Will The Cleveland Cavaliers Win 50 Games Again? Featuring Matt Fontana

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1:04On today's show, Fandall is set the Cavs win total at 48.5 entering this season. Are they going to win 50 plus games again or could an improved Eastern Conference means that the under actually hits Matt Fontana stops by and we're going to talk about it all on this edition of Lockdown Cavs. You are Lockdown Cavs, your daily Cleveland Cavaliers Podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hi everybody, my name is Danny Cunningham and I cover the Cleveland Cavaliers over at my sub stack the inside shot and today's edition of Lockdown Cavs is brought to by Fandall. Council Ball Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited and the season Fandall's giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. And all the action at Fandall.com, that's F-A-N-D-U-E-L.com today. On today's show, Matt Fontana, who if you are a long time listener of the show, you know who he is. He's joined before from a big play ESPN radio 971, the fan in Columbus and now he's the

2:10new host of Lockdown Buckeyes. Matt and I used to co-host a radio show together on ESPN Cleveland and now he's part of the Lockdown family as well. But while Matt is an expert in the Buckeyes, he does know his Cavs and he more importantly knows the betting side of things. But we take a look at a early season preview. We still got six weeks. We still have a lot to talk about. But we get looking at an early season preview going through Cavs win totals, how many all stars? What seed they're going to have in the Eastern Conference? Plus, if you are a Buckeyes fan, we talk a little bit about them at the end of the show. So before I continue on, we're not going to talk about Khalifa Jop today. We might get into that a little bit on tomorrow's show. The Cavs have signed him. The roster is now fully intact for the most part. Though we are still waiting on James Harden to sign his contract. The Cavs are also going to have training camp over in Spain. We'll talk about that a little bit on tomorrow's show as well. But now before I say anything else, here's my conversation with Matt Fontana. Back again is Matt Fontana. Many of you know Matt as a former co-worker of mine.

3:11He and I used to host a radio show together on ESPN Cleveland once upon a time, which is a long time ago at this point. This is a special appearance by Matt because this is the first time that Matt is appearing on Locked On Cavs while we're actually co-workers. That's right, Matt Fontana and Justin's Wic are now the new hosts of Locked On Buckeyes covering all things Ohio State, of course, primarily football, which gets underway this weekend as they take on the mighty cardinals of Ball State on Saturday at the Horseshoe. Matt, welcome to Locked On Family. We are all very excited to have you. I'm sure that you can imagine the NBA chat has just been overwhelmingly positive about your arrival. It's all we've been able to talk about this week with all that other NBA news going on. But seriously, welcome to Team Man. I just wanted to find a way to be a co-worker of being cutting him again. That's just a goal and it took me a little while to get it. Now, I appreciate it being back under the same umbrella with you, joining you. I'm sure I'll have you on this. You are just giant Ohio State fan, as I know.

4:14I can't wait to have you on with Justin and myself to talk to Buckeyes, so we will do that. But yeah, I can't think Tom and just Isaac and maybe part of the team are excited. We're just getting rolling. So it literally were four episodes in our first week. So it's been awesome and I appreciate the warm welcome. If you are a Buckeyes fan that is also a CAHOS fan, this listening to the show, we will talk a little bit of Ohio State, which is not necessarily my wheelhouse, but we'll do that near the end of the show. But if you have heard a podcast that Matt and I have done in the past, Matt also does stuff over at ESPN Radio at 971 in Columbus, over at Big Play where he hosts his own show a couple of days a week. Normally, we take a look at the CAHOS through a gambling angle. So I've got some lines from our friends over at FiendWILD that we're going to talk about today. That's kind of our way of this very early preview looking ahead to the season. We've got about six weeks before the CAHOS are in action in Philadelphia against the

5:15Sixers on October 22nd. But Matt, the first number I have in most of these lines are from our friends at FiendWILD. Some of these lines and you will be able to tell which ones these are are made up by me because they're not things that you can necessarily bet on. But the first thing you're going to see is I don't know. I don't have that kind of bank role to take to be the book ever. That is not what I, and I know that there are some podcasters that if maybe got in trouble with some things they've said about gambling over the past week or so, I have nothing to show that passable. I have nothing to say that will get me in trouble. But the first line that I want to get to is the CAHOS wind total. I feel like this is a really good place to start. Set it 48 and a half. So two years ago, the CAHOS wind total was right around this. I think it might have been 49 and a half in Kenny, Arkansas, first year and they go out and they win 64 games. This past year I believe their wind total was 54 and a half. If I'm not mistaken, they win 52 games. Obviously, the season did not go according to plan during the regular season.

