Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal. I'll that for me. I'm
Speaker 1: a man, I'm for I've heard so many players say, well,
Speaker 1: I want to be happy. You want to be happy
Speaker 1: for dake Edo state. Is that?
Speaker 2: Woo woo?
Speaker 1: And Dan and tie Aho follow.
Speaker 2: Welcome aboard your two's cruise. This is your captain, Captain
Speaker 2: Ty hilden Brand joining me.
Speaker 1: Did I do that right?
Speaker 2: You?
Speaker 1: I mean you did it very gus. Captain Jackish, which
Speaker 1: I think was very appropriate.
Speaker 2: Joining me is Lieutenant Captain Dan Rubinstein a board here
Speaker 2: on the ship, Sir, how are you?
Speaker 1: I'm great? And this I've just realized is not a
Speaker 1: nautical term, but it could be. Are you familiar with
Speaker 1: the term safe harbor? I am? So what to you?
Speaker 1: What does safe harbor mean?
Speaker 2: Safe harbor means that you go to a place where
Speaker 2: you're safe and secure.
Speaker 1: That seems reasonable. Yes, So in the broadcasting world, safe
Speaker 1: harbor hours I think between ten pm and six am,
Speaker 1: And even though we're not recording this after ten pm,
Speaker 1: we're recording it a good three hours after we normally would.
Speaker 1: This is this is factually correct. So I'm gonna say,
Speaker 1: because it's two's cruise later than usual, I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: this qualifies for safe harbor hours, which is when you
Speaker 1: can if if you watch a TV show, there is
Speaker 1: going to be more violence or maybe a butt that's
Speaker 1: shown on their tie, or maybe it's just the nature
Speaker 1: of the theme on that TV show. If it's after
Speaker 1: ten PM, before six, they're not doing.
Speaker 2: No no, no, hold on, We're not doing the Dennis Franz
Speaker 2: butt shot. Here are podcasting, right.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying the rules are a little bit looser
Speaker 1: between in those safe harbor hours, sure, or maybe the
Speaker 1: safe harbor hours or before then, whatever it is. So
Speaker 1: I guess our first segment is called boat. I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: I hope you believe that. I really do.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have I know we have families listening. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna have to bleep that. But this is twoes cruise
Speaker 2: after dark. Yes, in more ways than one. As you said,
Speaker 2: it's a little bit later. Normally when we record it's
Speaker 2: light out side, it's not at the moment. It's also
Speaker 2: sort of the darkness of the season. Now the sun
Speaker 2: is set on our season. We've got Bowl games that
Speaker 2: we're going to be talking about. By the way, you
Speaker 2: can sign up for the soliverbo Bullpool. If you're listening
Speaker 2: to this, you want to go to soliverbal dot com
Speaker 2: slash pick them. It's an address you're familiar with because
Speaker 2: you used to go there weekend and week out to
Speaker 2: pick your games against the spread. Your ten games, Well,
Speaker 2: now you got forty one to pick. It's confidence style,
Speaker 2: so it's not against the points spread. We're going to
Speaker 2: be breaking down all of these games. We're still working
Speaker 2: out the schedule, but alas we're going to go through
Speaker 2: all of them. Last year, I think we had like
Speaker 2: a thousand people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was a good number.
Speaker 2: It was a healthy number, so you're going to want
Speaker 2: to get in on that. Always a ton of fun.
Speaker 2: But we are back here for yet again, a two's cruise,
Speaker 2: bright and early Tuesday morning. Daniel, Shall we start with
Speaker 2: some news things going on before we get into our games.
Speaker 1: I'd love to brick news. There's new coaches, there's transfer portal,
Speaker 1: they're bowl games. Where do you want to begin.
Speaker 2: Let's start with some of the coaching news. A couple
Speaker 2: names here to read, and then maybe we can go
Speaker 2: through them and give some thoughts. USF gets Jeff Scott,
Speaker 2: the co offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the
Speaker 2: Clemson Tigers.
Speaker 1: I like that we're leading with the bulls. Great, awesome,
Speaker 1: let's do it.
Speaker 2: Colorado State maybe Butch Jones, Yeah maybe. See Missouri makes
Speaker 2: it official with Eli Drinkwitz for me from app State, Yeah,
Speaker 2: Arkansas like fours for the Drinkwitz family. Saw going Sam
Speaker 2: Pittman bringing him back. Florida State announcing that it is
Speaker 2: hiring offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, an up and comer coming
Speaker 2: over from Auburn.
Speaker 1: Yes, and was with Mike Norvell in Memphis and so
Speaker 1: is pretty well regarded and has experience with him. Odell
Speaker 1: Haggens also staying aboard and that was not intentional, but
Speaker 1: I've just the nautical terms are so they've wormed their
Speaker 1: way and he is staying on as a defensive line
Speaker 1: coach and I think associate head coach at Florida State.
Speaker 1: Lane Kiffin had his introductory press conference, had a couple
Speaker 1: of solid goofs. I don't know if you sign any
Speaker 1: of that. Somebody asked him about being greeted on the
Speaker 1: tarmac with you know, babies to kiss, and he said
Speaker 1: a lot better than last time at tarmac, A lot
Speaker 1: better than last time. So talked about previously owning some
Speaker 1: really nice suits and then he got he got fat
Speaker 1: at Alabama his words, gained a bunch of weight, That's
Speaker 1: what he talked about. This is not me editorializing. So
Speaker 1: they filled up like the basketball Jim. I think it
Speaker 1: was a looked like a pep rally. So there's excitement,
Speaker 1: there's optimism in Oxford and the lane train has pulled in.
Speaker 1: I know you're I wouldn't say happy, but you are
Speaker 1: intrigued at the prospect of Penn State having a new
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator with Ricky Ronnie going over to the Monarchs of.
Speaker 2: ODU, potentially additioned by subtraction here with Ricky Ronnie taking
Speaker 2: the old Dominion job. I talked about it on the
Speaker 2: last podcast. There are a great many Penn State fans
Speaker 2: who are pleased with this announcement and curious to see
Speaker 2: what Penn State does. There's a lot of scuttle but
Speaker 2: that they're going to promote from within, but I think
Speaker 2: I think it'll be a welcome change.
Speaker 1: Welcome change.
Speaker 2: So a little bit of stale play calling a time,
Speaker 2: some questionable stuff that didn't improve from year one to
Speaker 2: year two under Ricky Ronnie. So we'll see which direction
Speaker 2: James Franklin decides to go. But as Penn State alum
Speaker 2: and part time Penn State fan, I'm pretty pleased with this.
Speaker 1: Any Sam Pittman thoughts, I'm asking you about a notable
Speaker 1: position coach, not somebody who has been a recent coordinator
Speaker 1: or head coach at a major place. But if you've
Speaker 1: watched any video of him, he seems excitable. He seems enthusiastic,
Speaker 1: and his track record as an offensive line coach and
Speaker 1: his track record in Fayetteville should mean that he I
Speaker 1: would imagine there's excitement around Arkansas recruiting. It's I mean
Speaker 1: signing days in like a week and a half. So
Speaker 1: let's relax with this here.
Speaker 2: But moving forward, here's my question about the Sam Pittman move.
