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Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal. Hull that for me. I'm

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Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well,

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Speaker 1: I want to be happy.

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Speaker 2: You want to be happy for a day? Edith Steak

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Speaker 2: is that whoo whoom?

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Speaker 1: And Dan and tie Dan Rubinstein, my good friend. Welcome

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Speaker 1: back to the solid verbal what's up? How you been?

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Speaker 2: I've been pretty good, ty. I had a good soured

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Speaker 2: oat bake this morning. The sun has been out the

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Speaker 2: past couple of days, so we have I saw my

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Speaker 2: grass in my yard for the first time in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty six.

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Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, pretty important moment. Uh.

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Speaker 2: Watch some NBA last night, watch some Golden Girls. I

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Speaker 2: have zero complaints. The coffee I just made is pretty good,

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Speaker 2: so I feel good. How about you good?

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Speaker 1: I'm hungry. We're doing this over lunch. I didn't had

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Speaker 1: a chance to eat yet. Oh yeah, I just hate Hey,

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Speaker 1: it was delicious. So if i'm if I'm a little

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Speaker 1: bit on edge, I started get a little bit angry

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Speaker 1: as we get in the weeds of today's show.

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Speaker 2: Give me a little a grace, a little bit of

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Speaker 2: gree Well, I will absolutely welcome back one and all.

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Speaker 1: If you made it this far, I'm tie. He is Dan,

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Speaker 1: Please hit follow, please hit subscribe, Go and check us

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Speaker 1: out at ribaulers dot com. That is our patreon where

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Speaker 1: you can go and support the team if you are

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Speaker 1: ever so inclined. You also can subscribe to our newsletter

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Speaker 1: quickslants dot soliverbal dot com if you are interested in

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Speaker 1: getting semiregular dispatches from deep within the bunker here of

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Speaker 1: SVHQ and all things going on in and around the

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Speaker 1: world of college football. Do our best to keep you

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Speaker 1: up to speed on that front. Of course. Soliverbal at

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Speaker 1: gmail dot com is where you can reach out, or

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Speaker 1: you can go to our website and fill out the

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Speaker 1: form send in whatever is on your mind. On today's episode,

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Speaker 1: we got some news that I think you and I

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Speaker 1: want to talk through at the top, which we didn't

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Speaker 1: talk through a whole lot of on our last episode.

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Speaker 1: We also have a fun little game. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if it's right to call it a game, but a

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Speaker 1: little concept that we're going to trot out there. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna look at six teams and things within those teams

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Speaker 1: and determine is it a trend? Is it not a trend?

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Speaker 1: That all sounds right to you, Dan.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna look at six teams and look at

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Speaker 2: what they've done recently and what they're hoping to continue

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Speaker 2: doing as they grow into twenty twenty six, perhaps what

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Speaker 2: they did since the twenty twenty five season ended, and evaluate.

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Speaker 2: This is not a preview, but it is a as

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Speaker 2: you mentioned, the preview to the preview of the twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty six season, just like a vibe check for a

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Speaker 2: few teams as we sort of get closer to springball

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Speaker 2: and as our opinions begin to form more and more

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Speaker 2: right that the three D printer of this all we're watching.

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Speaker 2: I don't know how three D printers work. That's my

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Speaker 2: disclaimer time, but I've watched some three D printer content

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Speaker 2: on YouTube.

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Speaker 1: People making it's really good. It's so good. Yeah, they're

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Speaker 1: making houses like that now. I don't know if you

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Speaker 1: knew that.

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Speaker 2: I did not see that. It's mostly me just watching

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Speaker 2: people print parts that they can't find as they try

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Speaker 2: to refurbish old electronics. It's real cool stuff, sure, real

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Speaker 2: cool stuff. But this is this is our three D

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Speaker 2: printing of our twenty twenty six opinions. It's very early on,

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Speaker 2: but we are in the software trying to figure out. Okay,

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Speaker 2: is there a curve here? What material needs to go

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Speaker 2: with it? That kind of stuff, and so, yes, that

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Speaker 2: is what we're doing. It's a what February Vibe check

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Speaker 2: for some I think of some of the more interesting teams.

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Speaker 2: We also have some news to discuss. But I'm looking

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Speaker 2: forward to this because it's good for our brains to

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Speaker 2: dip into, Like, Okay, this is what this specific team

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Speaker 2: did in the portal.

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Speaker 1: This is a.

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Speaker 2: Reminder about which important players this team is bringing back

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Speaker 2: or is losing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and so sure, this is.

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Speaker 2: Us just prepping for the twenty twenty six season six

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Speaker 2: months in advance for more content that much.

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Speaker 1: But we're no, no, no, no.

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Speaker 2: Speak for yourself. You might have this information on hand

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Speaker 2: in your brain. I'm losing names, situations, and scores by

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Speaker 2: the second tie.

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Speaker 1: It's bleeding out of my ears.

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Speaker 2: So I need to do everything I can to refamiliarize myself.

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Speaker 1: Every day. You want to get into news, I would

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Speaker 1: love to. I'm bringing it out, baby, we have the

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Speaker 1: recking news. I like it. North Dakota State, baby, oh yeah,

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Speaker 1: Bison are coming to the Mountain West. They're making the

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Speaker 1: jump up to FBS college football and they are immediately,

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Speaker 1: I say, immediately petitioning the NCAA because of that stupid

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Speaker 1: rule that says, if you're an FBS newcomer, you can't

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Speaker 1: compete for the playoffs, can't compete for your conference, can't

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Speaker 1: play in a bowl for what is it, two years?

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Speaker 1: Whatever the hell they're trying to get out of that.

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Speaker 1: They're going to have the backing of the Mountain West.

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Speaker 1: Hopefully the NCAA will follow suit, because Dan, I should add,

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Speaker 1: this is the most dominant FCS program in history. They

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Speaker 1: have won ten national championships over the last fifteen years.

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Speaker 1: Per our good friend Bill Connolly from ESPN dot com,

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Speaker 1: the purveyor of all things sp plus rankings, he has

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Speaker 1: North Dakota State this most recent version of North Dakota State,

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Speaker 1: mind you, as the sixty fifth best college football team

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Speaker 1: in all of America across all formats. North Dakota State,

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Speaker 1: just for context, would have been slightly below Arizona State,

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Speaker 1: slightly below Florida, slightly below Boise State, and just ahead

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Speaker 1: of teams like Kentucky, Minnesota, and Baylor. He also points

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Speaker 1: out that North Dakota State would have been a nine

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Speaker 1: point favorite over Purdue, not to rub salt in that wound.

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Speaker 2: Wow, Perdue, fans are just trying to live their lives. Tie,

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Speaker 2: I so, okay, what you're saying brought astray.

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Speaker 1: I apologize to the Purdue faithful out there.

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Speaker 2: Right if I can translate Thaie, I'm semi fluent in Thie.

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Speaker 2: What Tie is trying to tell you is there is

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Speaker 2: a case to be made, at least statistically and occasionally

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Speaker 2: on the field that North Dakota State recently has been

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Speaker 2: of the quality of a lower ish middle class ish

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Speaker 2: power conference team.

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Speaker 1: Correct.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So they enter into the Mountain West, which is

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Speaker 2: a new look Mountain West. As a reminder, a number

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Speaker 2: of teams left. A couple of teams are entering in

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Speaker 2: two So the twenty twenty six Mountain West Conference. As

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Speaker 2: far as I can tell, again, information is bleeding out

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Speaker 2: of my ears constantly as the season ends. Air Force Hawaii, Nevada,

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Speaker 2: New Mexico, Northern Illinois. I now live in Mountain West Territory.

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Speaker 2: San Jose State, unlv UTEP, Wyoming. Correct all, correct it all.

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Speaker 2: Try so you know your your Fresno's, your Boise's, your

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Speaker 2: San Diego States. They're entering into a conference that is

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Speaker 2: calling themselves the PAC twelve correct, good for them. I

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Speaker 2: suppose Oregon State and Wazoo legitimate PAC twelve programs, but

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Speaker 2: I will, I guess, recognize that sovereignty and right to

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Speaker 2: exist of the PAC twelve when I see what it

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Speaker 2: actually looks like. But the Mountain West is different. North

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Speaker 2: Dakota State at its best I think, can be excellent

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Speaker 2: and can obviously compete for this new look Mountain West.

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Speaker 2: Their coach has been there I think a couple of

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Speaker 2: years now, Tim Polisek, and he was an internal hire,

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Speaker 2: and it was Matt Enz who's at Fresno State now

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Speaker 2: who is there before. So I love this for North

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Speaker 2: Dakota State. I love this for college football. I love

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Speaker 2: this for the hopeful ascendants of excellent pros, you know,

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Speaker 2: to challenge themselves if they keep you know, we've seen

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Speaker 2: like Farris State dominate D two.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: You want to see these programs if they're able to

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Speaker 2: make the finances work. And I'm sure we'll have Matt

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Speaker 2: Brown on in the near future to discuss what kind

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Speaker 2: of financial responsibility this entails to make a move from

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Speaker 2: FCS to FBS and by the way, subscribe to his

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Speaker 2: Extra Points newsletter. Yep, But what this entails in terms

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Speaker 2: of new travel, in terms of any sort of stadium

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Speaker 2: editions that are required. Although the Fargo Dome is excellent.

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Speaker 2: It should be a must visit place for Mountain West fans.

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Speaker 1: It's now awesome experience and it is loud down there.

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Speaker 1: It is loud. We went to that playoff game. I

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Speaker 1: mentioned this on the last episode, but we went to

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Speaker 1: the We had a whole thing back in twenty eighteen.

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Speaker 1: You and I ended up driving from Minneapolis up to

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Speaker 1: Fargo and then went to the game between North Dakota

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Speaker 1: State and Colgate.

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Speaker 2: And first off, it was cold. It was the coldest

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Speaker 2: I have ever been outside of a stadium. And suffice

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Speaker 2: to say, the folks up in the upper planes in

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Speaker 2: Fargo are built different. They had like jet engines that

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Speaker 2: were firing with open flames inside of tents that had

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Speaker 2: multiple layers on. They figured it out.

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Speaker 1: Okay, we were warm inside, but once you got inside

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Speaker 1: the actual arena, it is loud. Dude. It is whatever

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Speaker 1: it is, stadium arena, whatever it's considered. It is. I

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Speaker 1: posted this online. It is a perfect hybrid between minor

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Speaker 1: league hockey and a monster truck rally. Yeah, it is

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Speaker 1: somewhere in between, and it's awesome.

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Speaker 2: It's like a perfect rectangle in there that I think

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Speaker 2: it may be used to house rodeos or maybe still

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Speaker 2: houses the Fargo or North Dakota Rodeo. In any case,

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Speaker 2: we saw it a few years ago. It was like

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Speaker 2: an hour and a half ago. James Madison was an

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Speaker 2: FCS power. They make the move. They're in the College

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Speaker 2: Football Playoff almost immediately, you know, relatively speaking to the

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Speaker 2: modern history of college football. And so the hope is

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Speaker 2: a team that has the winning end infrastructure that North

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Speaker 2: Dakota State clearly does, that they're able to compete. That

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Speaker 2: recruiting remains unchanged because they have recruited you know, the

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Speaker 2: High Planes and Minnesota and Midwest, and you know they've

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Speaker 2: gotten some transfers in and that hopefully the finances are

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Speaker 2: there to support now supporting FBS level players, quality players.

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Speaker 2: I don't know how that changes any sort of calculus,

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Speaker 2: but that they will be more visible, that Fargo will

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Speaker 2: be more visible, that this kind of excellence over time

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Speaker 2: is being rewarded with the opportunity. I mean, what do

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Speaker 2: we always hear about Notre Dame, right, Notre Dame It's

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Speaker 2: joined a conference when North Dakota State just keeps winning or.

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Speaker 1: Competing for national championships.

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Speaker 2: You're just like, okay, but like, let's see what they

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Speaker 2: can do if they're able to make a jump up

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Speaker 2: to the next level, right and really measure themselves against

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Speaker 2: a full schedule of similarly talented teams. I think they're

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Speaker 2: going to do really well. I can't wait to dive

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Speaker 2: into It's only football, I believe, right, it's a football

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Speaker 2: only football thing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I have some of the particulars here on that,

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Speaker 1: but it's football only. Yeah. But TLDR very cool it is.

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Speaker 1: And look, this is one of those hypotheticals that get

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Speaker 1: sent into us all the time. You know, we've kicked

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Speaker 1: it around with promotion and relegation, and I don't really

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Speaker 1: think that's going to happen at least on anytime soon.

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Speaker 1: But anytime you have an exciting promotion like this, not

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Speaker 1: because of the system, but because of the program deciding

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Speaker 1: it wants to press its luck and see what it

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Speaker 1: can do, it's really exciting when you've got a program

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Speaker 1: of this caliber on the finances. Though.

