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BALL HAWK: Ricardo Jones TRANSFORMS Vanderbilt Defense With Game-Changing Athleticism and Leadership

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Ricardo Jones sparks a defensive revolution for the Vanderbilt Commodores as spring practice heats up. Can his ball-hawking instincts transform Clark Lea’s defense into an SEC powerhouse? Corey Burton and Mike Huesmann analyze Jones’ standout performance, discuss his impact on players like CJ Heard, and break down creative defensive personnel moves. The hosts debate Missouri’s win totals, the new targeting rule in college football, and evolving roles in the revamped safety room, spotlighting key transfers and strategic shifts. Shifting gears, the spotlight turns to Vanderbilt basketball’s gritty win over McNeese State, powered by Tyler Tanner’s 26-point breakout. The conversation previews a high-stakes NCAA Tournament clash with Nebraska, focusing on whether the Commodores’ dynamic offense—or Nebraska’s suffocating defense—will prevail. Packed with insights on win projections, player development, and the next big SEC battles, this episode is a must-listen for Vanderbilt fans and college sports enthusiasts alike. #anchordown Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: lockedvandy.supercast.com Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at https://5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon. Mazda Like our players, we’re driven by the details. Because highlights make the reel. What it takes to get there makes it count. There’s more to a Mazda. Because there’s more to you. TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. Robinhood You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm. Wayfair Get last-minute hosting essentials, gifts for all your loved ones, and decor to celebrate the holidays for WAY less. Head to https://Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair. Every style. Every home. SupplyHouse Visit https://SupplyHouse.com/tm to learn more about becoming a Trade Master. Use promo code S-H Five College for 5% off your first order at https://supplyhouse.com. SupplyHouse. Real people. Real service. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply. FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)


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BALL HAWK: Ricardo Jones TRANSFORMS Vanderbilt Defense With Game-Changing Athleticism and Leadership

Locked On Vandy – Daily Podcast on Vanderbilt University Commodores Football and Basketball

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Locked On Vandy – Daily Podcast on Vanderbilt University Commodores Football and BasketballBALL HAWK: Ricardo Jones TRANSFORMS Vanderbilt Defense With Game-Changing Athleticism and Leadership. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. The I-Ticket Lady Jennifer of Coons. Well, many thanks, good sir. Here is my discover card. They accept a discover at Renaissance Fairs? Yeah, they do here. Discoverers accepted at the places I love to shop. Get it with the Times! With the Times! You're playing the loot. Yeah, and it sounds pretty good, right? Discoverers accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen Report. Meet the energy shot that tastes just like birthday cake. Confetti craze, extra strength, 5 hour energy, tastes like a rich, buttery, vanilla birthday cake. Frustin' and all. Light the candles, make a wish, and get ready to celebrate with every sip. Feel unstoppably energized with as much caffeine as your favorite 12-ounce fancy coffee,

but with zero sugar for zero sugar crashes. For more information and to get the party started, visit 5hourenergy.com or visit Amazon today. Ricardo Jones, apparently turning heads on West End. Spring practice day two. Here we go. You are locked on Vandy. You're daily podcast on the Vanderbilt Commodores. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. You're a team every day. Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome into the Lockdown Vandy Podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. I'm your host, Cory Burton. Joining me is Mike Hughesman from offseason after dark. We're going to talk about, we're going to preview Nebraska. That's the next opponent for Vanderbilt in round two of the NCAA tournament. We're going to talk a little bit more.

Dive a little deeper into their win against McNeese State. And then reminding McNeese that they're not a state. Of course, there's a new targeting role in college football. We'll get to that updated win-tolls. Mike, I want to get your opinion on that as well. But the story of day two of spring practice for Vanderbilt is not jared Curtis surprisingly. It's the defense. And most specifically, this is where we're going to start Ricardo Jones. He's a menace at the safety position. But before we do any of that, Mike, this episode is brought to you by Mazda. We put that same drive into every detail, wins to find the moment. Putting in the work, that defines you. So stay tuned for highlights in this week's moving the game forward. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. So Mike, we talked about Ricardo Jones. We talked about him being one of our favorite transfers on either side of the ball. Yeah. And again, in this year's portal class. And he is not disappointing. He had several interceptions at practice. He's been flying around.