Speaker 2: Since he was there under Brett Bilma, Yeah, is this
Speaker 2: signaling that they want to get back to the heyday
Speaker 2: of Brett Bieloma at Arkansas? I bring Sam Pittman.
Speaker 1: Do I think they want to get back to the
Speaker 1: heyday of protecting quarterbacks and opening up holes for running backs,
Speaker 1: whatever system that looks like. Because by the end of
Speaker 1: his tenure there, and obviously Sam Pittman left early, Arkansas
Speaker 1: was throwing the ball a lot. It was not necessarily
Speaker 1: lining up a fullback every time and mashing it three
Speaker 1: yards at a time. So Arkansas tried to evolve the
Speaker 1: hired dan Enos. Obviously it didn't fully work out, but
Speaker 1: they did try to bring their offense into a bit
Speaker 1: of a more modern look. I think the Sam Pittman
Speaker 1: hire is good. Obviously, anybody reacting to these hires without
Speaker 1: looking at how they fill out their staffs and how
Speaker 1: they recruit for like two years, it's going to be premature. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Arkansas interviewed a number of people, they had conversations with people,
Speaker 1: and Sam Pittman probably was not the number one guy
Speaker 1: on their list. Maybe he was, who's to say. But
Speaker 1: in any case, I'm intrigued by it because I think
Speaker 1: there there is some coach onus to him in that
Speaker 1: there is enthusiasm that he's not trying to be polished.
Speaker 1: I like it. So hopefully it works out. He's gotten
Speaker 1: his Now he gets a shot at a pretty major
Speaker 1: coaching job, and Arkansas moves forward. Eli Drinkwitz only at
Speaker 1: app State for a year. He's been around though, he
Speaker 1: was you know Boise, he was at Arkansas State and
Speaker 1: obviously NC State, so you imagine his coaching network is
Speaker 1: pretty good if he's not a complete awful person, and
Speaker 1: Miszoo is a place where a good coach can win.
Speaker 1: The SEC East is not chalk full of killers, so
Speaker 1: we'll see. I think I think he's pretty well regarded,
Speaker 1: and I'm rooting for Mazoo to improve after what they
Speaker 1: put on the field this year, So we'll see it.
Speaker 1: The one year thing is it feels like he's, you know,
Speaker 1: grabbing the opportunity while he can no.
Speaker 2: Fair enough, fair enough, and Jeff Scott coming over from
Speaker 2: Clemson I think is notable. Willy Taggart was rumored for
Speaker 2: that job, wasn't he He was?
Speaker 1: I mean, he had rumored interest. I don't know if
Speaker 1: everything was mutual at every high place within USF, but
Speaker 1: you know, it'll be interesting to see where Willy Taggart
Speaker 1: falls moving forward in the coaching ranks, sure, and otherwise
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's anything. I mean, the Jeff's
Speaker 1: got things interesting. Obviously, He's helped to develop a ton
Speaker 1: of excellent receivers while while at Clemson is well regarded,
Speaker 1: was making I think seven figures as a co offensive
Speaker 1: coordinator with Tony Elliott. So it's been a while since
Speaker 1: we've seen anybody get poached from that Clemson staff. So
Speaker 1: I suppose somebody like Jeff Scott was waiting for the
Speaker 1: right opportunity, and certainly you can win pretty big at
Speaker 1: USF as we've seen recently.
Speaker 2: In some other transfer news, Jake Bentley, formerly of South Carolina,
Speaker 2: of course got hurt. He is making the move over
Speaker 2: to Utah. Just announced it before we hit the record
Speaker 2: button tonight.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes sense. Obviously, there is going to be
Speaker 1: a quarterback competition in Salt Lake City, and the development
Speaker 1: of Tyler Huntley certainly makes Utah an attractive destination. They
Speaker 1: lose a blue chip quarterback last year to transfer. I
Speaker 1: think he ended up at Indiana, So yeah, has an
Speaker 1: opportunity to step in and helm which should once again
Speaker 1: be a pretty good offense.
Speaker 2: Also, Jordan Love is pondering his next to move. He's
Speaker 2: looking at Oklahoma, looking at Houston, and of course looking
Speaker 2: at rejoining his old coach Matt Wells at Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we saw not this obviously, not twenty nineteen. It
Speaker 1: was a pretty up and down year for him. Considered
Speaker 1: to be second or third tier draft quarterback. He probably
Speaker 1: needs to show out better than he did this year,
Speaker 1: so it makes sense. Coaches left where he had success
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, and he can be pretty
Speaker 1: high level. I don't know if Oklahoma is going to
Speaker 1: again do the one year thing with a quarterback. They've
Speaker 1: got a couple good ones waiting, but place like Texas
Speaker 1: Tech with the injury issues and the health issues Alan
Speaker 1: Bowman has had Houston, we don't know what exactly is
Speaker 1: going to happen with Derek King. All signs point to
Speaker 1: him returning, but not official. So he's I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a good quarterback when he is the right system and
Speaker 1: the right coaches.
Speaker 2: And finally, your four Heisman finalists have been announced. Joe Burrow,
Speaker 2: Justin Fields, Jalen Hurts, and Chase Young. Anyone else that
Speaker 2: should be on that list? Daniel that isn't I think JK.
Speaker 1: Dobbins had a wonderful year, but adding a third Ohio
Speaker 1: State player seems kind of like overkill. So no, I
Speaker 1: don't know, is there anybody for you? Travis y Kann
Speaker 1: had a marvelous year, but he wasn't counted on because
Speaker 1: they just blue teams that just invite Joe Burrow. He's
Speaker 1: gonna win. He's gonna win. The Jonathan Taylor tailback put
Speaker 1: up a bunch.
Speaker 2: Of two hundred yards JTT going there. There are other
Speaker 2: names around college football that had remarkable seasons, and if
Speaker 2: they were recognized by being a Heisman finalist, I'd be
Speaker 2: cool with it. But you know how I feel about
Speaker 2: the Heisman. I've never been a huge fan of the
Speaker 2: Heisman Trophy. I don't really care who doesn't win. Joe
Speaker 2: Burrow is very clearly going to win this year, so
Speaker 2: if he were the only one invited, I'd be fine
Speaker 2: with it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's correct. I mean, Trevor Lawrence. There's
Speaker 1: a pretty clear case that any conversation about the best
Speaker 1: players is actually offensive skill players that doesn't involve Trevor
Speaker 1: Lawrence seems incomplete. But he struggled early on in the year.
Speaker 1: He was certainly Heisman esque his last whatever seven or
Speaker 1: eight games.
Speaker 2: He's Heisman caliber for sure. Yeah, Heisman caliber for sure.
Speaker 2: He's probably a top five pick next year.
Speaker 1: But Chuba Hubbard goes for almost two thousand. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, we're just naming very good, not necessarily with
Speaker 1: a running back. I do like to see some sort
Speaker 1: of all purpose contribution. And I don't have Chuba Hubbard's
Speaker 1: receiving numbers or return numbers in front of me. If
Speaker 1: he really contributed there but didn't stand out like a
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey, I would say, shall we get to our
Speaker 1: first game of the evening, Daniel, Let's get to the
Speaker 1: first game. Our first game is titled it's hard to
Speaker 1: say out loud, Arcabolagore year Here it just means more.
Speaker 1: I love that sound. I'm playing anything, Sorry please here
Speaker 1: here Here its.
