in the mix to be competitive in the league, but they've really got to sharpen up defense here as we get into, as we get into conference play. Number three, the league's dip in efficiency. That's what we talked about. Socon currently ranks number 21 in Ken Palm and that's down significantly from when they were hovering 13, 14 last year. So again, I know the early non-conference struggles have been a part of this. And so this is going to be a situation where for the Socon, if you want to be in some of those discussions, obviously you're going to have to increase the efficiency from the league overall. 100% and it gets very difficult to make too big of a jump when you get into conference play the way Ken Palm statistics are evaluated. And so you would really like to see the Southern Conference creeping up closer to 10 than closer to 20. It'll be curious to see where they end up at the end of it. But what the biggest thing that potentially impacts really two things. If there were ever to be a scenario to try and get a second team in, you certainly need to have a better conference ranking. But honestly, most importantly, at large bids, 100% most imperatively really though, because the reality is it's going to be hard to get a second team in is seeding. Right? That's right. If you're 2021, you're hovering around that 14 potentially 15 line and that makes it significantly harder to go out and win a game. Because I think if you can get to that 13, 14 line, not to say there's a massive jump and you're going to be expected to win, but that 12, 13, 14 line is particularly really that 12, 13 line. 12, 13. You can no doubt certainly go win a game, especially depending on the matchup 14, 15, 13 statistics will tell you 14, 15. That's right. Yes. Statistics will tell you that. That's for certain. All right. Number two, ETSU's revival and even more so on the defensive side, we've seen that they've been able to score, but Brooks Savage has his team leading the league in defense of getting right now at almost 105 and only surrendering 61.3 points per game. That right there, when you can have offense and defense and have complimentary basketball, that could be a sign for a trajectory towards the champions. Yeah. And you throw in having to go to Johnson City to play there. Yes. We talk about it all the time. That's a tough place to go play. Look, a lot of basketball left to play, conferences, a whole different beast. If we're talking about relatively maintaining that defensive efficiency with the offensive output that they've gotten on most nights, that is going to be a tough team to beat. No doubt. When we get to Asheville. Yeah. And they've got some players playing extremely high levels right now. And so Brooks Savage team has been doing a phenomenal job and definitely one of the top storylines of the SoCon right now in terms of their win-loss record, eight and two. Absolutely. And obviously we talked about that. One of those two is a hiccup. And the other one is against the NCAA tournament caliber team in the Dayton Flyers. So no, a lot to look forward to there. And you talk about, we've talked about it before, finding the right fit and finding the right pieces for your roster. It seems like they did a really good job of finding the pieces that fit to build this roster because this team has certainly come together quicker than I think a lot of other teams. No doubt. Yes, they've come together extremely well. All right, number one, it's easy. This has to be one of the most discussed storylines in all of SoCon when your preseason player of the year, Ricky Bradley Jr. has not played a single minute in this 2025-26 season. Have no idea what's going on because it's still just an undisclosed injury. We don't have any information. No, I mean, to the best of my knowledge, through pretty deep dives into Twitter and the internet and talking to people. I've even made phone calls. Everybody's searching for this information. They can't find it. Nobody knows. I haven't talked to Coach Andrew Wilson yet. And I don't know how much he's going to tell us. But I think it's really unfortunate because you and I were both so excited about this VMI team. And that's not to say that if he comes back for conference play that they can't get to where they want to get to. Yeah, because TJ Johnson's playing well. He's slowed down a little bit, but he's still one of the top leaders in scoring and rebounded Mario Tatum Jr. Another freshman that's been really good. I think he's playing extremely well. But yeah, I mean, you were wanting to see what Ricky Bradley Jr. was going to be. Absolutely. And I don't care if he is the preseason player of the year or just another rotational piece. When you throw a guy into your lineup that hasn't been there for the first six weeks of your season, it's going to take some time to adjust. And so, you know, unfortunately, it's going to take a little bit of time. It may not come to fruition this year for the VMI key debts to be able to see what they really could have been. Now, we're hopeful he comes back. But I think one of the most concerning things about it for me without speculating as to what his injury is, is that we