6:19And this year it's set at 48 and a half before I ask you like, which ways is going to go? What's your reaction hearing that line? Yeah, I mean, I think it's maybe a little bit lower than maybe expected because we have been up into the 50s last year. You expect this team to keep ascending. You made an Eastern Conference finals. So my gut reaction is yeah, that seems a little bit low. But then when I really think about it, I don't know if that I so much to do with the CAHOS as it does the rest of the Eastern Conference with how good they're going to be. You have really three teams that got remarkably better this off season. You have a next team that just stayed the same, but I'll wait just one the championship. You have a CAHOS team that was in the Eastern Conference finals. I know Swef then pretty much stayed the same. So my gut is maybe a little low, but then when I kind of factor in everything else, I think that's fair. We got to remember two books. Want to get you on the hook. They want you to sit there and feel exactly like I'm doing like over instantly, right? You're not even getting to 50, right? That's a 50 win team 100%. So yeah, I think it's fair.

7:21I still I don't want to get my answer to see how to wear a lean, but I think that's fair right there. So the calves are tied for the fourth highest win total in the Eastern Conference. The New York Knicks have the highest one at 51 and a half. So the fact that there are five teams between 51 and a half and 48 and a half, I do really think speaks to what you said there as far as it maybe doesn't say a ton about who the calves are. It says a lot about who the rest of the Eastern Conference is. So the New York Knicks are at 51 and a half. Boston, Celtics are at 50 and a half. The Philadelphia 76ers are at 49 and a half. And then you've got both the calves and the pistons at 48 and a half below them. You've got teams like the heat. The Pacers are at 43 and a half. The heater at 44 and a half or landows at 44 and a half. So like that Toronto is at 46 and a half. So there are a lot of teams kind of in that little bubble where it's there's not a team

8:24like OKC who's win total is in the 60s or San Antonio who's win total is 16 and a half. There's not a team that they're expecting like that. And I think part of that is I don't know and listen the next one that's title like they deserve all the respect in the world. But I do think that those two teams that West are going to be regular season juggernauts. I'm not exactly sure that the nicks are going to be a great regular season team. I would still pick them to win every playoff series against the Eastern Conference team as of right now. But I don't know that they're going to be like, oh man, this Wednesday night in December, we are really going to put the foot down on the gas and just show that we are superior. Like I just don't know that that's who the nicks are going to be. And I also think and this is something I've been talking about pretty frequently and I've been doing this like early Eastern Conference opponent preview series where I've talked to other locked on host that cover various teams in the East to think they have a chance to make the post season. And I think that there are at least 11 teams in the Eastern Conference that believe they have a chance to be a post season team.

9:25Now maybe that is playoffs, maybe that is playing, maybe that's when the title, but there are 11 teams that feel that way. And I think that that number and it could be 12 if you include Charlotte. I don't. But I think that number there is the biggest reason why the total is at 48 and a half. Yeah, I would agree with you and that's like you said, how competitive it is with that many teams just kind of sandwiched right in there. And I'm so, he gets what he wants, right? Like that's exactly what they were striving for, what they have been striving for in the NBA for a better part of a decade now is parody and a lot of different teams and a staff that I've stolen from you many at times and I never give you credit because I'm just not going to do that. That what 13 teams have been in the NBA finals since 2020. So half of the league has had a chance to win a title and it's crazy. The calves haven't been one of those teams, which is nuts, but yeah, it's what I'm silver running.

10:25You put the apron in, you want the team staff to spread the wealth around or players to be on the move. Here we are. So with that, yeah, you're going to look at it and say, you know, shoot, there's five, six different teams that you could look at. Not just to win the title, but I mean, even think realistically coming out of the East were for a couple of years, it was two, you know, yet two when it was usually the calves, you know, maybe the Celtics on a year, you know, maybe the Raptors on a given year. Now you sit there and you're like, no, there's there's you can make a legit case. I think for five teams to win these are conferences this year. More with Matt and just a bit, but first today's show is brought to you by Fandall. College football Saturdays, they're already packed with reasons to get excited, right? In this season, Fandall's giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. You come back your favorite team, you can build the same game, Parley, you can bet team props or you can make your picks on the biggest games of the weekend throughout the season. Keep an eye on the Fandall app for even more ways to get rewarded too, because those will pop up basically every single week.

