Speaker 1: Welcome to the Solid Verbal. I'll that for me. I'm
Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well,
Speaker 1: I want to be happy. You want to be happy
Speaker 1: for day Ato state? Is that? Woo whoom? And Dan
Speaker 1: and Tye welcome back to the Solid Verbal, Boys and girls.
Speaker 1: My name is ty Hildebrand, joining me as always over
Speaker 1: there in New York City. My man Dan Rubinstein, Sir,
Speaker 1: how are you?
Speaker 2: Ty? I am streamlined in a way that I have
Speaker 2: been waiting to be. Oh my hair is cut. I
Speaker 2: went for a good run today. I took like a
Speaker 2: seventeen minute, not a coffee nap, but a seventeen minute,
Speaker 2: like just a shut eye, real quick before the show.
Speaker 2: Because today's a big one, Tye, Today is a big one.
Speaker 1: Today is a very big one in the literal sense.
Speaker 1: We're going to be talking about the Big ten West
Speaker 1: in addition to the Macwest. I believe that that.
Speaker 2: Is one hundred percent correct. But we do have important
Speaker 2: housecaping to take care of real quick before we get
Speaker 2: into it.
Speaker 1: Solidverbal at gmail dot com, as always, is the email.
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Speaker 1: doing a live show. Is that at hell?
Speaker 2: Yeah? We are.
Speaker 1: How can people find tickets to the live show?
Speaker 2: Solid verbaltickets dot com. A big chunk of them are
Speaker 2: already gone. So if you are in the Chicago Land
Speaker 2: area or in the Midwest or coming into Chicago. Because
Speaker 2: people seem to enjoy the fantasy things draft concepts, I
Speaker 2: would go to solidverbaltickets dot com. It's a terrific show
Speaker 2: that we have planned. It's at the Vidom Theater which
Speaker 2: is in the West Noble Square area, but it's a
Speaker 2: full on theater with a full on stage and a
Speaker 2: full on screen and like digital experience happening. I cannot reckon.
Speaker 2: We have a lot of weird things planned solid verbaltickets
Speaker 2: dot com. And afterwards we will go out and we'll
Speaker 2: all find a bar and drink beer. I don't use
Speaker 2: beers because it doesn't take much with me, but we're
Speaker 2: gonna have a fantastic night. So we hope you are
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Speaker 2: able to join us absolutely.
Speaker 1: Soliverble tickets dot com. If you tried to order initially
Speaker 1: when we send out our newsletter and you couldn't get through,
Speaker 1: it's because there was so much interest that we crashed
Speaker 1: the website.
Speaker 2: Yeah, weirds fun.
Speaker 1: It was fun, and by fun we mean not fun
Speaker 1: in fury for Dan and I. Right, we're told it's
Speaker 1: only happened once in the last ten years. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: are the Beatles, but a little more important in a
Speaker 1: college football sense for sure. So again, soliverble tickets dot
Speaker 1: com doing a live show August then that the Vidim
Speaker 1: Theater in Chicago. If you're going to be in the area,
Speaker 1: if you're thinking about being in the area, if you
Speaker 1: have friends who are going to be in the area
Speaker 1: and they like college football, invite them on out. Some
Speaker 1: tickets are still available. Yes, also, very very quickly, before
Speaker 1: we dive on into the Big ten West merchandise, if
Speaker 1: you're listening before Friday, the twentieth of July, our merchandise
Speaker 1: is still available. Been selling like hotcakes. Whether you're interested
Speaker 1: in any of the three shirts that we've got out
Speaker 1: there or the hat, you do have a few days
Speaker 1: to get on in that sweet solid verbal merchandise action.
Speaker 1: If not, it's it's gone temporarily. We don't know when
Speaker 1: it'll come back. There is potential for it to come back,
Speaker 1: but why risk it? Really?
Speaker 2: I agree, I definitely agree. I am holding the hat
Speaker 2: as we speak. I wore it last weekend in a
Speaker 2: laketown in Michigan or a couple weekends ago. And if
Speaker 2: you're worried that it's going to be too shallow, like
Speaker 2: it's like too floppy the top cap part of the hat.
Speaker 1: Too much Dad in a hat, I think is what
Speaker 1: you're saying.
Speaker 2: If you are worried about too much dad TMD, let
Speaker 2: me assure you there is good height to the cap
Speaker 2: portion it is. It is good coverage because I have
Speaker 2: it on good authority that a lot of our listeners
Speaker 2: have giant heads. Yeah, yeah, because both of us do.
Speaker 1: Soliverbletickets dot com for the live show and also you
Speaker 1: can go to soliverble dot com slash store if you
Speaker 1: want to check in on that merch Okay.
Speaker 2: You're listening to this episode you're probably interested in the
Speaker 2: Big ten West, which almost has a team in the
Speaker 2: Chicago land area. So come on, it's a no brainer.
Speaker 2: Soliverbletickets dot com.
Speaker 1: With that being said, Daniel, Yo, we've got a big
Speaker 1: preview ahead of us. I played the drum role. But really,
Speaker 1: since we're talking about the Big ten West, this is
Speaker 1: our official anthem of the Big ten West, is it not? You? Yeah?
Speaker 2: That Fitzgerald.
Speaker 1: Yeahs. Here's what we're doing on the show this year. Ooh,
Speaker 1: Lewis Smith brother was that macho man Randy Savage? It
Speaker 1: was somewhere in there. Yeah, yeah, that's all I have. Well,
Speaker 1: here's what we're doing. In previous years, we've tried to
Speaker 1: do a top forty countdown. Some other years we've done
Speaker 1: conference by conference, just a really broad look at what's
Speaker 1: going on. It's been a slow off season in terms
Speaker 1: of news, so Dan and I decided out, what the hell,
Speaker 1: let's go all in. Let's talk about each conference and
Speaker 1: each division within each each conference, which we started doing
Speaker 1: last week talking about the ACC Fatlantic and uh today
Speaker 1: we're going to go into the Big ten West end.
Speaker 2: It's very fun to say, and yes we know conference
Speaker 2: media days are going on. I think what the ACC
Speaker 2: began today as we record this SEC has been going
Speaker 2: on for a couple of days. Big twelve, I believe
Speaker 2: has been going on for a day or two. I
Speaker 2: saw our pal Bruce Feldman out there and Tom Herman said,
Speaker 2: in just responding to somebody who asked how many what
Speaker 2: was it was like playmakers or game changes he had?
Speaker 2: He said, uh, some, So we're just going to do previews. Okay,
Speaker 2: that's the lesson here is there's there are a lot
Speaker 2: of football players and coaches in games and situations to
Speaker 2: talk about and argue about and figure out why we
Speaker 2: care and why you should care, which is our general
Speaker 2: theme for our previews this year. It's the care factor.
Speaker 2: Even if you're a Texas Tech fan, even if you're
Speaker 2: a Georgia Tech fan, if you're an NC State fan,
Speaker 2: we are trying to sleuth out. We are your college
Speaker 2: football archaeologists. We are going to try and dust off
Speaker 2: those reasons to care about the Big Ten West, of
Speaker 2: which I think we have a good amount.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so as you look at the Big Ten West
Speaker 1: as a whole, m hm, is there anything that jumps
Speaker 1: out to you? Because I'm speaking just broad not about
Speaker 1: a particular team, but how that side of the conference
Speaker 1: is shaken out because I know, for me, there was
Speaker 1: a pretty glaring point that came across in some of
Speaker 1: my research.