He's been leading the charge on this defense. And honestly, they talk to Jordan Matthews after practice as well. And he echoed the same thing. Every time they talk to a defensive player, it's the same message. This defense is flying around. They have a chip on their shoulder. They are determined to put last year behind them and become a dominant defense. Yeah. You know, we talked from the beginning, what a big pick up it was because I think with him, you're going to get that more traditional free safety type guy. And it's going to allow CJ Herk to play a position. He's also better out. So you're getting better in multiple positions, even though you only have one new guy. But the pedigree's there, you know, is depending on what service you look at. He was 10 or 12 breaks, safety in the country. You know, George, you kind of went to Clemson and was good when he was there. And, you know, for what of reason, you know, maybe just decided he wanted to go to Nashville, wanted to be in a fun city, wanted to play in the SEC. Like, clearly in the defense, they have their Gregory, whatever reason he got him there.

And it's a massive pick up. Yeah, no doubt. I mean, just the leadership from the get go. So I think his, the, his intensity, the way he just kind of sits back. And the way he can kind of read things out. There's a reason why I think he led the conference in interceptions over in the ACC. He's got a, he's got a knack for the ball. I mean, ballhawk was first in his description when, when you watch him, when you, when you read about him, when you, when you see highlights, it's immediately what you think of. And a lot of that's instinct. So he's been well coached. And now he's coming to a defense that's going to feature his talent and that a defense that is built around having great free safety play. And that's something that Vanderbilt has had just okay free safety play. Up until this year, they've had guys with a lot of experience, but not as much athleticism and not as, and not as good of ball skills as Ricardo Jones has. So this is going to be a massive upgrade in that regard.

And you get a guy that already has that experience to go with it. I think so. Yeah, because you know, we talked about height in the last year. You had random front net who not a true safety in the conventional sense. So talk to, you know, compare them. But it is going to be, I think a situation where you'll be able to show multiple cover, just play multiple D's, you know, if you want heard and Jones to be, you know, you're two deep guys, you're good there. If you want Jones to be back and have heard playing up, you'll have the flexibility to do that. And it's just going to make them more well rounded and have a better overall 11 on the field than they did last year, which like you said, is obviously the goal. Now to me, and I don't know if you agree or disagree on this, but to me, and I'm going to get a little nerdy here for just a second. But you have a couple different overarching philosophies when it comes to the defensive backfield, especially in the middle of the defensive backfield. And it's abbreviated mofo and M-O-F-C.

That's middle of the field open, middle of the field closed. And what that means is when you have middle of the field open, you have two high safeties in that middle of the field. There's nobody there because the two high safeties are either playing deep half or they're playing deep quarter along the hashes. And the middle of the field is open now. If you go middle of the field closed, obviously that shifts your safeties and that puts a guy in the middle and it puts a guy down closer to the line of screws. Now to me, and I think with personnel, they can get kind of creative with this. But to me, I like middle of the field closed with Ricardo Jones, because he can cover all of that ground. But Jones, I would definitely agree with that. Yes. And get CJ heard closer to the line of scrimmage because his best plays to me. And this is why having Ricardo Jones is amazing, because now you can now you can move CJ heard around. You can personnel it where if you want to go a three safety look,

you can have two robbers in the holes there with with Ricardo Jones back deep. You can do a lot of different things. But with CJ heard, I like him being closer to the line of scrimmage, because he's such a good tackler. He's such a good blitzer off the edge. I mean, he had some hits a bone crushing sacks last season, especially there was one in particular, I believe it was the Auburn game where he comes off the edge and just destroys Ashton Daniels. And it was, you know, that's what he's good at. And he, I don't, I don't love him playing deep safety. I think there was some, there were some past plays that got hit on him because of just they were able to take advantage of whatever deficiency he had in that moment. I like him, I like him near the line of scrimmage. He's a menace down there. He was a great player. He was the fourth leading tackler on the team last year. And at that level, that doesn't happen for a D back unless you're typically a

near the line of scrimmage player and a force player like that. Yeah, and he, and what I liked about him is he tracks down really well. He's really athletic. He's, he's, he's, he's, he's pretty much elite playing forward. Yeah. And we've got athletic guys that can play backward a little bit with Dante Carter and Carson Lawrence. So like, how do you foresee them managing those four guys in those safety spots? Like, how do you foresee that? I don't expect Jones to leave the field much. I think he will largely be a full-time player. Heard's going to play a lot too. And for the other two, it, it might be tough to certainly situationally packages you'll come in. If, if it's a pass heavy situation, if you're holding a lead late in the game, heard might not be on the field.