have no update. That's right. We have no, hey, he's out with an undisclosed injury, but we expect him back at X date or we expect him back for conference play. That's a little bit concerning to me that we're dealing with something that either they truly don't know when he's going to come back or that it's really trending towards he may miss significant time of conference play to the point where is he going to be back this year? He's going to miss the entire season. And that is just such a bummer. And you feel for him, you feel for the rest of that roster, you feel for the coaching staff, the coaching Andrew Wilson, because they had such high expectations for this year. Rightfully so. Of course. So hopefully Ricky Bradley, Jr. is back and hopefully we get an update here soon on it. But certainly probably the top storyline. Oh, it is by far. The easiest and top storyline because it's going to have the most impact in terms of what it Ricky Bradley, Jr. means to that VMI team. And again, it's preseason, so-con player of the year. And a lot of people were just wanting to see exactly how he would perform. And I think one important piece to add to that is, and you've brought it up, especially during our preview episodes, whether or not some of this middle of the pack is able to truly compete or not, they can make somebody's life very miserable on an A any given night and B when we get to Asheville. And if you've got a VMI roster without Ricky Bradley, Jr., that lessens the likelihood of that kind of Cinderella story in Asheville or that, hey, Wednesday night where maybe ETSU, a Furman or somebody else that we expect to really compete doesn't have their A game. Well, maybe that VMI team without Ricky Bradley, Jr. now doesn't quite have the firepower to do that. So it has implications not only what they can do, but frankly, what the rest of the league is capable of. Yeah, no question because we know when we've seen it, Ricky Bradley, Jr., he could go out there and get a bucket. He could create his own shot and that's what made him so dangerous. And that's why they made part of that run. They did last year. All right. So games to watch coming up this week. Loyola, Maryland at VMI. So we'll see how that's going to play out. And that is tomorrow, December 11th, Western Carolina at Virginia Tech, December 12th. This is an interesting one. ETSU at Austin P. Yeah. And again, can ETSU continue their stellar type of play, how they've been playing right now. So I'm definitely interested in that one. December 13th, Mercer at Clemson. I'll be there for that one. Chattanooga versus Auburn in Atlanta. The Hoops giving there. December 15th, Wofford at Gardner Web. And then December 16th. Okay, ETSU. You got it all straight. And then you go to North Carolina. You're going to get tested. But I think this is a great opportunity. Brooks Savage, they're starting to feel very confident and can they go in there and just compete with North Carolina? Yeah. And I think that's one of the things that you're hoping for. I mean, look, you want to be able to play well enough to try and go knock off a high major opponent. But you want to execute and you want to get better and great opportunity for them. I'm really excited for Mercer Clemson. I just want to see what, as this Mercer team has gotten better, I want to see what they look like against a high major, good high major opponent. But I think we talk about some of the things with Mercer, like they have some of these characteristics to be deep, to potentially be able to knock off a high major opponent. They've got size. They shoot it really well from deep. They can really score it. Can they get stops? That's going to be a big thing. That's the key. But I'm really curious. And then look, another piece to it, the last thing I'll say on it, you've got guys that have played at that level before, so they're not necessarily walking into that moment with bright eyes, blinders on, oh, we're walking into a high major game here. What are we going to expect? Oh, that's right. They've been in these, yes. So I'm really curious to kind of see, kind of what we talked about a little bit with ETSU going to Dayton. I'm really excited to see Mercer going to Clemson. How good is this Mercer team? And again, it's not the end all be all. No, it's not. But can they put up a really good fight or potentially go in there and win that game where we say, okay, we kind of now feel like this was top four good in the SoCon. But okay, these guys really can compete to win this thing. Yeah. Now I think Clemson is better than some people are thinking right now with Clemson. Brad Bernal is doing a really good job. And they're going to throw 10, 11 guys at Mercer and have a heavy rotation. They've got some size. So that will be a big test for Mercer. Yeah, will. All right. That's our top 10 storylines. And remember, all you have to do is hit that follow or subscribe button, YouTube, Apple podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, including the iHeart Radio app. Until next time, may all your jumpers hit nothing but the bottom of the net. Okay. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right. All right.