Speaker 2: So at the top and this feels like a very
Speaker 2: big ten West or big ten in general word, but
Speaker 2: it feels very sturdy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's just I think that's right.
Speaker 2: So Paul Christ, Pat Fitzgerald, Kirk Farrence. In terms of
Speaker 2: where this division has been the last few years, there
Speaker 2: is a sturdiness to where those teams have been some changes,
Speaker 2: some for the better, some for the not so much better.
Speaker 2: But with Purdue becoming a at least an interesting team,
Speaker 2: with Nebraska looking like the final destination a good way
Speaker 2: for Scott Frost and PJ Fleck getting a big shot
Speaker 2: at Minnesota, it appears that short of Lovey Smith at
Speaker 2: Illinois that there could be potential for long term sturdiness.
Speaker 2: Which is the name of a failed adult film that
Speaker 2: I produced sophomore year of college. I'm not proud of it.
Speaker 1: Ty Well, listen, you want to go you talk about
Speaker 1: that point and let me expand upon it a little bit.
Speaker 1: Illinois feels like the only team in the West that
Speaker 1: we could bet money on having a losing record at this.
Speaker 2: Point, yeah, I would say, so, you.
Speaker 1: Know, I wouldn't want to go in on that bet
Speaker 1: for Minnesota. We'll talk about Minnesota or Nebraska or Purdue,
Speaker 1: like I can't say for sure that any of those
Speaker 1: teams are going to have a losing record. The only
Speaker 1: team on the Big Ten West side that you look
Speaker 1: at and you say yeah aah, probably Illinois. But otherwise
Speaker 1: I agree, looking sturdy, long term sturdiness.
Speaker 2: M H. I think sound get up on IMDb.
Speaker 1: Long term sturdiness. Let's start at the top. Wisconsin, I
Speaker 1: think is your odds on favorite to win that side
Speaker 1: of the conference. It's a similar team, I think to
Speaker 1: what we saw last year, with a couple differences, a
Speaker 1: couple bullet points that we want to spike out here.
Speaker 1: I think the offense should be better, and I think
Speaker 1: that will make it more interesting of a team to follow,
Speaker 1: if only because the schedule will be more interesting as well.
Speaker 2: I think that's right. I think, you know, when you
Speaker 2: look at some of the weaker divisions in college football,
Speaker 2: there are years where you look at, you know, like
Speaker 2: last year with Wisconsin, with Minnesota, I think from a
Speaker 2: couple of years ago when the schedule is just absurd.
Speaker 2: Scott's got a tricky schedule this year. I think the
Speaker 2: big reason to care about Wisconsin is what you already said.
Speaker 2: It's a pretty similar team to a team that went
Speaker 2: undefeated last year during the regular season. That's a good
Speaker 2: reason to watch. And it's going to be a more
Speaker 2: difficult road this year. And they have what I think
Speaker 2: we consider to be a top five running back in
Speaker 2: the country. Sure Taylor tailback, Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And if that's not enough, their coach openly mocked the
Speaker 2: turnover chain in the bulgame. Is that something? Yeah, it
Speaker 2: was something like turnover chain, my ass, Like the better
Speaker 2: lip readers were able to come up with that. We'll
Speaker 2: see if that I mean, we can keep deep diving
Speaker 2: and look. But defensively, they're in pretty good shape. They
Speaker 2: seem to return all of their linebackers every year. Like
Speaker 2: if you told me TJ. Edwards was on this team
Speaker 2: in twenty twelve, I would nod skeptically. But they should
Speaker 2: be very good at linebacker. There's some new pieces both
Speaker 2: in the defensive front on the line and in the secondary,
Speaker 2: especially at corner. But the amount of experience and the
Speaker 2: lack of turnover on both sides of the ball. They
Speaker 2: should be super good on defense. Offense should once again
Speaker 2: be very good. I am still trying, more than like
Speaker 2: a year and a half into the Alex Hornybrook experience
Speaker 2: to figure out if he is capital a actually good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well he needs to improve on his fifteen interceptions
Speaker 1: from a year ago. Yes, and he is playing behind
Speaker 1: a line that returns all five of its starters from
Speaker 1: the twenty seventeen version. Like, think how crazy that is
Speaker 1: for Wisconsin. You know, to your point of the linebacking retention,
Speaker 1: if you were to tell me that these five offensive
Speaker 1: linemen were also on that twenty twelve team, I would
Speaker 1: also nod skeptically, because it feels like this is very
Speaker 1: much the case. Wisconsin just does running, they do defense,
Speaker 1: and they do offensive line really really well. Again, that
Speaker 1: is the case. They might have the best offensive line
Speaker 1: in the country, if nothing else, the most experienced offensive
Speaker 1: line in the country, and honestly, absent everything else, a
Speaker 1: really good line in college football will get you places.
Speaker 1: So we know, just as a baseline that this is
Speaker 1: going to be a really good Wisconsin football team. They've
Speaker 1: got Jonathan Taylor tail back, They've got the five offensive
Speaker 1: lineman that in and of itself will make them very good.
Speaker 1: Alex Hornybrook will wait and see. He needs to be
Speaker 1: more careful with the football. He does lose who's Troy Fumagali,
Speaker 1: But he has some other familiar faces back. He really
Speaker 1: doesn't need to do that much, right. It just it
Speaker 1: really would help if he didn't turn it over fifteen times.
Speaker 1: All right. The road schedule is tricky. The road schedule
Speaker 1: is tricky. I do want to make one other point
Speaker 1: here on the defense, and you mentioned that there's not
Speaker 1: a lot of turnover, and that's true to some degree.
Speaker 1: They do only have four starters back from a year ago.
Speaker 1: I think the guts of that team is back in
Speaker 1: the linebacking corps. We said almost the same thing a
Speaker 1: year ago. With Jim Leonard stepping in a first time
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, what's it going to be like for him?
Speaker 1: He did an incredible job. It's so easy to gloss
Speaker 1: over how good of a job he did because they
Speaker 1: just sort of always have a good defense and it's
Speaker 1: been there since Dave Randa and blah blah blah. But
Speaker 1: last year, his first year as defensive coordinator, his scoring
Speaker 1: defense was third in the Nation behind Alabama and Clemson.
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly what happens this year, but I
Speaker 1: can take a pretty damn good guess that it's going
Speaker 1: to be good again. So all of these indicators are very,
Speaker 1: very positive in favor of Wisconsin retaining its status as
Speaker 1: the top dog in the West.
Speaker 2: He also has a nose tackle who can do a
Speaker 2: standing backflip on sand.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, advantageous. If Alex Hornibrook has another year in which
Speaker 2: he shows a lot of promise but screws up a
Speaker 2: bunch in the first half, if he doesn't take a
Speaker 2: step forward with all that returns around him on offense,
Speaker 2: it almost feels as if he will be one of
Speaker 2: those assembly speakers at a junior high who gets in
Speaker 2: front of kids and says, I had everything going for me.
