WEBVTT - 11-19-25 Lance with John Cunningham

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<v Speaker 1>The following takes place between seven pm and eight pm.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, here we go, seven h seven seven hundred

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<v Speaker 2>WLW Welcome in RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet.

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<v Speaker 2>Two hours to get it done tonight. Man, do we

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<v Speaker 2>have some ground to cover between now and nine o'clock.

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<v Speaker 2>Let's get to it. What a weekend coming up for

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<v Speaker 2>UC athletics. Holy cow, let's go Friday night. You see

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<v Speaker 2>basketball in a showdown versus Louisville Heritage Bank Center Saturday morning,

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<v Speaker 2>Big noon kickoff live from Bearcats Common, top of the

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<v Speaker 2>top of the night at eight o'clock. Nip at night

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<v Speaker 2>football under the lights, U see versus by you. There's

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<v Speaker 2>women's volleyball with NCAA tournament, hopes and dreams being put

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<v Speaker 2>on the line and a chase down the stretch for that,

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<v Speaker 2>all of that under the umbrella of my first guest.

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<v Speaker 2>He's the director of athletics for the UC Bearcats. Let's

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<v Speaker 2>welcome in, John Gunningham. Are you ready for all this?

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<v Speaker 3>I hate to be.

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<v Speaker 4>I don't have a choice. So here it is. It's

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<v Speaker 4>gonna be. It's gonna be a great weekend.

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<v Speaker 3>Uh, just a lot of fun and a great time

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<v Speaker 3>to be a Bearcat.

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<v Speaker 2>Let me let me start with a basic question on

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<v Speaker 2>Big Noon Kickoff, and it's probably impossible with what a

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<v Speaker 2>dollar amount on it, but what is the exposure that

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<v Speaker 2>What does it mean to not just a football program,

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<v Speaker 2>but to the university. What's going to unfold on Saturday?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I mean it's really it's a combination of the

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<v Speaker 4>two things.

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<v Speaker 3>First, we found out, you know, earlier on that we

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<v Speaker 3>were going to be on Big Fox at a PM,

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<v Speaker 3>their prime spot, and you know when you get that

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<v Speaker 3>prime spot on Fox, you know the numbers.

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<v Speaker 4>Are gonna be huge. So there's huge exposure just in that.

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<v Speaker 3>And it's nip at night. We love night games at

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<v Speaker 3>Nippert That's what we do best.

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<v Speaker 4>So obviously really excited about that.

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<v Speaker 3>And then found out later Sunday morning that they were

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<v Speaker 3>going to bring Big.

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<v Speaker 4>New Kickoff to campus.

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<v Speaker 3>We've had that once before, we had it when we

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<v Speaker 3>played Oklahoma a few years ago, and it's just it's

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<v Speaker 3>absolutely absolutely huge for our university. You cannot buy that

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<v Speaker 3>type of exposure. We need our fans to show up,

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<v Speaker 3>show out and show what we're about, that we're that

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<v Speaker 3>we're a big time college football program right in the

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<v Speaker 3>heart of Cincinnati and we love to show our campus.

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<v Speaker 3>They're going to have cameras that will follow sorees, be

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<v Speaker 3>a little bit in the indoor facility, you know, coaches

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<v Speaker 3>on all those types of things get represented in that show.

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<v Speaker 2>That show starts at ten am Saturday morning, ten A

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<v Speaker 2>and renewed John. What are those who want to attend

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<v Speaker 2>those who want to are thinking about camping out? What

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<v Speaker 2>tell them everything they need to know about the experience.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, if you want to camp out, we're opening up TUC.