You know, one of those guys might come in, but I don't see many scenarios where Jones is not on the field. Right. I think Jones is, unless he's hurt, banged up or whatever. He, he's on the field. I do have a D back question that a guy we talked about. I wanted to circle back to, um, Jalen Davies, the late transfer from Oklahoma state. Any word on his eligibility, how that stuff is going? Well, Vanderbilt put out a signed graphic for him. There was no news release or no, no thing that said outright that he got his eligibility. But I, what I did was I retweeted that graphic that Vanderbilt football's official account put out. They put out a signed graphic for Bishop Starling and Jalen Davies. And I tweeted it and said, Hey, I'm guessing this means Jalen Davies is official. And his dad liked it or someone in his family or like the tweet. So I took, I take that as it's a yes.

I don't know for sure, but I take that as it's a yes. You would think so. Yes. I mean, I don't know the official football account would tweet something out like that if it wasn't official. So I, I, I didn't think it was going to be much of a case. I thought it was just going to be just paperwork, get it signed and, and, and head back to head back to campus. So I fully expect him to be a big part of what Vanderbilt does. So, um, that's going to add another element to how they do their personnel packages. Now they got some flexibility. He can play in the nickel. He can play, you know, you can go some three corner looks with, with Davies. You can go three safety looks if the team is, you know, very balanced. But you have like CJ heard down as your third safety. But he's really kind of a safety linebacker. So he's tough against the run. You can still maintain a two shell back behind it as I get nerdy again. Um, but they eliminated the star position too, Mike. Um, and that was the position with that.

Okay. Random font net occupied. And I thought that's what CJ heard was going to fit right into saying that. They got rid of it, but I think it's really just, they got rid of it as an official position. But I think that's a position where they're going to personnel it based on situation. Uh, right now. I guess if they go bigger personnel, it's going to be Bryce Cowan. But I think if they go smaller personnel, it could be somebody like Jalen Ruth. Or CJ heard in some scenarios or you get like Nick Rinaldi out there. Or, you know, somebody, some sort of line, they're calling it a true linebacker position. But it's really just going to be kind of that in between where I don't know if they're going to draw as much coverage responsibility as random font net had. Um, there'll probably be more and run responsibility. And they'll probably play more zone coverage with that personnel group on the field is how I anticipate it. So that's good. Yeah. So they eliminated that position.

But all right, um, updated wind totals, uh, Fandall, I guess heard us talking. And they said, oh, we got updates and some wind totals. I want to go over some of these with you, Mike, uh, and a new targeting rule. We're going to do all of that right here next. It's locked on Vandy. Stay tuned. Now, Mike, this one's, this one's going to be a lot of fun. This is the, this is Mazda's moving the game forward for those who show there's more to the score than what's on the screen. A player that's been just exciting to watch all year long has been Tyler Tanner of the Vanderbilt men's basketball team. He took over this game against Mignis, especially. And I'll admit he had a few bad turnovers early on, but I think the team was just pressing and nervous and Mignis. You know, they, they bring it to you. They're the best, they have the best turnover rate in all of division one college basketball, which is like 300 something teams. So they turn you over at a rate better than everybody else. So they're a tough team.