Speaker 2: If it could happen to me, it could happen to you.
Speaker 2: I had the perfect life, and that his parents at
Speaker 2: one point are like, we gave you everything. How did
Speaker 2: you end.
Speaker 1: Up very angry here? Dan?
Speaker 2: I know. So Alex Hornibrook has it all, has it
Speaker 2: all mapped out in a very advantageous way. And once again,
Speaker 2: the schedule, when we say it's a little trickier. They
Speaker 2: go to Iowa Iowa City. Late September, they go to
Speaker 2: Michigan when Michigan would have some momentum and some idea
Speaker 2: of what they'll look like with shape Patterson under center.
Speaker 2: And that's a week after they host Nebraska. They go
Speaker 2: to Northwestern, which is, as we mentioned, a little bit tricky.
Speaker 1: Litill trappy, little trappy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then they luckily the post Rutgers just smooth
Speaker 2: glide and they go to Penn State. They go to
Speaker 2: Happy Valley. I don't know if that's a white out game.
Speaker 2: I don't have Penn State schedule in front of me,
Speaker 2: but that should have pretty large Big Ten implications. So
Speaker 2: the common refrain from years passed about Wisconsin isn't anywhere
Speaker 2: near true this season.
Speaker 1: Don't forget about Purdue Perdy. Yeah, sure, Purdue's gonna have
Speaker 1: some trouble stopping that rushing attack. We'll talk about that,
Speaker 1: I think so in just a little bit. But yeah,
Speaker 1: things shaping up pretty well for Wisconsin. I think probably
Speaker 1: one or two losses on this schedule, just because of
Speaker 1: some of the road tilts that they've got that wouldn't
Speaker 1: be out of the question for me, but still a
Speaker 1: really pod I would campaign.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would. They look like ten and a half wins.
Speaker 2: I will go with the over because of the experience.
Speaker 2: In continuity, I think they go eleven and one.
Speaker 1: Let's move on. Who is your next best team in
Speaker 1: the Big Ten West.
Speaker 2: That's a good question, yeah, because it would be fairly
Speaker 2: straightforward and boring to say Northwestern. They go nine and
Speaker 2: three during the regular season last year. I'm not super
Speaker 2: big on Clayton Thorson. I think he's fun. I think
Speaker 2: they've been led by their defense, and I think the
Speaker 2: front looks good again this year. You should be able
Speaker 2: to pass on Northwestern some I actually I think I'm
Speaker 2: Michael Iowa here, Okay, I think I like the ceiling
Speaker 2: of Nate Stanley more than I like the ceiling of
Speaker 2: anybody else in this conference right now.
Speaker 1: Interesting about that tie that, that's interesting. Here's what's interesting
Speaker 1: about Iowa. So iowall went seven and five a year ago,
Speaker 1: Like this feels like a different set of ingredients for
Speaker 1: IOWA football in twenty eighteen, you know, like, you know,
Speaker 1: the saying about this isn't your father's whatever. Brian Farrens
Speaker 1: can literally say it's not his father's Iowa because the ingredients.
Speaker 1: The ingredients are different this year. They still have the
Speaker 1: easy schedule.
Speaker 2: They still disagree with you on that.
Speaker 1: Well, hold on, let me explain this out here. Okay,
Speaker 1: they still have the easier schedule that made them more
Speaker 1: of a featured bid on the podcast two years ago. Sure,
Speaker 1: but the other elements are somewhat different. Right. What can
Speaker 1: you typically count on with Iowa football if you're just
Speaker 1: looking at the team as a whole lot of ball control? Yeah,
Speaker 1: good defense, especially up the middle Linebackers, pass rushers have
Speaker 1: been good in years past. Just those two points. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure they have either this year. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: they have the solid ball control running game, and I'm
Speaker 1: not sure about the reliable defense. The backfield's entirely new
Speaker 1: because a Way and James Butler are gone.
Speaker 2: But he did nothing last year essentially in terms of efficiency,
Speaker 2: they were not where Iowa has been these past fairpoint.
Speaker 1: Fairpoint, but they're almost entirely new in the backfield. And
Speaker 1: there's even more of a question now because the offensive
Speaker 1: line replaces all three guys in the middle, both guards
Speaker 1: in the center.
Speaker 2: James Daniels is very good.
Speaker 1: Yes, at this point, it's not something I feel terribly
Speaker 1: confident in that ground control game. And then defensively, Look,
Speaker 1: they're good at defensive end. They're gonna get after the quarterback,
Speaker 1: but linebacker really inexperienced. The defensive backfield very ah to me,
Speaker 1: I care. One the reason I care about Iowa football
Speaker 1: is because those two ingredients aren't there. And in addition
Speaker 1: to the fact that they've got another great schedule to
Speaker 1: make a run. If they do it, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: on the arm in Nate Stanley. It's gonna be because
Speaker 1: he bawled out, because he threw eleven plus more touchdowns
Speaker 1: to Noah Fan at tight end, and because.
Speaker 2: Wait, wait, wait, don't just skip over Fan though well,
Speaker 2: he was really tight. He broke the school record. This
Speaker 2: is a full on dude.
Speaker 1: You want to go doud to alert.
Speaker 2: No, of course I do.
Speaker 1: That's fair to me. I'm just saying that if Iowa
Speaker 1: gets it done this year, it's not because of the
Speaker 1: ground game. It's not necessarily because of the defense. It's
Speaker 1: because Nate Stanley took another step forward. He connected with
Speaker 1: Noah Fan for a bunch more touchdowns. He connected with
Speaker 1: some good receivers who are retained from America. I think
Speaker 1: it will be more through the air than it will
Speaker 1: be on the ground, and maybe because of Iowa scoring
Speaker 1: more points than we're accustomed to.
Speaker 2: That's totally reasonable. I think no offense gives them, as
Speaker 2: we saw last year at his best, gives them a
Speaker 2: weapon up the middle that should open things up somewhat
Speaker 2: for other receivers. I don't imagine those stylistically, Nate Sanley's
Speaker 2: turned the ball forty times. I just don't see them
Speaker 2: opening up the offense in that kind of way. But
Speaker 2: in the context of what Iowa has in front of them,
Speaker 2: here are their road games.
Speaker 1: Let's do that.
Speaker 2: Go Don Don Minnesota, Indiana, Penn State, challenging uh Perdue, Illinois. Okay,
Speaker 2: that's pretty good.
Speaker 1: Are there any others?
Speaker 2: That's all of their road games, Minnesota, Indiana, Penn State, Perdue, Illinois.
Speaker 2: They don't go on the road in the non conference.
Speaker 2: They have Northern Illinois, Iowa State Northern Iowa, so they
Speaker 2: don't even leave the state, let alone their own stadium
Speaker 2: and just cross division. Wise, they missed three of the
Speaker 2: four Big Big Ten East teams in Ohio State or
Speaker 2: Michigan schools. So if you're buying Iowa as better than
Speaker 2: they actually are this would be a person that agrees
Speaker 2: with you. May Did you.
Speaker 1: Know that the last time Iowa went to Illinois two
Speaker 1: years ago, hm, Iowa forced Illinois to punt on their
Speaker 1: first ten possessions and show them out twenty eight to nol.