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Speaker 2: This is from Brandon Marcella out at CBS. I'm reading

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Speaker 2: directly from his piece. Quote, does a great job at CBS.

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Speaker 2: By the way, I want to be paying more compliments

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Speaker 2: if we're going to make fun of people in the

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Speaker 2: college football media.

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Speaker 1: Brandon does a great job and it doesn't also continue

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Speaker 1: he does. I've been reading Brandon for years. Correct. Here's

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Speaker 1: what he says. Financially, North Dakota State will not receive

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Speaker 1: a full revenue share from the Mountain West through the

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Speaker 1: twenty thirty one thirty two season, the length of the

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Speaker 1: conference's current media rights deal. However, the Bison would receive

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Speaker 1: fifty percent of the college football playoff and bowl revenue

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Speaker 1: distributed to full members beginning in twenty twenty six if

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Speaker 1: they reached the postseason, and one hundred percent after their

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Speaker 1: second postseason appearance, according to the conference's membership agreement, obtained

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Speaker 1: by CBS Sports through an open report through an open

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Speaker 1: records request. That's a mouthful. North Dakota State would also

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Speaker 1: earn a one million dollar bonus for reaching the college

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Speaker 1: Football Playoff before twenty thirty two. He goes on. North

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Speaker 1: Dakota State is paying the Mountain West a twelve and

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Speaker 1: a half million dollar entry fee over six years, in

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Speaker 1: addition to the NC doublea's five million dollar reclassification fee

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Speaker 1: which increased from five thousand to five million going back

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Speaker 1: to twenty twenty three. Bit of a jump there, I

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Speaker 1: would say, a bit of a jump. The NC doublea's

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Speaker 1: probation probationary period was designed to give transitioning programs time

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Speaker 1: to meet FBS benchmarks, including scholarship expansion and facility upgrades.

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Speaker 1: But again they are going to challenge that. It seems

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Speaker 1: as though they will have the backing of the conference,

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Speaker 1: and I would imagine the college football fan base at

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Speaker 1: large because this is one of the unique situations. I

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Speaker 1: know James Madison is sort of an earlier example of

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Speaker 1: a team stepping up and immediately being competitive, but this

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Speaker 1: is probably an even better example of a team that

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Speaker 1: looks ready to party. You know, they're ready to sort

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Speaker 1: of jump in right away and contend for this thing

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Speaker 1: in the Mountain West. Now, I would add, as a corollary,

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Speaker 1: if you do subscribe to our newsletter and if you

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Speaker 1: read what Tyler, are wonderfully talented newsletter writer put together.

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Speaker 1: He presented two potential pathways that this thing could go.

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Speaker 2: There is the James Madison route, which obviously they've been

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Speaker 2: very successful in very short order.

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Speaker 1: There's also the Georgia Southern route. Georgia Southern was another

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Speaker 1: team that was very successful at the FCS ranks. They

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Speaker 1: moved up, they sort of lost their identity, be it

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Speaker 1: with coaches leaving with greater demands on the program, and

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Speaker 1: you know, they're kind of doing their thing right now.

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Speaker 1: They have Clay Helton, but Georgia Southern is not at

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Speaker 1: the FBS ranks what they once were at the FCS ranks.

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Speaker 1: This could go in one of those two paths. Obviously

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Speaker 1: for North Dakota State, we would root for the successful

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Speaker 1: one as fans, but nothing is a guarantee, I think

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Speaker 1: when you step up to this new level. So I'm

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Speaker 1: excited to see what the future holds for North Dakota State.

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Speaker 1: And full disclosure, we did send out some emails to

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Speaker 1: try and bring somebody on to talk more specifically about that.

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Speaker 1: At some point this offseason. We will. We just couldn't

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Speaker 1: make it work for today's episode, but pretty cool.

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Speaker 2: I totally agree, And it does have the feeling like

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Speaker 2: unofficial promotion in a system that does not feature promotion

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Speaker 2: and relegation. Just because you know, we recently saw success

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Speaker 2: from what Kennesaw winning double digits this past year, and

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Speaker 2: then Delaware and Missouri State. We mentioned the James Madison thing,

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Speaker 2: that there are teams and programs that have won enough

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Speaker 2: and have found the money necessary to make that leap.

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Speaker 2: And we'll see what happens with North Dakota State and

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Speaker 2: being eligible for bowls or the College Football Playoff. I

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Speaker 2: don't think any ruling has been made I had anything.

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Speaker 1: Like that yet. Yeah, they just announced on Monday that

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Speaker 1: this was going to be a challenge. THO it's going

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Speaker 1: to take a little bit to work its way through

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Speaker 1: the system, but it is.

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Speaker 2: It is a cool thing that like there is a

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Speaker 2: proving ground to this all hopefully, and I you know,

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Speaker 2: I'm very excited to see what happens with North Dakota State.

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Speaker 2: It's obviously a different kind of conversation, all due respect

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Speaker 2: to maybe the best of the Sunbell and the best

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Speaker 2: of Conference USA Mountain West is difficult now. It's different

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Speaker 2: with the sort of changes that have happened in the conference.

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Speaker 2: But the best of recent like New Mexico and UNLV

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Speaker 2: and the teams that are moving on to the Pac twelve,

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Speaker 2: Like I feel as if it's perhaps a steeper challenge

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Speaker 2: to come in and immediately you know, toss teams around,

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Speaker 2: but if there's anybody built to do that kind of thing,

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Speaker 2: it's a team that has won as demonstrably and as

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Speaker 2: often as North Dakota State has done recently. I don't

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Speaker 2: have their depth charts and returns in front of me.

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Speaker 1: It's going to take us a minute to go through

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Speaker 1: all that.

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Speaker 2: But something tells me if you keep competing for and

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Speaker 2: often winning a national championship, you're doing pretty well in

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Speaker 2: terms of development and returning production year over year. So

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Speaker 2: maybe it's a different kind of year this year, but

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Speaker 2: thrilled to have a story like this in the sport.

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Speaker 1: I'm just laughing at them increasing the reclassification fee from

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Speaker 1: five thousand to five million.

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Speaker 2: The NCAA has got a lot of bills to pay,

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Speaker 2: uh huh because of legal stuff, so that's probably where

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Speaker 2: that's going. And I don't know how much of that

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Speaker 2: goes to the Mountain West, which is losing revenue right,

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Speaker 2: losing teams that you know, we're bringing in bowl stuff

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Speaker 2: that were you know, big name schools that would attract

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Speaker 2: TV eys, and you know it's a transitionary time for

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Speaker 2: is that a word transitionary?

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Speaker 1: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Soundar like one. Yeah, why not for the Mountain West

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Speaker 2: as well. So good for them for hopefully solidifying membership

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Speaker 2: and numbers here.

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Speaker 1: Well, we welcome our new North Dakota State Bison Brethren. Yes,

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Speaker 1: and we will be talking much more about this as

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Speaker 1: we get a little bit deeper into the offseason. A

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Speaker 1: couple different angles we can go with this one. But

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Speaker 1: that's the first thing. The second thing do you hear

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Speaker 1: about this book? Oh yeah, yeah, Bill Moose called Crab

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Speaker 1: Creek Chronicles from the wheat fields to the ball fields

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Speaker 1: and beyond. That doesn't mean anything to anybody listening. But

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Speaker 1: what should mean something is that the author was former

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Speaker 1: Nebraska athletic director Bill Moose. In this book, which was

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Speaker 1: released this week, he says that Scott Frost was not

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Speaker 1: his first choice to be the Nebraska Cornhuskers coach back

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Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. He was also ordered to undergo an

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Speaker 1: evaluation for alcoholism, and that he looked into the possibility

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Speaker 1: of Nebraska leaving the Big ten and returning to the

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Speaker 1: Big twelve. So lot going on there, buddy.

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Speaker 2: It's more of a story connected to a now governor

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Speaker 2: in the way it was Jeff Landry and Louisiana with

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Speaker 2: the Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly Saga.

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Speaker 1: So now we have was it pillin the.

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Speaker 2: Governor of Nebraska in on the decision to not hire

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Speaker 2: perhaps Oregon's basketball coach, and he is brought into this

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Speaker 2: whole thing, and he was a region I want to

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Speaker 2: say at the time, but Bill Moose decided basically like,

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Speaker 2: here are all my stories, and some of them are

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Speaker 2: going to make me look good. Some of them are

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Speaker 2: mean to look not so good. Yeah, my wife was

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Speaker 2: in on the meeting with Scott Frost in what it

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Speaker 2: was in Philadelphia, I want to say, when the Nebraska

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Speaker 2: team was in town and the UCF team was in

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Speaker 2: town and they arranged a meeting, and his wife was like, Ah,

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Speaker 2: this guy doesn't seem.

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Speaker 1: Like it too immature, too immature reaction.

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Speaker 2: And so we're just like, like, there is something that

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Speaker 2: we want to believe, or at least used to want

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Speaker 2: to believe about the professionalism and how buttoned up all

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Speaker 2: of the things behind the scenes we hope are And

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Speaker 2: you read stories like this, and you hear other stories

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Speaker 2: about other places, just like nobody knows anything. They're all

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Speaker 2: trying to figure it out. They're all trying to impress

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Speaker 2: each other. They're all trying to throw around their power

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Speaker 2: in any ways that they can. And yeah, there was

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Speaker 2: a thing in here about Scott Frost wanting to cancel

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Speaker 2: both a Rutgers game at the end of the season

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Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one and cancel a home and home

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Speaker 2: with Oklahoma, and that would have thrown a potential return

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Speaker 2: to the Big twelve. And Bob Bowlsby's involved in these

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Speaker 2: conversations and a secret meeting in Dallas. The secret meetings

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Speaker 2: in this sport always in Dallas, always in a conference

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Speaker 2: room near DFW. Right, that's well, we decided to meet

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Speaker 2: in Dallas. Could you meet literally anywhere else? No, that's

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Speaker 2: where all the planes flying too. Fine, Okay, So it

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Speaker 2: was all very interesting here. And how you know, Scott

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Speaker 2: Frost said, you know, in retrospect when he rejoined UCF

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Speaker 2: that he never really wanted to go back to Nebraska,

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Speaker 2: but he was pulled in that direction by like friends

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Speaker 2: and loved ones. And so Scott Frost didn't want to

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Speaker 2: go to Nebraska, at least, he says in hindsight, the

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Speaker 2: powers that be at Nebraska were at least split on

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Speaker 2: bringing Scott Frost back, but they all decided to do

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Speaker 2: it anyway, and we're all still sitting at a point

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Speaker 2: with Nebraska football where they have one non Bo Polini winning.

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Speaker 1: Season in the Big Ten. Yep, that's right, and it's

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. Yeah, the quote here was Nebraska being

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Speaker 1: in the Big Ten never felt quite right to me,

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Speaker 1: nor for that matter, did it for most Husker fans.

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Speaker 1: Moose wrote, A big reason for this is the school's

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Speaker 1: location deeply rooted in America's heartlet and the land Grand

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Speaker 1: institution just fits better with the schools of the Big

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Speaker 1: Eight and most of the ones that were added when

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Speaker 1: the Southwest Conference disbanded back in nineteen ninety five. We've

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Speaker 1: had people write in about this, yeah, more times than

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Speaker 1: I could count, So I understand that sentiment. It's just

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Speaker 1: funny to hear coming from a former athletic director. As

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Speaker 1: he said, also want a data altman for basketball, but

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Speaker 1: that didn't work out. Wanted Chip Kelly instead of Scott first,

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Speaker 1: which is.

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Speaker 2: Met with Chips Uphand yeah, in New Hampshire, I believe

401
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Speaker 2: when Chip was working in TV, when he was also

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Speaker 2: I think talking to Florida.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he ended up being announced like the next week

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Speaker 1: as UCLA's coach. So this was right in that timeline.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, there is, and there's something still to be said about.

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Speaker 2: Like I think it seems that there are some Nebraska

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Speaker 2: fans who were like, yeah, the Big twelve kind of

408
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Speaker 2: felt more like us, but we're making so much money

409
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Speaker 2: and we want to secure our spot in the future

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Speaker 2: of the sport, and the Big ten is just a

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Speaker 2: lot more powerful and a lot more stable, So it

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Speaker 2: just makes sense for us to be here, and they

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Speaker 2: just move on, it seems, and try to build the

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Speaker 2: best possible Big ten team possible. I'm curious what you

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Speaker 2: how you stand in what we're still in twenty twenty six?

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Speaker 1: Is that where we are now?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it all sounds fake to me, Like have you

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Speaker 2: grown to accept the teams who have moved around in

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Speaker 2: this sport as this being there new? Like this feels

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Speaker 2: right and it feels like they you know, everything has

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Speaker 2: sort of come into place, as you know, Oregon as

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Speaker 2: a Big ten team, or Maryland as a Big ten team,

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Speaker 2: or Miszoo as an SEC team, Like has the vibe

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Speaker 2: shifted to you where you just automatically get the feeling

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Speaker 2: that this is this all makes sense and this is

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Speaker 2: where they're supposed to be because basically for none of them. Like,

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Speaker 2: I just don't feel it, Like I look at Maryland

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Speaker 2: and I still think about them playing Duke and all

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Speaker 2: the hatred on the basketball court.

