Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal hell that for me, I'm
Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty.
Speaker 2: I've heard so many players say, well, I want to
Speaker 2: be happy.
Speaker 1: You want to be happy for day Ato steak is
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Speaker 1: Ty hilden Brandt. That fine gentleman over there, as always
Speaker 1: Dan Rubinstein, sir, sure, how are your brother?
Speaker 2: I'm always excited to speak with you, Ty, Nothing ever changes,
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Speaker 2: run the Board which is coming on to it. We're
Speaker 2: not very big in pivotal week here in week fourteen, however, yeah,
Speaker 2: Winter Wonders is getting awfully big in the window.
Speaker 1: Yes, we're very excited. So going out to verbalers dot
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Speaker 1: us since twenty two thousand and eight. Yeah. I know
Speaker 1: many of you listening are as well, so thank you
Speaker 1: for your tireless support. Our first question, our first questions
Speaker 1: come to us Curtis EJ and Brad via Patreon over
Speaker 1: averballers dot com. EJ wants to know what is Wisconsin's
Speaker 1: ceiling with Luke Fikele and Brad wants to know what
Speaker 1: made Luke Fickle the right choice at Wisconsin over Jim Leonard.
Speaker 1: This felt like Leonard's to lose. I'm not convinced he
Speaker 1: did anything during his interim time to lose it. So
Speaker 1: two questions there bundled together with respect to Luke Fickle.
Speaker 1: Of course, Luke Fickle announced as the next head football
Speaker 1: coach at Wisconsin. It's a big deal. It's a big hire.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to say it's a shock higher. But
Speaker 1: we had been led to believe for a good long
Speaker 1: time that there were only a handful of schools Luke
Speaker 1: Fickle might leave Cincinnati four, one being obviously Ohio State,
Speaker 1: another maybe Notre Dame, but all within that big ten footprint, right,
Speaker 1: That was sort of what we came away believing after
Speaker 1: the turmoil of last last season in the coach in
Speaker 1: carousel world. So Luke Fickle has now decided to take
Speaker 1: this job, Dan, what makes him the right choice? And
Speaker 1: what's his ceiling?
Speaker 2: It's a fascinating higher. And you know what, I thought
Speaker 2: about it a little bit more after it happened, because
Speaker 2: it didn't come out of nowhere, Because obviously the interest
Speaker 2: in Luke Fickle has been pretty widespread these past few
Speaker 2: years with his success at Cincinnati. I thought about Chris
Speaker 2: Peterson right waiting for the right place, you know, had
Speaker 2: talked to usc that was interesting, Ucla, Stanford, all over
Speaker 2: the place, the SEC, and he wanted something that fit him,
Speaker 2: and so he ends up at Washington, and so I
Speaker 2: think his recruiting ceiling probably isn't as high as Chris
Speaker 2: Peterson and what he was able to accomplish at Washington
Speaker 2: because there's just a limited number of recruiting powers out west,
Speaker 2: and so Washington was able to take advantage. What Luke
Speaker 2: Fickle brings to Wisconsin should be better recruiting than where
Speaker 2: they were under Paul Christ. Probably similar defensive ceiling, which
Speaker 2: is to say excellent, full on excellent. The difference being
Speaker 2: Cincinnati seemed to be more of a transferred destination for
Speaker 2: Big Ten schools for guys who didn't work out for
Speaker 2: whatever reason. Obviously we saw Jerome four coming from Alabama,
Speaker 2: and the other difference is the best of Desmond Ritter
Speaker 2: can be attributed to whatever extent to being developed to
Speaker 2: a playoff caliber quarterback, something we haven't seen from Wisconsin.
Speaker 2: So I think of it is my opinion that Luke
Speaker 2: Fickle is a more modern head coach than Paul Christ was,
Speaker 2: for better or worse, because there were a lot of
Speaker 2: old school things that you know, we can sort of
Speaker 2: harangue about if that's the correct There's a lot of
Speaker 2: very old school things in terms of keeping roster together,
Speaker 2: in terms of you know, not playing players until they
Speaker 2: were ready, and it really showed with success that Wisconsin
Speaker 2: had under Paul Christ in the trenches for a long time.
Speaker 2: What I think Luke Fickle will do and what I
Speaker 2: think his ceiling is is sort of I think what
Speaker 2: it was for Mark d Antonio at Michigan State right place,
Speaker 2: right time, right defense, if I've Michigan or Penn State
Speaker 2: or Ohio State is sort of floundering a bit. And
Speaker 2: so that's where we were with Penn State when Mark
Speaker 2: Dantonio was there, and to a lesser extent, Michigan when
Speaker 2: Jim Harbaugh was relatively new, or when it was Brady
Speaker 2: Hope Michigan Right place, right time. Wisconsin can go from
Speaker 2: a ceiling of Big Ten championship game, but we're now
Speaker 2: going divisionless, which makes it a little trickier for a
Speaker 2: school like Wisconsin. I think he can get Wisconsin right place,
Speaker 2: right time, to a every so often lightning in a
Speaker 2: bottle late season playoff conversation. If things break right, we're
Speaker 2: talking about a playoff coach. We're talking about a coach
Speaker 2: who has used lesser talent to beat Notre Dame on
Speaker 2: the road, who has developed high level NFL talent, and
Speaker 2: with the recruiting connections he has in the Midwest. I
Speaker 2: do not think it's unfair for Wisconsin fans to expect
Speaker 2: competing for the Big ten crown every so often and
Speaker 2: being a double digit program, doubled win program right more
Speaker 2: often than not.
Speaker 1: How about that, Well, you have to figure if he
Speaker 1: can take Cincinnati to the playoffs, he get one hundred
Speaker 1: percent get Wisconsin there, especially friend schedule, different schedule, difference schedule,
Speaker 1: but especially in an expanded universe. Remember we're going to
Speaker 1: twelve here in a matter of two to three years.
Speaker 1: So with so many pieces already in place, the programs,
Speaker 1: I think at a relatively good spot, it helps to
Speaker 1: have the bones of a good defense, which they do
Speaker 1: have now as a starting point somewhat not as much,
Speaker 1: but not as much as before, but still it's not
Speaker 1: starting from scratch here. I think he makes them competitive
Speaker 1: more competitive right away. It may take some time to
Speaker 1: get the right skill guys in place, but I think
Speaker 1: this is a slam dunk higher over the long haul.
Speaker 1: And to the question that Brad was asking, why not
Speaker 1: Jim Leonard, I think that is the that is the
Speaker 1: point there. Yeah, Luke Fickle's done this for a while.
Speaker 1: Luke Fickle has I've got his record here. Has been
Speaker 1: very successful, to say the least, fifty seven in eighteen
Speaker 1: as a head football coach. But eight of those losses
Speaker 1: came in year one when he was starting over, right
Speaker 1: when he was basically starting over. So this is a
Speaker 1: guy who's proven that he can build a program, that
Speaker 1: he can do it over the long haul. Jim Leonard
Speaker 1: will probably could probably do that for somebody else, but
Speaker 1: Luke Fickle is much more of a known quantity at this.
Speaker 2: He also, Yeah, you're You're totally right. And the Athletic
Speaker 2: had a piece a couple of years ago. I believe
Speaker 2: about Luke Fickel as a recruiter and how much he
Speaker 2: blanketed the state of Ohio, And so we talked about this.