Speaker 2: More beautiful, Daniel, How does this game work?
Speaker 1: So ty? When we are you and I sailing to
Speaker 1: a cluster of islands, we need to prioritize our itinerary.
Speaker 1: So basically, if we are imagining the bowl lineup as
Speaker 1: a cluster of islands, cluster of islands Micronesia, somewhere in
Speaker 1: the South Pacific, maybe the Philippines, we have to figure
Speaker 1: out where we want to hop on and hop off. Sure,
Speaker 1: we have to figure out the importance of one what
Speaker 1: we care about and two who actually cares more in
Speaker 1: the game. Hence the here it it matters more just
Speaker 1: what is it? What does she say? You might have
Speaker 1: to play it again. It just means more. Well, let's
Speaker 1: let's listen again. Just means more here, here, here, it
Speaker 1: just means just means more. Dan. Okay, so this is
Speaker 1: a talking point we have every year. And oh well, yes,
Speaker 1: obviously Auburn lost to UCF, but they didn't really care.
Speaker 1: They lost the SEC championship games, so you see, have
Speaker 1: cared more. Obviously, Alabama didn't care about beating Utah in
Speaker 1: the Sugar Bowl. Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl didn't want
Speaker 1: to be there, right. I understand that from a human
Speaker 1: perspective that sometimes it's tough to really give you all
Speaker 1: when you're disappointed about where you are in the bowl lineup.
Speaker 1: But I don't think that's everything. I think teams try.
Speaker 1: This is when and even though bowls and bowl results
Speaker 1: don't necessarily matter for future results, perhaps as we saw
Speaker 1: with Texas last year in the Sugar Bowl. Correct, Correct,
Speaker 1: a lot of these games are on TV when no
Speaker 1: other games are, and so they do matter in that
Speaker 1: this is a showcase for a lot of players who
Speaker 1: perhaps have not had a ton of attention, a lot
Speaker 1: of teams, a lot of coaches. Now we have interim coaches,
Speaker 1: we have players sitting out, you know, we have disappointment.
Speaker 1: We have overly excitable teams because of where they ended
Speaker 1: up and who they might be playing. So all that
Speaker 1: is true, I think we should go and look at
Speaker 1: games and single out teams who to us should be
Speaker 1: caring more than the other team or should be carrying
Speaker 1: less based on circumstance, and figure out going into bull
Speaker 1: season instead of doing it after the fact. Yes, this
Speaker 1: team is going to depth care more or less. You
Speaker 1: are a speaking my language dog, Yes I am. I
Speaker 1: knew you'd like this. You are speaking my language.
Speaker 2: As we get into our official Bowl preview or we
Speaker 2: start assigning confidence points to some of these results, I
Speaker 2: have a formula that I stick to religiously, and I'm
Speaker 2: real big on this. I am big on teams that
Speaker 2: are motivated going into bull season, teams that maybe have
Speaker 2: a little bit more to play for, even if they
Speaker 2: are a dog, I will tend to favor that team
Speaker 2: over a more established blue blood program if I feel
Speaker 2: like they've just got more to play for. It's more,
Speaker 2: there's more on the line for them, right there. Just
Speaker 2: means more, thank you. There are countless examples of teams
Speaker 2: who just mail it in in Bowl season, and I'm
Speaker 2: not right all the time, but it's a primary component
Speaker 2: in my off season formula. So I did give some
Speaker 2: thought to this. You want to you want to start
Speaker 2: start hammering.
Speaker 1: Well, let me say this. Let me start here. Generally speaking, here,
Speaker 1: it just means more. It just means zero played again,
Speaker 1: why not? Very stupid. It's later than usual, safe harbor.
Speaker 1: It just means more.
Speaker 2: So I will generally strike any team that lost a coach. Okay,
Speaker 2: any team that lost a coach. There are one or
Speaker 2: two notable exceptions this year, one being Washington. They haven't
Speaker 2: lost Chris Peterson's the it's his final game, so I
Speaker 2: think there'll probably be an emotional angle there that I
Speaker 2: wouldn't want to overlook.
Speaker 1: And it's against Boise State. Be a very poetic way
Speaker 1: to finish out his coaching career if this is indeed
Speaker 1: the end.
Speaker 2: The other one I was looking at was Florida State. Okay,
Speaker 2: and right now ASU is favored over Florida State in
Speaker 2: the Sun Bowl. Mee, Tony the Tiger sun Bull. Excuse me, Nay, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I feel like people are overvaluing ASU. They have all year,
Speaker 2: and maybe in this game as well. I could see
Speaker 2: Florida State getting up for that one. Those are the
Speaker 2: two games where I'm willing to look past coaching changes.
Speaker 2: But in almost every other case, I dock that team
Speaker 2: a little bit going into bull season. It's just a
Speaker 2: little bit of a different mindset going into Bull season
Speaker 2: knowing that you're going to be losing your coach.
Speaker 1: It's difficult to mine for Bill Stewart's May he rest
Speaker 1: in peace. Doesn't mean I'm picking against app State. I
Speaker 1: still the gap States the better team. They're not going
Speaker 1: to lose.
Speaker 2: But that's the first thing I look at. The second
Speaker 2: thing I tend to look at is teams that felt
Speaker 2: like they got better from the start of the year
Speaker 2: to the end of the year, particularly teams that played
Speaker 2: really well down the stretch. So Tennessee might fit that
Speaker 2: Mold Tennessee really came on second half.
Speaker 1: Of the year. Don't want to give them a look. Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: you're a big believer in the disproven element of momentum. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2: To the contrary, Let's take a look at what happened
Speaker 2: at Miami. Okay, Miami's going up against Louisiana Tech. Currently
Speaker 2: they're a touchdown favorite. Do you feel good about the
Speaker 2: way Miami closed out its season?
Speaker 1: No, I mean, Miami is your classic, Like, how far
Speaker 1: back do we have to look to find a Miami
Speaker 1: bold dud of a performance when they just want the
Speaker 1: season to be over? Oh just last year, Oh just
Speaker 1: in the pin stright.
Speaker 2: Miami ran out of gas a mile ago and have coasted, yeah,
Speaker 2: all the way through the end of the season. So
Speaker 2: I don't need to go into elaborate detail here, but
Speaker 2: I think you understand the cut of my jib here.
Speaker 1: I think Charlotte is going to be quite excited to
Speaker 1: go to the Bahamas their first Bowl game first year
Speaker 1: for Will Healy shows up in this is the This
Speaker 1: is the Bahamas Bulls, the first one December twentieth, shows
Speaker 1: up to announce to the team in their meeting room
Speaker 1: in like a maskin snorkel and a tank top and
Speaker 1: the flippers. They're excited to go to the Bahamas. Get
Speaker 1: they might get trucked by Buffalo, It's entirely possible, but
Speaker 1: they are the clear more excited team after Buffalo went
Speaker 1: to the MAC Championship last year and had a down
Speaker 1: year this year, losing a couple of key players on offense.