But Tyler Tanner, man, he never quit. He just kept going after the 26 points in this game led Vanderbilt to this victory amongst others. But he was, he was outstanding in this contest. Just takes it over every single week. And you know what, Mike? We'll talk more about him later as it pertains to Nebraska and their upcoming matchup. But this reminds us of what it really takes to raise the bar. Is that extra work off the court. It's dialing in every detail. It's giving it that extra fire that grit and that I never quit attitude. And we put that same passion into every model highlights make the real. What it took to get there makes it count. There's more to a Mazda because there's more to you. Now speaking of fandom. I don't know if you're going to take any action on on any of these college games. But college basketball is nonstop big games tight spreads. Well, minimum swings every single night from early tip-offs to late night West Coast shootouts. There's always action on the board. And now, fandoms giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins where they college basketball parlay profit boost.

And Mike, I bet you wish you would have taken high point, right? Sure do. What about a great play? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know what that spread was, but it would have been awesome. Or if you, if you had a Virginia Commonwealth high point, and Sienna to cover the spread parlay, you're probably, you're probably buying a new house right now. It's like that. It's like that meme from Scarface or. Yeah. Leans back the money. Yeah. Yeah. You're probably doing that after hitting those bets. So. But whether you want to go safe, go bold or whatever it is, it's your parlay, your style now with more upside behind it. So head to fandall.com to get started. That's fandall.com. Fandall. Play your game. And Mike, it's too late for the bracket pool, but it's not too late to get your first month free of the everydayers club, right? You can get that first month of the everydayer club for free if you use code March. You'll unlock ad free episodes and entry into our private listener group chat where I'm hanging out daily. So to click the link in the show notes or go to LockdownVandy.supercast.com

to claim your free month. Do it. Don't waste your time. Do it. The link is right here. Edible arranges effortless joy all year. With same day in next day delivery or local pickup, Edible makes gifting simple, fresh arrangements, dessert boards, and big treats for birthdays. Thank yous or just because order at edible.com or your local store. Thanks for making Lockdown Vandy your first listen, joining me is Mike Hughesman from offseason after dark is absolutely crushing it. Mike, real quick, what's happening on offseason? Last episode was Florida International. That was last week. This week. One of them felt just, you know, I wasn't feeling so great. So kind of battling the weather there. And then next week, hoping to get back to another G five episode, trying to make the rounds there with some of the fan bases we haven't heard. So there's a few.

I'm looking out. It's looking like it'll probably either be a conference USA or a Sunbelt episode. That's interesting. I love it, dude. And if you're not watching offseason after dark, make sure if you need a second, listen outside the network. That's the place to go. Thank you for joining Lockdown Vandy. If you need a second, listen inside the network. Lockdown SEC is a place to go there as well. At Lockdown Vandy, if you want to follow along at home. Now, updated win totals, Mike. Here it is. And I've got this graphic based on Vanderbilt's schedule. And then it goes random after Tennessee because I just kind of started throwing them in there because I got tired of making the graphic, but I did chronologically order the schedule based on the win totals. Now, when you when you put hard numbers after in front of it, the schedule looks a lot easier. A lot less daunting than it does if you just look at the names. All right. So of these win totals on Vandy schedule. Before we get to that though, Vandy sitting at six and a half.

Are you surprised at that number? No, it's the right number. I, I walk early on, I thought it might be seven and a half. But you would said six and a half would be like, I remember us having this convo a while ago. And six and a half is the right number. Like that's because you got to get in the mind of Vegas. You want it. So 50% of the betters are on each side. And that's the right number for Vandy. Yeah. And I think that signifies. And I look at it and I'm like, OK, like at first glance, like we won 10 games last year. And that was up from seven games the year before. Like it feels a little disrespectful. But then you look at all the factors. And really the goal for Vanderbilt right now. And I think this is. I think this signifies that this goal is happening. Is the first thing you want to do for as Vanderbilt to be a consistent winning program.

That's going to compete. That's going to start to compete more and more regularly for the college football playoff down the road. I don't know how regularly, how quickly that is left to be under that's still in determined. But yeah, nonetheless, the first thing you have to do is raise your floor so that your, your, your ebbs and flows aren't so vast. And when you raise the floor and your bad seasons, like your horrible seasons are six and six. Like now you're a team that has expectations. Now you're a team that's built the infrastructure in the roster to the point where you are now. In a place where you're expecting to win 8, 9, 10 wins. Maybe even jump into the 11 win category here and there. Yeah, I mean, that's there's certainly in a better spot where seeing heightened expectations, even after two real good years after several bad ones. It didn't take long for those expectations to really amp up, which is good.