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Speaker 1: Buddy, before I was before we kind of move forward

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Speaker 1: and talk about our next segment here. Yeah, I was

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Speaker 1: clicking into projected rosters for twenty twenty six. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: could not find Oklahoma. I was looking up and down

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Speaker 1: that big twelve roster. I could not find them anywhere.

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Speaker 1: And then I had my little aha moment and realized, uh, yeah,

436
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:33,000
Speaker 1: you're looking at the wrong spot. But listen, we were

437
00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 1: raised on one version of college football with teams being

438
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:39,520
Speaker 1: aligned in a certain way, and it still requires a

439
00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 1: certain bit of mental energy to remember who is where.

440
00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 1: So no, it doesn't feel right to me. It still

441
00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 1: feels different. I obviously understand it. We talk about it

442
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,440
Speaker 1: right and will continue to talk about it in its

443
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:50,920
Speaker 1: new iteration.

444
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:54,760
Speaker 2: But man, yeah, it's some of this stuff is kind

445
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,240
Speaker 2: of baked into the whole college football fandom of thirteen

446
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,960
Speaker 2: year old Tai Hildenbrand. Yeah, there's still like an element

447
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 2: to me of somebody coming to you one day and saying, hey,

448
00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:09,680
Speaker 2: just so you know, we recast your friends. Right, we

449
00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,239
Speaker 2: had a casting call, and your buddy Feldman is now

450
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 2: going to be played by this guy, Steve had I

451
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:17,520
Speaker 2: told you the story before.

452
00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,160
Speaker 1: I had a college roommate who went by one name,

453
00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:25,479
Speaker 1: and then I forget exactly how, but we ended up

454
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:29,200
Speaker 1: finding out midway through our final semester in college that

455
00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,920
Speaker 1: his actual first name was something else. This was just

456
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,600
Speaker 1: a nickname that he went by. We had no idea.

457
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,400
Speaker 1: This was like learning a new person completely. I feel

458
00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:41,200
Speaker 1: a little bit like that with this because as teams

459
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,520
Speaker 1: move around and I'm an SEC team. Now, okay, I listen,

460
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:45,960
Speaker 1: we're dating ourselves here.

461
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:49,280
Speaker 2: No, no, but we're not dating ourselves. This all happened

462
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 2: in like over you know, ten fifteen years. But you

463
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 2: can't absorb something in a certain way and then have

464
00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 2: people arbitrarily and it is arbitrary. Let anybody lie to

465
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,840
Speaker 2: you and tell you that it's not. It's arbitrary in

466
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:05,920
Speaker 2: that like who wants the money, who's gonna be able

467
00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,920
Speaker 2: to get the money, whatever. But it's as if your friend,

468
00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,879
Speaker 2: what was your friend's name before his old name was Ricky.

469
00:25:14,520 --> 00:25:16,880
Speaker 2: His old name was Ricky, and he became he didn't.

470
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 1: Become anything else by Ricky, but there was another first

471
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 1: name that was his birth name that we didn't know about.

472
00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,440
Speaker 2: Right, that you didn't know about, and he probably had it,

473
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:29,399
Speaker 2: you know, until a certain age whatever. But it was

474
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 2: as if Ricky was like, by the way I used

475
00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,119
Speaker 2: to be called this, I've also decided I'm a Buddhist

476
00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:40,000
Speaker 2: and I'm learning Portuguese and I'm pretty much only gonna

477
00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:40,359
Speaker 2: speak that.

478
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:44,359
Speaker 1: It totally. It shook us, man, it should I get it,

479
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 1: same guy, but just like, oh wait, whoa, whoa. I

480
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,760
Speaker 1: know I know a couple of people like that. Actually

481
00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 1: that went by a middle name or a nickname or

482
00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,800
Speaker 1: something else, and then you find out what their actual

483
00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 1: birth name is and it's like, oh, what are we talking?

484
00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 2: I get why, and this is this is a whole

485
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 2: other conversation. I get why people as they get old

486
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 2: and they just become obsessed with like it's it's not

487
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,520
Speaker 2: how it used to be kind of thing.

488
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:13,960
Speaker 1: I get. There's so much more.

489
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 2: I'm probably especially prone to it. But you just you're

490
00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:25,080
Speaker 2: telling me Nebraska's playing Oregon and Rutgers and Ohio State

491
00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,880
Speaker 2: and Washington, and you see it like it's just off

492
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:31,760
Speaker 2: to me, man, And Nebraska is just that they're like

493
00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 2: the legacy program, a blue blood program, of course, but

494
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 2: like you just bundle these teams together in your mind,

495
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 2: Like I'm just going to pay more attention to the

496
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:43,000
Speaker 2: University of Arizona because of how often Oregon played Arizona

497
00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:45,960
Speaker 2: and had cool wins and awful losses or whatever. And

498
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:49,639
Speaker 2: it hasn't worked with me with like Louisville and the

499
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:53,040
Speaker 2: ACC and Rutgers in the Big Ten and you know,

500
00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,879
Speaker 2: SMU in the ACC, like all of these things still

501
00:26:57,080 --> 00:26:59,159
Speaker 2: feel to me. And so I get it from a

502
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,439
Speaker 2: Bill Moose. I get it from a like Regent's at

503
00:27:02,560 --> 00:27:06,160
Speaker 2: Nebraska being split standpoint where you're like, yes, we're making

504
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:09,600
Speaker 2: more money, Yes, the TV deal is better. Yes that

505
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 2: like the opponents are going to be of higher esteem

506
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,680
Speaker 2: more often in the Big Ten. But also we miss

507
00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:19,600
Speaker 2: a fall the state, we miss Colorado. We mean, look,

508
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 2: there's the Big Aid and there's the Old Southwest Conference.

509
00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,359
Speaker 2: I understand things change and evolve all the time in

510
00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,600
Speaker 2: this sport, but I don't know at a certain point

511
00:27:27,640 --> 00:27:30,040
Speaker 2: you hit your limit and just be like, man, I

512
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,720
Speaker 2: want something familiar, and that's it's it's all going to go.

513
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,240
Speaker 2: And change is the only thing that you can count

514
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:39,600
Speaker 2: on in this world. But I'm just I get it.

515
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:42,119
Speaker 2: I get it from a certain perspective. We're just like,

516
00:27:42,240 --> 00:27:46,479
Speaker 2: what if we just went home, we could probably get

517
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:47,920
Speaker 2: this guy on the show. He's got a book to

518
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,680
Speaker 2: promote former orgon ad, but we could probably make this work.

519
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,520
Speaker 1: So maybe that's something we should consider. We got space

520
00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:55,160
Speaker 1: to fill. Doc.

521
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,120
Speaker 2: Yeah, Nebraska fans are with a hard pass on that one,

522
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:02,280
Speaker 2: but everybody else you have questions about running high level

523
00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 2: athletic departments, you know, there could be some meat on

524
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 2: that bone. But yeah, I also I enjoyed this story

525
00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:12,359
Speaker 2: because you saw Nebraska fans online and on social media

526
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,480
Speaker 2: and it was all just like this confirms all of

527
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 2: our biggest fears about how this program was being rung.

528
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 2: We unfortunately, man, unfortunately, and I am strictly talking about

529
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 2: college football here. Yeah, unfortunately, we have seen some of

530
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 2: the message board fodder, conspiracies, rumors, whatever you want to

531
00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,119
Speaker 2: call them, come true here on a couple of different

532
00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 2: fronts as of late, this I think being the most

533
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 2: recent example. But to the point, yeah, people are talking

534
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:47,120
Speaker 2: and this confirmed a lot in the Nebraska universe. We'll

535
00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:49,440
Speaker 2: see if maybe we can talk about this more unpack

536
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 2: this book at some point in the very near future,

537
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 2: if that works for you.

538
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:53,120
Speaker 1: Yeah.

539
00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:55,200
Speaker 2: Now there's a lot of yeah, a lot of the

540
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:59,000
Speaker 2: uh Palace intrigue, like Scott Frost got an extension?

541
00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 1: How exactly it wasn't Bill Moose Like?

542
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:04,760
Speaker 2: There was just so much in the little excerpt, so

543
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 2: curious to read the book and Seeah, say, I think

544
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:13,080
Speaker 2: it's called Crab Creek Chronicles. That's yeah, Crab Creek Chronicles

545
00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 2: from the wheat fields to the ballfields and beyond.

546
00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,480
Speaker 1: There you go. All right, Dan, let's throw some teams

547
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:21,760
Speaker 1: in the computer. Give me that sound. Oh, I got you?

548
00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,640
Speaker 1: Well a computer? Do you want? You want? There will

549
00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,480
Speaker 1: be blood? I can do either one. Well, I like

550
00:29:27,560 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 1: there will be blood. I've never seen it. But do

551
00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 1: you like that one? Play the other one too? Okay,

552
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:36,240
Speaker 1: So I also have this right here. You have a

553
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:38,880
Speaker 1: great chance here. Bear in mind, you can lose it

554
00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:43,080
Speaker 1: all if you're not careful. I like that second one better,

555
00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,160
Speaker 1: Thank you me too. Why don't we roll with that?

556
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,960
Speaker 1: So here's what we did. You've got three teams. I've

557
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 1: got three teams. We're looking at what transpired in twenty

558
00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:54,040
Speaker 1: twenty five. And as he said, it's not a preview.

559
00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: If anything, it's a preview to the preview of the preview.

560
00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:02,200
Speaker 1: But we're just gonna throw some darts here at whether

561
00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: or not some of these trends will continue in twenty

562
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:11,760
Speaker 1: twenty six. So my three teams are Arizona, Miami, and

563
00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:16,400
Speaker 1: Texas A and M Your three teams are Oklahoma, USC

564
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:21,760
Speaker 1: and Virginia. And we're gonna go back and forth on

565
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:25,880
Speaker 1: whether some elements of those teams will continue some things

566
00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:26,920
Speaker 1: will continue trending.

567
00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, just we I think I have a pretty good

568
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,400
Speaker 2: handle on how those teams are trending. I think largely

569
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,880
Speaker 2: all of these are in a positive direction. And what

570
00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,960
Speaker 2: the odds are, what our vibes are, what our understandings

571
00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:46,040
Speaker 2: are of what these teams have done to take that

572
00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:48,560
Speaker 2: next step and build upon these trends.

573
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:51,320
Speaker 1: Give me a team, who are you doing first? Let's

574
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 1: do Miami. They earned it, Miami. So the question is

575
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 1: whether or not Miami's high level winning like we saw

576
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,800
Speaker 1: this year will continue. Went to the National Championship Game,

577
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 1: played it at home. Was something of a rebirth for Miami.

578
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:12,280
Speaker 1: Very exciting season. Miami in twenty twenty six looks to

579
00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 1: be very, very good. Again at the skilled positions. Bring

580
00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:20,440
Speaker 1: over Darien Mensa from Duke as the new quarterback, have

581
00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 1: a lot back in the running back room. I think

582
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,960
Speaker 1: out wide they'll be fine as well. Clearly, Malachai Tony

583
00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:28,800
Speaker 1: we'll get another bite at the apple as a true sophomore,

584
00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:32,840
Speaker 1: which is crazy. I have a question about the offensive line,

585
00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,320
Speaker 1: especially the two tackle spots. Are gonna have a lot

586
00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:39,040
Speaker 1: of freshmen coming in this year, obviously led by Jackson Cantwell,

587
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:41,760
Speaker 1: who was the big name recruital on the line, But

588
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 1: for a Chrystal Ball team to have a question mark

589
00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,200
Speaker 1: at offensive line, though it's a little bit different than

590
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:50,280
Speaker 1: we saw this past year, it is one of those

591
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 1: areas one of the core competencies of any Crystal Ball team,

592
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,959
Speaker 1: so I think they will be fine there, But at

593
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:01,440
Speaker 1: present mid February, that looks like that's a relatively big

594
00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:05,719
Speaker 1: question mark. Yes, I think the bigger one is defensively. Defensively,

595
00:32:05,760 --> 00:32:07,720
Speaker 1: when you're replacing the likes of Reuben Bayn and a

596
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:10,080
Speaker 1: keem Mesador, both of whom could be first round picks,

597
00:32:10,760 --> 00:32:13,120
Speaker 1: there's a question about your pass rush. They'll be stout

598
00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:16,120
Speaker 1: in the middle defensively, but there is a question about

599
00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:20,440
Speaker 1: what that pass rush is going to look like. They

600
00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,480
Speaker 1: are losing some experience, I believe at linebacker, but there's

601
00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:27,840
Speaker 1: enough there that I feel pretty confident they'll be fine.