Speaker 1: I think that's right, fau SMU. The only thing I
Speaker 1: will circle about SMU is, I will always treasure SMU
Speaker 1: in a bowl game, even though they got murdered. When
Speaker 1: it happened when Sunny Dyke's was hired once Chad Morris left,
Speaker 1: they did get murdered, and he was like, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm free if you want me to coach. My schedule's
Speaker 1: pretty open. And they proceeded to get murdered. But I
Speaker 1: do respect that, So I think SMU is probably in
Speaker 1: a better place than FAU. Without laying I would agree
Speaker 1: with that that falls under your coach and Corel one
Speaker 1: hundred percent.
Speaker 2: Let me posit a different theory for you. Okay, which
Speaker 2: team was on the precipice of qualifying for the College
Speaker 2: Football Playoff and faltered?
Speaker 1: Uh? Utah, Utah Utes, Baylor Bears. Now I'm talking to Utah.
Speaker 1: You got it right the first Oh Utah. Okay, there
Speaker 1: were a couple of teams that you know, figured they
Speaker 1: had a shot organ of the week before.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Utah going to the Alamo Dome, San Antonio squaring
Speaker 2: off against Texas. Utah is favored by seven in that game.
Speaker 2: But okay, the proverbial wind I'm assuming is out of
Speaker 2: their sales now after not having made playoff. They're going
Speaker 2: to the Alamo Bowl, which is a fun bowl game,
Speaker 2: but it lacks the appeal of obviously being in the
Speaker 2: final four. Meanwhile, Texas is in a spot where they
Speaker 2: can play giant killer Utah's defense man.
Speaker 1: That's such a weird way to define this matchup. Texas
Speaker 1: going in there is just like the gutty little underdog,
Speaker 1: the scrappy gym rats, just trying to make a name
Speaker 1: for themselves. They're seven and five. You're not. You're positioning
Speaker 1: Texas in maybe a slightly disingenuous way, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to sell the twos cruise. Damn'm trying to
Speaker 2: similar tenders to get a board the twos cruise.
Speaker 1: Utah looked terrible last year against Northwestern in San Diego.
Speaker 1: If that means anything too, it does just means more. Actually,
Speaker 1: I mean they also looked very bad last year in
Speaker 1: the PAC twelve championship game, So I don't know, maybe
Speaker 1: it's another carryover for the Utes.
Speaker 2: I'm just curious to see how Utah looks in that game,
Speaker 2: curious to see if they can get their head on straight.
Speaker 1: By the way, along the coaching lines of Texas Utah.
Speaker 1: We do know that Tom Herman gets jacked up for
Speaker 1: bowl games. Oh yeah, we saw all the arguing against
Speaker 1: Miszoo two three years ago. We saw it last year.
Speaker 1: You know the excitement obviously with how well Texas played
Speaker 1: against Georgia. So there is that element where there is
Speaker 1: a strong possibility that Texas has an up and down year.
Speaker 1: They beat a playoff adjacent Utah, and everybody's like, all right,
Speaker 1: Tom Herman is going to hire a couple of great
Speaker 1: coordinators there. The feeling is great on the forty Acres again,
Speaker 1: it feels like just a natural thing to happen.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you the natural trap for me. The natural
Speaker 2: trap for me is in the Outback Bowl. It's Minnesota
Speaker 2: and it's Auburn. Auburn is favored by seven and a half.
Speaker 2: And I was in a similar situation a year ago
Speaker 2: where Perdue made the Music City Bowl, also played against Auburn,
Speaker 2: and I remember thinking, I remember and you cautioned me
Speaker 2: against this, Yeah, but I remember thinking Perdue is going
Speaker 2: to be way more into this game than Auburn. What
Speaker 2: does Auburn care about paying about playing Purdue? And in
Speaker 2: my confidence, but I didn't put a whole lot of
Speaker 2: points on it, but I took Purdue straight up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they lost six, three.
Speaker 2: To fourteen in that game, Dan, I was dead wrong.
Speaker 2: So maybe not a testament to my little formula here,
Speaker 2: but it was fun while it lasted.
Speaker 1: Sometimes there is an element of does one team have
Speaker 1: players who are way way better, right, and that should
Speaker 1: be considered in matchups like that. How do we feel
Speaker 1: about Michigan Alabama? I think Alabama will blow the doors
Speaker 1: off of them. I think, I agree, I think, and
Speaker 1: it's it helps that and if you remember Alabama, I
Speaker 1: think faced off against Michigan State in was it a
Speaker 1: Capital One Bowl a while back, and it was like
Speaker 1: a forty one to seven game. Now starting quarterback I
Speaker 1: presume was healthy. I think the fact that it is
Speaker 1: Michigan and it's not I'm going to be terribly insulting
Speaker 1: to somebody, so I'll just you know, it's not Minnesota,
Speaker 1: where I think it would be more difficult for Alabama
Speaker 1: to get up for a game like that. The fact
Speaker 1: that Jim Harbaugh is on the other sideline, that there
Speaker 1: are NFL players on the Michigan defense, the fact that
Speaker 1: there are top flight receivers really on both teams, but
Speaker 1: on Michigan wearing you know, Mason blue. I think that
Speaker 1: makes it easier, even though Alabama certainly had designs of
Speaker 1: going to the playoff with Tua. Right, So I still
Speaker 1: think Alabama's up for this game, and I still think
Speaker 1: they're comfortably better. So did I play this game correctly?
Speaker 1: I'm not sure. Oh it's unclear, But I mean, just
Speaker 1: going through if I just name teams and I won't
Speaker 1: put you on the spot, you know too dramatically here
Speaker 1: with you know, teams from very different conferences, but like
Speaker 1: North Carolina Temple right, year one of Rod Carey for Temple,
Speaker 1: certainly a lot of changes in Philly, North Carolina probably
Speaker 1: happy to be in a bowl game after taking some
Speaker 1: years off. Larry Fedora. It feels like, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: what it's in Maryland, so you can get a lot
Speaker 1: of Tar Heel fans there. I feel like North Carolina
Speaker 1: is probably the happier team. There's excitement about Sam Howell
Speaker 1: and Mac Brown agreed, agreed, and it should be a
Speaker 1: nice matchup North Carolina's offense against Temple's defense. Oklahoma State,
Speaker 1: Texas A and m who is super into going to
Speaker 1: Houston for all the way from college Station, Texas and
Speaker 1: still Water, Oklahoma. Is Oklahoma State happy with you know,
Speaker 1: they lose a couple, you know, big players in Spencer Sanders,
Speaker 1: Tylan Wallace. Texas A and M very difficult schedule bright spots.
Speaker 1: Is it difficult for Texas A and M to go
Speaker 1: against a former Big twelve opponent of theirs and essentially
Speaker 1: play in Texas A and M suburbs?
Speaker 2: I think A and M is going to drill Oklahoma State. Ooh,
Speaker 2: I like that they are going to drill Oklahoma State.
Speaker 2: I've been waiting for this Bowl matchup, not specifically against
Speaker 2: Oklahoma State, but facto home game.
Speaker 1: Well the facto home game.
Speaker 2: But I've been waiting for A and M's matchup because
Speaker 2: we knew this going into the year that their schedule
Speaker 2: was gangbusters. They had to have a miracle season to
Speaker 2: put together like a nine win year five. They fell
Speaker 2: now to the Texas Bowl, and I was ready willing
Speaker 2: and able to bet pretty much sight unseen on A
Speaker 2: and M regardless of who they played. So Oklahoma State,
Speaker 2: they'll have their work cutout for him trying to stop
Speaker 2: Chewba Hubbard. But I think A and M's one of,
Speaker 2: if not the best seven to five teams in the country.