Speaker 2: Cincinnati recruited on par with like a mid tier Power
Speaker 2: five program, Yes, and so, which makes sense given the
Speaker 2: success he had in the NFL players that were developed
Speaker 2: at Cincinnati. And so, what I expect for Wisconsin on
Speaker 2: the recruiting trail is for Luke Fickele to be tireless
Speaker 2: in the state of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, wherever talent
Speaker 2: is in the Midwestern footprint and continue to you know,
Speaker 2: you know, Wisconsin has had success. You know, Graham Mertz
Speaker 2: is from Kansas. I believe they've gone outside of the
Speaker 2: Midwestern footprint to recruits somewhat. But if there was a
Speaker 2: criticism of Paul Christ near the end that didn't have
Speaker 2: to do with the offense and lack of improvement and
Speaker 2: development of receivers, et cetera, et cetera, It was that
Speaker 2: recruiting was not taken as seriously as the teams Wisconsin
Speaker 2: positions itself against in Madison. And so I think that
Speaker 2: has already changed. That changed the second Luke Fickle and
Speaker 2: that plane touchdown in Madison. Yeah, I mean, let's forget
Speaker 2: about the ceiling for a second. If I could, at
Speaker 2: a minimum, I don't think you have to.
Speaker 1: Worry about lowering the floor, which was sort of the
Speaker 1: conversation we started to get into. With the way things
Speaker 1: headed now with Wisconsin over the last year year and
Speaker 1: a half, I think you'll see consistent results the way
Speaker 1: Wisconsin fans are accustomed to seeing consistent results. I think
Speaker 1: you will see strong defense in the way that Wisconsin
Speaker 1: fans are used to seeing a very strong defense. In course,
Speaker 1: maybe it needs a bit of repair, but it'll get there.
Speaker 1: With Luke Fickley's that kind of coach. You will absolutely
Speaker 1: see that improvement on offense as well, because Fickle has
Speaker 1: shown in his time at Cincinnati that he can adapt
Speaker 1: to the personnel. We saw him do it this season
Speaker 1: right immense turnover on offense. They it wasn't as good
Speaker 1: of an offense, but it was still very very reputable
Speaker 1: and still very very solid, and still very much of
Speaker 1: the conversation for the best group of five team. I
Speaker 1: don't think it bears repeating, but part of the problem
Speaker 1: with the Paul Christ offense is that it was very
Speaker 1: rigid and pretty stubborn. So just marginal improvements on that
Speaker 1: front on offense make Wisconsin a much much better team,
Speaker 1: certainly within the Big Ten West. Now as it stands,
Speaker 1: I know that's going away, but Fickle will improve that
Speaker 1: side of the ball ever so gradually, and I think
Speaker 1: that's what will ultimately raise that floor, make the ceiling
Speaker 1: more attainable for the Wisconsin Badgers. I also think, and
Speaker 1: we didn't mention this, this strikes the perfect balance between
Speaker 1: one needing new blood and two not sacrificing your identity
Speaker 1: to get it. I agree. Luke Fickle feels to me
Speaker 1: like he's that happy medium where it's more of a
Speaker 1: firmware upgrade as opposed to a full on new operating system,
Speaker 1: which is really what you want when you're going after
Speaker 1: a new head coach, someone that feels like your program
Speaker 1: but isn't going to go so drastically in a different
Speaker 1: direction that it's going to be new and different and
Speaker 1: it's going to take a while to actually see the
Speaker 1: results of it. So I love the hire. I think
Speaker 1: it's a slam dunk, as do I.
Speaker 2: And we'll also mention though he is not a Wisconsin
Speaker 2: guy and so measured against that. I know somebody asked,
Speaker 2: why not Jim Leonard, you know, in comparing Luke Fickle
Speaker 2: to Jim Leonard. Jim Leonard has coached I think at
Speaker 2: precisely one school school at which he played.
Speaker 1: Is that correct? You can in fact check that for me.
Speaker 2: I believe that that is my understanding that he has
Speaker 2: only coach at Wisconsin. He's a younger dude, late thirties,
Speaker 2: round forty something like that. Not crazy young, not Charlie
Speaker 2: Weiss junior young at twenty eight or nine or whatever.
Speaker 2: But why Luke Fickle. Luke Fickle has proven himself exactly
Speaker 2: as an excellent head coach, and so I know there
Speaker 2: has been this run of coaches. I guess Gary Anderson exempted,
Speaker 2: I forget, but I don't think he was at Wisconsin
Speaker 2: on any level, meaningful level before, you know, jumping from
Speaker 2: Utah State to Wisconsin. But obviously Brett Bielham as a
Speaker 2: defensive coordinator at Wisconsin, Paul crist As an offensive coordinator
Speaker 2: at Wisconsin that the romantic Wisconsin guy move would be
Speaker 2: to elevate Jim Leonard, and I don't think Wisconsin was
Speaker 2: against it, but I think they probably needed to be
Speaker 2: told no by Luke Fickle and maybe somebody else before saying, okay,
Speaker 2: let's roll the dice. This guy understands, you know, what works,
Speaker 2: what doesn't work, the culture whatever at Wisconsin. But if
Speaker 2: you are the Badgers. Not to say Jim Leonard would
Speaker 2: have been settling because he got to audition for the role,
Speaker 2: and I'm sure he ingratiated himself really well to those
Speaker 2: in power there. But if you if you see yourself
Speaker 2: as a team competing for Rose Bulls, which Wisconsin should
Speaker 2: you owe it to go for the biggest names who
Speaker 2: will listen and sit in a room with you. You
Speaker 2: owe it to the fan base, you owe it to
Speaker 2: the program. And I think it's going to work.
Speaker 1: Really really, I really like the higher and I think
Speaker 1: you hit the point that is very very important there
Speaker 1: for Wisconsin fans. Though it would have been the romantic
Speaker 1: thing to elevate Leonard, Luke Fickle is much more of
Speaker 1: a sure thing at this point. Like there's a very
Speaker 1: very low degree of risk here associated with Luke Fickel
Speaker 1: as compared to let me get into the next question
Speaker 1: pro transition, Dan, we're podcasters after all. Kelsey Cardinal Hello
Speaker 1: Kelsey on Instagram says I'm an Auburn alum. How should
Speaker 1: I feel about Hugh Freeze? So this is a different
Speaker 1: conversation altogether when we talk about Hugh Freeze, much like
Speaker 1: this episode, there are football elements and non football elements
Speaker 1: that we need to consider here. On the football field,
Speaker 1: Hugh Freeze has gone eighty three and forty three and
Speaker 1: ten seasons. It's pretty good. Notably, he's had one losing
Speaker 1: season out of those ten. I believe his last season
Speaker 1: when he was in Oxford before things fell apart at
Speaker 1: Old Miss. He's a pretty good football coach. I don't
Speaker 1: view this as something that makes Auburn as a sudden
Speaker 1: threat in the SEC SEC West because the West is
Speaker 1: a lot harder now than it was when he left.
Speaker 1: But he's a good football coach. He's a good football coach.
Speaker 1: The numbers would bear that out off the field. Off
Speaker 1: the field, Look, I can't tell you how to feel there. Right,
Speaker 1: he was run out of Ole Miss for recruiting violation.
Speaker 2: He does a pretty good job telling you how to
Speaker 2: feel about Hugh Freese as a person. Continue exactly the
Speaker 2: recruiting violations. There was also that, shall we say, scandalous
Speaker 2: pattern of phone calls that came to light.
Speaker 1: With his call logue. Well it wasn't just the calls,
Speaker 1: but yeah, right, I mean there are things with direct
Speaker 1: messages to sexual assault victims in his time at Liberty,
Speaker 1: so there's like a whole slew of off field stuff,
Speaker 1: and you know, we kind of have to consider that
Speaker 1: as well when we're looking at whether or not this
Speaker 1: is a higher worth making. I'd imagine the off field
Speaker 1: stuff is part of the reason why Auburn had it
Speaker 1: written into his contract that he had to relinquish rights
Speaker 1: to his social media account before accepting the job. They
Speaker 1: also needed to consult with a pr person before making
Speaker 1: the higher, So of course, again there's a duality there.