602
00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: And I think they're gonna be good enough in the

603
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:34,000
Speaker 1: secondary as well. So Miami is set up in a

604
00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 1: pretty good spot. They have questions like any team ass questions,

605
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 1: and it just so happens. The biggest question mark is

606
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:41,360
Speaker 1: an area where the coach excels pretty well.

607
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,800
Speaker 2: Agree, I think it would be impossible for Miami to

608
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,080
Speaker 2: win single digits in twenty twenty six.

609
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,320
Speaker 1: It is an ideal schedule too. That is the other

610
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:55,040
Speaker 1: thing here, as far as we can tell right first,

611
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:57,960
Speaker 1: and you know, we try not to lean too heavily

612
00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:02,520
Speaker 1: on the schedule thing, right It's hard, especially in middle February,

613
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:05,800
Speaker 1: February eleventh, as we record this. Yeah, the only game

614
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,200
Speaker 1: that really scares me here as we look at this

615
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 1: well in advance, is a road tilt against Notre Dame.

616
00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:17,320
Speaker 1: But otherwise the ACC schedule, the biggest land mine is

617
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,040
Speaker 1: a road game at Clemson, and who knows what we

618
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:20,760
Speaker 1: have there. I have no idea what to make a

619
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 1: Clemson At this point. It seems to me as if

620
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: the ACC outside of Miami is wide open. I don't

621
00:33:27,880 --> 00:33:30,000
Speaker 1: know who I'd even put it number two in that

622
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,640
Speaker 1: conference at this point, but as it stands right now, Miami,

623
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:35,959
Speaker 1: at least to me, looks like you could pencil them

624
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 1: in to the ACC title game, and in terms of

625
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:42,600
Speaker 1: high level winning, I don't know if it continues on

626
00:33:42,680 --> 00:33:45,680
Speaker 1: the playoff side of this, but they will, in my

627
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 1: opinion at least have an opportunity to contend again in

628
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 1: the college football Playoff. Based on what I'm seeing right.

629
00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,560
Speaker 2: Now, it's a tricky road slight just in terms of

630
00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:58,160
Speaker 2: what these teams could be if they also trend in

631
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:00,840
Speaker 2: the correct direction. At Wake Forest there should be a challenge,

632
00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 2: but Wake lost a couple of big names, but we'll

633
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,600
Speaker 2: see if the offense gets better. Clemson is overhauling a

634
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,600
Speaker 2: lot on both sides of the ball. At North Carolina

635
00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:11,200
Speaker 2: the week before at Notre Dame and after Pitt you'll

636
00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:13,959
Speaker 2: let down look ahead, Sandwich. I'm not telling you, Billy Edwards.

637
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:18,840
Speaker 2: North Carolina is scaring me up nights, but it's a

638
00:34:19,920 --> 00:34:22,800
Speaker 2: tricky seeming road slate. We have no idea what Virginia

639
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,840
Speaker 2: Tech's gonna look like with Ethan Grunkemeyer and James Franklin

640
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:29,160
Speaker 2: by the end of the season. But with how Miami

641
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:34,520
Speaker 2: has been building, it would take a pretty big effort

642
00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:36,879
Speaker 2: to not go at the very least ten and two

643
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:39,640
Speaker 2: you make one of your more difficult opponents weaker by

644
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,400
Speaker 2: taking their quarterback in the last second after the portal

645
00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:46,719
Speaker 2: closes in Duke and Darien Mensa. So it would be

646
00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:50,279
Speaker 2: a pretty shocker if this trend did not continue. I

647
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 2: don't know if they're making a national championship game, but

648
00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,799
Speaker 2: being in the conversation for winning this conference and being

649
00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,960
Speaker 2: a top six seven seed in the College Football Playoff,

650
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,840
Speaker 2: I think it's a reasonable trending expectation.

651
00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 1: I think so too. I would say bigger picture, it

652
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:11,680
Speaker 1: does feel like crystal Ball has gotten this program to

653
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:15,640
Speaker 1: some kind of critical mass. Yeah, and the conversation that

654
00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:17,719
Speaker 1: we had had in the past about Miami trying to

655
00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:21,279
Speaker 1: bring talent in and assemble and rebuild, it feels like

656
00:35:21,400 --> 00:35:23,520
Speaker 1: it has now gotten to a point where it is

657
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:25,719
Speaker 1: sort of recruiting to itself again like it used to,

658
00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 1: whether that's via the transfer portal or in the high

659
00:35:29,080 --> 00:35:29,600
Speaker 1: school ranks.

660
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:31,560
Speaker 2: I mean, he's always been a very gifted recruiter. So

661
00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:33,839
Speaker 2: it should come as no great surprise, but it took

662
00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:35,359
Speaker 2: a minute to get to this point.

663
00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:37,919
Speaker 1: Now. The fact that they made it to the national

664
00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:41,240
Speaker 1: championship game, albeit did not go to their own conference

665
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 1: championship game, but we can put that to the side.

666
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,000
Speaker 1: The fact that they are doing what they are doing now.

667
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 2: In a crystal ball and attracting this level of town

668
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:49,839
Speaker 2: I think is pretty exciting if you're a Miami fan.

669
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:52,760
Speaker 1: So I would expect the high level winning here to continue.

670
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 1: I think this is more of a trend. It's not just,

671
00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:56,840
Speaker 1: you know, a momentary blip.

672
00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:59,479
Speaker 2: By the way, if you had told me in twenty

673
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,839
Speaker 2: twenty one one that in twenty twenty six, I would

674
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,760
Speaker 2: say an interesting matchup might be Mario Christobal's team against

675
00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:11,080
Speaker 2: Bill Belichick's team, my brain would have turned into ntella tie.

676
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:15,960
Speaker 2: My brain would have completely split and collapsed on itself

677
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 2: into goo.

678
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:21,080
Speaker 1: So here we are. That's the reality in the ACC Dan,

679
00:36:21,280 --> 00:36:23,360
Speaker 1: I want you to give me the loadown on Oklahoma

680
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:27,440
Speaker 1: as a continuing SEC.

681
00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:34,040
Speaker 2: Slash college football playoff. Let's call it fixture. Okay, are

682
00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:35,320
Speaker 2: they mixture.

683
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:38,960
Speaker 1: As one of the contending teams in either of those two.

684
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:41,880
Speaker 2: I don't have a downward trend. I don't have an

685
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:46,759
Speaker 2: upward trend. I think they're I maybe plateauing, if that's

686
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,440
Speaker 2: an acceptable answer here. Because of the way that they

687
00:36:50,640 --> 00:36:53,400
Speaker 2: had to win last year. I think they did a

688
00:36:53,640 --> 00:36:56,600
Speaker 2: very good job addressing what needed to be addressed, and

689
00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:00,560
Speaker 2: that is filling out offensive skill talent, building more depth

690
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,320
Speaker 2: in talent along the offensive line. They made a change

691
00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:06,239
Speaker 2: Jason Witten's now there tight ends coach. They made have

692
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:09,919
Speaker 2: changed a couple assistant spots, but coordinators are the same.

693
00:37:12,600 --> 00:37:16,279
Speaker 2: I just there's so much more I need to see

694
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:20,680
Speaker 2: from the pop of this offense that. Yes, their schedule

695
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:23,520
Speaker 2: is interesting enough where there's new quarterbacks and new coaches

696
00:37:23,560 --> 00:37:28,680
Speaker 2: whatever on this schedule, and it starts in a pretty

697
00:37:28,719 --> 00:37:31,840
Speaker 2: tough way, we think, traveling to Michigan, traveling to Georgia

698
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:36,360
Speaker 2: in September. But they return enough on defense where you're like,

699
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:37,960
Speaker 2: this is one of the best three or four defenses

700
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,839
Speaker 2: in America. They return a ton of key pieces, even

701
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:43,279
Speaker 2: losing a couple of key pieces, but on all three

702
00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:47,200
Speaker 2: levels they are key guys back. The hits depth wise

703
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:49,520
Speaker 2: are what might concern me a little bit. You know,

704
00:37:49,560 --> 00:37:53,080
Speaker 2: they lose two key rotation pieces at linebacker. Our Mason

705
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,480
Speaker 2: Thomas is gone, so there is some star power gone.

706
00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:59,239
Speaker 2: The Bowen brothers are back where I feel good enough

707
00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:02,640
Speaker 2: about this defense doing enough to hold up their end

708
00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:05,600
Speaker 2: of the bargain as an SEC and college football playoff fixture.

709
00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,520
Speaker 2: But it's still to me that that question of can

710
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:13,400
Speaker 2: they build and execute on the level of like a

711
00:38:13,520 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 2: top forty offense, that to me is something where I'm

712
00:38:18,080 --> 00:38:20,920
Speaker 2: just like, I don't see them trending in an upward

713
00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:25,279
Speaker 2: direction until I get some answers in September. By the way, yeah,

714
00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:29,720
Speaker 2: does this not feel backwards to you? It still feels

715
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:30,360
Speaker 2: backwards if it.

716
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:34,319
Speaker 1: Feels backwards to me. Speaking to things that we got

717
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:39,400
Speaker 1: used to that have seemingly been upended in college football.

718
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 1: We used to have this conversation when Lincoln Riley was

719
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 1: a coach all the time, and the conversation was always, hey,

720
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:47,000
Speaker 1: if the defense can get twenty percent better, they might

721
00:38:47,040 --> 00:38:51,640
Speaker 1: win the national championship. It's completely flipped now, completely flipped.

722
00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,080
Speaker 1: If the offense can improve just to a marginal degree,

723
00:38:56,160 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 1: it's a completely different conversation. How about Oklahoma as a

724
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:04,200
Speaker 1: starting point, though having a beast defensive line, having a

725
00:39:04,280 --> 00:39:07,640
Speaker 1: good quarterback behind an offensive line with plenty of experience,

726
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,880
Speaker 1: having his primary weapon in Isaiah Setania coming back. That

727
00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,880
Speaker 1: is all a very very good start to ensure some

728
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:15,280
Speaker 1: base level of competence.

729
00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:18,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, they added Virginia's best receiver. There's a lot that

730
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,399
Speaker 2: they are proactively doing. They are, They've been very proactive. Yeah,

731
00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:25,480
Speaker 2: so I like what Venables has done. The schedule is

732
00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:28,400
Speaker 2: front loaded for Oklahoma this year, which might be.

733
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,360
Speaker 1: Good because they do return a fair amount of experience.

734
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 1: They do have a bit of an X sandwich though

735
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: in week three. I don't know if you saw that

736
00:39:35,280 --> 00:39:39,719
Speaker 1: I did. That's between a road game at Michigan, come

737
00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:41,840
Speaker 1: back home play New Mexico, then go back on the

738
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:44,520
Speaker 1: road the following week to square off against Georgia. That

739
00:39:44,600 --> 00:39:46,160
Speaker 1: could be an interesting game for us to take an

740
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,640
Speaker 1: ec and cheese. I like it, thank you. I like it.

741
00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:52,800
Speaker 1: We got options there, man, we got a lot of options.

742
00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:56,880
Speaker 1: But I think Oklahoma is a legit threat again, I

743
00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,800
Speaker 1: think because of the starting point with the line and

744
00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,560
Speaker 1: healthy quarterback, hopefully healthy quarterback this year, fully healthy in

745
00:40:03,680 --> 00:40:04,320
Speaker 1: John Matier.

746
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:06,680
Speaker 2: The schedule's just brutal, though, what did you call it

747
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:12,040
Speaker 2: on the last episode. We've got any sec schedule. Yeah, Yeah,

748
00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:13,799
Speaker 2: we've got a tough schedule here.

749
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:18,120
Speaker 1: But I think if it's gonna happen, and if we

750
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:21,640
Speaker 1: are going to continue talking about Oklahoma as a legit

751
00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:25,280
Speaker 1: contender on both fronts, whether it's conference or the playoff,

752
00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:28,480
Speaker 1: it goes without saying they got to get better as

753
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:32,200
Speaker 1: a run blocking unit. They got to get better. They

754
00:40:32,320 --> 00:40:34,920
Speaker 1: just weren't good at that last year. The offense cannot

755
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,840
Speaker 1: revolve entirely around John Matier, good as he is, it

756
00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:41,759
Speaker 1: can't rely entirely upon him drawing something up in the

757
00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:45,640
Speaker 1: dirt and making a play. So if they can get

758
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:50,440
Speaker 1: decent offensive production, let's call it twenty percent better offensive production,

759
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:55,680
Speaker 1: ten percent better offensive production next to what looks to

760
00:40:55,760 --> 00:40:58,239
Speaker 1: be an awesome defense. Again, they're in the playoff, but

761
00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,680
Speaker 1: if the offensive line struggles, then we're probably having the

762
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:03,799
Speaker 1: same conversation next year. Yeah.