Speaker 1: The Holiday Bowl features an Iowa team who year and
Speaker 1: in year out, you seem to know what you're getting
Speaker 1: from them, top flight defense, maybe a couple offensive playmakers,
Speaker 1: but in a system that's not terrific. And a USC
Speaker 1: team who finished the year with two very different emotions
Speaker 1: or at least on the field, a ton of confidence
Speaker 1: and yardage and points blowing out their rival. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're really scoring a ton of points on the rival.
Speaker 1: I think they finished winning what five of six off
Speaker 1: They have the best true freshman quarterback in the country.
Speaker 1: Probably maybe it's a conversation between Sam Howel and Keaton Slovas.
Speaker 2: See I I think USC is the perfect storm of
Speaker 2: Bowl success here because not only did they meet one
Speaker 2: of my first qualifiers there where they got better, I
Speaker 2: think they got better down the stretch ket and Slovas
Speaker 2: surely did. And secondly, I think they get a little
Speaker 2: bit of a boost knowing that they're not losing their coach,
Speaker 2: They're retaining Clay Helton. I think if you're on the team,
Speaker 2: you feel good about that.
Speaker 1: No one on the Tian Merrill's poking around, though, well,
Speaker 1: I'm still uncertainty with what the what the coaching staff
Speaker 1: is going to look like as a whole.
Speaker 2: There is uncertainty, but they're keeping the head guy, and
Speaker 2: I think that's reason for optimism here in this game.
Speaker 2: I was only a one point favorite. Vegas is every
Speaker 2: bit is confused about this game, as the rest of US.
Speaker 2: I did make my picks, I didn't go through them.
Speaker 1: I haven't done that yet.
Speaker 2: I put a whole lot of research in but at
Speaker 2: at first blush, I'm going USC.
Speaker 1: Here's your I'm looking this up as we are doing this.
Speaker 1: Iowa against Big ten teams, the number five team in
Speaker 1: the country, opposing quarterback rating. Change it to FBS winning
Speaker 1: teams thirty seventh. Yeah, so hard to fully gauge what
Speaker 1: Iowa's pass defense is going to look like against a
Speaker 1: pretty good USC team. But either way, I think that's
Speaker 1: actually one of my nine or ten Bowl games I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to most, maybe even higher. I agree. So
Speaker 1: I think Iowa actually is happier to be there than USC,
Speaker 1: just because of all the noise surrounding USC, even though
Speaker 1: they know the Trojans finished the year a pretty exciting way.
Speaker 1: Notre Dame Iowa State. Yeah, where's the care factor for you? There?
Speaker 1: Iowa State. I hype them up as much as I
Speaker 1: possibly could. They come up short a couple times where
Speaker 1: they really had a chance to win nine or ten games,
Speaker 1: taking on a Notre Dame team who seems to be
Speaker 1: happy with their ten and two year and being competitive
Speaker 1: against good against everybody, essentially, So, what are your thoughts.
Speaker 1: Notre Dame had quietly a very very November. They did.
Speaker 2: By the time the calendar turned to November, they had
Speaker 2: kind of fallen off the national radar, and so I
Speaker 2: don't know if that got as much coverage as it deserved.
Speaker 2: But they played really well. Ian book looked pretty good.
Speaker 2: I think they're better top to bottom than Iowa State.
Speaker 2: Iowa State's going to test them through the air, and
Speaker 2: it figures to be a fun game. Notre Dame is
Speaker 2: only about a field goal favorite going into this one.
Speaker 2: I don't know if this one really checks any of
Speaker 2: the boxes in terms of an advantage for one team
Speaker 2: or the other. I think both teams will be up
Speaker 2: playing in this game.
Speaker 1: Notre Dame beating Iowa State is not a, you know,
Speaker 1: a thing to take into the off season. The way
Speaker 1: that Iowa State beating Notre Dame is it isn't.
Speaker 2: But I don't think Notre Dame is going to be
Speaker 2: so let down that they come out and put in
Speaker 2: a bad showing.
Speaker 1: The red box ball. Oh yeah, you want to talk
Speaker 1: is Oregon back in this game? Unfortunately, Oregon's going to
Speaker 1: a startup game called the was Abel. I'm reading that incorrectly.
Speaker 1: Florida Virginia, we don't need to talk about the red
Speaker 1: box now.
Speaker 2: Sorry.
Speaker 1: Florida Virginia to me is interesting, Okay, Why well, I
Speaker 1: don't think Virginia really thought they stood much of a
Speaker 1: chance against Clemson. They make it to a New Year
Speaker 1: six Bowl, Florida should beat the doors off of them.
Speaker 1: I would think so, yes, But there is an element
Speaker 1: of Florida seeing their opponent and saying it's we're talking
Speaker 1: about an acc coastal team that didn't really do much
Speaker 1: to separate themselves from anybody else in the coastal. It's
Speaker 1: not a headline program. It's not as if Florida got
Speaker 1: to play against Baylor, which is a weird thing to say,
Speaker 1: or Florida's not getting to play against usc even where
Speaker 1: it's just like, oh, this is like a cool thing
Speaker 1: that there's a bunch of super duper high level players
Speaker 1: on the field that are going to be NFL type players.
Speaker 1: Florida's not playing Wisconsin, They're not playing Michigan like they
Speaker 1: did last year and blew them out. So I don't
Speaker 1: know this one. To me, I think Virginia is going
Speaker 1: to care more. I would agree with you on that one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Florida's not traveling away from their home state, which I
Speaker 1: know is no new thing for the Gators. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I think Virginia definitely cares and wants to be there more.
Speaker 1: I think it just means more to the Who's what
Speaker 1: about Georgia Baylor.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm not excited to watch the game and I
Speaker 2: think it's gonna be very defensive minded, but it is notable.
Speaker 2: Of course, it's a New Year's six game, so that's
Speaker 2: one thing. Secondly, as we talked about on the Sunday Show,
Speaker 2: first Sugar Bowl since nineteen fifty seven for Baylor, I
Speaker 2: think Matt Rule will have them fired up.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
Speaker 2: And on the other side, it's interesting because didn't Georgia
Speaker 2: lose in the Sugar Bowl last year to Texas. They did,
Speaker 2: so perhaps a redemption spot for the Bulldogs.
Speaker 1: Yep, but they want to be in the PLAYFF right,
Speaker 1: they were the number four team.
Speaker 2: So I guess what I'm asking is which do you
Speaker 2: trust in more Baylor's excitement about being there or the
Speaker 2: redemption spot for Georgia not wanting to be in a
Speaker 2: situation like they were last year when they dropped one
Speaker 2: against Texas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but nobody talked about the Sugar Bowl against Texas
Speaker 1: basically once the season started. That's just sort of an
Speaker 1: off season narrative thing. I don't think there is a
Speaker 1: revenge spot element of Georgia wanting to beat the Big
Speaker 1: twelve team in the same bowl game they were in
Speaker 1: last year. It's it's Baylor, the care factors Baylor. The
Speaker 1: only difference to me is are Georgia's players so much
Speaker 1: better and more talented than Baylor's that it doesn't make
Speaker 1: a difference. I like Baylor because of the care factor here,
Speaker 1: but I haven't really gone in deep but in terms
Speaker 1: of just pure cares, my.