Speaker 2: Just throwing that out there, it's pretty good. Yeah, pretty
Speaker 2: good way to play football.
Speaker 1: Throwing that out there. Yeah, the schedule sets up nicely
Speaker 1: for Iowa. I'm just not as confident in the normal
Speaker 1: ingredients as I have been in the past.
Speaker 2: So are you higher on any other Big ten West
Speaker 2: quarterback other than perhaps Harnybrook, but underneath Harnybrook than Nate Stanley.
Speaker 1: I don't think so.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 1: The only other real contender for me would be Clayton Thorson,
Speaker 1: but he's coming off the injury. I'm not crazy about Thorston.
Speaker 1: I'm probably higher on him than I think you are.
Speaker 1: But I'm really keen on Nate Stanley.
Speaker 2: I'm telling you he is in terms of recent Iowa quarterbacks,
Speaker 2: I think he his ceiling is clearly above the last
Speaker 2: two or three dudes.
Speaker 1: At least for sure. I don't even think that's a question.
Speaker 2: But that's a big deal.
Speaker 1: It is a big deal. It's a very big deal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: all right, so that's why you care.
Speaker 2: That's why you care.
Speaker 1: That's why I have.
Speaker 2: Yeah, new good quarterback play in a major conference for
Speaker 2: Iowa on a schedule that's not that impressive.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure Iowa is my next team up after Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: I think I still go with Northwestern. Did you know
Speaker 1: that Northwestern actually has the nation's longest winning streak at
Speaker 1: eight games.
Speaker 2: That makes sense. Yeah, Alabama lost to Auburn and the
Speaker 2: Iron Bowl. Georgia not not so hot against Auburn later
Speaker 2: on in the season.
Speaker 1: Fear the Cats, baby, Fear the Cats.
Speaker 2: Northwestern They're they're the team for numbers.
Speaker 1: We mentioned it at the top. They do feel ultra trappy, yes,
Speaker 1: ultra trappy this year because of a good front seven,
Speaker 1: because of a veteran quarterback in Clayton Thorson coming off injury,
Speaker 1: but on the whole, really experienced team, not just in
Speaker 1: the front seven, seven returning starters on both sides of
Speaker 1: the football, and really there's nothing about them that grabs
Speaker 1: your attention, like this is another Northwestern team that somehow
Speaker 1: is supremely unsexy and could manage another nine or ten
Speaker 1: win season.
Speaker 2: I don't see it. I just ever, I don't think
Speaker 2: they can win double ditchit games this year. I really do.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I really do, but I'm just
Speaker 1: it feels like that kind of year again to me.
Speaker 2: So the schedule's pretty good. That's the good thing. The
Speaker 2: Ohio State, no Penn State, and as we mentioned the trappiness,
Speaker 2: Michigan has Nebraska the week before, Michigan State is at
Speaker 2: Penn State the week after Northwestern, so sort of a
Speaker 2: separated letdown look ahead situation with their schedule.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 2: Schedule's not bad. They're gonna miss Justin Jackson. He was
Speaker 2: such a big deal to that offense for so long.
Speaker 2: I know Jeremy Larkin, I think is the guy that's
Speaker 2: expected to step in. But defensively, I'm worried that you're
Speaker 2: gonna be able to throw on this Northwestern team a
Speaker 2: little bit too much. I like them up front, they
Speaker 2: return a good amount upfront, but it's a new secondary
Speaker 2: and I'm high on Nate Stanley, I'm high on Alex Hornybrook,
Speaker 2: I'm bless high on Minnesota the Vitramantes, but I am
Speaker 2: the I'm not crazy about how everything looks for them.
Speaker 2: So this is like there's like the old like they
Speaker 2: either go seven and five or ten and three or
Speaker 2: something like that. I'm skewing more seven and five with
Speaker 2: this Northwestern team.
Speaker 1: That's fair. I did on the topic of Clayton Thorst,
Speaker 1: so we do need to bring him up. I read
Speaker 1: in one of the magazines, and I don't know if
Speaker 1: it was Athlon or Lindy's or it's honestly escaping me,
Speaker 1: but they had a passage about a fellow Big Ten
Speaker 1: coach that legitimately felt Clayton Thorson had all the tools
Speaker 1: to be a pro prospect if he could stay healthy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if he could stay healthy, I think is the operative phrase.
Speaker 1: He does need to stay healthy. It's not a side
Speaker 1: of the conference that is flush with like really high
Speaker 1: level quarterback play, and that extends all the way up
Speaker 1: to Wisconsin. Nate Stanley, you could probably make a case
Speaker 1: is the best quarterback pure quarterback, just in terms of
Speaker 1: skills going into this season. Thorson is probably up there,
Speaker 1: but I need to see more from him before I'm
Speaker 1: ready to give him that mantle. A little higher on
Speaker 1: him than you, but not by much.
Speaker 2: Had a super good game against Michigan State last year,
Speaker 2: I think that was a triple overtime win, was pretty
Speaker 2: disappointing against Iowa and just abysmal against Penn State, abysmal
Speaker 2: against Wisconsin. So if they're challenging the better teams in
Speaker 2: their in their division, it's got to be through claim
Speaker 2: Thorston and the recent history is not my favorite. And
Speaker 2: next year they will probably have a really good quarterback, yeah,
Speaker 2: in Hunter Johnson Johnsons for so, I think that that's
Speaker 2: something to look forward to if you're a Northwestern fan
Speaker 2: through a what should be another like they're just a
Speaker 2: solid seventh inning reliever. They're Arthur Rhodes tie, that's.
Speaker 1: Arthur Roads to Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, that's all they are. And I and listen,
Speaker 2: I'm underestimating them, I'm sure, But when you have to
Speaker 2: say they feel trappy, that's not a lot, at least
Speaker 2: on my end, not a lot of confidence.
Speaker 1: They could be an underdog in five games this year.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at Michigan, Wisconsin, the Notre Dame game, which
Speaker 1: I'll elaborate on here in a second, they go to
Speaker 1: Iowa and Michigan State. I could see them being dogs
Speaker 1: in all of those contests. For me, selfishly, as we
Speaker 1: frame everything around. Why we care mm hmm, I care
Speaker 1: because they play Notre Dame the week after Notre Dame
Speaker 1: travels home from a weird game against Navy in San Diego.
Speaker 2: Ooh, body blow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of bodyblow potential there, if it's
Speaker 1: not bad enough that they're playing Navy, which always seems
Speaker 1: to bode very well.
Speaker 2: Second straight road game, second straight road game for Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: That's right. It always bodes very well for the team
Speaker 1: that Notre Dame plays after Navy because they're a little
Speaker 1: bit beat up. But they're also traveling back and then
Speaker 1: to Evanston, which isn't a long commute, mind you, but
Speaker 1: still it's away from home. That game is of utmost
Speaker 1: concern to me of all the spots here on the
Speaker 1: Northwestern schedule where there could be a trap that Notre
Speaker 1: Dame game. To me, uh selfishly jumps out. I care
Speaker 1: about Northwestern because I think that's a legit spot where
Speaker 1: Notre Dame could go on the road and lose.
Speaker 2: Two games away from home in a row, one of
Speaker 2: which is after an option team, a talented option team.