763
00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:10,080
Speaker 2: And look, it's the SEC gauntlet, and with these huge conferences,

764
00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 2: with the schedules being as varied as they can be,

765
00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 2: that you're playing a bunch of teams that aren't super competitive,

766
00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:21,640
Speaker 2: or you're playing gauntlet of teams at or near the top,

767
00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:25,839
Speaker 2: that you combine that with the fact that rosters are

768
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:29,960
Speaker 2: changing as they are with what it's Kentucky and Florida

769
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 2: with new coaches, and then South Carolina trying to rebuild

770
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:36,760
Speaker 2: on the fly in Mississippi State making a quarterback change,

771
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:39,880
Speaker 2: obviously moving to Camaro Taylor, like there are always going

772
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:42,400
Speaker 2: to be on these major conference schedules, there are always

773
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,080
Speaker 2: going to be three to five swing teams that are

774
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:50,520
Speaker 2: either clearly better than they probably should be, clearly worse

775
00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,440
Speaker 2: than they probably should be, or just whifted in the

776
00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:56,440
Speaker 2: portal and don't have the talent to play more than

777
00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,279
Speaker 2: five or six games at a high level because they're

778
00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:02,320
Speaker 2: just having depth issues or whatever they can't sustain. So

779
00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:05,040
Speaker 2: we don't know how difficult any of these schedules are,

780
00:42:05,160 --> 00:42:10,160
Speaker 2: but it becomes especially dramatic in the Big Ten, the

781
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:11,680
Speaker 2: ACC and the SEC.

782
00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:16,800
Speaker 1: You mentioned Arizona earlier. Let's talk some Arizona, yes please.

783
00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:22,000
Speaker 1: Arizona improved from the eighty fourth best defense in the

784
00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,319
Speaker 1: SP plus all the way up to number twenty three.

785
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,080
Speaker 1: It was a huge jump and a very big deal

786
00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:34,400
Speaker 1: for Brent Brennan. They improved across a bunch of key categories.

787
00:42:34,480 --> 00:42:36,840
Speaker 1: It was points per game, passing yards per game, rushing

788
00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 1: yards per game, yards per passing attempt third down conversions

789
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:44,239
Speaker 1: was a big one, turnovers, you name it. Danny Gonzalez

790
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:47,960
Speaker 1: was promoted before the year to defensive coordinator. Danny Gonzalez

791
00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:50,040
Speaker 1: did a very very good job. It was a very

792
00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:54,640
Speaker 1: big deal, that enormous step forward that we saw defensively

793
00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:59,960
Speaker 1: this season. They lose a lot Dalton Johnson, Genesis Smith

794
00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:04,319
Speaker 1: with Trad and Stukes, Eiding Garns, Michael Dansby. Losing all

795
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,279
Speaker 1: of that production is a very, very big deal. It

796
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:11,840
Speaker 1: is a combined sixty seven hundred defensive snaps, two hundred

797
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:14,640
Speaker 1: and eighty eight tackles, thirty nine pass breakups, and twelve

798
00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:20,160
Speaker 1: interceptions all from the twenty twenty five roster that's in selot. Yeah,

799
00:43:20,520 --> 00:43:24,359
Speaker 1: that's a lot. I would say though, as I look

800
00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:29,520
Speaker 1: at this structurally, it looks like there is like a

801
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:38,200
Speaker 1: sustainable core in place, at least philosophy in place. They've

802
00:43:38,239 --> 00:43:41,600
Speaker 1: got a really good linebacking core that is again coming back.

803
00:43:41,680 --> 00:43:45,520
Speaker 1: Tay Brown, Chase Kennedy, Jabari Man. I like those three

804
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:49,399
Speaker 1: guys a lot. Arizona might have one of the most,

805
00:43:49,480 --> 00:43:53,000
Speaker 1: if not the most experienced linebacking cores and all the

806
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,160
Speaker 1: big twelve. That's a good starting point in the great

807
00:43:55,400 --> 00:43:58,720
Speaker 1: Art defense. I also think it's notable that the schedule

808
00:43:58,800 --> 00:44:01,680
Speaker 1: this year is going to be backed So if we're

809
00:44:01,719 --> 00:44:04,400
Speaker 1: talking about this in terms of the secondary and all

810
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,839
Speaker 1: that is leaving the secondary, brought a bunch of new

811
00:44:07,880 --> 00:44:12,360
Speaker 1: guys in a backloaded schedule, gives you an opportunity to

812
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:14,960
Speaker 1: figure things out before the rubber really meets the road.

813
00:44:16,239 --> 00:44:19,319
Speaker 1: So I think given the fact that there is now

814
00:44:19,640 --> 00:44:22,480
Speaker 1: a stronger coaching situation on the defensive side of the ball,

815
00:44:23,560 --> 00:44:25,719
Speaker 1: this gives them a chance to congeal and figure it

816
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:27,720
Speaker 1: all out before they really get into the nitty gritty.

817
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:28,320
Speaker 1: I like that.

818
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:32,880
Speaker 2: I think the defense is probably taking a bit of

819
00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 2: a step back, but I still think those dudes are

820
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:36,920
Speaker 2: NFL dudes at safety.

821
00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,640
Speaker 1: Johnson, Yeah, all NFL dudes, great secondary. It is fair

822
00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:43,160
Speaker 1: to assume that there's going to be a step back,

823
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,120
Speaker 1: at least in the back end of that defense. But

824
00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:47,759
Speaker 1: I still think the defense is going to be good.

825
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:50,560
Speaker 1: Like on a fundamental level, they got really good at

826
00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:53,360
Speaker 1: tackling last year, much better than they were the year before.

827
00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,840
Speaker 1: If that's your starting point, if you're fundamentally sound, I

828
00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:00,279
Speaker 1: think again we can assume a base level of excess

829
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 1: with this defense. So it's not gonna be as good,

830
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:06,880
Speaker 1: but it still will be fine. It's just gonna look different.

831
00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:09,680
Speaker 1: You got less experience in the back, You've got more

832
00:45:09,719 --> 00:45:12,320
Speaker 1: of a threat with your linebacking core. And I just

833
00:45:12,400 --> 00:45:15,520
Speaker 1: think the story of Arizona is one of a coach

834
00:45:15,640 --> 00:45:18,719
Speaker 1: figuring it out in year two. Okay, figured it out

835
00:45:18,719 --> 00:45:21,200
Speaker 1: in year two. And so there's a lot coming back

836
00:45:21,239 --> 00:45:23,359
Speaker 1: on offense that we can speak to if we want.

837
00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:26,440
Speaker 1: But if this is more of a conversation about the

838
00:45:26,560 --> 00:45:29,960
Speaker 1: Arizona defense and the trend line on that side of

839
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:32,480
Speaker 1: the ball, I think it sort of flattens out. But

840
00:45:32,560 --> 00:45:34,719
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna nose dive. I don't think

841
00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:36,839
Speaker 1: we're gonna see year one, Brent Brennan. I don't think

842
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:39,000
Speaker 1: we're gonna see year two. I think this is somewhere

843
00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:40,640
Speaker 1: in the middle. Okay.

844
00:45:40,719 --> 00:45:44,960
Speaker 2: So a plateau ish ish, yeah, a plateau ish yeah.

845
00:45:45,040 --> 00:45:46,799
Speaker 2: And the big thing last year and we were sort

846
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:48,719
Speaker 2: of locking in on the defense because that's what led

847
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:50,640
Speaker 2: the way last year. But the defense wasn't put in

848
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:53,919
Speaker 2: any bad positions or as many bad positions because Noah

849
00:45:53,960 --> 00:45:56,319
Speaker 2: Fafiita was a lot more careful with the ball last year.

850
00:45:56,719 --> 00:45:58,680
Speaker 2: So it's twelve picks and twenty twenty four of only

851
00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:01,400
Speaker 2: five picks last year. So they weren't dealing with short fields,

852
00:46:01,640 --> 00:46:04,120
Speaker 2: they weren't dealing with the barrage of turnovers that they

853
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:08,080
Speaker 2: were in twenty twenty four. And so you know, Seth

854
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:09,880
Speaker 2: Thagi's back running the offense.

855
00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:10,400
Speaker 1: I believe.

856
00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:13,960
Speaker 2: So there is continuity on both sides of the ball

857
00:46:14,680 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 2: that back half of the schedule. If those teams are

858
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:19,439
Speaker 2: all at least competitive, and it's a tough back, that's

859
00:46:19,520 --> 00:46:21,759
Speaker 2: the problem. He should be a ball team though they

860
00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:22,640
Speaker 2: should again be a bolt.

861
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:25,480
Speaker 1: They should. And by the way, as we're talking through

862
00:46:25,719 --> 00:46:29,960
Speaker 1: each of these teams, note we're not talking about Arizona

863
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:34,279
Speaker 1: as necessarily a contender. Talked about that with Oklahoma and

864
00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:37,160
Speaker 1: talked about that with Miami. That is not the trend

865
00:46:37,200 --> 00:46:40,240
Speaker 1: we are analyzing here. We're looking specifically at the defense

866
00:46:40,280 --> 00:46:41,840
Speaker 1: and the games that we saw on that side of

867
00:46:41,880 --> 00:46:45,920
Speaker 1: the ball. So I think the Arizona story bigger picture

868
00:46:46,000 --> 00:46:48,080
Speaker 1: is a great one for Brent Brennan and what he

869
00:46:48,160 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 1: figured out in year two, and it definitely felt like

870
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:58,239
Speaker 1: a lot clicked, but defensively TBD dive. I don't think

871
00:46:58,239 --> 00:46:59,560
Speaker 1: we're going to see up into the right. We're not

872
00:46:59,560 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 1: gonna see like a big old hockey stick on the

873
00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:04,920
Speaker 1: line graft. But somewhere in between is where this defense

874
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:06,120
Speaker 1: is going to be in twenty six.

875
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:09,800
Speaker 2: I would say trending danger. The danger trend continues for

876
00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:10,840
Speaker 2: the Arizona defense.

877
00:47:11,920 --> 00:47:14,960
Speaker 1: Uh guine something on Virginia.

878
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:21,040
Speaker 2: Okay, Virginia is super interesting because with a good chunk

879
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:24,040
Speaker 2: of changes, but some back on this roster. Obviously, they

880
00:47:24,239 --> 00:47:27,160
Speaker 2: hit the portal pretty hard after the twenty twenty four season,

881
00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:31,480
Speaker 2: especially succeeding on defense, but Chanmo was pretty good at

882
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:35,319
Speaker 2: quarterback last year led them to the ACC Championship game,

883
00:47:35,440 --> 00:47:37,600
Speaker 2: which they were in until the very end and had

884
00:47:37,640 --> 00:47:39,920
Speaker 2: a chance to win the conference in a huge back

885
00:47:40,040 --> 00:47:43,239
Speaker 2: bounce back moment. They were my team that I was

886
00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:47,399
Speaker 2: looking at skeptically, but they returned just enough on both

887
00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:52,000
Speaker 2: sides of the ball. Hit the portal and their schedule again,

888
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,600
Speaker 2: we don't know the swings and the spectrum of this schedule,

889
00:47:56,480 --> 00:48:00,960
Speaker 2: but they miss a bunch of the perceive good teams

890
00:48:01,120 --> 00:48:04,880
Speaker 2: once again in the ACC. When you look at who

891
00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:08,080
Speaker 2: they don't play, notably, you know they miss pitt. I

892
00:48:08,200 --> 00:48:11,160
Speaker 2: believe in Louisville and Miami. They don't make a west

893
00:48:11,200 --> 00:48:13,680
Speaker 2: coast trip, so that doesn't screw things up from a

894
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:15,799
Speaker 2: travel standpoint for a couple of weeks. They do travel

895
00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:19,000
Speaker 2: to SMU, which will be tough. They have like one

896
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:23,480
Speaker 2: of the no question, yeah no Clemson on here. They

897
00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:26,840
Speaker 2: have one of the weirder quarterback rooms in that they

898
00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:30,920
Speaker 2: brought over both Eli Holstein and Bo Pribula. Correct So

899
00:48:31,239 --> 00:48:34,399
Speaker 2: in terms of guys with high hopes who didn't work

900
00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:39,120
Speaker 2: out at big places, they've cornered the market by having.

901
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:39,719
Speaker 1: Two of them.

902
00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:44,120
Speaker 2: They got to come in this season, so Bo Prabula

903
00:48:44,200 --> 00:48:46,839
Speaker 2: threw a bunch of picks. Eli Holstein was inconsistent enough

904
00:48:46,880 --> 00:48:51,040
Speaker 2: that he lost his job to Mason Heinschel into the season.

905
00:48:52,280 --> 00:48:55,279
Speaker 2: So that to me is the interesting question. It's just like,

906
00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,520
Speaker 2: do they have a quarterback I'm excited about. I'm not

907
00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:03,200
Speaker 2: there yet, and so that's the problem to me that

908
00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:06,520
Speaker 2: you couple that with some of the really close, weird

909
00:49:06,600 --> 00:49:10,960
Speaker 2: wins from last year by single digits, like low single digits,

910
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:14,960
Speaker 2: That to me has me questioning if this is replicable.