Speaker 2: Answer this game was one that I was truly on
Speaker 2: the fence about, and I think Georgia is the better team.
Speaker 2: The players are better. If I were betting this game
Speaker 2: in Week three, I would one hundred percent go Georgia.
Speaker 2: But there are other factors at play when you get
Speaker 2: into the postseason, and the care factor I think looms large.
Speaker 2: Maybe debunked Dan, but yeah, it is something that I
Speaker 2: pay attention to.
Speaker 1: I have my own system that I will reveal once
Speaker 1: we start picking the games, excell or the pick and pool.
Speaker 1: My final question to you is Indiana, Tennessee and the
Speaker 1: Gator Bowl in a beautiful tropical Jacksonville, Florida. Man, I
Speaker 1: have no idea.
Speaker 2: So I talked about Tennessee before Tennessee got better as
Speaker 2: the year war on. Yeah, Indian has been pretty good
Speaker 2: totally the full way through. Their issue was that they
Speaker 2: ran into a bunch of buzzsaws back.
Speaker 1: To back to back. Yeah, and Penn State and Penn
Speaker 1: State thank you. So it's a good football team, uh huh.
Speaker 2: I think at this point maybe more of a proven
Speaker 2: entity just as a team. I just want care factor.
Speaker 2: Who wants twenty nineteen more. I still think it's Indiana
Speaker 2: against an SEC team. Raw.
Speaker 1: I think both these teams are like pumped to be
Speaker 1: in a bowl game, to finish their season and to
Speaker 1: have the success and how competitive they were. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think everybody wants this for the first time being Jacksonville
Speaker 1: fair enough, What is our next game? I was that
Speaker 1: was my last one that I was curious care factor wise.
Speaker 1: But if you have any others that jump out to
Speaker 1: you to mention nothing that Minnesota wants to be in
Speaker 1: the Outback Bowl more than Auburn.
Speaker 2: Definitely, But I don't want to talk about that game
Speaker 2: that could that could really ruin things for me.
Speaker 1: Oregon Wisconsin feels pretty equal, right, oh, Wisconsin lost playoff design.
Speaker 1: I have no idea who I'm picking in that game.
Speaker 1: Oregon goes four and eight two years ago, three years ago,
Speaker 1: whatever it was, and now here they are on the
Speaker 1: Rose Bowl. I think they're pretty pumped. All right, Dan,
Speaker 1: what's our what's our last game? Here? Seven? I don't
Speaker 1: have a sound for this, and this is slightly forced
Speaker 1: pun wise, but it's called or not or a r
Speaker 1: both ors in the water, and so I just have
Speaker 1: this is a conventional wisdom game. Because we have reached
Speaker 1: the end of our pre bowl season, I guess the
Speaker 1: regular season short of Army Navy, excuse me, So first question,
Speaker 1: I got five of these. So upon reflection, we've seen
Speaker 1: another select committee make their their top four picks. So
Speaker 1: winning your conference ty your Power five conference, should it
Speaker 1: be a college football playoff prerequisite? Now? I think six
Speaker 1: years in or something or not a prerequisite. Yes. So
Speaker 1: we've seen We've seen Alabama get in without winning their
Speaker 1: conference and even their division. We've seen instances and conversations
Speaker 1: around it doesn't matter what happened, like you said yourself,
Speaker 1: matter what would happen in the Big Ten championship game.
Speaker 1: Ohio State should be in. They ended up taking care
Speaker 1: of business. But should that actually be It's a very
Speaker 1: popular thing to say, win your conference and then you
Speaker 1: can get into the playoff. No. No, I said it
Speaker 1: like a week ago.
Speaker 2: I said that if LSU lost, I could definitely see
Speaker 2: them still being in.
Speaker 1: I said it.
Speaker 2: About, well, you could see them being Ohio State. I
Speaker 2: thought Ohio State was in regardless. I thought that was
Speaker 2: the right call.
Speaker 1: They were. I'm not so good all year. I'm not
Speaker 1: asking you to appraise what the committee will do. I
Speaker 1: am saying the tie rule of law, the tie law,
Speaker 1: if you will, Okay, sure you see what I did.
Speaker 1: I like it. It's a football joke that I didn't
Speaker 1: pre plan. Just it's later than usual. That's what happened,
Speaker 1: thy law. Where where do you stand? I'm fine? You're
Speaker 1: in charge. I'm fine with it. Okay, totally fine. That
Speaker 1: has proven themselves in your mind, but has not won
Speaker 1: their conference. I don't have a strong thought about this.
Speaker 1: I try to have as strong a take as possible
Speaker 1: about as much as I can in the sport. I'd
Speaker 1: prefer it. I would definitely prefer it. I would.
Speaker 2: I would prefer it too. I'm not going to be
Speaker 2: closed minded. If they ever were to expand to eight teams,
Speaker 2: then it would be a prerequisite. Then if you win
Speaker 2: your conference, you're in. But help us for now, I'm
Speaker 2: okay with the committee deciding who it feels the best
Speaker 2: four teams are, regardless.
Speaker 1: You have a preferred eight team model like five conference champions,
Speaker 1: G five and two wild cards. That's what I prefer.
Speaker 1: That's almost exactly it. Yeah, okay, the next or or
Speaker 1: or not the Big twelve is heading back to wide
Speaker 1: open quarterback and offensive excitement any given week or maybe
Speaker 1: not so. These past few years, we've had Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray, Will Greery and Rudolph I'm forgetting a number.
Speaker 1: You know, Sam Ellinger has been involved in shootouts, and
Speaker 1: we've had great receivers at Oklahoma State we've had even
Speaker 1: Kansas State, it's involved in occasional shootouts, and we've had
Speaker 1: big time quarterbacks and we don't know what to expect.
Speaker 1: You know, in Bedlam and Baylor, TCU, Bryce Petty, Tremon Boyken,
Speaker 1: Kenny Trill, all these guys were capable of putting forty
Speaker 1: five on the scoreboard in any given week. That wasn't
Speaker 1: the case this year in the Big Twelve. No, not
Speaker 1: at all. And a lot of that has to do
Speaker 1: with new coaches and scheme changes and year one of
Speaker 1: a lot of action and you know, some disappointment from teams.
Speaker 1: Do you see us getting back to that level with
Speaker 1: the addition of Matt Wells and Chris Cleman and Neil
Speaker 1: Brown and Les Miles. Do we see part two of that?
Speaker 1: When so much of this conference is reliant on Texas
Speaker 1: for talent?
Speaker 2: Oh man, I see it by maybe four teams at
Speaker 2: the top. But Patrick Mahomes and person, sure, sure, yeah,
Speaker 2: I see it by maybe four teams in in the
Speaker 2: Big Twelve, certainly Oklahoma and Texas and Oklahoma State and
Speaker 2: maybe Baylor if they can get their act together. Is
Speaker 2: in that conversation Texas Tech was many wrong things this year,
Speaker 2: but they were a lot of fun to watch an offense.
Speaker 1: They were kind of they were without their starting quarterback too.