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<v Speaker 3>I think that's mostly maybe for our students, but maybe

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<v Speaker 3>there's some fans that want to do it too. So

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<v Speaker 3>the TUC is going to be open all night so

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<v Speaker 3>that that they can they can hang there and then

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<v Speaker 3>get early into the into the box or whatever they

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<v Speaker 3>call it, the little area where they're gonna have the

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<v Speaker 3>pin where they have all the fans that are right

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<v Speaker 3>up front. So that's gonna be the desired location for

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<v Speaker 3>some Right, We're thinking our students are gonna want to

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<v Speaker 3>be right up front, so they actually open that up

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<v Speaker 3>at six am.

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<v Speaker 4>Show starts at ten.

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<v Speaker 3>But to be honest, if you want to show up

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<v Speaker 3>at nine p thirty, there's gonna be plenty of Faith

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<v Speaker 3>obviously a huge area. You may not be right up front,

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<v Speaker 3>so you're gonna have a great a great view of

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<v Speaker 3>what's going on and you get to see, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>that that whole show. And you know, we're talking Matt

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<v Speaker 3>Lighter and Brady Quinn and Urban Meyer coming back to Cincinnati,

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<v Speaker 3>and then Dave portnoyuh and Barstool Sports and everything that

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<v Speaker 3>he brings in the in the pizza reviews and all

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<v Speaker 3>that good stuff.

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<v Speaker 4>So it's a lot of fun.

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<v Speaker 3>We need our.

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<v Speaker 4>Bearcats there and so we're just asking for people to

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<v Speaker 4>show up.

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<v Speaker 2>Kickoff Saturday night then is at eight. It is tough

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<v Speaker 2>to beat Nip at night. That place pops at night,

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<v Speaker 2>specifically for those who are going to be there or

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<v Speaker 2>are thinking about it tending. I know it's sold out,

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<v Speaker 2>but what can you tell them about the Saturday night experience.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, if you've been there at night with it's

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<v Speaker 3>it's where black We black that place out. You know,

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<v Speaker 3>it just has that different feel and it's like I

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<v Speaker 3>said earlier, it's the thing that we do best and

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<v Speaker 3>we need I mean by us a great team. We've

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<v Speaker 3>got to take advantage of the fact that we're playing

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<v Speaker 3>at night in kniffort and we need to use that

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<v Speaker 3>to push our team to victory.

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<v Speaker 4>And that's just what we're going to do. So we're

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<v Speaker 4>going to be.

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<v Speaker 3>All about making that that you know, facility, that that

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<v Speaker 3>stadium just unbelievable and put a lot of pressure on

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<v Speaker 3>the other team.

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<v Speaker 4>That's that's the fun of.

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<v Speaker 2>It, boy. And it's also senior night for Dante Corleone

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<v Speaker 2>and others a total of I think twenty two seniors

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<v Speaker 2>who have given their their heart and soul and sweat

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<v Speaker 2>to the UC football program. Be nice to honor them

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<v Speaker 2>as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's really a special group. I mean, obviously Dante,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, been with us for his whole career, through

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<v Speaker 3>a coaching change and through a conference change. But then

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<v Speaker 3>also you think of like a Gavin Gerhart, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>an Ohio kid, three year starter but also a three

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<v Speaker 3>year captain. You know, you don't hear about that that

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<v Speaker 3>much anymore with all the transfers that are going on,

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<v Speaker 3>But we've really done a great job of keeping a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of our our you know, student athletes that want

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<v Speaker 3>to be here and just love Cincinnati, love wearing Cincinnati

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<v Speaker 3>on their chest and just represent Jack Dingle is another one.

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<v Speaker 4>Logan Wilson.

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<v Speaker 3>Those guys are just you know, great bearcats that deserve

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<v Speaker 3>a lot of respect from our fans, and you know,

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<v Speaker 3>deserve a night like Nip at Night on Big Fox.

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<v Speaker 4>So I love giving that to him.