Speaker 1: There's two things going on at once. There is the
Speaker 1: on field stuff, which for sure has been successful. There's
Speaker 1: the off field stuff, which is definite baggage. Personally, if
Speaker 1: we're talking about the low risk nature of the Luke
Speaker 1: Fickle higher, personally, I don't think the Hugh Freeze risk
Speaker 1: is worth taking because Auburn has had two years of
Speaker 1: relative instability now preceded by what three years of more
Speaker 1: instability in a sense of uncertainty. Let's say when they
Speaker 1: finally got rid of Gus Valson, they knew they wanted
Speaker 1: to get rid of them, but it's the will they
Speaker 1: won't They think that took forever until it finally came
Speaker 1: to fruition. Now they're high and a guy who they're
Speaker 1: obviously banking on him cleaning up his act, but they
Speaker 1: did have to hire the PR person to tell them
Speaker 1: how to feel first and what to do in light
Speaker 1: of the announcement. On some level, there is the Taylor
Speaker 1: Swift Jake Gillenhall knowing somebody is trouble before they walk in.
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying people don't deserve second chances, Dan,
Speaker 1: but I'm just saying that Auburn does not feel like
Speaker 1: the program, given where it's been lately, that should take
Speaker 1: that risk at this moment. So, Kelsey, I can't tell
Speaker 1: you how to feel, but if it were me, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be pleased.
Speaker 2: Auburn does not feel he's a grown up, right Auburn,
Speaker 2: And this isn't This is interesting because there are certain
Speaker 2: radioactive coaches that you can say to yourself, sure, this
Speaker 2: guy is a problem, but you know he gets results.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: Sure, if we hire urban Meyer, it's not a great look.
Speaker 2: But there's nothing about urban Meyer on the sideline and
Speaker 2: recruiting and running up program football wise that would lead
Speaker 2: you to believe that that program would be anything less
Speaker 2: than the absolute best it could be. If urban Meyer
Speaker 2: took over Texas Tech. If he took over Washington State,
Speaker 2: if he took over cal if he took over NC State, whatever,
Speaker 2: they'd win ten or eleven games every year. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: so that's the deal you make because you know, Urban
Speaker 2: Meyer is that good of a college football coach, or
Speaker 2: at least we believe that to still be the case.
Speaker 1: Hugh Freeze.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Hugh Freeze is where like he had a nice
Speaker 2: little run. I don't care about the NCAA stuff. You know,
Speaker 2: things have changed in terms of NIL and sure you
Speaker 2: know the way money and recruiting, and even though it
Speaker 2: isn't necessarily the spirit of NIL that bothers me to
Speaker 2: a much lesser extent, I'm okay with with a lot
Speaker 2: of those things. But off the field, and the fact
Speaker 2: remains that Auburn I'll reiterate this with the social media stuff,
Speaker 2: with whatever, It's clear that Hugh Freeze does not have
Speaker 2: a command in a daily sense of being a grown up.
Speaker 2: And this is already a place that has difficulties behind
Speaker 2: the scenes with power struggles and with who's making decisions
Speaker 2: and paying attention to perhaps the wrong boosters to make
Speaker 2: big decisions or have sway. And now you're throwing this
Speaker 2: little cherry bomb into the mix. Yeah, I know that
Speaker 2: Laane Kiffen was their first choice. And it's very clear
Speaker 2: that Auburn is not a place a lot of good
Speaker 2: coaches want to continue their career and continue to build.
Speaker 2: That much is clear, and that much has come to
Speaker 2: pass over these past few years where they have to
Speaker 2: go so far outside of you know, the SEC universe
Speaker 2: and hiring Brian Harson and Jean Chizy all these guys,
Speaker 2: Gus finally made sense for them.
Speaker 1: But you freeze, Okay, I don't know what this does.
Speaker 2: We talk about a ceiling with Wisconsin, what does this
Speaker 2: mean for Auburn's ceiling? Like the offense will get better,
Speaker 2: probably they'll recruit better, but like you know, it's going
Speaker 2: to blow up, probably sooner rather than later. They already
Speaker 2: don't trust them so great.
Speaker 1: I just don't think it's worth the risk. I think,
Speaker 1: on some level, like everybody wants to win. You're in
Speaker 1: the SEC and it's gotten harder to win, so I
Speaker 1: understand the value in taking a risk. I just don't
Speaker 1: think this is the risk right that they should be
Speaker 1: taking at this time, given where the program's been. You
Speaker 1: want a sure thing, you want to slam dunk. I
Speaker 1: don't think you want to have to deal with that baggage.
Speaker 1: You don't have to worry about that. And again I
Speaker 1: come back to what you said for Hugh Freeze. It's
Speaker 1: one thing of it's Urban Meyer, right, Hugh Freeze. We're
Speaker 1: gonna We're gonna do this for Hugh Freeze.
Speaker 2: By the way, the negative recruiting fodder that LSU Texas
Speaker 2: A and m Alabama, Georgia, Florida, everybody Tennessee has with
Speaker 2: Hugh Freeze and Auburn, with everything that happened with Brian Harson.
Speaker 2: Now everything that has already happened in the Hugh Freeze universe,
Speaker 2: the free universe, the Hugh Freeze multiverse, multiverse, cinematic universe,
Speaker 2: multiverse madness. It's it's a costco sized shopping cart of ammunition.
Speaker 1: That's all Allan on Patreon wants to know who leaves
Speaker 1: their current job first, Matt Rule or kirk Farence Dan
Speaker 1: h kirk Ference leaves before Matt Rule. Yes, wow, why.
Speaker 2: Matt Rule has an eight year deal and kirk Farence,
Speaker 2: you know, in the next year or two is liable
Speaker 2: to retire. I think you think, I think Brian Farrence
Speaker 2: was a clear succession plan with the ascension and the
Speaker 2: the hiring and promotion to offensive coordinator and sort of
Speaker 2: clearing the path that Kirk Farence has that kind of
Speaker 2: cachet in Iowa City. I don't think Matt Rule is if,
Speaker 2: like if Penn State opens up in a year or two,
Speaker 2: because that's the thing that everybody's pointing to, that that's
Speaker 2: the dream job, that's the dream gig.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I'm also of the mind that like things change, right,
Speaker 2: that he's in the big ten at a major place
Speaker 2: with major job security, that I don't think he would
Speaker 2: jump after a year or two to Penn State. Maybe
Speaker 2: four or five years, sure, But I think it's more
Speaker 2: likely that Matt Rule has given such a long leash
Speaker 2: and such an opportunity to rebuild the roster and rebuild
Speaker 2: the culture that I'm a believer in that Nebraska is
Speaker 2: such a believer given that deal, that I would say
Speaker 2: it's likely or because I don't even Matt Rule is
Speaker 2: getting any NFL attention anytime soon, No, that it's a
Speaker 2: Kirk Farren's retirement before me believes Lincoln.
Speaker 1: If James Franklin pulled a stunner and decided to go
Speaker 1: to Colorado, Matt Rule would rip up that contract and
Speaker 1: go to State College tomorrow. Matt Rule has a well, well,
Speaker 1: that timing is different, but yes, I'm saying a year
Speaker 1: or two. Yeah, he has a track record of not
Speaker 1: being anywhere for that long, right, true, four seasons has
Speaker 1: been his max. I'm telling you right now he will
Speaker 1: be the next coach at Penn State whenever that comes
Speaker 1: to fruition, and I don't think it's going to be
Speaker 1: longer than five years. I think Matt Rule will have
Speaker 1: an opportunity if he wants to to leave for State College.