911
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:20,160
Speaker 2: I'm going to say because of the seemingly upside ish

912
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:23,759
Speaker 2: ski part of this schedule. I'm gonna say, yes, I

913
00:49:23,880 --> 00:49:27,439
Speaker 2: can't go beyond plateau. I can't look at this roster

914
00:49:27,520 --> 00:49:29,640
Speaker 2: and immediately say they're going to have more pop.

915
00:49:30,360 --> 00:49:31,520
Speaker 1: I can't immediately do that.

916
00:49:32,040 --> 00:49:34,279
Speaker 2: I'm going to say it's likely that they take a

917
00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:38,560
Speaker 2: step back, though I could see them at least plateauing

918
00:49:38,840 --> 00:49:42,279
Speaker 2: and ending up in that late season. What was what's

919
00:49:42,320 --> 00:49:45,719
Speaker 2: the website that has all the tiebreaker situations that you

920
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:46,520
Speaker 2: would follow.

921
00:49:46,760 --> 00:49:50,480
Speaker 1: Some basketball reference, right? Not nothing dot net? Yeah?

922
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:54,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, there is not nothing dot net that they're weirdly like,

923
00:49:54,560 --> 00:49:56,279
Speaker 2: oh yeah, they just need these two teams to lose

924
00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,800
Speaker 2: in the a SEC Championship game. And it's a proposition

925
00:50:00,120 --> 00:50:03,839
Speaker 2: hadn't considered at all. So yes, I could see them there.

926
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:07,120
Speaker 2: But I could also see like, oh god, tie, I

927
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:09,880
Speaker 2: apologize in advance. I could see a bow Plateau, a

928
00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:14,600
Speaker 2: bow for this virginal Well, look, I mean, Virginia is

929
00:50:14,680 --> 00:50:18,520
Speaker 2: interesting for a whole range of reasons. The schedule is

930
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:24,439
Speaker 2: very gettable. It's very gettable, and there are a fair

931
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:28,279
Speaker 2: amount of good pieces that I see on this roster.

932
00:50:29,440 --> 00:50:31,680
Speaker 2: They're just very reliant on a lot of the new

933
00:50:31,719 --> 00:50:36,400
Speaker 2: pieces coming together, very reliant. I mean, they're gettable in

934
00:50:36,440 --> 00:50:38,320
Speaker 2: the secondary I'm not sure about the past rush. I

935
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:40,680
Speaker 2: could talk specifically about questions, but that's not really what

936
00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 2: we're doing here. We're talking about Virginia as a contender. Yeah,

937
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:46,719
Speaker 2: I think by virtue of the schedule and given the

938
00:50:46,800 --> 00:50:48,800
Speaker 2: fact that there's at least enough in place here that

939
00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:51,440
Speaker 2: I feel pretty good about it, I don't think we

940
00:50:52,080 --> 00:50:55,000
Speaker 2: can sit here and say they're not a contender. But

941
00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:56,759
Speaker 2: I also look at this roster and I say I

942
00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:58,760
Speaker 2: don't necessarily think they're better.

943
00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:02,600
Speaker 1: Right where that puts them. I don't know. I'm inclined

944
00:51:02,600 --> 00:51:06,080
Speaker 1: to say no on the contender front because I just

945
00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:09,400
Speaker 1: have more questions than I do answers about what it's

946
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:11,480
Speaker 1: going to look like. When Tony Elliott tries to piece

947
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:14,759
Speaker 1: all this together on the fly, just feels like it's it.

948
00:51:15,400 --> 00:51:18,040
Speaker 1: What we saw with Chandler Morris a year ago was

949
00:51:18,160 --> 00:51:20,200
Speaker 1: fundamentally different than what we're going to see this year

950
00:51:20,640 --> 00:51:23,480
Speaker 1: with some combination of Bo Pribula and Eli Holstein, two

951
00:51:23,520 --> 00:51:25,319
Speaker 1: guys by the way that I like a lot. I'm

952
00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:27,160
Speaker 1: just not sure how that all fits together, and I'm

953
00:51:27,160 --> 00:51:28,960
Speaker 1: not sure with you au guess around them books it's

954
00:51:29,360 --> 00:51:31,960
Speaker 1: I have too many questions at this point to subscribe

955
00:51:32,000 --> 00:51:32,160
Speaker 1: to this.

956
00:51:33,160 --> 00:51:37,360
Speaker 2: I'm going to say, I think you like your memories

957
00:51:37,640 --> 00:51:40,800
Speaker 2: of Bo Pribula and Eli Holstein. If I were to

958
00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:43,520
Speaker 2: tell you either one of these after last season we're

959
00:51:43,560 --> 00:51:46,680
Speaker 2: starting for Notre Dame, I think your tune might sound

960
00:51:46,680 --> 00:51:51,520
Speaker 2: a little different. Uh yeah, okay the other verifying Yeah,

961
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:55,400
Speaker 2: that's fair. Yeah, because I I think if you were

962
00:51:55,440 --> 00:51:57,720
Speaker 2: to pull a bunch of Pitt and Maszoo fans about

963
00:51:57,840 --> 00:52:01,279
Speaker 2: their experience from last season, they'd be like excited to

964
00:52:01,320 --> 00:52:04,400
Speaker 2: see what Austin Simmons and Mason Heidschell bring to the

965
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:08,320
Speaker 2: table this year. So okay, what am I talking or

966
00:52:08,360 --> 00:52:11,200
Speaker 2: what are you talking here? Texas A and m oh

967
00:52:11,360 --> 00:52:12,920
Speaker 2: I like Texas A and m going to be a

968
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:18,919
Speaker 2: contender again, I say yes, But I didn't dip into

969
00:52:19,000 --> 00:52:19,400
Speaker 2: them like you.

970
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:25,239
Speaker 1: Oh I dipped in more than just to tell this

971
00:52:25,480 --> 00:52:30,279
Speaker 1: roster is stocked. Okay, okay, offensively, there's enough back at

972
00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:32,880
Speaker 1: the skill positions. The line's not going to be as

973
00:52:32,920 --> 00:52:35,480
Speaker 1: good last year. That was the big talking point coming

974
00:52:35,520 --> 00:52:37,360
Speaker 1: to the year. I don't think they're going to be

975
00:52:37,400 --> 00:52:40,560
Speaker 1: as good. They're gonna be doing some work with the

976
00:52:40,600 --> 00:52:43,040
Speaker 1: guys that they brought in via the transfer portal. It's

977
00:52:43,080 --> 00:52:45,680
Speaker 1: not not talented. I just feel like we had a

978
00:52:45,719 --> 00:52:47,520
Speaker 1: better starting point last year. We knew what we were

979
00:52:47,560 --> 00:52:49,960
Speaker 1: in for. But they lose what is it like three

980
00:52:50,160 --> 00:52:52,680
Speaker 1: All American starters while on the offensive line to the draft,

981
00:52:53,040 --> 00:52:56,120
Speaker 1: they're going to be rebuilding a little bit upfront, albeit

982
00:52:56,200 --> 00:52:59,520
Speaker 1: with guys who had experience elsewhere. Yeah. Also of note,

983
00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:02,920
Speaker 1: both there's starting tackles are gone. Cash Is Howl, their

984
00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:06,680
Speaker 1: premium pass rusher is off to the NFL as well.

985
00:53:06,719 --> 00:53:08,279
Speaker 1: Looks like he's going to be a first round pick.

986
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:12,239
Speaker 1: Pretty big void for me. On the edge, they lose

987
00:53:12,320 --> 00:53:15,120
Speaker 1: Casey concepts you on out of that receiver room. They

988
00:53:15,160 --> 00:53:18,520
Speaker 1: also lose Colin Kline J Bateman. There's just a lot

989
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:22,759
Speaker 1: that is changing for this Texas A and M roster

990
00:53:23,040 --> 00:53:26,600
Speaker 1: and coaching staff. Yeah, there are a lot of ifs here,

991
00:53:27,960 --> 00:53:31,279
Speaker 1: and so I am inclined to say no. On the

992
00:53:31,320 --> 00:53:34,760
Speaker 1: contender front, I don't think they're a contender for the SEC.

993
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:38,600
Speaker 1: I don't think they're a contender for the College Football Playoff,

994
00:53:39,719 --> 00:53:44,960
Speaker 1: mainly because lots walking out the door and this schedule

995
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:49,200
Speaker 1: is freaking absurd. You want to use the gauntlet word again?

996
00:53:49,440 --> 00:53:50,560
Speaker 1: Can you say that for me?

997
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:56,200
Speaker 2: Gauntlet, but it's especially instructive because last year's was look

998
00:53:56,280 --> 00:53:59,000
Speaker 2: the two things being true at once, I think holds

999
00:53:59,200 --> 00:54:01,640
Speaker 2: it's last year's Texas A and MPTEAM was good.

1000
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:02,719
Speaker 1: Was definitely good.

1001
00:54:03,440 --> 00:54:06,879
Speaker 2: Also, they didn't play the best of the SEC by

1002
00:54:06,960 --> 00:54:09,440
Speaker 2: and large until they played Texas late in the year.

1003
00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:13,040
Speaker 1: Basically, I'm going to read this off in totality, Okay,

1004
00:54:13,800 --> 00:54:20,200
Speaker 1: I want people to comprehend this. Missouri State to open

1005
00:54:20,280 --> 00:54:24,520
Speaker 1: up the year. Whatever. Okay, Arizona State Week two at home,

1006
00:54:25,920 --> 00:54:29,600
Speaker 1: Kentucky at home. Week three on the road at LSU,

1007
00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:34,600
Speaker 1: Week four home against Arkansas at MISSOO, the following week

1008
00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:39,480
Speaker 1: game against the Citadel in there, whatever, on the road

1009
00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:42,160
Speaker 1: in Tuscaloosa against Alabama before a bye week, and then

1010
00:54:42,239 --> 00:54:46,400
Speaker 1: to close out the year at South Carolina home against

1011
00:54:46,440 --> 00:54:51,239
Speaker 1: Tennessee at Oklahoma home against Texas. That is your month

1012
00:54:51,280 --> 00:54:54,600
Speaker 1: of November. This to me does look like a gauntlet,

1013
00:54:55,320 --> 00:54:57,719
Speaker 1: And this to me does look like it's going to

1014
00:54:57,760 --> 00:55:01,080
Speaker 1: be very, very difficult to get to ten and two,

1015
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:03,560
Speaker 1: which I think is sort of where you need to

1016
00:55:03,600 --> 00:55:06,840
Speaker 1: get to in the twelve team field to be considered

1017
00:55:06,960 --> 00:55:12,680
Speaker 1: logistically or realistically and logistically a true playoff contender. I

1018
00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:14,759
Speaker 1: don't see it with the schedule, and I don't see

1019
00:55:14,760 --> 00:55:16,319
Speaker 1: it with some of the pieces that are walking out

1020
00:55:16,360 --> 00:55:18,520
Speaker 1: the door. I like Texas saying him a lot. I

1021
00:55:18,600 --> 00:55:20,080
Speaker 1: had A and M in my playoff a year ago

1022
00:55:20,120 --> 00:55:22,799
Speaker 1: when we did the preseason thing, so I'm not rooting

1023
00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:26,600
Speaker 1: against A and M. I don't see it based on

1024
00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:27,600
Speaker 1: the schedule. I don't see it.

1025
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,759
Speaker 2: So the counterpoint is that I think you and I

1026
00:55:31,200 --> 00:55:33,680
Speaker 2: have an immense amount of respect for the coaching ability

1027
00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:38,520
Speaker 2: of Mike Elco. I do so perhaps overachieve given opponent,

1028
00:55:38,719 --> 00:55:42,920
Speaker 2: given roster, given depth, and has as good a roster

1029
00:55:43,120 --> 00:55:45,279
Speaker 2: foundation at Texas A and M as he's had in

1030
00:55:45,360 --> 00:55:49,759
Speaker 2: his career. There is also until Halloween. When you look

1031
00:55:49,760 --> 00:55:52,920
Speaker 2: at this schedule, here's the counterpoint, Because nobody knows anything

1032
00:55:52,960 --> 00:55:55,520
Speaker 2: about any of these teams. This is just a vibe check.

1033
00:55:55,800 --> 00:55:58,640
Speaker 2: This is just us setting hype narrative for the season.

1034
00:55:58,760 --> 00:55:58,960
Speaker 1: Tie.

1035
00:56:00,320 --> 00:56:03,520
Speaker 2: I see a bunch of teams until their bye week

1036
00:56:03,560 --> 00:56:07,560
Speaker 2: Halloween October thirty first, those marking that down A bunch

1037
00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:10,640
Speaker 2: of teams that either have a new head coach, a

1038
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:15,839
Speaker 2: new starting quarterback or both until Halloween. Correct ASU new

1039
00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:21,640
Speaker 2: quarterback Kentucky knew both, LSU knew both, Arkansas knew both.

