Against the Grain

World Cup Mega Preview

We are less than 50 days away from the BIGGEST sporting event in the WORLD. The World Cup is coming to the US, Mexico, and Canada starting on June 11th and going until July 19th. Our crew today (Julian, Andrew, Max, and Jacob) gives an in-depth breakdown of the top teams at the tournament, a group stage preview, and a solemn brief on the state of the US Men's National Team. There are many questions answered in this behemoth of an episode, with several goodies for you to enjoy. No matter where you are, tune in for this episode and turn out for a game close to you, as this will be an unforgettable experience.

If You Don't Stop And Look Around Once in a While, You Could Miss It

In our final episode of the semester, we look back on a great year of Against The Grain. From great takes and total misses to unforgettable quotes and memorable moments, we recap the highlights from all of last year! Tune in to hear our end-of-the-year awards segment ("The Grainies")!! After looking inward, we turn our attention to what was an unbelievable 1st round draft night. Who were the biggest steals of the evening? Which teams reached too far? Why are Jacob's Rams getting absolutely flamed? Listen in to hear the rant of the year from Neil and much more. In our final game of the year, team captains Seth and Neil square off in another wheel of categories duel. What happened to Garret and David's brains? I couldn't tell you. It was a great episode. It was a great year. We'll miss the hours of preparation that went into the show each week. We'll miss getting way off topic in production meetings. We'll miss yelling at each other over egregious takes. But, most of all, we'll miss the people who helped make this a show. Sincerely, Garret Lowe and Ian Kleppinger

Playoff Palooza

As our motivation for school fades away, our excitement for sports goes on an absolute heater with the beginning of the NBA & NHL playoffs. Nothing beats this part of the year, and the crew has you covered with the best analysis and predictions set for every first-round matchup in the NBA & NHL. Who will come out of the West? Are the Lakers really nothing without Luka & Reaves? Will MJ's Knicks really make it to the NBA finals? How bad is the Pacific Division really? Will we see Seth's Wild make a cheeky run deep into the playoffs? Do the Sabres have the potential to edge out the Bruins? So many questions that will be answered in this jammed-packed episode! Rice Baseball has been on a hot streak recently. Can they carry this momentum to take them to the top of the conference? MJ and Jacob break down an analysis for the outlook for the rest of the Owl's Season. Oh, and we can't forget about WrestleMania (ft. iShowSpeed)! Jackson, Garret, and MJ give us a powerful preview of what people can expect to see this weekend in Houston. Stay tuned in for a performance that would make the Hornets-Heat play-in game jealous...

Beer Bike & Brain Rot

On this week's episode of Against the Grain, we take a deep dive into our beloved Rice University's greatest tradition: Beer Bike! In a bold attempt to explain this borderline inconceivable event to a broader audience, we were joined by friend of the show, Sandra Alb, a captain of the Duncan College women's bike and chug teams, as well as a college beer bike coordinator. She gave us insight into race day strategy, the surprisingly intense training that goes into this slightly bizarre event, and the rarely discussed world of the week-long beer bike events and sponsorships powering each residential college through Rice's biggest tradition. After the interview (approximately 35 minutes in), we fulfilled a long-time wish of ours to do nothing but play sports trivia games on air for an entire hour. We appointed captains a la 5th-grade recess, ran a snake draft with the entire staff, and had the two teams battle it out for a four-game series. It's not the most intellectually compelling content we've ever put out, but boy, does it have its entertaining moments. We hope you enjoy the beer bike feature and more than enough bonus shenanigans to go around, and we'll see you at 9 AM next Saturday on 96.1 FM!

Basketball Extravaganza

Get ready for an all-basketball week! Your Against the Grain hosts give a full breakdown of each of your Final Four teams. Can Keaton Wagler keep the Illinois offense chugging amidst their defensive resurgence? Is Arizona v Michigan set to be the best Final Four game of all time? Is Dan Hurley going to chest bump a ref again? We have all these answers and more. The gang follows up our college basketball analysis with a deep dive into the NBA. Why is Luka getting robbed of MVP this year? Can anyone overcome the Thunder of Oklahoma City? Could Wemby ascend to the best player in the world? Finally, we finish up with our official predictions of both the men's and women's brackets! Tune in for a great show.