Speaker 2: Yeah, without their starting quarterback, Alan Bowmen British comedy legend
Speaker 2: Alan Bowa. But wow, are we getting back? That's sort
Speaker 2: of a loaded question. Are we getting back to wide
Speaker 2: open Big twelve football?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I say no. I say no. I expect West
Speaker 1: Virginia to keep improving on offense, but they had a
Speaker 1: singular offensive mind in Dana Holgerson for a long time,
Speaker 1: built up a system, recruited Florida really well. I don't.
Speaker 1: I think Neil Brown's good, but I don't think they
Speaker 1: have an offensive mind like Dana Holgerson. I think Oklahoma
Speaker 1: State will be pretty good, but I don't. You know, again,
Speaker 1: they had Dana Holgerson as well. They Mike You're sick.
Speaker 1: They tend to hire pretty well. So I think they're
Speaker 1: still going to be pretty good Oklahoma. I don't have
Speaker 1: concerns about Texas. Will see if they get Graham Harrell.
Speaker 1: If they get Graham Harrell, Texas, yes, will will be
Speaker 1: on that level in terms of being able to put
Speaker 1: forty on anybody. But I don't think Matt Rule is
Speaker 1: going to get to that point with Baylor just because
Speaker 1: I don't think he really fancies that style.
Speaker 2: No, No, that's a defense first right program down there.
Speaker 1: I don't think Less Miles and Kansas are going to
Speaker 1: get to that point. I don't think Kansas State is
Speaker 1: going to try and the way that Matt Rule has
Speaker 1: not tried to have that wide, wide open offense. So
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be an adjusted era of
Speaker 1: Big twelve football. It could be an era with more defense.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, if football cyclical, that would be
Speaker 2: a nice change of pace with Big twelve.
Speaker 1: Because you notice I didn't mention TC. I noticed a
Speaker 1: lot of Kith right now? Next or not Georgia and
Speaker 1: its offense. Did they simply run into an LSU juggernaut
Speaker 1: or are there serious problems? They were able to get
Speaker 1: by with defense pretty much all year or all year.
Speaker 1: I mean, they lost South Carolina, but it wasn't because
Speaker 1: of a horrible defense. Wow, is this a significant issue
Speaker 1: that needs to be addressed given how well they recruit
Speaker 1: and what we perceived their ceiling to be because of
Speaker 1: their athletic level. Their athletic level is ridiculous. Sure, they
Speaker 1: have recruited off the charts Kirby Smart has done a
Speaker 1: remarkable job, but fiftieth in the nation in points per game.
Speaker 1: I know that's not the only metric, but.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I I don't know how I feel about this.
Speaker 2: I was very underwhelmed by Jake from this year. He
Speaker 2: did a lot of the right stuff, a lot of
Speaker 2: his experience, knows where to go at the ball. He's
Speaker 2: a KG veteran at this point. He's not gonna lose
Speaker 2: a game for you. But as I think was a parent,
Speaker 2: especially with so many receivers going down, which wasn't his fault.
Speaker 2: But when he has to singularly go out there and
Speaker 2: win a game, I don't know if he's if he
Speaker 2: if that's like the formula that is gonna do it
Speaker 2: for Kirby Smart. This year's offense may have been so
Speaker 2: underwhelming that it forces him to come back.
Speaker 1: James Coley, offensive coordinator, has not really succeeded. No in
Speaker 1: places that can recruit well and should be putting up
Speaker 1: top twenty to twenty five offenses nationally.
Speaker 2: This was a concern, yeah, about him taking over the offense.
Speaker 2: So yeah, there's a bit of a track record there.
Speaker 1: I think they were fine. They were good under Jim Cheney.
Speaker 2: They were really good and good offense, Yeah, really good.
Speaker 2: So I don't know if it's a scheme thing. It's
Speaker 2: certainly not a talent thing, so I need more data
Speaker 2: on this one. They did run into a juggernaut of
Speaker 2: lsulc's defense played lights out. Nobody is stopping that LSU offense.
Speaker 2: So did they run into a juggernaut, yes, But are
Speaker 2: their issues with the offense. I'm inclined to say yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's anything horrible. I think it's fixable.
Speaker 2: But at the same time I expected more.
Speaker 1: I think there's something wrong with the offense. I think
Speaker 1: the long stretches they went and whether it was a
Speaker 1: weather game, whether they did not play a schedule of
Speaker 1: absolute killers. Defensively, they should be putting forty points on
Speaker 1: everybody with an experienced quarterback with DeAndre Swift when the
Speaker 1: and obviously receivers were out and out for parts of
Speaker 1: the LSU game. They've put together top three recruiting classes.
Speaker 1: They've had at times nine, ten to eleven blue chip receivers.
Speaker 1: If they're not figuring out how to get to forty points,
Speaker 1: thirty five points, thirty one points, I have them as
Speaker 1: thirty first in points per drive. That's an issue. It's
Speaker 1: all about the context of what you're trying to do.
Speaker 1: Georgia's offense needs a serious revamping. All right, that's next question.
Speaker 1: The Big Ten second tier. So I have it as Wisconsin, Michigan,
Speaker 1: Penn State. You might have a problem with that because
Speaker 1: I think there is Ohio State standing alone in the conference. Sure,
Speaker 1: as we've seen this Yere. I don't think Minnesota is
Speaker 1: there yet, just because we'd like to see it over
Speaker 1: multiple years. Is that trio Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State. Are
Speaker 1: they closing the Ohio State gap even slightly or not? Really?
Speaker 1: I'm going to talk specifically about Penn State.
Speaker 2: Okay, And Penn State is closing the gap at least
Speaker 2: in one respect.
Speaker 1: Your voice is going up? Is it bey on in
Speaker 1: one respect?
Speaker 2: In one respect? Yeah, and that is recruiting. They're still
Speaker 2: not recruiting quite as well as Ohio State. Nobody is right.
Speaker 1: According to the.
Speaker 2: Blue Chip Ratio, Ohio State was first this season, so
Speaker 2: they're tops in that game. But there is more depth
Speaker 2: at Penn State than there has almost ever been. The
Speaker 2: depth of talent that they have that James Franklin has
Speaker 2: built up is what they're going to need to continue
Speaker 2: having if they want to seriously challenge Ohio State on
Speaker 2: the field.
Speaker 1: So you need that. They're going to run into that
Speaker 1: Georgia problem then where they have the talent, but especially
Speaker 1: on offense, as we saw this year a pretty up
Speaker 1: and down ride, are they going to like, what are
Speaker 1: we doing with all this talent? We have kJ Hamler,
Speaker 1: we can't get him going consistently. We have whoever, Noah Kane,
Speaker 1: Journey Brown, Johan Dotson, I think justin Shorter left. But
Speaker 1: you know, there's a lot of talented dudes who can
Speaker 1: tote the rock and they're not scoring a ton against
Speaker 1: decent teams. And then you want to know why I'm
Speaker 1: glad that Ricky Ronnie took the Monarchs job. Sure there
Speaker 1: you go, yeah, okay, so you think that's oh that's
Speaker 1: closing the gap by subtraction.
Speaker 2: Well, yes, and no, I'm curious to see what a
Speaker 2: new Week offense, if there is a Newalk offense, can
Speaker 2: do for the team next year. They've got a lot
Speaker 2: coming back. And furthermore, to my larger point here, I
Speaker 2: just think there's more talent. There's more talent, at least
Speaker 2: in that respect. They are somewhat closing the gap.