1040
00:56:21,719 --> 00:56:25,440
Speaker 2: I believe Miszoo new starting quarterback, Alabama new starting quarterback.

1041
00:56:25,480 --> 00:56:27,759
Speaker 2: Obviously they're not going to be new once they're a

1042
00:56:27,840 --> 00:56:30,319
Speaker 2: few weeks into the season, but in terms of an

1043
00:56:30,440 --> 00:56:33,920
Speaker 2: unknown quantity, no, it's fair, and how we praise everything

1044
00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:39,400
Speaker 2: right now, it's at least interesting to me. And I

1045
00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:41,560
Speaker 2: understand where you're coming from from A and M though,

1046
00:56:41,719 --> 00:56:43,960
Speaker 2: just because there are only so many spots to be

1047
00:56:44,040 --> 00:56:46,480
Speaker 2: in contention for this conference and to be in contention

1048
00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:48,680
Speaker 2: for the college Football Playoff when the conference is this big.

1049
00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:53,640
Speaker 2: So yeah, this is the Universe bouncing back, likely after

1050
00:56:53,760 --> 00:56:54,600
Speaker 2: last year's schedule.

1051
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:58,000
Speaker 1: And I my issue with this, and I really struggled

1052
00:56:58,000 --> 00:57:00,680
Speaker 1: to this because I like this team, like the talent

1053
00:57:00,760 --> 00:57:04,000
Speaker 1: on hand. It is I would say easily one of

1054
00:57:04,040 --> 00:57:07,200
Speaker 1: the top five most talented rosters in college football.

1055
00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:10,439
Speaker 2: They've got a ton of talent on this team. I'd

1056
00:57:10,440 --> 00:57:12,719
Speaker 2: say top eight, nine to ten somewhere there. I put

1057
00:57:12,760 --> 00:57:15,160
Speaker 2: them top five. Okay, we can talk about that later,

1058
00:57:15,239 --> 00:57:20,680
Speaker 2: but I either way, either way, they're in that conversation,

1059
00:57:21,280 --> 00:57:22,959
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of ammal on this roster.

1060
00:57:23,600 --> 00:57:26,320
Speaker 1: But I just I look at what's leaving. I look

1061
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:28,840
Speaker 1: at what's on the schedule. It just feels to me

1062
00:57:28,960 --> 00:57:30,960
Speaker 1: like a lot has to come together pretty quickly in

1063
00:57:31,120 --> 00:57:34,000
Speaker 1: order to feel this good about A and M getting

1064
00:57:34,040 --> 00:57:36,400
Speaker 1: back to where they were. Never mind the fact that

1065
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:39,240
Speaker 1: Marcel Reid, although he had most of the offensive stats

1066
00:57:40,160 --> 00:57:42,880
Speaker 1: in both of A and M's final games against Texas

1067
00:57:42,920 --> 00:57:47,360
Speaker 1: and then Miami, four picks like, just if you're an

1068
00:57:47,400 --> 00:57:49,440
Speaker 1: A and M fan, they definitely sort of went out

1069
00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:49,960
Speaker 1: with a whimper.

1070
00:57:51,360 --> 00:57:54,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, I mean the game against Miami, the

1071
00:57:54,040 --> 00:57:57,080
Speaker 2: game against Texas does not leave anybody does inspired.

1072
00:57:57,200 --> 00:57:59,440
Speaker 1: It doesn't leave you feel all uninspired. So I'm I

1073
00:57:59,480 --> 00:58:01,560
Speaker 1: think I'm out for those reasons. I am out for

1074
00:58:01,760 --> 00:58:04,440
Speaker 1: those reasons you are out? Okay? Should I?

1075
00:58:04,560 --> 00:58:06,840
Speaker 2: I finish up with if we're going to talk Oklahoma,

1076
00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:08,680
Speaker 2: got to talk USC.

1077
00:58:08,640 --> 00:58:14,760
Speaker 1: That Lincoln Riley thread across all college football. Man. So

1078
00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:17,920
Speaker 1: the question here is you sent this to me. USC

1079
00:58:18,080 --> 00:58:19,280
Speaker 1: winning double digit games.

1080
00:58:19,760 --> 00:58:21,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be the trend, because I think they've

1081
00:58:21,760 --> 00:58:23,760
Speaker 2: won seven and nine these past couple of years.

1082
00:58:24,200 --> 00:58:29,600
Speaker 1: So in Lincoln's first year with USC, they won eleven

1083
00:58:30,400 --> 00:58:32,360
Speaker 1: mm hmm. Then they took a step back to eight

1084
00:58:33,120 --> 00:58:36,479
Speaker 1: and they won seven. This past year they won nine.

1085
00:58:36,920 --> 00:58:39,880
Speaker 1: So if they continue in that direction as we saw

1086
00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:44,160
Speaker 1: the last two years, yes, then that would seemingly mean

1087
00:58:44,160 --> 00:58:45,840
Speaker 1: they're going to get back to ten this year.

1088
00:58:45,920 --> 00:58:48,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, back to where they have already proven they can

1089
00:58:48,680 --> 00:58:52,840
Speaker 2: be with Lincoln Riley and at least a Heisman quarterback,

1090
00:58:52,840 --> 00:58:55,000
Speaker 2: which I guess Jade Mayava is on that shortlist.

1091
00:58:55,040 --> 00:58:58,400
Speaker 1: Conversation, I think he should be. I think he should be.

1092
00:58:58,480 --> 00:59:01,240
Speaker 1: I think he had a good year he did. I

1093
00:59:01,320 --> 00:59:05,680
Speaker 1: think he's crazy talented. My question, though, is ky Lemon

1094
00:59:05,760 --> 00:59:12,760
Speaker 1: Jacobe Lane gone. Yeah, real questions about the interior offensive line. Defensively,

1095
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:15,720
Speaker 1: a lot of talent, but new coordinator Dan Lane goes

1096
00:59:15,760 --> 00:59:18,320
Speaker 1: to Penn State. They're bringing back Gary Patterson, digging him up,

1097
00:59:19,240 --> 00:59:23,840
Speaker 1: putting him in the position of defensive coordinator. Obviously you

1098
00:59:23,880 --> 00:59:26,960
Speaker 1: didn't like that, No, I mean it's just very dark. Continue, Well,

1099
00:59:27,000 --> 00:59:29,840
Speaker 1: it's been a minute, scary Patterson like exhuoming him. Yeah,

1100
00:59:31,640 --> 00:59:35,160
Speaker 1: he's back. Gary Patterson's gonna be coach. Sure, so how

1101
00:59:35,200 --> 00:59:38,440
Speaker 1: does he assemble that talent? The schedule on top of

1102
00:59:38,520 --> 00:59:41,120
Speaker 1: everything is ridiculous. Great home slate if you're a USC

1103
00:59:42,040 --> 00:59:45,920
Speaker 1: Yeah s he's a ticket holder. Ticket holder, But tough schedule,

1104
00:59:46,280 --> 00:59:47,120
Speaker 1: really tough schedule.

1105
00:59:47,960 --> 00:59:51,520
Speaker 2: So I'm I am not necessarily subscribing to this being

1106
00:59:51,520 --> 00:59:52,840
Speaker 2: the year they get to like ten and two.

1107
00:59:53,440 --> 00:59:54,040
Speaker 1: I don't see it.

1108
00:59:55,360 --> 00:59:57,280
Speaker 2: So a ton has to go, right. I don't think

1109
00:59:57,320 --> 01:00:00,200
Speaker 2: it's out of the question, but we should add in

1110
01:00:00,320 --> 01:00:04,000
Speaker 2: terms of pure numbers, USC ran away from Notre Dame,

1111
01:00:05,480 --> 01:00:08,800
Speaker 2: which annually had been one of the most difficult two

1112
01:00:08,880 --> 01:00:10,680
Speaker 2: or three games on their schedule.

1113
01:00:11,480 --> 01:00:14,160
Speaker 1: Usually, kep, let me pause you for a second. Please, do.

1114
01:00:16,080 --> 01:00:19,040
Speaker 2: I understand I'm supposed to be outraged about this. Yeah,

1115
01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:23,320
Speaker 2: I understand. I understand that I am supposed to look

1116
01:00:23,360 --> 01:00:26,600
Speaker 2: at this and more in the loss of a great

1117
01:00:26,640 --> 01:00:28,560
Speaker 2: college football rivalry. I'm not not doing that.

1118
01:00:28,800 --> 01:00:30,880
Speaker 1: I missed. I'm going to miss this game. Here comes

1119
01:00:30,920 --> 01:00:34,080
Speaker 1: the butt. There is a butt. Yeah, Ty loves a

1120
01:00:34,120 --> 01:00:38,560
Speaker 1: good butt. Continue. I look at the schedule and I

1121
01:00:38,600 --> 01:00:41,440
Speaker 1: say to myself, I get I totally get it. If

1122
01:00:41,480 --> 01:00:43,640
Speaker 1: your goal is to try and get to the college

1123
01:00:43,640 --> 01:00:46,640
Speaker 1: football playoff, yeah, this is a tough schedule. It's a

1124
01:00:46,720 --> 01:00:51,040
Speaker 1: really tough schedule. So I'm not necessarily cheerleading the move

1125
01:00:51,200 --> 01:00:53,280
Speaker 1: to get rid of the rivalry, but at least within

1126
01:00:53,400 --> 01:00:57,280
Speaker 1: the like immediate context of the twenty twenty six season,

1127
01:00:57,360 --> 01:00:59,440
Speaker 1: I look at the schedule and I'm like, this thing's ridiculous.

1128
01:01:00,080 --> 01:01:03,000
Speaker 1: They don't need Notre Dame on this to validate anything.

1129
01:01:03,240 --> 01:01:05,800
Speaker 1: It is a tough schedule. That's just the draw they

1130
01:01:05,840 --> 01:01:09,160
Speaker 1: got this year at the Big Ten. But I get

1131
01:01:09,240 --> 01:01:10,680
Speaker 1: not wanting to play the Irish this year.

1132
01:01:11,920 --> 01:01:17,040
Speaker 2: But also USC invested in a new general manager and

1133
01:01:17,320 --> 01:01:21,360
Speaker 2: delivered a top recruiting class this year. They're recruiting like

1134
01:01:21,400 --> 01:01:23,120
Speaker 2: they want to be. They want to be one of

1135
01:01:23,160 --> 01:01:25,880
Speaker 2: college football's best. And a number of teams in college

1136
01:01:25,920 --> 01:01:29,439
Speaker 2: football play annual tough opponents in the non conference portion

1137
01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:32,200
Speaker 2: of the schedule. Clemson annually had to go through South

1138
01:01:32,240 --> 01:01:34,479
Speaker 2: Carolina and vice versa, Florida Florida State.

1139
01:01:34,640 --> 01:01:35,840
Speaker 1: Like, we see this thing.

1140
01:01:35,880 --> 01:01:38,120
Speaker 2: You know, Georgia Georgia Tech isn't always the best matchup,

1141
01:01:38,160 --> 01:01:40,400
Speaker 2: but lately it has been very challenging for Georgia.

1142
01:01:41,080 --> 01:01:43,680
Speaker 1: I get that. I'm just saying, if they go through this,

1143
01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:47,919
Speaker 1: what's the word god lose? You know, that's only SEC,

1144
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:50,600
Speaker 1: that's only SEC. What do we call it the Big Ten?

1145
01:01:51,520 --> 01:01:53,800
Speaker 1: I don't know. It's a more humble conference tie that

1146
01:01:53,960 --> 01:01:56,760
Speaker 1: just takes it week to week. Continue if they make

1147
01:01:56,840 --> 01:02:01,520
Speaker 1: it through this, totally separate from whoever they play in

1148
01:02:01,560 --> 01:02:03,720
Speaker 1: the non conference. They're still waiting to announce who they're

1149
01:02:03,720 --> 01:02:07,200
Speaker 1: playing week one, by the way, if they is, what's that?

1150
01:02:07,680 --> 01:02:10,760
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, week the August game? Yeah, to be announced.

1151
01:02:11,960 --> 01:02:16,280
Speaker 1: If we make it through this, If we're USC, you

1152
01:02:16,360 --> 01:02:19,320
Speaker 1: don't need the non conference doesn't mean anything, because there's

1153
01:02:19,440 --> 01:02:22,040
Speaker 1: enough here on this schedule as is right now, right.

1154
01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:28,760
Speaker 2: As of one hour ago, it says USC has a

1155
01:02:28,840 --> 01:02:32,600
Speaker 2: new option with a new kid on the block, North

1156
01:02:32,680 --> 01:02:39,160
Speaker 2: Dakota State. That'd be fun, actually, So yeah, Fresno State,

1157
01:02:39,240 --> 01:02:43,200
Speaker 2: Louisiana and Rutgers on the road in Piscataway. Before you

1158
01:02:43,360 --> 01:02:46,760
Speaker 2: mentioned the meat of this schedule, Oregon Washington at Penn State.