I mean, that you want higher expectations because it's usually proof of success in the previous season. And with that comes better recruits, better guys in the portal, more games on TV, more revenue. It's, and that snowballs into better teams, which snowballs into even higher projected win totals. Yeah. And then, and then achieving those win totals as well. Yeah. I think it's perfect for, for Vanderbilt, they're right where they need to be. So you look at the, we're going to do this nine game thing in three sections here. So you got the first set of three games you got at Auburn, who's projected at six and a half at Georgia and home against Ole Miss. So of these three games, what jumps out at you as far as the win totals of these opponents here? Well, one thing I want to say first and look at it, Vandy's win total. If they're going to go over that, I think you have to beat NC State and Auburn in the back to back week in September.

I think winning those two games is critical to your over. That being said, Auburn at six and a half is a tough one. I don't know if I like them to hit that number. That is a whole new roster. It's a lot of guys that were playing G5 football last year. And I mean, that you also think about Auburn season opener. Baylor is a game they could lose. DJ Legway is going to be there. That Baylor team is going to be pretty solid. Then you got Southern Miss. You'll win that game. But then you got forward of Vandy Tennessee to start the SEC season. There is a scenario where we see a one and four Auburn at the start of the season. Oh, that's great. So I'm lower on Auburn next year. Then you said Georgia next, you know, as much as, you know, for me, Georgia is one of those teams.

You know, it's, I don't want to say I'm sick of them, but they're always just so well coached and consistent. They're always going to be there. And it's tough to see him drop it off next year. You look at that roster last year and how good they were. I don't want a good chunk of that. Stockton will be better. Was Georgia's number nine and a half or ten and a half? It was nine and a half, which I think it's going to be. I would hit you. I would probably hit the over on that. And I don't think they lose more than two regular season games. Yeah, the only other team. The only other team at nine and a half is Texas. And those are the top two teams in the league. So yeah, and Ole Miss surprises me at seven and a half because, you know, you got Trinidad coming back. You got the, you know, you got Kiwan Lacey coming back. And a lot of that I guess is due to, you know, Pete Golding having to now reset. Navigate the full season and not having the high of, you know, Lane Kiffin leaving and all the energy that came with that.

So there's an element of, okay, well, now what do you do when all the chips are even? How do you play it out? That's, that's one that I think they're talented enough to win. And they're talented enough to hit the over on seven and a half. I think if it was a higher, I would question it. But I think that's a little too low for Ole Miss given what they have coming back. If they didn't have Trinidad, I would say that might, I would take the under on that. But they have Trinidad coming back. So I'm definitely taking the over on Ole Miss. Now, as far as this run goes, I think this is a, I think this is a one and two run on this, part of the schedule for, for Vandy. I think it's going to be talk to beat George on the road. And then Ole Miss is just a tough team in general. I think that'll be a dog fight, but I'm not sure that they win that one. But thank goodness you get the next stretch of games of four and a half win total teams of Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi state of those three. Are any of, do any of those stand out as a team that could be dangerous?

Or are they all three just kind of mired and, you know, mediocrity or just bad football? Mississippi state could be dangerous to any. Mississippi state will win a game they should not win next year. They'll also probably lose two games they shouldn't lose next year. I just think that's kind of who they are. Like they're last year, you know, they were in a dog fight with Texas. They had some games where they played solid. They were in a ball fight with Tennessee. Yeah, I think they knock off someone decent next year. But I don't expect their entire body of work to be great. But there's going to be some game where Kamari Otaylor throws for 300 yards and runs for buck 50 and they just win. I feel like. Now, you're going to get the downside of that where he turns the ball over four times in some games. But there's going to be games where they look good, I think. Okay, well, I want to switch gears to basketball.