11:26And with a full slate of college football every Saturday, including this one, there are plenty of opportunities to follow the games and find new ways to get involved. If you're listening to the show, you might be in Ohio State Book Eyes fan. They're taking on ball state, the mighty Cardinals of ball state. Ohio State 50 and a half points. Yes, five zero point five point favorites over ball state at the horseshoe on Saturday afternoon. I think Ohio State's going to be really good this year. I'm not necessarily super sold on them defensively, but their offense is going to be able to put up a lot of points in ball state is not going to be able to do anything about that. So I do like Ohio State to cover the 15 and a half points against ball state on Saturday in Columbus. If you want to get in on the action, Fandall is the place to go. You can add to fandall.com to get started today. That's fandall F-A-N-D-U-E-L dot com to get started today. Fandall play your game. So 40 and a half, which way do you lean? I would lean the over.

12:28I just think number one, the off season of James Hardin being here, being able to really kind of dive into what is going to help this team better from just a schematic standpoint. What are we trying to run? What do we want to look like? I think it's going to help. Peyton Watson, I like the signing. I like it. I should have to sign and trade. I like that move, the contract. I know people are looking at it. It's Lourish. If that kid keeps ascending the way that he played for that month of basketball, it's going to be a steal. And what's he 23 years old or something like that? Yeah, it's incredible. So is that enough to sway? It's James Hardin on a full off season and Peyton Watson enough to add three wins? I don't know. I'm going to look at Evan Mobley as the number one, again, waiting for him to take that step forward. You step up a competition. I'm going to say the over. I'm just going to be optimistic and say the over. Now buy a lot.

13:28No, but I think at the end of the day, the calves have every reason that should be a 50 and 32 basketball team. Like that is exactly what I think they really are. And that would push him on the over. So I got to take it. So I agree with you. I think that the over hits, but I want to play devil's advocate here. I want to talk about the reason why I like if the over does not hit, let's say the calves finish at 48 wins, which would not be some disaster if they won 48 games because this is a team that much like last year is going to be judged on what happens in the post season. And then maybe even more so about how you look in the post season, then how far you get in the post season because the calves got farther this past post season than they had before and everybody kind of feels worse about the team, which doesn't necessarily make a ton of sense to me. But the reason if the calves don't get to 49 wins, which by the way, in the down of the Mitchell era, here are their win totals. 51 in his first year, 48 in his second year, which was the one year in which Donovan

14:30did not play 65 games. That's the only year he's not been in all NBA player in Cleveland. 64 wins in his third year. And then 52 wins his fourth year this year, that just finished. But the reason for the under here would be so on December 23rd, Matt, the calves play in Washington against the wizards. And then we're going to fast forward to February 9th. That's when they host the Toronto Raptors back game against Toronto is the first time since December 21st that the calves will play back to back games in the same city. They go over six weeks where they are traveling after every single game. They play a ton of road games, obviously in there. All of the home stands they have are just one off home games like they play the Clippers at home and then they go to Charlotte in Houston. They play Toronto at home and they're back on the road and they're back home like from

15:32basically right before Christmas until the trade deadline, there is nonstop travel for the calves. And that is it's a stretch of 24 games, which I don't know if it's the highest number in the NBA. But I do know it is the highest number amongst Eastern conference contenders. They go 24 games where they don't play in the same city back to back. That I think is a brutal stretch when you combine that with how good the east should be. That to me could be the recipe for them maybe not getting to 51s this year. Yeah, I think the factor in that would be this is an off injured team too. So that's where again, the travel, the not rest days, like you're just going to be adding up to a team that has had, I mean, what pretty much every one of their starters battle some sort of injury over the last two seasons plus it's I mean, I'm taking hard not because you just got here, you know, but even he got to Cleveland and broke his thumb immediately. Yeah, right, right. And being a guy that might go down as one of the best Iron Man NBA players, multi, you