Speaker 1: The Kirk Farens thing. You know, maybe I just live
Speaker 1: too long through the Joe Paterno era, right, if we
Speaker 1: separate out sort of the scandalous aspects of Paterno and
Speaker 1: how he eventually departed Penn State, there was a good
Speaker 1: long time even before that, when you had this this
Speaker 1: fissure in a sense within the Penn State community. The
Speaker 1: people who loved Joe Paterno and didn't want him to
Speaker 1: ever leave, and then the people who were like enough
Speaker 1: of this already. We're running up the middle. Every play.
Speaker 1: The offense is the same as it's been for the
Speaker 1: last twenty years. Something's gotta change. Also, in that instance,
Speaker 1: we had what, at least on the surface, for a
Speaker 1: brief moment in a time, looked like a succession plan
Speaker 1: handing it off to his son, which again went bust.
Speaker 1: That did not work with Jay Paterno. So there's a
Speaker 1: lot of similarity again on a on one level, right
Speaker 1: one very specific level, between Ference and the way things
Speaker 1: went down at at Penn State with Paterno right in
Speaker 1: the late stages of his career. I just think that
Speaker 1: Farence is so much the honorary governor of the state
Speaker 1: that he's only going to leave on his terms whenever
Speaker 1: he sees fit. It's going to be really hard to
Speaker 1: push him out. And knowing that there is already this
Speaker 1: track record with Matt rule not staying in one place
Speaker 1: for too long, I think it's one hundred percent Matt
Speaker 1: rule is the answer here, one hundred percent Matt rule.
Speaker 1: Howl is Kirk Farence. I don't know. He's not thirty,
Speaker 1: he's not thirty.
Speaker 2: Ference age sixty seven years old. It's going to be seventy,
Speaker 2: and I'm gonna do some quick math.
Speaker 1: Boo boo b boo boo boo bo boo boop three years. No,
Speaker 1: I don't know, man. I think the answer is rule
Speaker 1: by Let's ask another thing about Rule here that came
Speaker 1: to us from Keston on Twitter. Do you think Nebraska
Speaker 1: can make a bowl game in rules first year or
Speaker 1: are they cursed to lose forever? Nothing's forever, Keston. They're
Speaker 1: not cursed. They've had a bad run here. It sucks.
Speaker 1: As a Nebraska fan, I want Nebraska to do better.
Speaker 1: But here's what I'd say about Matt Rule. If we're
Speaker 1: looking at track record, the track record for Rule has
Speaker 1: been that he's been terrible in each of his previous
Speaker 1: two college jobs. In the first season m h and
Speaker 1: then he followed it up with a five hundred campaign,
Speaker 1: and then he followed it up with ten wins or more.
Speaker 1: So it's pretty quick turnaround. He's definitely got this track
Speaker 1: record for doing a really good job within three years.
Speaker 1: The difference, I think is that Nebraska's in a much
Speaker 1: better place than both Temple and Baylor. Baylor was decimated
Speaker 1: after Art Briles, and Temple sucked all the time, all
Speaker 1: the time. With the estion who did he take over for?
Speaker 1: Did he take over for? Al Goldie? Who did he
Speaker 1: jump in for I don't recall the exact state of affairs,
Speaker 1: but he was like one and eleven his first year
Speaker 1: right at Temple. It was a really bad season. So
Speaker 1: my only point here with this is that Nebraska is
Speaker 1: not Temple, It's not Bailor. There is more talent here.
Speaker 1: I took a look at the schedule in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 1: They could go six and six with that, they go
Speaker 1: seven and five, but I think it's gettable and there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things that needs to fill in and
Speaker 1: improve in very short order. But he can absolutely go
Speaker 1: five hundred with that schedule next year. So I think
Speaker 1: it's doable. I don't think they're going to go two
Speaker 1: and ten. I think it's doable Keston. But you know,
Speaker 1: obviously it's it's very early days here in the rural
Speaker 1: era at Nebraska, and you know, we need to see
Speaker 1: who's playing quarterback. We need to see what he's what
Speaker 1: he's going to bring to bear with respect to coordinators
Speaker 1: and so on and so forth. Well, okay, so first
Speaker 1: of all, it was Steve A. Dazio for two years.
Speaker 2: He took over a four and seven Steve Adazzio Temple program.
Speaker 2: When Nadazio I think got the best sea job. That's right,
Speaker 2: that's from Temple. It is a in terms of Bowl
Speaker 2: season one, I think it's tough. I think we'll know
Speaker 2: pretty quickly in terms of how aggressive Nebraska wants to
Speaker 2: be in the portal. This is shaping up to be
Speaker 2: the biggest and most expansive transfer portal in the history
Speaker 2: of three years of portals. But we're already seeing big names,
Speaker 2: are already big name rumors, so I can only imagine
Speaker 2: the medium names and the little names are going to
Speaker 2: be vast as well. Nebraska needs to be a player
Speaker 2: in the portal every year for a while, and so
Speaker 2: depending on you know, we got to see who you
Speaker 2: mentioned quarterback, but the staff looks like and how active
Speaker 2: they are and filling in gaps. You know a lot
Speaker 2: of teams and I even know my team. I think
Speaker 2: took two defensive linemen from Nebraska last year and their
Speaker 2: defensive line coach. It's it's going to be different because,
Speaker 2: as we're seeing everywhere, with so much coach movement comes
Speaker 2: even more portal movement. And that doesn't always happen right away.
Speaker 2: Sometimes a lot of that roster will give the new
Speaker 2: guy a year and say all right, this isn't the
Speaker 2: place for me. This guy didn't recruit me whatever. So
Speaker 2: I almost think year one might be better than the
Speaker 2: year two, that there's going to be so much, so
Speaker 2: much change. But no, I think if you can build
Speaker 2: a defense and you can build a little bit of
Speaker 2: depth through the portal, Nebraska should be bowling. If not,
Speaker 2: you're one year two.
Speaker 1: We got a question here from Nick on Instagram. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know you're talking about the portal, which is
Speaker 1: why I thought of this question. He wants to know
Speaker 1: if I'm prepared for Notre Dame quarterback Cade McNamara next season.
Speaker 1: Kate mc and where's he? He's from Nevada. He's from Novada.
Speaker 1: He's from Nevada. But it brings up a really interesting
Speaker 1: point and also a totally new perspective for me. Mm hm.
Speaker 1: The portal era is relatively new. You know, at least
Speaker 1: this much activity in the portal is only like two
Speaker 1: years old, right. This has not been a thing that's
Speaker 1: been with us all that long. I gotta say, as
Speaker 1: a fan of a program that we know going into
Speaker 1: next season is going to need a quarterback, all of
Speaker 1: these announcements about guys entering the portal are very, very exciting.
Speaker 1: I've never been more excited about the transfer portal than
Speaker 1: I am right now as a Notre Dame fan. And
Speaker 1: that's a change for me because for so long, you know,
Speaker 1: it's been you kind of know who the next guy
Speaker 1: up is going to be. And even the Jack Cone thing,
Speaker 1: I'd be moaned Jack Cone, but Jack Cone is pretty
Speaker 1: good in retrospect. Hm, I gotta say, I'm very excited
Speaker 1: about all of these possibilities. I hope they can shoot
Speaker 1: higher than Kid McNamara.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 1: However, even Kid McNamara is a huge upgrade over what
Speaker 1: Notre Dame had this year with Drew Pine. So again,
Speaker 1: I've been making the joke. I'm only half joking, Nick.