We'll talk about the final three, Bama, Florida and Tennessee games, eight and a half, seven and a half, seven and a half. We'll do that on a different episode because I need we need to, it's March madness. We need to switch gears. But you need to hold on to your seats because we're going to do that. We're going to go into some classic March madness over time. But we're going to do all of that next. It's locked on Vandy. Edible arranges effortless joy all year with same day in next day delivery or local pickup. Edible makes gifting simple fresh arrangements, dessert boards and big treats for birthdays. Thank yous or just because order at edible.com or your local store. Hey, supply house. They're back. Guess what? And you wouldn't show up on game day without a plan, would you? And you wouldn't show up to a job without the right parts. And that's why I supply, that's why putting supply house in your starting lineup is always the right call. Here's a stats 300,000 plumbing, HVAC and electrical products,

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Make sure you also check out Mike Hughesman over at offseason after dark. Mike Tyler Taylor put up 26 today against. McNeese state. Impress a performance not surprising at all because he does this on the regular. But one of the things I was most impressed with was the fact that. We welcomed Tyler nickel back to double digits. He broke the slump a little bit. He had three rebounds. He hit three three pointers. He was three for nine from the field. Like he had a better game. Devon McLaughlin had a similar game. He was six for six in the shots. Duke Miles. Duke Miles had 13. You had scoring from every single player that stepped on the court. I mean, it was. It was a tough contested game too. There's there's times where like. I think the way McNeese plays is that Vanderbilt could have. They could have folded. And most teams probably would have.

Clemson folded last year. With this. So this this game was this game was very, very good for Vanderbilt because they didn't panic. And it shows that like they can withstand the ebbs and flows of tournament basketball. How's that going to come in handy against Nebraska? You will have to be resilient against Nebraska. They play very good defense. You're trying to not shoot the ball well at all against them today. Nebraska is very good at forcing you into bad shots. Is the big reason why they can do that. Try it. 17 turnovers today. That. That game was. Sixty point game of half time. And the Huskers basically coasted after that. It was never. Real competitive. But. For. Vandy. I think they're built. All right to take advantage of that. Just because. You have so many guys that can score you know I think.

Nebraska would be very good at. Handling one dominant player you know go to score. But a team that is. Pretty even and can pick each other up like Vandy. You have a shot. Now it's going to be tough. And Nebraska will be the favorite going into the game. Rightly so. But. I think Vandy's in a position where they could cause a team like that. Problems. Yeah. I mean just the word. The description of them is. They're the seventh best defense in the country. They rotate. They close out. They have discipline. They don't panic. They don't. They hold their opponents to just 20 not under 30% shooting from the field. Are from deep. They defend the perimeter very very well. And this is something that again they. They make it tough to get to the rim which for. A team that features Duke miles and Tyler Tanner. That's going to be. That's going to be tough if you're forcing them to shoot from do. Duke miles was not as effective.

From three point land. I think he heard his thumb too which is not great. But. They forced 17 turnovers against Troy. Which they. You know they they Vanderbilt turned the ball over 13 times against McNease. So that's going to be something that they have to they just for Vanderbilt if they can play their game and take care of the ball. And if they can find ways to get to the rim and score at the rim. To me I think with their athleticism I think if they can just. Get Nebraska spread out running stretched either vertically or horizontally. Like I think there's ways for them to kind of to kind of break through some of that stuff. But they just Vanderbilt also has to be patient too. They can't start. Yeah I don't think this Nebraska team is the most athletic. I think they're you know very well coach. Obviously Fred Hoyberg is a fantastic coach.

A lot of college success Iowa State then was in the NBA. He knows what he's doing his boys also you know starter on the team. But. They I think it's about the structure and the scheme and they all know exactly what to do. And like you said spreading them out. Creating those gaps and you know one-on-one matchups. Yeah probably the path to it. Yeah for sure and it's a it's a scenario where you you you have. I think to me ranked mass Brandon Fager is somebody you know two guys that are going to you know. Patrol the paint a little bit. I mean that those are Nebraska's forwards there. They're the best in nation. At avoiding defending and avoiding foul call. You know that those guys just they don't give up a lot of fouls. So getting to the line like they Vanderbilt can't. You know that they can't rely on being able to get to the line. They just have to they just have to make their shots.