1159
01:02:47,080 --> 01:02:49,440
Speaker 2: So it's Oregon Washington before traveling across the country to

1160
01:02:49,520 --> 01:02:52,840
Speaker 2: take on now former defensive coordinator Danton Lynn and Penn

1161
01:02:52,880 --> 01:02:56,280
Speaker 2: State running their defense a bye week before they're at Wisconsin,

1162
01:02:56,440 --> 01:03:00,680
Speaker 2: and then Ohio State a bye week before they're at Indiana,

1163
01:03:00,960 --> 01:03:03,560
Speaker 2: and then it finishes presumably a little bit easier with

1164
01:03:03,640 --> 01:03:10,520
Speaker 2: Maryland UCLA just up the road. I think USC is

1165
01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:14,360
Speaker 2: likely peaking at nine to three with this schedule. I agree,

1166
01:03:14,440 --> 01:03:18,280
Speaker 2: So that's another Plateau. I agree, which I think there

1167
01:03:18,320 --> 01:03:21,720
Speaker 2: are things trending in an extremely positive direction for USC.

1168
01:03:22,640 --> 01:03:26,280
Speaker 2: I think there will be young receivers that at least

1169
01:03:26,320 --> 01:03:29,000
Speaker 2: one of whom will establish himself in the way that

1170
01:03:29,040 --> 01:03:32,040
Speaker 2: Tinook Hines did last year. Even without you know, Jacoby

1171
01:03:32,560 --> 01:03:36,000
Speaker 2: Lane and mackay Lemon that there are enough bites at

1172
01:03:36,040 --> 01:03:39,000
Speaker 2: the apple and Mark Bowman coming in one of the

1173
01:03:39,040 --> 01:03:42,120
Speaker 2: best I think tight ends in this incoming class. They

1174
01:03:42,200 --> 01:03:45,080
Speaker 2: really hit the defensive line and the edge hard. In

1175
01:03:45,360 --> 01:03:48,240
Speaker 2: the recruiting class. There's a lot to like about where

1176
01:03:48,360 --> 01:03:50,960
Speaker 2: USC could potentially be up front on both sides of

1177
01:03:50,960 --> 01:03:53,480
Speaker 2: the ball, and at receiver they get Waymon Jordan back,

1178
01:03:53,480 --> 01:03:55,360
Speaker 2: who was their best running back last season before he

1179
01:03:55,600 --> 01:03:57,680
Speaker 2: got hurt. I think he busted up his ankle. Yep,

1180
01:03:58,360 --> 01:04:01,800
Speaker 2: there's a lot here to point to. The problem still

1181
01:04:01,880 --> 01:04:04,720
Speaker 2: to me is USC has a lot of tough games

1182
01:04:04,760 --> 01:04:07,680
Speaker 2: on the road as well. I don't know how tough

1183
01:04:07,720 --> 01:04:10,000
Speaker 2: Wisconsin and what is it Culton Joseph is going to

1184
01:04:10,040 --> 01:04:11,800
Speaker 2: be on the road. I don't know how tough Penn

1185
01:04:11,800 --> 01:04:13,040
Speaker 2: State is going to be on the road. I know

1186
01:04:13,080 --> 01:04:17,120
Speaker 2: it's across the country. Is how tough will Wisconsin be

1187
01:04:17,400 --> 01:04:19,560
Speaker 2: on the road. I'm saying a week before that Ohio

1188
01:04:19,680 --> 01:04:24,200
Speaker 2: State game. Correct, it's a look ahead spot. And Wisconsin

1189
01:04:24,240 --> 01:04:25,880
Speaker 2: at home. Last year you had the weird weather win

1190
01:04:25,960 --> 01:04:29,120
Speaker 2: against Washington beat Illinois. I don't know what Wisconsin is

1191
01:04:29,120 --> 01:04:31,240
Speaker 2: going to be this year. I just know even last

1192
01:04:31,320 --> 01:04:34,000
Speaker 2: year USC on the road, was not it the way

1193
01:04:34,040 --> 01:04:36,280
Speaker 2: that they lost to Illinois, the way that they lost

1194
01:04:36,360 --> 01:04:38,680
Speaker 2: to Oregon, the way that they lost to Notre Dame.

1195
01:04:38,800 --> 01:04:41,800
Speaker 2: These are all good teams and they were losing in

1196
01:04:41,840 --> 01:04:43,960
Speaker 2: the fourth quarter to a Nebraska team that didn't have

1197
01:04:44,040 --> 01:04:46,640
Speaker 2: its starting quarterback. That's you got a credit USC for

1198
01:04:46,720 --> 01:04:48,520
Speaker 2: pulling that win out because that was a game that

1199
01:04:48,560 --> 01:04:51,920
Speaker 2: they hadn't necessarily been pulling out. I still have questions

1200
01:04:52,800 --> 01:04:56,080
Speaker 2: about USC on the road, and especially considering what's at home.

1201
01:04:57,400 --> 01:05:00,080
Speaker 2: I just don't think you can max out a of

1202
01:05:00,240 --> 01:05:03,440
Speaker 2: nine and three with some of those those performance questions.

1203
01:05:05,320 --> 01:05:08,080
Speaker 2: Right in solid Verbal at gmail dot com, let us

1204
01:05:08,120 --> 01:05:11,120
Speaker 2: know your thoughts on the trend line for the six

1205
01:05:11,240 --> 01:05:12,920
Speaker 2: teams we discussed here today.

1206
01:05:13,560 --> 01:05:16,400
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can, of course reach out across any of

1207
01:05:16,480 --> 01:05:18,959
Speaker 1: our social platforms. Let us know your thoughts there. Again,

1208
01:05:19,040 --> 01:05:21,600
Speaker 1: we read everything, though we cannot respond to everything. We

1209
01:05:21,680 --> 01:05:25,760
Speaker 1: get too much, but right appreciate your feedback. We'd love

1210
01:05:25,800 --> 01:05:29,560
Speaker 1: to hear more from respective fan bases here on all

1211
01:05:29,600 --> 01:05:32,560
Speaker 1: of these topics and much much more. You're gonna be

1212
01:05:32,640 --> 01:05:34,720
Speaker 1: in what California next week? You're going away for a

1213
01:05:34,760 --> 01:05:35,040
Speaker 1: little bit.

1214
01:05:35,240 --> 01:05:37,400
Speaker 2: I'm going away President's Day, going to take the boys

1215
01:05:37,440 --> 01:05:40,240
Speaker 2: out there, just to see the grandparents and enjoy some

1216
01:05:40,320 --> 01:05:41,680
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's actually going to be sunny,

1217
01:05:41,720 --> 01:05:44,120
Speaker 2: but enjoy a change of pace for a couple of days.

1218
01:05:46,160 --> 01:05:47,560
Speaker 2: And I'm looking forward to You know what else?

1219
01:05:47,560 --> 01:05:47,880
Speaker 1: I thought of?

1220
01:05:47,960 --> 01:05:50,760
Speaker 2: By the way, in the beginning of the show, the

1221
01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:55,560
Speaker 2: Mountain West is now an elite Prestige TV conference. Fargo

1222
01:05:55,840 --> 01:05:57,680
Speaker 2: and Albuquerque breaking bad.

1223
01:05:58,000 --> 01:05:58,200
Speaker 1: Yeah.

1224
01:05:59,360 --> 01:06:01,560
Speaker 2: I don't know if there are other prestige TV conferences

1225
01:06:01,640 --> 01:06:03,280
Speaker 2: that have something to say about this whole.

1226
01:06:03,160 --> 01:06:06,360
Speaker 1: Thing, But man, I liked Fargo when we went. I

1227
01:06:06,400 --> 01:06:07,560
Speaker 1: thought Fargo was kind of cool.

1228
01:06:07,960 --> 01:06:11,720
Speaker 2: Well, I'm just strictly talking about the Fargo TV show. No, No,

1229
01:06:11,840 --> 01:06:13,640
Speaker 2: I know, I know, I get it, at least the

1230
01:06:13,760 --> 01:06:15,600
Speaker 2: first two seas. Have you watched the first couple of

1231
01:06:15,600 --> 01:06:16,439
Speaker 2: seasons of that show.

1232
01:06:17,000 --> 01:06:17,959
Speaker 1: I'll go you one further.

1233
01:06:18,080 --> 01:06:22,560
Speaker 2: I've watched no seasons of any of Fargo Okay, I

1234
01:06:22,600 --> 01:06:25,040
Speaker 2: did see Breaking Bad, but not far Okay. The first

1235
01:06:25,080 --> 01:06:27,560
Speaker 2: better call, Saul, I saw a better call Saal, Yeah, okay.

1236
01:06:28,160 --> 01:06:31,200
Speaker 2: The first two seasons of the Fargo TV Show. Shout

1237
01:06:31,200 --> 01:06:34,040
Speaker 2: out Noah Hally, who was like the creator and mastermind

1238
01:06:34,080 --> 01:06:38,000
Speaker 2: behind them. Huge listener, huge, Yeah he's doing the new

1239
01:06:38,040 --> 01:06:39,680
Speaker 2: Alien show. I want to say, I saw that. Yeah,

1240
01:06:41,600 --> 01:06:43,720
Speaker 2: it takes place I believe in Minnesota, but I'm counting

1241
01:06:43,800 --> 01:06:48,800
Speaker 2: Fargo as the home in this one. The first two seasons,

1242
01:06:48,840 --> 01:06:51,880
Speaker 2: the first one is Billy Bob Thornton, the second one

1243
01:06:52,200 --> 01:06:54,200
Speaker 2: is Jesse Plemmons and Kirsten Dunns.

1244
01:06:54,240 --> 01:06:56,040
Speaker 1: There's a bunch. It's a big cast.

1245
01:06:57,640 --> 01:06:59,680
Speaker 2: Billy Bob Thornton in that first season is one of

1246
01:06:59,760 --> 01:07:05,360
Speaker 2: the all time great TV villains all time. Lauren Malvo. Wow,

1247
01:07:05,520 --> 01:07:07,320
Speaker 2: if you have not seen the first couple of seasons

1248
01:07:07,360 --> 01:07:10,640
Speaker 2: of the Fargo TV Show, find it on whatever streaming

1249
01:07:10,680 --> 01:07:14,800
Speaker 2: service it's streaming on. Get yourself a warm beverage, a blanket,

1250
01:07:15,440 --> 01:07:19,840
Speaker 2: tuck away. It's so good, especially that season one anyway,

1251
01:07:20,480 --> 01:07:23,720
Speaker 2: Good for the Mountain West. Congratulations on your prestige TV status.

1252
01:07:25,040 --> 01:07:26,880
Speaker 1: Why don't we leave it there? We will be back

1253
01:07:27,080 --> 01:07:30,640
Speaker 1: next week, I guess, I'll be fine. I'll be fine. Solo. Oh,

1254
01:07:30,720 --> 01:07:32,800
Speaker 1: I'll go solo on. You have come out to California.

1255
01:07:32,800 --> 01:07:36,120
Speaker 2: If you want no, no, no go go enjoy with

1256
01:07:36,280 --> 01:07:40,800
Speaker 2: your with your family. We'll have a solo show for

1257
01:07:40,880 --> 01:07:44,320
Speaker 2: everybody early part of next week. You'll be back, I believe,

1258
01:07:44,360 --> 01:07:47,560
Speaker 2: for the second show next week. Right, so yes, uh,

1259
01:07:48,080 --> 01:07:48,400
Speaker 2: We'll do.

1260
01:07:48,400 --> 01:07:51,880
Speaker 1: An interview on our Tuesday episode. I'll be back with

1261
01:07:52,080 --> 01:07:55,160
Speaker 1: Dan on our Thursday episode. Again.

1262
01:07:55,240 --> 01:07:57,160
Speaker 2: Please hit follow, please hit subscribe if you made it

1263
01:07:57,240 --> 01:07:58,880
Speaker 2: this far, check us out at for ballers dot com.

1264
01:07:58,960 --> 01:08:00,840
Speaker 1: If you want the shows with out the ads, if

1265
01:08:00,840 --> 01:08:04,120
Speaker 1: you want to support the team, we would greatly appreciate that.

1266
01:08:04,400 --> 01:08:06,760
Speaker 1: In the meantime, for that guy over there, Dan, for

1267
01:08:06,880 --> 01:08:11,640
Speaker 1: myself over here, Ty, enjoy the weekend, Try to stay warm.

1268
01:08:12,080 --> 01:08:13,640
Speaker 1: We'll be back with you next week. In the meantime,

1269
01:08:13,720 --> 01:08:15,400
Speaker 1: stay so peace.