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<v Speaker 2>That's all happening on Saturday. Let's back up to Friday

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<v Speaker 2>night because it's hoops of showdown Downtown UC versus Number

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<v Speaker 2>six Louisville and man, we're talking rivals and star power

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<v Speaker 2>and tough to beat. A November matchup that's probably gonna

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<v Speaker 2>have a merch vibe or certainly a tournament resume building

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<v Speaker 2>game for both teams.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you're seeing these all over the place, right This

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<v Speaker 3>is these are these neutral site games that everybody's playing

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<v Speaker 3>right now.

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<v Speaker 4>Dude played Kansas last night and Michigan State.

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<v Speaker 3>Kentucky and everybody's you're kind of going away maybe from

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<v Speaker 3>the Maui Invitational where you went somewhere and played three

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<v Speaker 3>neutrals or or you know, Bahamas or whatever. A lot

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<v Speaker 3>of people are doing multiple, multiple site neutral games, and

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<v Speaker 3>that's what we decided to do this year. So we're

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<v Speaker 3>playing Downtown neutral.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, you get you get.

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<v Speaker 3>Per the net rating, you get more credit for a

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<v Speaker 3>home win on a neutral and less less. Uh, it

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<v Speaker 3>hurts you less you lose a neutral, So it's kind

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<v Speaker 3>of the perfect scenario to play some neutral games.

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<v Speaker 4>Obviously, we still had great home.

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<v Speaker 3>Games versus Dayton and Xavier or you know, home and

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<v Speaker 3>homes versus those teams. But that's what we're doing. Downtown

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<v Speaker 3>versus Louisville, number six in the country.

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<v Speaker 4>It's gonna be a lot of fun.

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<v Speaker 3>It's it's gonna be a great atmosphere and a really

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<v Speaker 3>tough opponent.

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<v Speaker 2>Early in the year, thirty tip off from Heritage Bank

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<v Speaker 2>Center on Friday night. For those listening who still are

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<v Speaker 2>making their plans for the weekend and saying, man, I

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<v Speaker 2>think I'll go to that. Still, they can get tickets

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<v Speaker 2>at ticketmaster dot com best option.

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<v Speaker 4>That is correct, Yes, they can go there.

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<v Speaker 3>I know there's some discounts as of yesterday that they

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<v Speaker 3>can find.

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<v Speaker 4>So, yeah, make your way down to.

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<v Speaker 3>Heritage Bank and watch a great college basketball game on

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<v Speaker 3>Friday night.

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<v Speaker 2>And certainly, last but not lace, let's give some love

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<v Speaker 2>to the volleyball program, hosting two ranked opponents at Fifth

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<v Speaker 2>Third Arena starting tonight and then and then also on Friday.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you know, Danielle Tomas's first year leading that program,

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<v Speaker 3>and it's one of the toughest conferences in the country.

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<v Speaker 3>The Big Ten probably has the top few teams in

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<v Speaker 3>the country with Nebraska and Penn State and Wisconsin the

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<v Speaker 3>top to bottom.

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<v Speaker 4>The Big Twelve in volleyball is probably the best conference

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<v Speaker 4>in the country. We're right there. We're a bubble team.

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<v Speaker 3>Just like the NCAA tournament, it takes sixty four teams.

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<v Speaker 3>We're a bubble team right now, battling to get into that.

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<v Speaker 4>To get into that tournament. So a couple of home

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<v Speaker 4>games they're gonna be huge. We're playing to night.

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<v Speaker 3>Versus Iowa State and another one coming up Senior Night

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<v Speaker 3>this weekend. So we got to support that program. If

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<v Speaker 3>you come to a volleyball game, I always say it,

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<v Speaker 3>if you come to a volleyball game at fifth Third,

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<v Speaker 3>I promise you you will come back. It's exciting, it's

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<v Speaker 3>great volleyball, and it's just a sport on the rise

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<v Speaker 3>and a program on the rise.

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<v Speaker 2>To the Bearcats very well said what a weekend it's

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<v Speaker 2>gonna be enjoy. Best of luck with it and thanks

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<v Speaker 2>for making time tonight.

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<v Speaker 4>Always appreciate you, Lance. Thank you