I mean Vanderbilt's really good from the line. In their last four games they're nearly perfect from the line. So it's pretty impressive and. Yeah so that's going to be something that I think for Vanderbilt they're going to have to adjust to. There but again it's it's going to be a matchup of. Just overall. You know two you know more athletic team versus a highly disciplined team that plays you tough. Nice was a team that took some chances. But ultimately they were pretty disciplined as well. So you got a good taste of what Nebraska also brings to the table. There and you know like you said. You know big ten all defense team. That's Steve Hoiber Sam Hoiberg is is Sam is is really good at the guard position and he often draws a lot of the. Tough defensive assignment so he'll probably likely draw Tyler Tanner.

Price Samford will be the guy to notice you know forward for Nebraska. He was there leading score today had 23 he was there. He had 23 he was the only guy that had more than 13 for them. He's typically taking. More shots than if he did take them the more shots today for them. And. Rink master they have a six ten forward from another which was a pretty good player too. He didn't play all that well today so hopefully Vandy can keep him off balance and not shooting well. That would help. Yeah absolutely and that'll that'll be that'll be you know that'll be interesting to kind of see how Vanderbilt. How they manage this game because I think sometimes with Vanderbilt also is they. They tend to kind of feel you out a little bit which I don't think is always a good strategy like against teams there. You know that they have matchup problems with like I think against they did a better job of it and the second go round against Arkansas.

But the first time against Arkansas they spent the first six minutes feeling Arkansas out and Arkansas was. You know beating their face in and beat them by 30 points and a lot of their big losses that was the case they started slow played too cautiously. You just like a team like a team against Nebraska you're just kind of to go right at them. Yeah you can't get behind them because they'll they'll just grind out. If you let them get ahead and control the game in the way it's played they're just going to grind you up and that'll be it. I mean pedal to the floor go right at them and just kind of force them to be on your plane athletically. I mean they did that beautifully against Tennessee they did it beautifully against Florida in the SEC tournament where they just they said you know what screw it we're going to come right at you. They did it twice against Tennessee in a week span. And they just they attacked them head on. Yeah. And they did it against Florida maybe they almost 30 burger Florida who's the number one.

There are examples of games where them you know feeling it out early on ended up paying off the Georgia game was like that you know they. They pulled you know they got a win there later in the year so Georgia. But if you compare Georgia style to Nebraska style like with Georgia Georgia's a team that athletically they're going to get out and run to yes. So you feel like you get a team that is athletic as you are more athletic than you. Yeah you feel them out but you wait for them to stretch themselves then then you attack like that is kind of like a rope a dope method there against a team like Georgia against a team like Nebraska if you do that. You're going to sit back and watch you take stupid shots and cautiously pass the ball around they're going to jump a pack they're going to jump into passing lanes steal it block it rebound it and then go down take the lead control the tempo of the game next you know you blink and it's. And it's the most insurmountable eight point lead that you've ever faced in your life you know because they're just going to keep shipping away at you and there's nothing you can do about it that's what I feel like Nebraska can be.

That's why I think it's different and they can't do that I like in this to i'm trying to think of the loss that really stands out that they did this to where it was just a team that's just remarkably efficient and you're just like what like Oklahoma they did this against Oklahoma. And Oklahoma was struggling at this point but we saw what kind of team Oklahoma was and we we recognize that it was too big of a rough patch for them to overcome to make the tournament although I think they were playing at the end of the season like a tournament team but they kind of grind you out. Yeah I'm trying to out Vanderbilt at memorial and you know Nebraska I think is a team that you know can can do that but athletically on paper Vanderbilt should be able to run away with this game but they're not going to because I think Nebraska's just disciplined and they're going to take good shots you're going to stay in it. And that's that's going to be what unless Vanderbilt just puts the pedal to the floor and wears them down athletically and just runs runs around them that's what's going to happen.