Speaker 2: The good news for Notre Dame fans like yourself and
Speaker 2: the elder gentleman. I saw wearing giant cargo shorts and
Speaker 2: these chunky new balances out when I was running today.
Speaker 2: He was faster than me, by the way. Yeah, the
Speaker 2: good news for Notre Dame fans you and him alike.
Speaker 2: Northwestern has Wisconsin the week before, So there is body
Speaker 2: blow cancelation.
Speaker 1: Noble body blow INTERESTINGBB.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so there's that.
Speaker 1: Moving on, Who is our next team up here on
Speaker 1: the totem pole in the Big ten West? I okay,
Speaker 1: could be Minnesota, could be Nebraska.
Speaker 2: If you've gone far too long feeling.
Speaker 1: Dangerous, you could go Purdue. How you going here, Ty.
Speaker 2: We've waited far too long. Whether we believe they're going
Speaker 2: to and ten, ten and two somewhere in between, doesn't matter,
Speaker 2: even if it's out of order. I don't know how
Speaker 2: we've gone this long talking about the division without talking
Speaker 2: about coming.
Speaker 1: Home, coming home. Tell the world that I'm coming home. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's time Scott Frost coming back home, coming back home
Speaker 1: to link in Nebraska. Nebraska went four and eight last year.
Speaker 1: They made a coaching change. They brought back native son
Speaker 1: Scott Frost, and first and foremost, I care because we
Speaker 1: are going to see an infinite number of pictures of
Speaker 1: Scott Frost wearing that Nebraska letterman jacket. Absolutely, we will
Speaker 1: the Scott Frost welcome home slash homecoming angle. I think
Speaker 1: has to be very high up on our draft board
Speaker 1: for fantasy things. Chicago almost unfair, almost unfair. Has to
Speaker 1: be a top five pick, easily top five pick.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's a no brainer. That is you know,
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think of the most no brainer recent
Speaker 2: NFL draft pick to go, like number one, two.
Speaker 1: Three, Saquon Barkley in the top five. Let's use his.
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley Andrew Luck, any of these guys. Yes, Scott
Speaker 2: Frost comes home. His career has been as ideal as
Speaker 2: you would want, just in terms of who he's coached under,
Speaker 2: where he's recruited, and now his understanding whether or not
Speaker 2: that's important or not, of his current place and Nebraska's
Speaker 2: current standing within the Big Ten in college football hierarchy.
Speaker 2: It's going to take a little bit, but his tutelage
Speaker 2: of that word has been pretty great.
Speaker 1: It's been working out pretty well for him. Let's talk
Speaker 1: about Nebraska in a little bit more detail. I'm interested
Speaker 1: because there are a number of dynamics at play. So
Speaker 1: we've got the obvious hype over the return of Native
Speaker 1: son Scott Frost. He's returned from the Tropics surprisingly without
Speaker 1: a ten, but he's got the hopes of the fan
Speaker 1: base on his shoulders. Blah blah blah, you know the drill. Yes,
Speaker 1: we've got the open question of a relatively experienced team
Speaker 1: playing in an entirely new system.
Speaker 2: Is that a good thing?
Speaker 1: I don't know. That's why I said it's an open question.
Speaker 1: I have no idea, but it's interesting.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: Yes, Then we've got the ultimate counterbalance, which I think
Speaker 1: is the Big Ten's toughest road schedule. It is just brutal.
Speaker 2: It's really bad. It's really Get a.
Speaker 1: Load of this, trim, Get a load of this to Michigan, two, Wisconsin,
Speaker 1: at Northwestern, at Ohio State, and at Iowa. Yeah, if
Speaker 1: Scott Frost, if he wins two of those, he's exceeding expectations.
Speaker 1: If he wins three, just make the bust. Now, he's
Speaker 1: a god among insects. If he wins three of those five.
Speaker 2: So in I mean you were specifically mentioning the road schedules.
Speaker 2: You nailed all of those. They're non conference schedule is Colorado,
Speaker 2: who's not great, but they've been developing talent pretty consistently
Speaker 2: under Mike McIntyre and did make the championship game in
Speaker 2: the Pac twelve a couple of years ago. And they
Speaker 2: have a team that beat LSU last year. They have Troy,
Speaker 2: they have Neil Brown and the Trojans. I mean, granted
Speaker 2: it's in Lincoln, but Troy is not a no brainer
Speaker 2: for Nebraska. This is a Nebraska team. You talk about
Speaker 2: the experience coming off of a loss to NIU. Good
Speaker 2: NIU team, but NIU and i This feels strongly like
Speaker 2: a six and six, seven and five team that shows
Speaker 2: some flashes against the defenses that they can show flashes
Speaker 2: against later on in the season. Maybe they're pretty good
Speaker 2: against Iowa on the road. They should run over all
Speaker 2: over Illinois. Minnesota they can have some fun with, but
Speaker 2: Minnesota's got a pretty solid defense. I am not super bullish.
Speaker 2: That's the word I'm looking for, I think on Nebraska
Speaker 2: this season, just in terms of the new faces, the
Speaker 2: talent level from where it is right now to where
Speaker 2: it eventually will be under Scott Frost. Whether it's Adrian Martinez,
Speaker 2: the true freshman who at one point was I think
Speaker 2: cal Tennessee commitments. Gebbia is the other Jebia Gebie, I
Speaker 2: don't know. I will eventually know, I promise you I
Speaker 2: should know because he went to my high school. Uh oh,
Speaker 2: Calabasas High Zone. So I think there are things to
Speaker 2: be encouraged about. Trey Bryant is a name that a
Speaker 2: lot of people still have some optimism about, by myself included,
Speaker 2: seems to be pretty talented. But in terms of threatening
Speaker 2: for a division, they're at least a year away.
Speaker 1: Oh, they're definitely a year away. But you mentioned the
Speaker 1: quarterback race. We've got a red shirt freshman in Gebia
Speaker 1: Jebia whatever, and Adrian Martinez, a true freshman who was
Speaker 1: flipped came over to Nebraska, one of the big catches
Speaker 1: for Scott Frost in his first semi recruiting season. Whoever
Speaker 1: it is is actually gonna have a pretty good duo
Speaker 1: out wide in Stanley Morgan and j. D. Spielman, two
Speaker 1: playmakers out that they can throw to, and I'm interested
Speaker 1: to see how Scott Frost will utilize them. I tend
Speaker 1: to agree with you that this is certainly not a
Speaker 1: team ready to contend for a division I think the
Speaker 1: real game here will be contending for a Bowl.
Speaker 2: That seems like the reasonable expectation that the reason of
Speaker 2: care is Scott Frost homecoming. Whether or not some guy
Speaker 2: stands up in the middle of a press conference and
Speaker 2: yells at him that he owes him thirty eight dollars
Speaker 2: and has for the last twenty seven years. Yeah, it's
Speaker 2: to see what it's just what they look like.