16:34know, and James Harden for minutes played and he never doesn't play. But yeah, right, I forgot about that. So, you know, even put him in there and are they the youngest team on the block? I mean, not necessarily not. I mean, hard and skews that, but I mean, I'm just talking even Jared Allen at this point and, you know, Donovan. Yeah, I'll listen to one percent and I think the other thing I would add is it has this team. I think, I think there's two sides to this coin. I think one side would be this team has learned that the regular season is important, but it doesn't really matter where you're at right now. It is only about the postseason and how far and getting to an NBA finals. But I say that to say this, you see the murderous row of teams that you're going to have to go through and realize at the end of the day, always default to the higher seed. I get that there's games to be played late, maybe the last week or last couple games of, oh, we'd like to avoid this team. There's none of that anymore. You know, I guess anything could happen, but for the most part, it's not just about avoiding this one team or not.

17:34It's going to be all hands on deck. So if that's going to be the case, I'm going to lean towards home court advantage, which hasn't always helped the calves anyway. But yeah, so like I would think they're very much interested in the regular season are going to put forth that good effort. Yeah, that is a brutal stretch. I guess the good news is it's right. You know, I would say earlier, it's got to be what the halfway point getting close there, but it's still like half. Half, I mean, it is a. It's over a quarter of the season. That stretch is over a quarter of the season when you talk about 24 games. That's what makes it ridiculous. I'm glad you brought up seating because that's the next thing I wanted to talk about. This is a line from the the Cunningham House here. Over under the three and a half four. Come and say big. There you go. Yeah. Over under the three and a half seed in the Eastern Conference for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And I picked this for a specific reason.

18:34Obviously the calves were the four seed last year. They have been the four seed three times in the last four years with the one time they were not the four seed. They were the number one seed. The calves have not made the playoffs as anything other than the calves have not been in the postseason without home court advantage in a long, long time. I don't remember the last time it happened, but it was like pre first LeBron era. They've not never been a top four seed like they're either top four or they're tank or they don't make it. Yeah. But also the last time an NBA team won the title without being a top three seed in their respective conference was back in 1995 when the Houston Rockets wanted as a 60. I know the Indian apacers are in Achilles injury away from like changing that rule because they would have won that game, I think over Oklahoma City had Tyrese Halbert and not gotten hurt and they were the four seed. But there's a whole bunch of evidence that says you need to be top three seed. What were the next past year? They were the number three seed in the East.

19:35So how much do you think that matters and how do you think that shakes out for the calves? Yeah, I do think it matters very much and you're right because it's either I feel like we're always the one or the four by the way. Like when's the last time the calves even the two or the three seed? I feel like we did the one or the four. The calves were the two seed. I believe in 2017 because that team just flat out did not care. And that was the team that you're after they won the title. They did not care about the regular season. The Boston Celtics tried really, really, really, really hard. They got the calves. They played by a game in the regular season and then the calves had a 50 point lead in Boston and the conference finals just to prove that we did not care in the regular season. And then the last year with Braun when he just drug Larry and Ants Jr. and and the 40 hill to the I think they were the four seed, right? That's right. That's right. So yeah, the importance I think is going to be there. The competitiveness of that I also think is going to be to your point about five teams

20:36all within a couple of games on the overrunters. The same thing like you might have three teams that are all within a game or two for three seeds, right? Like that. I kind of picture it is. I do think there's going to be a team that separates themselves and takes the one seed by like two or three games. But then to your point, I think seeds two, three, four, maybe even five, they could be separated by a game and a half, you know, at some points of the season to see how it goes. That being said, if I were to take the over on the 50 and I do think that there will be a team in the East that is going to be 60 wins or close to it as the one. And I think if I'm taking the over and taking 50, that's got to be good for a three seed. So on the three and a half, I guess I would take the under because I think the calves are going to be the three seed by the end of the season. I could definitely see that. And if you win like a general rule of thumb in the Eastern conference, not this is not

21:37true of the Western conference and we'll see how this shakes out this year in the East. A general rule of thumb in the East is if you win 50 games in the Eastern conference, you are going to be a top four seed. There are some years where 47 wins is good for the four seed. There's some years where you need to win 50 plus like this pasture where the calves had 52 wins and they were the four seed, although they were closer being the three than the five with their win total. So I'm going to agree with you. And I think it's going to be really, really close. I would not be surprised. And like I'm a little bit down on Philly as a regular season team. I just think it's going to take time for them to come together a little bit. I would not be surprised if the top three seeds are some combination of the calves, the Celtics, the Nix and the Pistons. I would not be surprised. I wouldn't be surprised if those are the top four or if like the top three are coming from that group before and maybe one of those teams and hey, who knows, it could be the calves.