Speaker 1: I think the gap is actually closing, and I'm not
Speaker 1: sure whether it's anything that these three teams are doing.
Speaker 1: I think just so Ohio State right now is what
Speaker 1: they have a top what appears to be a top
Speaker 1: five recruiting class. I presume that's probably gonna hold with
Speaker 1: how they finish. Ryan Day inherited the world. He absolutely
Speaker 1: inherited the world, and he brought on a former number
Speaker 1: one quarterback in the country in Justin Fields. He inherited
Speaker 1: an All American running back in jk He inherited in
Speaker 1: All American Heisman finalist defensive end in Chase Young. He
Speaker 1: hired really well see if Jeff Hafley six around on
Speaker 1: that defense. But I think the gap is closing just
Speaker 1: because it will be pretty much impossible to continue what
Speaker 1: urban Meyer did in Columbus right, not to say he
Speaker 1: won't call eleven in one every year, that's entirely possible.
Speaker 1: I think Ohio State's gonna recruit crazy well still, and
Speaker 1: it's going to be a stocked roster. But I think
Speaker 1: the gap is closing just because it's impossible to say
Speaker 1: Ohio State is just going to go twelve to zero
Speaker 1: every year. No, No, I agree, sight unseen. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the GAP's closing a little, but there's still
Speaker 1: some room.
Speaker 2: Yeah, until we see a season in which Ohio State
Speaker 2: loses to two of these teams, I think they've still
Speaker 2: got a fair amount of breathing room.
Speaker 1: You know, Ohio State plays in week two of next year.
Speaker 1: Who you're Oregon Ducks and Adsen nice home and home. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it should be pretty fun. Well week after Oregon plays
Speaker 1: North Dakota State beautiful. It's terrifying. Final question here? Final
Speaker 1: or not? You can read it off.
Speaker 2: Someone from the PAC twelves middle class Oregon State, Cal Washington, UCLA,
Speaker 2: or Arizona State, Yeah, can jump up or so a
Speaker 2: note here, All of those teams that I read, all
Speaker 2: five of them went four and five.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and these are all the teams, all the teams
Speaker 1: that were within a game of going five hundred. There
Speaker 1: were no five and four teams. USC I think finished
Speaker 1: seven to two. And then Oregon in Utah obviously the
Speaker 1: class of the conference. Are we these are your middle
Speaker 1: tier teams at least as it stands after twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: Okay, that was gonna be my question because I don't.
Speaker 1: Can zoo has been very good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't consider Washington to be middle class.
Speaker 1: You think they're on the upper tier.
Speaker 2: Yes, Okay, it wasn't a great year for them, but
Speaker 2: I still think the program is in the upper crust
Speaker 2: of the PAC twelve.
Speaker 1: Do you think that they can return to the level
Speaker 1: they were? What was it twenty sixteen when they went
Speaker 1: to the playoff? Like consistent double digits. It's Jimmy Lake.
Speaker 1: We don't know what they're going to look.
Speaker 2: Like incomplete hard to say, to say my gut is
Speaker 2: no right, but I'll be rooting for Jimmy Lake.
Speaker 1: UCLA Chip Kelly, Herm Edwards bringing in Hugh Jackson. Cal
Speaker 1: They lost their offensive coordinator today, Bo Baldwin, I think
Speaker 1: has taken over reportedly at cal Poly Jonathan Smith and
Speaker 1: Oregon State coming on strong back half of the season. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Is there room for one of these teams as you
Speaker 1: see it? Is there? Do you have confidence in there
Speaker 1: being room in the VIP room of the PAC twelve.
Speaker 2: I'm confident that there's room, but I'm not confident that
Speaker 2: any of these teams are going to occupy it.
Speaker 1: So the other teams that are not mentioned here are
Speaker 1: the University of Arizona, University of Colorado or yeah, University
Speaker 1: of Colorado, let's see you, and Wazooka and Stanford. Wow, Stanford.
Speaker 1: So now are we confident? Are you confident that Stanford
Speaker 1: just had a disaster of a year or if it's
Speaker 1: if it's slip time. It was such a disaster of
Speaker 1: a year for them, wasn't it. Yeah? I think it's
Speaker 1: slip time for Stanford.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think we're seeing a ton of transfers. I think
Speaker 1: there might be leg there may be legs to David
Speaker 1: Shaw looking at the NFL, I don't know. How do
Speaker 1: you feel about this question of these five teams specifically,
Speaker 1: if this is what we're going to consider the mid tier,
Speaker 1: I don't have a lot of faith. No, I don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of faith. I think the PAC twelve
Speaker 1: is going to and you'd be pretty top heavy. I
Speaker 1: think Oregon State can win seven or eight. I mean,
Speaker 1: all these teams could win seven or eight. But in
Speaker 1: terms of getting back into that exclusive room now, I
Speaker 1: think it's just USC Utah and Oregon right now that.
Speaker 2: I have the only team in here. Big confidence in
Speaker 2: the only team in this group being that I feel
Speaker 2: okay about would be Washington, but all the others, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I feel okay, yeah, I think Washington's as close as
Speaker 2: it gets. But they're incomplete. It's it's really hard to
Speaker 2: make that presumption right now.
Speaker 1: Incomplete. Okay, Well, there you have it?
Speaker 2: Or not?
Speaker 1: An archie bolago? Did I say that right? It's like no,
Speaker 1: it's like an archipelago, so arcabolago.
Speaker 2: Here here, here, it just me We love that sound
Speaker 2: all right? You Well, we will be back on Thursday morning.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's going to talk through other news. That's short
Speaker 1: of break. What are we talking about? Yeah, I had
Speaker 1: to think about it. Maybe get dive. We'll talk about
Speaker 1: Army Navy.
Speaker 2: We'll talk about some other stuff going on in and
Speaker 2: around the world of college football.
Speaker 1: Not doing the ball preview.
Speaker 2: Next episode, but we're gonna get there in a hurry. Yes,
Speaker 2: be sure to jump on in at solidverbal dot com
Speaker 2: slash pick them if you want to join the bullpool,
Speaker 2: or you can go on out to the website. We'll
Speaker 2: put the link at the very top of solid verbal
Speaker 2: dot com if you want to get on in, join
Speaker 2: us in the fun as we pick through all forty
Speaker 2: one of these football games.
Speaker 1: Dan oh, I am, I'm pretty excited. For Bowl season times.
Speaker 1: Me too. I am. I do some cooking. I'm going
Speaker 1: down to Florida the family for vacation and to watch
Speaker 1: some games down there in the sunshine. I need a breather.
Speaker 1: I need a breather. We've been on this boat. No,
Speaker 1: I'm hanging out here. What are you doing?
Speaker 2: We've been on this boat so damn long, all season,
Speaker 2: flowing around out here sand ghosts. Yeah, I need to
Speaker 2: get back on land to just chill. Okay, fair enough,
Speaker 2: Thank you to one and all for joining us aboard
Speaker 2: the two his crews here. This is your Captain Tie
Speaker 2: Hilding brand Captain Tie Hildon Brandt, alongside Lieutenant Captain Dan Rubinstein,
Speaker 2: Fair winds and following seas will talk to you on
Speaker 2: Thursday and I Menytimes, stay solid.
Speaker 1: Peace