Speaker 1: It is just a visual care factor for me. Let's
Speaker 1: go to Purdue, Dan perd. So they went six and
Speaker 1: six a year ago, which was a big deal. They
Speaker 1: finished strong. The question this year is really blame really
Speaker 1: going to be defense, right, because you'll remember what Brom
Speaker 1: did a year ago. He came in and it was
Speaker 1: like an instant turnaround story on the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball. They were almost like two touchdowns better in
Speaker 1: terms of points allowed per game than twenty sixteen instant
Speaker 1: turnaround story Jeff Brom pulling all the right switches. This year, though,
Speaker 1: that defense is gone. They are gone. If Purdue's gonna
Speaker 1: make the Bowl in twenty eighteen, it's going to be
Speaker 1: shootout city. It's going to be like three thousand yards
Speaker 1: on the arm of our boy Elijah Sindolar aka the
Speaker 1: college football Cindelard.
Speaker 2: I am. I'm pretty high on Purdue overall if they're
Speaker 2: able to keep Jeff Bram. He had a pretty significant
Speaker 2: offensive jump in year two with the Hilltoppers of Western.
Speaker 1: So if hold on, if they're able to keep Jeff Bram,
Speaker 1: are you implying that he will leave before the start
Speaker 1: of the season.
Speaker 2: I'm saying long term, long term high on Purdue all right,
Speaker 2: short term being this season. That would be something, though.
Speaker 2: I think Elijah Sindelar is all right, especially with how
Speaker 2: he finished out his season last year. I like the
Speaker 2: line in front of him. I like the skill. I
Speaker 2: don't think it's high level in terms of the Big Ten,
Speaker 2: but it's decent enough. I am worried about that defense.
Speaker 2: You're right will be shootout city. Elijah sin Delar will
Speaker 2: most likely be that mayor, but with the understanding of
Speaker 2: having that full year into a I think a relatively
Speaker 2: complicated system. The big thing on Jeff Brohm. I think
Speaker 2: our pole Chris Brown has talked about it is marrying
Speaker 2: the college spread to more professional passing concepts. I think
Speaker 2: it takes time, it takes reps, and their schedule is
Speaker 2: such that I think they open with Northwestern, so we'll
Speaker 2: get a decent look right away. They go to Nebraska,
Speaker 2: to Illinois, to Michigan State. They also get Ohio State
Speaker 2: at home they have obviously, Yeah, they Wisconsin home, Michigan State,
Speaker 2: Ohio State. They go on the road to Indiana, so
Speaker 2: their schedule is fine. But I think it's going to
Speaker 2: be a different looking Purdue team this year. I just
Speaker 2: they were so good up front last year that it's
Speaker 2: going to take a little bit of time to get
Speaker 2: to that place where they are just a little more complete.
Speaker 2: All right, So they go to a bowl game once again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's the open question.
Speaker 2: And they have Miszoo with a really good quarterback.
Speaker 1: They do have Miszoo. I think I think it will
Speaker 1: be uh six and six, seven to five kind a year.
Speaker 2: So they are making a bowl game. The quest for
Speaker 2: six yeah, continues on. I think it's I think it's
Speaker 2: an open question. I don't feel confident that it's going
Speaker 2: to happen, but I think with Jeff Brohm leading the charge,
Speaker 2: they'll be able to bolt together enough of an offense
Speaker 2: to get enough shootouts outscore enough of their opponents here
Speaker 2: in the Big Ten to get to like six wins.
Speaker 2: I think they take a slight step back and sling
Speaker 2: shot next year. I think it's like a five and seven. Okay,
Speaker 2: And they've recruited well enough. I like their coaching staff
Speaker 2: that if he sticks around, if Brahm and his staff
Speaker 2: are there in twenty nineteen, they could sling shot to
Speaker 2: like an eight and four situation.
Speaker 1: Speaking of five and seven, let's go to Minnesota. Let's
Speaker 1: let's let's let's the Golden Gophers. They went five and
Speaker 1: seven a year ago. And again, the framework for our
Speaker 1: preview here is care factor. Yes, the care factor for
Speaker 1: me is very high. Really, it comes very high when
Speaker 1: it comes to Mannesota. Yeah, I don't know what to expect.
Speaker 1: Those are the teams that I care the most about,
Speaker 1: the ones where I look at them up and down.
Speaker 1: I probably spend an hour and a half going over
Speaker 1: Minnesota football in twenty eighteen, and I still really have
Speaker 1: no idea what I'm supposed to expect.
Speaker 2: Okay, they've recruited really well, Yes, along the line, along
Speaker 2: the line, Yes, they've recruited really well on the line.
Speaker 2: Even there's a receiver coming in that I remember liking
Speaker 2: a lot watching his tape during during the signing day,
Speaker 2: spectacular week or whatever Minnesota has. If they work in
Speaker 2: the younger players that PJ. Fleck and his staff have recruited,
Speaker 2: I think they show some flashes. I think it was
Speaker 2: Rashad Bateman. I think that's who that receiver is. Anyway,
Speaker 2: they have a giant, remember the Daniel fa La whatever
Speaker 2: his name is. Img Andy Stables profile him. At one
Speaker 2: point he was like six eight, four hundred.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I think he's down a few dozen pounds. But they've
Speaker 2: recruited well along the along the offensive line. I don't
Speaker 2: think the skal talent is really there in terms of
Speaker 2: experience and ceiling. Defensively, they should be solid. I'm I'm
Speaker 2: careful to be too optimistic with Minnesota because quarterback is
Speaker 2: not there.
Speaker 1: Here are your options that quarterback, Dan, give me, give
Speaker 1: me a confidence level in this position group. Okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 1: You've got options. You've got a red shirt freshman by
Speaker 1: the name of Canner Morgan.
Speaker 2: Sounds like a quarterback.
Speaker 1: Yes, You've got another red shirt freshman named Zach Annistad. Okay, yep,
Speaker 1: sounds like an Eastern European country. Okay, we've got vic
Speaker 1: Via Montes Monte.
Speaker 2: Vic Vera, Monte's former cal quarterback never got in there
Speaker 2: and then went to a junior college and now has
Speaker 2: transferred to Minnesota. Physical tools like, he's solid. He's built
Speaker 2: really solidly. So if that is important to you, boy,
Speaker 2: are you excited?
Speaker 1: Built solidly? Those are your three options? How do you
Speaker 1: feel one to ten level of confidence? Not.
Speaker 2: I don't feel great about quarterback. That doesn't mean they
Speaker 2: can't win. This is not a program that has gotten
Speaker 2: by on excellent quarterback play recently.
Speaker 1: So yeah, of course, so I don't feel great about quarterback.
Speaker 1: But elsewhere, if Rodney Smith stays healthy at running back,
Speaker 1: could be super solid. Okay, the top three wide outs
Speaker 1: from a year ago are back.
Speaker 2: Tyler Johnson's pretty good.
Speaker 1: We mentioned the offensive line more experienced and PJ. Fleck
Speaker 1: really did focus on it in the recruiting game, so
Speaker 1: it should be I think improved. The interior defensive line
Speaker 1: is a bit of a struggle bus, as we say
Speaker 1: here on the program. Sure, but their lineback and corps
Speaker 1: should be solid. They bring Thomas Barber back, who was
Speaker 1: their leading tackler. I think their defensive backfield should be
Speaker 1: solid on the whole. Again, much in the same vein
Speaker 1: as Northwestern zero sexiness on this team, but PJ. Fleck
Speaker 1: will have them playing with emotion.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, did you not hear me describe Vic Veramontes
Speaker 2: as solid, solidly built.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Dan, Yeah, no problem. The schedule I think
Speaker 1: is workable. Yep, it's workable. You could, if you squint
Speaker 1: really hard, find a path to nine wins for Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, you could do it.