22:37And one of those teams just has like a bad season where injuries are a big factor and they just don't have the year they think they're going to have. Yeah. I thought you might throw a Toronto in there because that's a team that I could see very much caring about the regular season. Obviously, I could, but they're best player who I know we are recording this on Wednesday night. Their best player was find $700,000 by the NBA. That was a sudden. And what he wasn't suspended, which I do find to be a little bit ridiculous. Right. The Clippers, by the way, tanked seven first round draft picks in and Steve Ballmer find $30 million, which I have to think is the largest penalty ever doled out in professional sports. And I also think the closest thing to kind of tie in college football with you here, the closest thing we've ever seen in sports to the SMU death penalty back in the evening. Like I think that this is the closest thing we've ever seen to that. I do think if like you found all that stuff and found the Clippers liable there, there

23:40probably should have been some suspension for Kauai. But I also think that Kauai in most situations does not care about the regular season. The Toronto Raptors will be a good basketball team, but I think that one is going to take time and two, Kauai is not going to play 65 games. Right. Yeah. Now, listen to that. And they were just kind of one of the intriguing teams. I don't think Miami is going to be up there. I agree with you on that. I think the next will be like you said, Boston, the Cad, the pistons, you know, I just can you can you do it again, you know, and how much is that kind of hungover of the ups being upset that you were in the position that you were in and just couldn't do it, you know, and I guess you got to learn and it's good for Kate to get there and try to experience it as a team and kind of take it from there. But I actually, I actually think that might go on the opposite for the pistons, right? Where they're like so shell shocked by that, but they might not be able to overcome it.

24:40So I kind of project in a little bit of down year for the pistons. But yeah, I'm with you. I don't think Philly is going to care. The bronze I got to care, you know, nobody's going to, you know, deal in brown. They don't have a thing to prove. So yeah, regular. So it's also they're going to have to learn how to play together. Like that's part of it. Yeah. Like even if they do care, which, you know, LeBron's probably not playing 65 games. Joil and Beat is definitely not playing 65 games. Like there are inherent challenges that the sixers have to deal with there. But if they all cared, if they all said we are going to try and win as right as many regular season games as possible, which is not their goal. I still think that there would be an adjustment period. Like it just, it, it happens every time you assemble a team like that. No team is, is exempt from it. No, and that's the thing. They can have to play to do that. And, you know, that doesn't necessarily always have to quit to win either to your point. Like they could just be out there and just working on some things and kind of load management gear of, of all that.

25:40But then come playoff time, they're going to try to flip that switch and they're going to be as potent as ever. I think, you know, when it comes to the postseason. So yeah, I mean, I'll get you. I agree. I think Celtics, Knicks, Cavs. Again, I'm down on the piss since not going to be 76. There's not going to be the heat, you know, again, all sorts of appers and Pacers. I mean, everybody's like, oh, Halbertons back. They'll be fine. I mean, they'll be okay. I don't, that could be like that dark horse scene that somehow comes up and like sneaks a 3C somehow out of this. I would be stunned. I would not be stunned. Yeah. I would not be surprised by that. Again, there are. I think that there are 7 teams and I don't believe in all 7 of these teams. I think there are 7 teams in the East that can tell themselves right now we can win this conference. One of those teams by rule is going to be in the plan. One of those teams will be in the plan. Like they're just not enough playoff spots. But I think Cleveland, New York, Detroit, Boston, Indiana, Miami, and Philly all can say we can win the Eastern conference this year.