Speaker 1: I hope Marcus Freeman's leaving his card on all of
Speaker 1: these lockers of opposing quarterbacks, like, hey, we've got an
Speaker 1: opening in twenty twenty three, stop on by, whether it's
Speaker 1: Kid McNamara or who else? Did you say is a
Speaker 1: Vaia Malie Hornsby? He's available? You know, there are all
Speaker 1: these names that are going to be.
Speaker 2: Entering a bat from I think from Ohio, well not
Speaker 2: from Ohio, excuse me, from Miami, of Ohio. I believe
Speaker 2: I hope I didn't get that wrong. Okay, so you
Speaker 2: can only be your authentic self. Yeah, you are a
Speaker 2: Notre Dame fan. You're a Penn State fan. You are
Speaker 2: a fan of the beneficiaries of the portal, the recipients.
Speaker 2: That's right, that's you're getting the man of from Heaven
Speaker 2: from the portal right now.
Speaker 1: You're not at the Pittsburgh Pirates scenario that we well know.
Speaker 2: It's more like you are not a Memphis fan, right
Speaker 2: you are. You are not an FAU fan. You are
Speaker 2: not a James Madison fan. You know that if anybody
Speaker 2: starts an Eastern Washington fan, I am. I had an
Speaker 2: incredible twenty fifteen because of Vernon Adams, right, Probably wasn't
Speaker 2: as fun that year to be an EWU fan. Although
Speaker 2: I think you had Cooper cups, so that's not bad.
Speaker 2: That's not a bad He had like two hundred and
Speaker 2: sixty yards in Audston Stadium. It's exciting from a national
Speaker 2: perspective when you don't root for a team who loses
Speaker 2: or gains somebody important, right if you if you happen
Speaker 2: to root for a team whose roster is consistently gutted
Speaker 2: or at least the top of your roster is gutted
Speaker 2: or is almost gutted. It kind of sucks.
Speaker 1: That sucks. That really does.
Speaker 2: It's kind of the idea of and I'm sure it
Speaker 2: sucks for those coaches too. I'm sure it like even
Speaker 2: more so than like if you're Dan Lanning or Marcus
Speaker 2: Freeman or whatever. You know you're gonna lose guys, but
Speaker 2: you know you're gonna gain guys as well. That there
Speaker 2: is a transactional nature to Thanksgiving through MLK whatever in January.
Speaker 2: So I think it's fascinating and I think there will
Speaker 2: be more to come in terms of how from an
Speaker 2: administrative perspective things are dealt with with the portal. Everybody
Speaker 2: sort of rushed to be pro player and say, well,
Speaker 2: of course they can play right away. They should have
Speaker 2: the freedom to move, coaches move. That's all all reasonable,
Speaker 2: that's all but and I don't want to say guard
Speaker 2: rails because I just think it's difficult to institute a
Speaker 2: one rule applies to all type thing. But I wonder
Speaker 2: if we're going to see more and more conversations about, yes,
Speaker 2: all of this is good, you can transfer, but here's
Speaker 2: how that's going to work moving forward, right And be
Speaker 2: more specific, and I know you know that that conversation
Speaker 2: has come to nil and you know just how everything
Speaker 2: how the gears and pulleys should operate in a way
Speaker 2: that's beneficial to as many people as possible.
Speaker 1: Because I don't know, man, it's it.
Speaker 2: It hurts college football on a certain level to see
Speaker 2: this kind of movement movement because it it tamp It
Speaker 2: dampens your excitement for your own team, knowing that you're
Speaker 2: going to lose a bunch of people, and it it
Speaker 2: I think it weakens your connection to the team. Knowing
Speaker 2: that that's possible for a lot of teams. Obviously if
Speaker 2: you're Alabama, it just makes everything great. But also, I
Speaker 2: don't know. Here's my zag. Here's my zag. With the portal,
Speaker 2: I'm very excited to see who enters the transfer portal
Speaker 2: and where everything goes, where players go, where you know,
Speaker 2: who's the new coach that recruits super well out of
Speaker 2: the portal and or who's the guy that loses, you know,
Speaker 2: and a fifth of their roster to the portal something
Speaker 2: like that. What if this is maybe a third bake,
Speaker 2: it's not even half baked, ty, What if we said yes,
Speaker 2: you can transfer, and you can go and you can
Speaker 2: play immediately, and you enter the portal and it's a
Speaker 2: more organized structure. What if it were one and done.
Speaker 1: What if you just get a year.
Speaker 2: You're transferring from a school, you get to play right
Speaker 2: away one year, you get hurt in the first four games.
Speaker 2: In the same way you can apply for an injury waiver,
Speaker 2: you get the full you get to you know, have
Speaker 2: the opportunity to get your degree, but you only get
Speaker 2: to play. You get one year of eligibility and sort
Speaker 2: of make it. You're not punishing anybody, very hall passy.
Speaker 2: It's a little bit haul passy. And so then you're
Speaker 2: saying if you want to transfer after your freshman year,
Speaker 2: good luck, because then you're just gonna have to train
Speaker 2: for a year if you think your NFL quality, and
Speaker 2: maybe there's exceptions if your coach leaves or something like that.
Speaker 2: I think, but that to me is interesting, not punishing
Speaker 2: players for transferring on the front end, but just saying
Speaker 2: here is what your eligibility window now looks like. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean I want to transfer with immediate, immediate eligibility.
Speaker 1: What I was going to say is, I think we
Speaker 1: are going to a universe in which every fan of
Speaker 1: college football. It would be advisable to have a Group
Speaker 1: of five team that you like and a Power five
Speaker 1: team that you like, so that you cover both your bases.
Speaker 1: Because I agree, it's very clearly going to a point where,
Speaker 1: you know, some of the some of the players at
Speaker 1: a prominent group of five schools, there will be incentive
Speaker 1: for them to look and see what's available in the
Speaker 1: Power five level. And it sucks, right, and you know,
Speaker 1: we don't have to have to bemoan that more than
Speaker 1: we have to. But that's just that's where things are headed.
Speaker 1: And so make sure you your bases if you like
Speaker 1: the sport, is what I'm saying. Yeah, look, maybe it's
Speaker 1: two years. Maybe you get two years, maybe you get
Speaker 1: one year. I don't know though. Man, all right, let's
Speaker 1: go over to Adam on Twitter. Did Dabo try and
Speaker 1: fail to outdo Shane at Beamer Ball? A couple unusual
Speaker 1: for Clemson special teams plays that backfired see a kickoff
Speaker 1: return huddle fumble and the EJ. Pochkick touchback came off
Speaker 1: as arrogant and helped South Carolina win the game. So
Speaker 1: was Dabo trying to be too cute in that thirty
Speaker 1: one to thirty loss in the Palmetto Bowl against South Carolina. Dan,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think part of it is you
Speaker 1: save trick plays for big games. Yeah right.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's him saying little old South Carolina,
Speaker 2: let's just screw around and do a couple of unorthodox
Speaker 2: things on kick returns or whatever, on pooch punts. I
Speaker 2: think you save that for those big moments. You save
Speaker 2: the double pas is, you save the you know, Michigan
Speaker 2: handing the ball off to was he a backup linebacker
Speaker 2: in it full back? When he popped it over with
Speaker 2: a jump pass, you save it. You save the unexpected
Speaker 2: for those big moments against opponents you respect. So I
Speaker 2: don't look at it as arrogant. I just look at
Speaker 2: it as failed. Right that if that little huddle you
Speaker 2: know who has the ball hot potato thing works on
Speaker 2: the kickoff return, we're looking at it as genius. And
Speaker 2: so there are some plays that you can look at
Speaker 2: on the face like that does seem kind of silly,
Speaker 2: even if it worked, And maybe that qualifies for that.