Speaker 1: You could do it.
Speaker 2: One of the four Power for East teams. They go
Speaker 2: to Ohio States their early season scheduled New Mexico State,
Speaker 2: remember bowl team Presno State, super good defense last year,
Speaker 2: though they lose their coordinator. Yeah, then you're right. They're
Speaker 2: on the road Maryland, FISO State, Nebraska, Illinois. It seems
Speaker 2: like everybody's going Illinois.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then they finished the season up, of course, going
Speaker 2: to Wisconsin. This is a pretty good year in the
Speaker 2: West to be solid in a number of places, to
Speaker 2: squeak out something ugly against Northwestern, to squeak out something
Speaker 2: ugly against Iowa or Nebraska. They feel like a bowl team,
Speaker 2: but still just barely. To me, I think they're a
Speaker 2: six and sixteen because the quarterback question is just too
Speaker 2: vast right now.
Speaker 1: Give me seven to five or in four.
Speaker 2: All right. I just just know here's the thing with
Speaker 2: me in the Big ten West in general. And it's
Speaker 2: not Minnesota's fault necessarily because you know, hopefully Rashad Bateman
Speaker 2: turns into a star. There isn't in the way that
Speaker 2: even the MAC recently has had like just select star
Speaker 2: power even at skill positions. There's no receiver, there's no
Speaker 2: running back besides Jonathan Taylor tailback. That that really screams
Speaker 2: to me. And so when you have that lack of game,
Speaker 2: and I think Nate Stanley once again is going to
Speaker 2: be very good, but just in terms of all purpose weapons,
Speaker 2: then suddenly a team that is such sort of solid
Speaker 2: a number of places has some shots. Yeah, that's all
Speaker 2: I have. So my care factor is what will the
Speaker 2: young players look like getting in? But I'm going to
Speaker 2: level with you, ty, yeah, I don't see myself running
Speaker 2: out to watch a lot of Minnesota football this year.
Speaker 2: But they could start out four or five and oh
Speaker 2: then that changes.
Speaker 1: You introduced me to a verb a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and we were talking about cooking I believe sweet potatoes
Speaker 1: in the oven, and he said, you know, you take
Speaker 1: them out of the oven, and you want to give them,
Speaker 1: you want to give them a fleck of salt.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think fleck is Yeah. I mean I turned
Speaker 2: the noun fleck into a verb. But yeah, I think
Speaker 2: we'll flex some teams eventually.
Speaker 1: I think fleck could be a verb this year. Dan,
Speaker 1: That's what I'm I'm saying, You've invented a word, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to use it, maybe against your will.
Speaker 2: They had like a I wish they had a Corey Davis.
Speaker 2: I wish they could fleck somebody with Corey Davis, but
Speaker 2: they don't.
Speaker 1: Seven or eight wins for me for Minnesota, oh Man,
Speaker 1: and then finally uh Illinois. Yeah and ten a year ago.
Speaker 2: Mm hmmm, we.
Speaker 1: Are now playing I believe with all of Lovely Smith's
Speaker 1: players like this, these are his pretty much. These are
Speaker 1: his dude Love's dudes out there. They've got a new
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator and Rod Smith. It comes over from Arizona
Speaker 1: that he did. The best thing I can say is
Speaker 1: that I think they will be better on the whole,
Speaker 1: which isn't hard because it went to and ten a
Speaker 1: year ago. But m hm, better on the whole. Maybe,
Speaker 1: if I'm feeling dangerous four and eight on the year.
Speaker 2: And finally those be an archaeologist, find me those and
Speaker 2: those ones.
Speaker 1: Hold on and at least in terms of the show
Speaker 1: excitement care factor in that the Drive for six will
Speaker 1: be alive at least for some portion of the season.
Speaker 2: Wow, okay, so excavate the ruins of six opponents.
Speaker 1: This is I will get the better of. This is
Speaker 1: the scene in space Balls where they comb the desert
Speaker 1: and the man comes back saying, we ain't found shit.
Speaker 1: That's what this is in twenty eighteen for the ALIONI.
Speaker 2: So love he's recruited in. I think they have a
Speaker 2: couple of big players coming in this year because at
Speaker 2: a certain point, if you really want to play right away,
Speaker 2: you go to Illinois, you really want some Papadell's pizza,
Speaker 2: you go to Illinois. They have Western Illinois early, Kent
Speaker 2: State early, and they go two Rutgers to Maryland, which
Speaker 2: I have to assume Maryland is going to be healthier
Speaker 2: and better this year. And aside from that, I don't
Speaker 2: see much. USF is going to be pretty good near
Speaker 2: two of Charlie Strong, that defense should be nice. I gosh,
Speaker 2: to Wisconsin, to Nebraska, to Northwestern. I'm not. I think
Speaker 2: the quest to six is DA to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh it's DA. I'm just saying, okay, it's at
Speaker 1: least alive for some portion of the first six or
Speaker 1: seven weeks of the year.
Speaker 2: This is more like the quest for Jason Kandall. I
Speaker 2: don't know which the anyway, You know what I really did,
Speaker 2: like two thousand and seven and watching Juice Williams and
Speaker 2: Martez Wilson, all those guys. Arelli has been and I
Speaker 2: hope for Illinois fans whose basketball has also been disappointing since,
Speaker 2: like Dee Brown and whatever the James Augustine at Luther
Speaker 2: Head remember.
Speaker 1: That, Tom Yeah, yeah, sure.
Speaker 2: They are golf and tennis school right now, and hope
Speaker 2: it changes at some point.
Speaker 1: A golf kennis school ever.
Speaker 2: Accoirement one of the Wimbledon the guy that beat Federer
Speaker 2: in at Wimbledon, Kevin Anderson ELI and I boom, huge moment.
Speaker 2: There you go, embrace Kevin Anderson.
Speaker 1: So there you go. That's your big ten West. Are
Speaker 1: we in universal agreement here that Wisconsin's winning the West.
Speaker 2: Wisconsin's winning the West? We disagreed with second place. I
Speaker 2: think it's Iowa. You seem to allude to Northwestern love.
Speaker 2: After that, I'll go, oh god, it it's real, real,
Speaker 2: real fast sturdy.
Speaker 1: Though, Dan, it's it's long term sturdy.
Speaker 2: So are you higher on Purdue or Minnesota.
Speaker 1: I'm hiring Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Okay, we disagree. I'm gonna go Purdue barely there and
Speaker 2: then I guess Nebraska, then Minnesota, then Illinois.
Speaker 1: All right, let's very quickly shift our focus to another
Speaker 1: Western oriented division. Yes, same general region of the country
Speaker 1: again using our Netflix comparison. If you like the Big
Speaker 1: ten West, perhaps you might also be interested in the Macwest, Daniel.