Yeah I think that's if if Vandy is going to Texas other team like that by the way yeah where you you try to wait them out and and they they just by the way Texas was up by 15 not too long ago they're up by four in the last minute now so. So we'll see what happens there absent there yeah the gym or for debt come back for BYU he might have yeah they die bandsta was the number one recruit in the company though so he's pretty solid like he's pretty good yeah yeah he's going to be the first or second pick of the draft so yeah I imagine probably to the Atlanta Hawks I don't know maybe well I don't have to worry about the Hawks anymore how about the Timberwolves yeah how about the Timberwolves so how do you play it out do you is Vanderbilt making in the sweet 16 run? I don't think so no I think the run ends in the the round of 32 but I do think we're talking about a four or five point game either way so it's definitely on the table just the defense I saw from Nebraska today makes me think it's going to be real tough I mean if you talked about the turnovers if Vandy it's double digits and turnovers they won't win you keep that number under seven you got a good chance to win.

Yeah I think I think they're going to clean that up a little bit they I think they won't they had a bunch better second half they turned them all over a lot less in the second half of the McNeese game so I think they've kind of think they've kind of turned a corner there I almost say I'm going to go the opposite of what you said I know it's going to win by 100 no just kidding I like it yeah yeah confidence right it's going to be 101 to one now I'm Vanderbilt's going to I think Vanderbilt is going to win by three or four I think it's going to be back and forth back and forth back and forth back and forth back and forth and I think Vanderbilt's going to win by two three four you know four at the max on this one it's going to be a hard fought game and people are going to say Nebraska outplayed Vanderbilt for most of the game and that's probably going to be true but I think Vanderbilt is a team in the second half that can just spark and make that run when they need to and they've done it they've done that countless times to against Oklahoma they're down almost 30 they they end up losing by one I know it was a loss but they they erased a nearer 30 point deficit and like five minutes that's you know that's kind of what you're looking at when they turn it on they can turn it on and go it's just a matter of hopefully they don't have to turn it on quite to to that degree I think if they get to that degree against Nebraska they're not going to turn it on and and erase that deficit I think Nebraska is waiting for anybody to do that yeah I I think I think you have if Vanderbilt if Vanderbilt lets this lead get into double digits they have

I don't think they win but they've they've got to keep it under eight in in differential the whole game to have a chance so it's got to be plus or minus eight no more no less you know whatever um are they in Oklahoma City or Greenville which arena are they Oklahoma City they're Oklahoma City okay yeah they're Oklahoma City I heard they're coming out in Thunder jerseys tomorrow night I like it yeah or say shy of play for yeah there you go recruit new rules right you could have anybody want they're going to get SGA to come to come play yeah that's going to be their secret weapon they're like you know what we need to make a sweet 16 run SGA come on come on down heaven to rant hey I know you like I know you're been a Texas fan but hey you love national right come on heck most of the guys on their team are older and shut home maybe he can play yeah there you go okay let's do it I'll welcome him to right so that being said that's all we got as this March madness run continues

um hope you guys enjoyed my outdoor experience on the live reaction show um it felt like on my end it was kind of a mess but I watched the back and it was pretty smooth so I wasn't too bad um so hope you guys like that give me some feedback there make sure you like subscribe follow along at locked on vandy we'll continue talk spring football we'll talk uh there's there's more practice on Saturday we'll continue to talk baseball baseball is a start feel why it and they do is absolutely dealing it I think he's earned himself a weekend starting rotation spot regardless of austin i coming back um they're they may be getting austin i back so they left the sunday pitching position to be determined um on the official rotation chart so they haven't ruled austin i out and they're not taking they do out of the rotation so they'll slot in austin i on sunday and maybe even keep them there um moving forward they'll probably pair him with Nate Taylor they'll probably throw a few innings and then let Nate Taylor long relieve is probably how I see that going but um it'll be an interesting series against

Mississippi state it's to be state one of the best teams of the country so we'll see what they're made of we'll see if that LSU series was a fluke or not this team is so up and down I can't even predict I can't even tell you if it was I can even tell you if I think it was it's just this team is just erratic so anyway uh we'll cover all of that moving forward here lock on vanity good to have you back mic and uh we'll see you back here next time take it out peace introducing the all new Mazda CX5 featuring more connection hey google where's the nearest class safety that has your back more discovery on the scenic routes more passion in the details and more control in changing weather the all new Mazda CX5 more to move every side of you see it in

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