Speaker 2: But also, and I've been consistent with this, I like aggression,
Speaker 2: I like risks, I like thinking differently. You know, take
Speaker 2: a swing if it ends up looking weird and not
Speaker 2: working out, which that didn't. But it was because of
Speaker 2: a fumble, not because of that actual I think formation
Speaker 2: so be it, take swings, fail, be wrong, look foolish.
Speaker 2: It's better than being an eyeway here him.
Speaker 1: It's better than being eye with it. Here's the question
Speaker 1: I have though, Did he have to do that? They
Speaker 1: need to do that? I mean, it's always easier in
Speaker 1: retrospect to say, when a play blows up, he didn't
Speaker 1: need to do that. He didn't need to go for
Speaker 1: it on fourth down from your own twenty nine Oregon.
Speaker 1: You didn't need to go for two in that specific, weird,
Speaker 1: mathematically curious instance Brian Kelly, which we've seen him do
Speaker 1: in his time at Notre Dame, not so much else.
Speaker 1: You you didn't have to do that. You could have
Speaker 1: done something else and still want That would be the
Speaker 1: question I would ask, right, did he really have to
Speaker 1: do that to beat South Carolina? You don't have to
Speaker 1: do anything. You don't have to do anything. I get that,
Speaker 1: But that I think is the spirit of the question,
Speaker 1: did you really have to do that? I don't think
Speaker 1: it's arrogant. I think it's probably more along the lines
Speaker 1: of what you're describing, which is we've got these trick plays,
Speaker 1: they've been in the quiver all year, we're saving them
Speaker 1: for a big spot in a rival game. Now we're
Speaker 1: going to roll them out there. So I get that. Also,
Speaker 1: the hidden benefit, not just of what you see on
Speaker 1: the field, is if a trick play works, even if
Speaker 1: it doesn't go for a big play, those are the tens.
Speaker 1: Those are the types of things that tend to build
Speaker 1: within the ranks within your program. Sure players look forward
Speaker 1: to seeing those plays rolled out there in the wild
Speaker 1: on game day, so there is added benefit to doing it.
Speaker 1: Just didn't work here, and I don't think they needed
Speaker 1: do it when they did, but it certainly wasn't arrogant. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think.
Speaker 2: Look, this is just it's a personal thing, right If
Speaker 2: you think believe football should be played a certain way
Speaker 2: and to not get silly and fancy and whatever, that's.
Speaker 1: Your worldview, and you're free to have it.
Speaker 2: Whether it's a fourth down call, whether it's a trick play,
Speaker 2: whether it's the moment for the trick play. We can
Speaker 2: question a number of things, but in terms of fourth
Speaker 2: down calls and aggression, and you know, I think Bill
Speaker 2: Connolly wrote about this. What Ryan Day is being criticized
Speaker 2: for is the opposite but the same of what Dan
Speaker 2: Lanning is being criticized for. It right that you're like,
Speaker 2: you know, damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Speaker 2: But also context matters, and Ohio State should have been
Speaker 2: aggressive in that big moment, in those big moments against
Speaker 2: Michigan and Michigan team who was not going away, who
Speaker 2: was giving Ohio State everything it could handle, And in
Speaker 2: the context of Dan Lanning going for it from his
Speaker 2: own twenty nine One, they've been very good on fourth
Speaker 2: down this year. Two couldn't stop anybody for the last
Speaker 2: four or five weeks other than Utah, I guess. And
Speaker 2: three their punter just dropped the ball on their own
Speaker 2: goal line and so he went into the season as
Speaker 2: backup or third string punter or something like that. So
Speaker 2: they didn't have a lot of confidence in Oregon being
Speaker 2: able to flip the field. So I don't look at
Speaker 2: risky maneuvers in terms of the results. I was like,
Speaker 2: I look at risky maneuvers as like, Okay, you're going
Speaker 2: for it on fourth down, what's the intention with this play?
Speaker 2: What's the creativity involved? In this play, are you doing
Speaker 2: something that has never worked and it seems riskier than
Speaker 2: you need to be in the way that you're doing things.
Speaker 2: So maybe you say, Okay, that Clemson return huddle thing
Speaker 2: was risky in that I love it. The return huddle
Speaker 2: thing is risky in that, no, I don't think anybody
Speaker 2: has really done it, at least recently successfully, and whatever.
Speaker 2: I'm just not going to criticize them for being aggressive
Speaker 2: and trying. Now you say, okay, let's do like the
Speaker 2: fake handoff as a guy's swinging behind, you know, the
Speaker 2: fake end around thing, kick return or laying down in
Speaker 2: the end zone. There are any number of things you
Speaker 2: can do. I always enjoy the like two punt returners
Speaker 2: back and one guy gives like the fake one him
Speaker 2: right and it's caught elsewhere on the field and totally
Speaker 2: fools the the punt team. But I'm not results oriented
Speaker 2: with this. Okay, I'm manner oriented, but I'm proaggression and
Speaker 2: I'm good with it.
Speaker 1: Next question, let's go to the next question here very quickly,
Speaker 1: we were talking about South Carolina Gary from Twitter. Please,
Speaker 1: as a game Cocks fan, I'm super excited about the
Speaker 1: last or the super excited about what I saw in
Speaker 1: the last two games. From your studies and observations, it
Speaker 1: really makes us sound important. Thank you, Carol. How often
Speaker 1: does a good end of season lead to continued cess
Speaker 1: success versus momentum just dying off with the off season.
Speaker 1: So look, I don't have the numbers here. I don't
Speaker 1: have numbers. I'm sure Bill Connolly has numbers that would
Speaker 1: back this up one way or the other. That said,
Speaker 1: this is like my favorite thing to look at the
Speaker 1: off season. Yeah, I go by this is what I
Speaker 1: go by. I'll go by this going into bowl season.
Speaker 1: I think it's very useful as a tool for picking
Speaker 1: confidence pools, which we will be doing over after bowlers
Speaker 1: dot Com. But I really believe in momentum and I
Speaker 1: think it's a thing that you can use as an
Speaker 1: effective tool to gauge how a program's going to do
Speaker 1: in the following season. South Carolina actually is a very
Speaker 1: good example of it. This season. South Carolina finished eight
Speaker 1: and four this year. Great season. They closed out in
Speaker 1: dramatically impressive fashion, beating two top ten teams. What did
Speaker 1: they do at the end of last season, Well, they
Speaker 1: were lucky to get into a bowl game. They went
Speaker 1: to the Duke's Mayo Bowl. They won. Shane Biemer had
Speaker 1: the vat of you know, almost got a concussion getting
Speaker 1: the mayo dumped on his head, but nonetheless they were
Speaker 1: able to hold up the Duke's Mayo Bowl trophy. They
Speaker 1: took that momentum into the off season. They were aggressive
Speaker 1: in the portal, which of course helped. But it all
Speaker 1: built to a point where now they're eight and four,
Speaker 1: they're going to go to a good bowl game. They
Speaker 1: had two really impressive wins here to close out the season,
Speaker 1: and it feels as if it is just building on itself.
Speaker 1: I think that's important. You heard me talk about it
Speaker 1: at nauseum in the early days of Brian Kelly at
Speaker 1: Notre Dame, some of those early teams, Right the momentum
Speaker 1: that they took with them into a bowl game throughout
Speaker 1: the latter half of a season, it built into the
Speaker 1: beginning part of the next season. Eventually they got that
Speaker 1: flywheel going. Not to sound too marketing, but you know,
Speaker 1: I think it helps. I think it all builds on itself.