Speaker 2: Maybe huh So At first glance, the Macwest is like, well,
Speaker 2: Toledo should be really good. They're more talented than everybody,
Speaker 2: even without Logan Woodside, who threw for a bajillion yards
Speaker 2: and a bajillion touchdowns. It does feel a little like
Speaker 2: Toledo and everybody else, with an asterisk that everybody else
Speaker 2: includes Northern Illinois Defense and then others.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but tie.
Speaker 2: The year was nineteen ninety nine. It was a very
Speaker 2: different world geopolitically, culturally, especially on the big screen time technologically. Sure,
Speaker 2: the movie was She's All that Freddy Prince Junior yep,
Speaker 2: the adorable and charming Rachel Lee Cook.
Speaker 1: An unforgettable performance.
Speaker 2: By the way, the cast of this movie is maybe
Speaker 2: the most nineties cast of any movie. Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker,
Speaker 2: Jody len O'Keeffe Don't slip On, Jody len O'Keeffe, Anna Paquin,
Speaker 2: Kieran Culkin, Usher Lil Kim, and Gabrielle Union. Wow, this
Speaker 2: is a heavyweight cast. And I bring up the movie
Speaker 2: She's All That because it is ridiculous, because from the
Speaker 2: moment it begins, Rachel Lee Cook is charming and adorable
Speaker 2: and good looking, and they merely take off her glasses
Speaker 2: and she goes from trash to treasure. So I went
Speaker 2: looked at these teams in the Macwest, and as it turns.
Speaker 1: Out, Tie, I know where you're going.
Speaker 2: We have a theme, Yeah, from trash to treasure, and
Speaker 2: we just have to figure out who's taken those glasses off. Okay,
Speaker 2: So twenty thirteen, Western Michigan, eleven, twenty sixteen, twelve and zero,
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen, Eastern Michigan one and eleven, twenty sixteen, seven
Speaker 2: and five, two thousand and seven, Northern Illinois. I want
Speaker 2: to say it's a retired coach's final season two and ten,
Speaker 2: twenty twelve, the Orange Bowl eleven and one, two thousand
Speaker 2: and nine, Toledo five and seven. Six years later, new coach,
Speaker 2: new coach is Matt Campbell and Jason Kandall. Toledo goes
Speaker 2: to nine and two in twenty fifteen. Finally, Ball State
Speaker 2: two and ten. We had somebody on the subreddit say,
Speaker 2: can't wait to hear what they have to say about
Speaker 2: ball State same two thousand and nine, Ball State two
Speaker 2: and ten, twenty thirteen, ball State ten and two. This
Speaker 2: is the She's all That division of college football, and
Speaker 2: you can't convince me otherwise. The only question is who
Speaker 2: is all that?
Speaker 1: Was there a back to the future kind of time
Speaker 1: jumping component in She's All That? Because I caught a
Speaker 1: little bit of that there in your there. I don't
Speaker 1: even know you were jumping around from two thousand and
Speaker 1: nine to two thousan.
Speaker 2: All of these teams because Central Michigan is dead to
Speaker 2: me for what they did to me in two thousand
Speaker 2: and eight, and Northern Illinois is I mean, I mentioned that,
Speaker 2: but they've been consistently pretty good under Rod Kerry. All
Speaker 2: of these teams have had low and high points.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got pretty.
Speaker 2: Quickly, so just gotta take those glasses off again. Toledo
Speaker 2: is the favorite. Yeah, but I am going to say
Speaker 2: I don't feel good about she's all adding ball state
Speaker 2: this year. But they'll be healthier and that's better. It's
Speaker 2: a shame that broken Roeback is gone for Eastern Eastern
Speaker 2: Michigan stay and they're still a good comeback story they've been.
Speaker 2: You know, they were really awful. They won one or
Speaker 2: two games for like five straight years. If there is
Speaker 2: a team to knock off Toledo, I think it is
Speaker 2: Sutton Smith, who is one thousand percent of dude and
Speaker 2: very please play it, very angry. Ah.
Speaker 1: I would also add that Western Michigan is still rowing
Speaker 1: the boat.
Speaker 2: They're still rowing the boat.
Speaker 1: They're still very feisty, They're okay at quarterback, they're recruiting
Speaker 1: somewhat decently well. Yeah, Western Michigan is in an okay
Speaker 1: place right now.
Speaker 2: So medium term, I won't say short term twenty eighteen,
Speaker 2: but somebody's gonna Freddy Prince the hell out of the
Speaker 2: Mac from this division and I can't wait to see who.
Speaker 2: All Right, good movie, not bad, yeah.
Speaker 1: Not bad? So there you go, Dan, Yeah, Western themed
Speaker 1: evening here on the podcast, starting in the Big ten West,
Speaker 1: closing out with the Macwest, and moving forward now into
Speaker 1: a new era of the summertime, a new era of
Speaker 1: the preseason for us here on the podcast. Starting this
Speaker 1: coming Sunday, we will be releasing two shows week.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, Tie, it feels so real.
Speaker 1: We've actually planned all this out for the first time ever,
Speaker 1: the first time in ten years of doing the show
Speaker 1: that we've charted a path forward and we've got a
Speaker 1: new point now where we believe if we do two
Speaker 1: shows week between now and the start of the year,
Speaker 1: we will not only have enough preview content to do it,
Speaker 1: but we'll also be able to fit in some other
Speaker 1: fun stuff along the way, like our Fantasy Things live show,
Speaker 1: which we'll be dropping on the podcast audio feed at
Speaker 1: some point following our live show again out in Chicago
Speaker 1: August the eleventh. Soliverbletickets, dot Com tickets still available. We're
Speaker 1: also planning a really fun show with our friend Bill Barnwell.
Speaker 1: It's turned into like a summertime a summertime staple where
Speaker 1: we talk about something fun. Two years ago was Emo.
Speaker 1: Last year it was video.
Speaker 2: Games, sports, video games. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, This year, what did we decide on nineties something.
Speaker 2: It's yeah, it's sort of a chilly at stew of
Speaker 2: nineties stuff that we've discussed. Possibly it will have to
Speaker 2: do with the online and pop culture world of the
Speaker 2: nineties and who we were as like fifteen thirteen to
Speaker 2: fifteen year olds, and probably not a super flattering way
Speaker 2: for any of them.
Speaker 1: No, no, definitely not. Well, we're gonna have that show
Speaker 1: in there woven in somewhere as well. There'll be Q
Speaker 1: and a's and a bunch of other fun stuff as
Speaker 1: we plod forward now through July, throughout August, previewing conferences,
Speaker 1: previewing divisions, talking about other fun stuff here and there,
Speaker 1: But before you know, it will be the season end
Speaker 1: of August. So yeah, a little sixpence none the richer.
Speaker 2: I feel this in my heart right now. Okay, Ti,
Speaker 2: it's been an absolute presate pleasure talking about not just
Speaker 2: the Big ten West, but the Macwest and Freddie Prince Jr. Yes,
Speaker 2: I appreciate your time. Oh there she is.
Speaker 1: It's a very weird wed to close the show.
Speaker 2: It's been like twenty years since that movie.
Speaker 1: Oh God, we are ancient.
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening. Solidverbal Tickets dot Com I hope
Speaker 2: to see you in Chetago for.
Speaker 1: That guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein, for myself,
Speaker 1: Tie Hildebrand. Catch you all in just a few short days.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, stay saw peace,