26:45Now, I don't believe in Miami. I don't believe in Boston as a playoff team. But like all of those teams can be like, yeah, like we can win three playoff series. And while I might have my doubts about some of them like that, that matters in this discussion. Yeah. And I'll put you Orlando, not maybe when a championship, but they feel like they should be in the playoffs or Toronto feels like they should be in the playoffs at the most. I probably should have included Toronto in that list too. Yeah. Washington. I mean, they go out and get into the Davis and I'm not a big tray young fan, but they got to be feeling very much that they should be in the playoff on this year. That's why I said there are 11 to 12 teams that think they should be playoff teams in the Eastern conference. That's it. Next one I have for you. And this kind of goes along the lines of what we were just talking about. The calves are plus 750 to be the number one seed in the Eastern conference this year. What do you think their pathway would be to recreating some of the magic they had two seasons ago when they were the number one seed in the Eastern 164 games?

27:49So the path I would assume like we talked about it's not going to be the one seed. I just there's something about the three seed that is calling to me. So at that point, you're talking about a first round matchup against like what the Miami Heat, maybe the Indiana Pacers, maybe even Toronto, but you're inevitably going to have to go through Philly, New York and Boston. If not one, at least two of them to go through that to make it and then I just look at your matchups Boston's one. I mean, you're better than me on this because like I'm just going to time to take you. I can't get a read on Boston like I think they should still be competitive like Jason Tatum, Jalen Brown. I understand that they had never moved out of get made, but I just I need to see it. It wouldn't shock me if they come out in in our the one seed at all, but I just need to see it. And then like you said Philly is just going to take some time to get together, but I just they're going to be super dangerous. Come play off time. I would not want to face them.

28:49And then the next the next the incredible amount of pressure that has to be on the next to say this is literally the last ride because this team cannot stay the same the way that we are. It's kind of shocking that they were able to keep it together. I'll be you know Mitchell Robinson or some minor moves here and there, but for the majority of the core, they're still there. Like they got to be sitting there, low up and saying we're going to try to go win this again because after this we can't keep everybody. Jalen Brunson took that deal. I wonder how long till he gets investigated. I didn't say that. But however long until you know he needs to get paid. What are you doing with cat? I think there's a lot of pressure on the nicks to go repeat because again, I just think they're going to have to dismantle it after this year. I think that the Carl Anthony Towns contract that is the contract extension, I should say that is coming up is one that I think a lot of people across the league have their eyes on like what is that deal going to look like I think that one is going to be very influential to what the future of the New York

29:53nicks looks like after this season like they're going to be really good this season. They're a team capable of winning the title again this year. I don't know how much the regular season is going to quite matter to them, but like they're going to be really, really good last one. And this one comes from me setting the total at one and a half all stars for the cabs this season down of the Mitchell is made the all star team every year that he has been with the cabs Evan Mowbley made an all star team not this past season, but two seasons ago Jared Allen is previously made an all star team James Harden has made a bunch of all star teams and truthfully speaking, probably should have been an all star last year instead of dear and Fox, but when you get traded before the all star game like I think things get a little murky there. So total set it one and a half all stars for the cabs this year over feel pretty good about that over. I think this is obviously down a bit and new. So, uh, Mowbley, yeah, I think it's going to be Mowbley and I just it's got to be time and it's got to have to be his time and I think Kenny Ackinson is hopefully realizing you got to pick what you want out of him like you've got to understand what are you trying to turn him into this conversation about him being this unicorn and Tim Duncan like stop that posit obliterate it do something because it's not working like it's not we're not getting out of that moment.

31:13I'm not getting out of that mobile what we need to see how I'm trying to defend him because I really I'm excited about him and still have good thoughts about his potential in his future. But I just hope we get like a calmer just consistency out of that mobile this year and I think it's unfortunately going to look at Jared Allen and say that it's going to have to be more consistency with maybe less Jared Allen. I don't know, but I'll say over on that one because I think it's going to be down in the show. I think it'll be Evan Mowbley. I think they'll get to as well and listen if they're in the Eastern Conference and they are on a path to winning more than 50 games in what the conference is right now you're going to have to have to all starts to do that I really firmly believe that because this conference I think is just loaded I think it's going to be really really good. But now let's talk about a conference that might not be as loaded that would be the mid American conference because they're sending ball state to the horseshoe on Saturday the Cardinals trip trip 50 and a half point underdog. Against Ohio State in the season opener 50 and a half point underdogs Matt Fontana what say you.