Speaker 1: So I would much rather be South Carolina going into
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three than I would say Miami. It's a
Speaker 1: state of Miami right now, right there was just a
Speaker 1: thing you sent me. They couldn't even get stued to
Speaker 1: hop on the bus to come to the stadium for
Speaker 1: Miami games. So that would be the opposite of positive momentum.
Speaker 1: It might take a while for Mario to build it up,
Speaker 1: and I believe still that he will, okay, but it'd
Speaker 1: much rather be South Carolina with the just two different circumstances,
Speaker 1: two different in terms of my second year coach. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: much much different. But the trajectory of one does not
Speaker 1: necessarily equal that of the other.
Speaker 2: So I think maybe typically in years past, ten, fifteen
Speaker 2: years ago, what you're saying probably is true. But South
Speaker 2: Carolina just had their offensive coordinator hired away by Matt Ruhle. Yes,
Speaker 2: Marcus Sadderfield, I believe so. As assistants are more mobile,
Speaker 2: as so much changes year to year because of the portal,
Speaker 2: because of early NFL declarations, because of uh just changes
Speaker 2: to the sport in general, I think it's harder to
Speaker 2: say this is how we finished, this is how we're
Speaker 2: going to continue to be. Now, if there is relative
Speaker 2: stability within your program and you bring a good chunk
Speaker 2: of players, you bring back a good chunk of coaches,
Speaker 2: and you add guys who fit in well in the
Speaker 2: locker room and the culture. I think you're probably largely right.
Speaker 2: It's easier to win when you're happy than it is
Speaker 2: to win when you're dysfunctional. And it seems like if
Speaker 2: things are somewhat consistent within the program and you win
Speaker 2: near the end of a year, you at least go
Speaker 2: into the next season in a good place. But also,
Speaker 2: guys just get hurt, right, Guys just fumble the ball
Speaker 2: at an opportune times, and so all of the pieces
Speaker 2: can be there, and then the universe says like, well,
Speaker 2: you won that game twenty eight twenty seven last year,
Speaker 2: you're losing it twenty eight twenty seven this year. And
Speaker 2: so there's too much with football that's up in the air,
Speaker 2: and there's too small a sample size to me. Whereas,
Speaker 2: like you look at the NBA with eighty two games,
Speaker 2: if a team finishes really really well in their last
Speaker 2: twenty even if they don't make the playoffs or something
Speaker 2: like that, and that team coming back the next year,
Speaker 2: and that coaching staff is coming back the next year,
Speaker 2: I would generally feel better about an NBA team finishing
Speaker 2: strong than a college football team, just because there's so
Speaker 2: many moving pieces that even if there's harmony in the
Speaker 2: locker room, even if everybody's.
Speaker 1: Feeling good, I don't know.
Speaker 2: Schedules are so variable that I just sort of try
Speaker 2: and fail, but try to take each season as its own, living,
Speaker 2: breathing thing and then throw it out and move forward.
Speaker 2: Like what do we think about last year with Arkansas? Right,
Speaker 2: kJ Jefferson emerges as this good point. Sam Pitman is
Speaker 2: his revelation, finally gets this opportunity at a big place,
Speaker 2: you know, energizes things. They hit the portal hard, they
Speaker 2: beat who they beat Penn State right in the bowl game.
Speaker 2: They beat a top tier team in front of everybody
Speaker 2: in a medium to large size bowl game. I forget
Speaker 2: which one it was exactly. You know, they send Traylon Burks,
Speaker 2: He's one of the best three receivers in the country
Speaker 2: to the NFL. I think he's good in the NFL.
Speaker 2: Like there's so much positive about Arkansas Moving into twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two, kJ Jefferson gets hurt. Defense falls apart. They
Speaker 2: lose an all's sec caliber safety early on, and the
Speaker 2: season is just kind of a mess. They have the
Speaker 2: text A and M opportunity and they don't get to
Speaker 2: lose like all of the good juju that was happening
Speaker 2: in Fayetteville, no kind of quickly evaporated through just football things.
Speaker 2: And so that's why. And that's an example. That's not
Speaker 2: an exception that proves anything, but that's what I would
Speaker 2: go back to when I think about momentum heading into
Speaker 2: an off season.
Speaker 1: Fair Enough, we've got a few more questions here before
Speaker 1: we flip it over to the Patreon exclusive portion of this. Here,
Speaker 1: Q and A Dan. While I am reading this question,
Speaker 1: I want you to pull up on your computer, okay,
Speaker 1: on your touchtne keypad. Would love to the standings for
Speaker 1: both the SEC and the Big Ten. Okay, I have
Speaker 1: it already.
Speaker 2: I always have standings up when we'd record shows, just
Speaker 2: because I'm stupid and I need to refer things.
Speaker 1: A terrific question from aj Morse four on Instagram. Let's
Speaker 1: say SEC versus Big Ten challenge, mind them up one
Speaker 1: through fourteen and have them play. Ok what happens. So
Speaker 1: here's what we're gonna do. We have not pre rehearsed
Speaker 1: this obviously. I want you to list out as you've
Speaker 1: got the standings in front of you. I want you
Speaker 1: to list out number fourteen versus number fourteen. We're gonna
Speaker 1: quick pick who wins. I will keep track of the
Speaker 1: tally here, whether it's SEC, whether it's Big Ten, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna give aj very quickly, rapid fire. We're not
Speaker 1: going to go into like deep seated analytical stuff on
Speaker 1: any of these games, but we're gonna give him very
Speaker 1: quickly the results on who wins that challenge between the
Speaker 1: SEC and the Big Ten.
Speaker 2: All right, So Vanderbilt is as promising as those last
Speaker 2: late couple wins were. They gave up the most points
Speaker 2: in the SEC on and five against rank teams, or
Speaker 2: at least to text A and M with the same
Speaker 2: record three and two against AP ranked teams RS. Weirdly enough,
Speaker 2: So Vanderbilt against Northwestern, Yeah, Vandy Northwestern, Vanderbilt's beating Northwestern.
Speaker 2: I think I would take Vandy there, yep, Okay, what's next?
Speaker 2: I guess we'll go just in terms of what I'm
Speaker 2: seeing here, I guess Auburn, Okay, at thirteen sure against
Speaker 2: home wreckers, I think so, I think it would have
Speaker 2: to be. Yeah, I would take Auburn.
Speaker 1: I would definitely take Auburn, right, so that's two two
Speaker 1: for the SEC. Next up, the next worst team I
Speaker 1: think in the Big Ten would probably be Indiana, Indiana
Speaker 1: A and M probably go A and M. Right, yeah,
Speaker 1: seventeen thirteen A and L. Sure, all right. Next next
Speaker 1: worst in the Big Ten is either well, it's probably Nebraska.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say either Nebraska or Michigan State, but
Speaker 1: it's Nebraska. Who is next up for the SEC.
Speaker 2: Either Arkansas or Missoo who won that game at the
Speaker 2: end of the year Missoo believe it was Missoo. So
Speaker 2: we'll say Arkansas.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna say Arkansas. I take Arkansas.
Speaker 2: Arkansas v. Who Sorry I miss what you said. Over Nebraska,
Speaker 2: I think I would take Arkansas for Nebraska's well, nice
Speaker 2: finish for Nebraska.
Speaker 1: Though, Michigan State would be the next one up here
Speaker 1: on the totem pole. Yeah, Michigan State. They would have Missoo.
Speaker 2: They would either have Missoo or Florida, who won the
Speaker 2: Missoo Florida.