32:19So high state is on a 39 game win streak against the mid American conference and in the history of these games they played against the Max. No, they're like oh man I'm going to lose it, but they're like 79 and one in their history against the Mac something like that they do have a loss to a max what I don't remember where it is I have to look it up. But here's your stat on the 50 point underdog so in the last 13 years Ohio State has been a 50 point dog three times the first time was in 2013 when they played Florida Atlantic University I was at that game as a working media member. And they won 79 to nothing so they very much cover the last two instances have both been against Rutgers in big 10 play it was 2019 and 2021 but Ohio State failed to cover in both of those games I was like 52 to 13 and something to 17 so Rutgers actually put points up now is ball state is good as Rutgers no because Rutgers is the joke of the big 10.

33:27Unfortunately ball state is the joke of the mid American conference that being said I don't think Ryan Day is in the business of running up the score. But it's going to happen and they will cover that 50 points spread on Saturday at the shoe. The total is only 56 and a half is ballstaking a score touchdown and kick the extra point. No they will not down and I will you never say never because like their starters are going to play you know Ryan Davis week has said the starters for his team are going to play and play a little bit you know he wants those guys ready for that matchup down at Austin. You know next week so you're going to see I mean not just Jeremiah Smith but there's so many receivers I think a lot of people talk about Devon McEun is the talk of camp right now is a transfer wide receiver those guys are going to want to get in the end zone but then defensively too. They're going to start or at least have six transfers that are going to play starter be a starter or play starter amount of snaps coming up for a high state on Saturday so I think they're going to want to leave those guys in to get some reps get that guy live gain action you know ball state will leave their starters and just will high states back up actually can see to touchdown I doubt it highly.

34:38So I think we all know what the biggest strength for Ohio State is and that'd be Jeremiah Smith that guys pretty good what do you think Ohio State's biggest weakness going into the season is. I mean the gut would say linebacker just because you're starting to brand new guys Peyton Pierce played last year got starters minutes late but you're replacing two guys that got first round top 10 picks and our Val recent sunny styles they bring in Christian Allegro he's a transfer most scottie actually played really well against Ohio State with scotties of big. Tall Linky dude he'll be fine you'd say the D line room because they just they switched out a lot of guys but they bring James Smith in from Alabama that guys a day one player I'm not worried about that the edge position I think has some depth secondary I think Devon Sanchez going to have a great year this year as tall Linky corner they got some transfer guys in the secondary so it's almost like by I guess I'll tell you what tight end is probably it like no fence to Nate Roberts but they just don't have the depth there like they did last year. How impactful that that's probably my answer I'll say tight end tight end linebackers probably so.

35:42Well it'll be a interesting season at some point for Ohio State I don't think it's going to be very interesting on Saturday but if you want to hear more if you're a cab stand that is also a buck ice fan Matt Fontana now you're placed to go every day just like this podcast every day over at Lockdown Buck eyes Matt hope you've enjoyed your first week tell everyone where they can find you they should know but tell them where. I very much appreciate you locked on book eyes on the YouTube side of things the same as you do for Danny go to Spotify because that's where I get locked on calves is my Spotify feed you can turn the automatic downloads on you to the subscribe button on there and just let everybody know I will be doing a live post game show after the ball state game we're going to really try to do a lot of post game shows as many as we can this year certainly will have one after the text game as well so soon as the game ends you want to get some reaction and we'll read some comments you. You can have a tour of you to page which is locked on book eyes and because of Ohio State's TV deal all of those games always get played at noon so you will be awake watching them because all they do is play new games down in Columbus at Ohio State but he's met fun.

36:47You can find him you can find him over at Lockdown Buck eyes 97 on the fan in Columbus big play here in Cleveland ESPN radio nationally and of course I'm Danny Cunningham your host of Lockdown calves every single day and as we get out of here please do me a favor thumbs up button hit that notification bell and make sure that you are subscribed wherever you might be getting your podcasts Apple Spotify or anywhere else the show will be back on Tuesday we're taking Labor Day off I've got nothing to tell you on Labor Day you're not going to go to work to listen anyway so the show will be back on Tuesday talking so much more about the Cleveland. Thank you for making locked on your first listen every day for your second listen find the locked on NBA podcast where there's no offseason West Matt and Hayes keep you up to date on contract negotiations rumors and everything you need to be the most informed NBA fan. Find locked on NBA on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts part of the locked on podcast network your team every day.