Speaker 1: Game this year. I think Florida won that. Florida won that,
Speaker 1: So we'll say Missoo. Yeah, I mean Missoo plays defense,
Speaker 1: they do, and Michigan State kind of a mess. Down
Speaker 1: the stretch, so I think i'd probably take MISSOO again
Speaker 1: another SEC team, I think I would take my Zoo
Speaker 1: SEC's five and oh here as we work from the bottom. Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's keep going. All right, let's do this quickly. Mixed
Speaker 1: up on the Big ten side, I would say is
Speaker 1: probably Wisconsin. So now we're saying Florida or Wisconsin. Florida
Speaker 1: Wisconsin is what what I think we decided on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so Florida, Florida Wisconsin. I think I.
Speaker 2: Florida finished the season basically demolishing South Carolina, throwing a lot,
Speaker 2: but coming up short against Florida State, losing to Vandy.
Speaker 2: Whatever you want to say as a free class comfortably
Speaker 2: beating A and M. I don't think if if you're
Speaker 2: gonna look at Florida.
Speaker 1: Has as a weakness team, it's their defense. I don't
Speaker 1: think Wisconsin's good enough. That's the thing I don't think.
Speaker 1: I don't think right six and o SEC. Next up
Speaker 1: for the Big ten is probably let's say Maryland.
Speaker 2: Okay, so above Florida, we'll say it's Kentucky.
Speaker 1: It's seven and five Maryland against Kentucky. I'd probably pick Maryland.
Speaker 1: I think Kentucky is one two three CanCon. Somebody asked,
Speaker 1: by the way, the difference between pack it up pack
Speaker 1: it in? Yeah, the same thing, the same thing. I think.
Speaker 1: I think one two three CanCon is you're already gone.
Speaker 2: I think pack it up pack it in is in
Speaker 2: the process of packing. Okay, that's what I take. Two
Speaker 2: different stages of yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Giving Kentucky Maryland an incredible basketball matchup historically.
Speaker 1: I go, I go Maryland. Kentucky's out of it.
Speaker 2: So Maryland got shut out by Penn State. From where
Speaker 2: Will Ebs transferred, I mean nothing, nothing I'm gonna take.
Speaker 1: We're talking all neutral site games. Yeah, I might take
Speaker 1: Maryland there. All right, we'll take Maryland there. We'll maybe
Speaker 1: six to one in favor of the SEC very quickly.
Speaker 1: Let's go. We're halfway, let's go. Let's keep going. But
Speaker 1: next up Minnesota Minnesota.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay, and then my team, I guess Minnesota or
Speaker 2: excuse me, Minnesota. So South Carolina are Ole Miss. We
Speaker 2: will go ole Miss because South Carolina three and two
Speaker 2: against ranked teams Ole Miss.
Speaker 1: One and one, taking ole Miss there. Yeah, next up,
Speaker 1: so next will be South Carolina, South Carolina against I
Speaker 1: guess Iowa.
Speaker 2: Mmmm.
Speaker 1: That's an interesting matchup. I might take Iowa there on
Speaker 1: a neutral field, I'm gonna take Iowa. We'll give you
Speaker 1: a big ten one. All right, movie on very quickly.
Speaker 1: We've got seven and two for the sec. Let's go
Speaker 1: over to.
Speaker 2: Actually, I don't even know South Carolina. With the way
Speaker 2: they finished, I'm seduced a little bit. Let's just give
Speaker 2: one to the Okay, big charitable Okay, Illinois, So Illinois
Speaker 2: or Mississippi State. Oh god, I'm inclined to go Illinois.
Speaker 2: What did Illinois finish against AP teams?
Speaker 1: I mean they're November, They're November. It was terrible. There
Speaker 1: were one in three.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're they're pretty mistake run. I'm gonna Mississippi State.
Speaker 1: There, all right? You talking in too, We'll go Mississippi State.
Speaker 1: Eight and two in favor. Yep. Perdue is next Perdue
Speaker 1: against I guess Alabama. Okay, so we go Alabama, yep.
Speaker 1: Nine and two. Next up would be Penn State.
Speaker 2: Penn State would be depending on who you would to
Speaker 2: start at quarterback, Tennessee I mean right now, would probably
Speaker 2: be Penn State, although I guess we could flip flop
Speaker 2: Tennessee Alabama Tennessee's seventh Alabama sixth, which is weird considering
Speaker 2: they played each other and both ten and two. So
Speaker 2: Tennessee against Penn State, you said, yeah, we'll go starting
Speaker 2: at quarterback for Tennessee, Joe Milton. Joe Milton. So they
Speaker 2: play this game tomorrow. Yeah, Penn State, I Michael Penn
Speaker 2: State with the current state of the Tennessee defense.
Speaker 1: And then we've got Ohio State and Michigan is our
Speaker 1: final two.
Speaker 2: So Ohio State Michigan, and so then you would have
Speaker 2: Ohio State LSU.
Speaker 1: I take Ohio State.
Speaker 2: LSU, by the way, ranked behind both, but they won
Speaker 2: the division. So I guess we're going with LSU, Ohio
Speaker 2: State LSU.
Speaker 1: I'd go Ohio State, and then Georgia against Michigan. I
Speaker 1: still take Georgia. I still go Georgia. So the long
Speaker 1: winded answer to this was the final tally eleven and three,
Speaker 1: ten and four four favorite the SEC. All right, let's
Speaker 1: do one final non college football question here before we
Speaker 1: cut over. In a in a complete capacity to our
Speaker 1: Patreon world, Dan, let's go to your favorite Thanksgiving leftover recipe. Dan,
Speaker 1: This is from the Thanksgiving leftover recipe. Your favorite Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: leftover recipe, the example being turkey chili. Well, that's a good,
Speaker 1: that's a good one favorite Thanksgiving. I don't know. Usually
Speaker 1: I just stuff everything onto a sandwich and it's nothing
Speaker 1: that glorious. How about a cold turkey sandwich.
Speaker 2: Cold turkey sandwich, if you like the cranberry sauce, throw
Speaker 2: that on there, stuffing on there. Honestly, I I'll throw
Speaker 2: it in the toaster oven. I just there's nothing specific.
Speaker 2: I just want another Thanksgiving me all some stuffing and
Speaker 2: broccoli casserole and turkey if you've got it. Something I
Speaker 2: do like to use, though, for leftovers in general, which
Speaker 2: you could very easily use with Thanksgiving stuff is instead
Speaker 2: of a sandwich, to make a hash, essentially a scramble
Speaker 2: or something like that. If you got a bunch of
Speaker 2: crispy potatoes, eggs, and if you want turkey, if you
Speaker 2: don't want turkey, stuffing, all of that would be great
Speaker 2: in a hash, like some sort of scrambly hash. I'm
Speaker 2: just into because you just it's that old.
Speaker 1: Where do they do this?
Speaker 2: I think Rochester, New York, is known for it, but
Speaker 2: they do it all over the Midwest and Northeast, like
Speaker 2: the garbage plate right where you just like have a
Speaker 2: plate full of stuff, mix it with eggs, throw a
Speaker 2: bunch of hot sauce on top, and then just don't
Speaker 2: move for the rest of the day. I think it's Rochester,
Speaker 2: New York that's famous for their garbage plate, but maybe
Speaker 2: I'm wrong about that. You can do it with a soup,
Speaker 2: you can do it with a salad, you can do
Speaker 2: it with whatever else. You can throw turkey out of
Speaker 2: pizza of course.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The other way I would do it.
Speaker 2: Is, you know, make a hash and then roll it
Speaker 2: up in a tortilla and make like a breakfast burrito
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving leftover thing.
Speaker 1: That would be delicious. But now sandwich or hash I
Speaker 1: think is the way sandwich has all right, So here
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Speaker 1: time to come out to the show, to watch the
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Speaker 1: part one of this here, Q and a bruine as
Speaker 1: we call it. That's true in the verball You just
Speaker 1: have some that was brewed this morning. Dan. Let's keep
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