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Speaker 1: Before we get started, please rate and review our show.

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Speaker 1: It helps people find us. On this episode of Sports

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Speaker 1: Illustrated Weekly, college football is finally here, and our two

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Speaker 1: s I in house experts, Ross Dellinger and Pat Forty

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Speaker 1: joined me to discuss everything you need to get ready

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Speaker 1: for the season. I'm your host, John Gonzalez from Sports

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Speaker 1: Illustrated and I Heart Radio. This is Sports Illustrated Weekly.

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Speaker 1: Ross Dellinger and Pat Forty. Welcome to Sports Illustrated Weekly. Hey,

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Speaker 1: good to be with you, John. Gonna be excited to

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Speaker 1: have you guys on. College football is set to kick

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Speaker 1: off a lot of things happening. I just want to

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Speaker 1: start broad strokes here for both of you. Uh, Ross

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Speaker 1: you can go first. You're you're new to the program.

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Speaker 1: We're happy to have you give us a storyline that

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Speaker 1: you're monitoring, something that's interesting that people should be watching

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Speaker 1: out for. Well, we go into every year, I feel

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Speaker 1: like knowing at least three of the four teams that

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Speaker 1: will compete in the playoff, maybe all four, but this year,

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Speaker 1: and you're always trying to wonder, like who's going to

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Speaker 1: be that new team that challenges We all know that

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Speaker 1: you know, the playoff has included like, you know, a

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Speaker 1: group of like six teams like eight percent of the time,

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Speaker 1: So you're always kind of wondering, who's that other team

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Speaker 1: that's gonna like challenge this year? And uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: so you've got your Georgia's, you've got your Alabama's, you've

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Speaker 1: got your Ohio States, and it's kind of like who's

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Speaker 1: going to be in the mix. And it's been kind

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Speaker 1: of revolving. You know, You've had Notre Dame in there

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Speaker 1: obviously every now and then, and uh, you know l

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Speaker 1: s U one year and this year. I think that's

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Speaker 1: kind of the question that as we're going to the season,

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Speaker 1: it's who's going to be that that other challenger. And

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Speaker 1: I think out West, one of the things I'm looking

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Speaker 1: at is Lincoln Riley's team. Courting reports look at Riley's

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Speaker 1: leaving Oklahoma. He will take the head coaching position at USC.

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Speaker 1: I know Pat went out there and visiting him earlier

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Speaker 1: this year. I think, you know, he's got a brand

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Speaker 1: new team almost quite literally, like forty new players, forty

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Speaker 1: five new players, a bunch of transfers, Heisman type receiver,

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Speaker 1: Heisman type quarterback. So could they burst started the scene

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Speaker 1: and be the Challenger. You know other ones like Texas.

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Speaker 1: You know, sorry second year, you know, how do things

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Speaker 1: look there? Queen you was at quarterback yours rolling. He's

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Speaker 1: got time taking a shutout field, a lot of hype

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Speaker 1: around him. And then obviously I don't think I mentioned

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Speaker 1: at the top, but of course you have Clemson. You

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Speaker 1: know Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, you know those are in Ohio state.

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Speaker 1: Those are kind of the force. You're always looking for

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Speaker 1: that other team, and I think the usc Is is

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Speaker 1: one I'm really interested to watch this year. Pat. I

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Speaker 1: know before we began this show, you said you were

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Speaker 1: on a bit watch for for certain coaches. What are

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Speaker 1: you checking out so far? I am there's always that,

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Speaker 1: because there's always coaches on the hot seat here. Um.

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Speaker 1: But like to me, I think maybe the most interesting

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Speaker 1: football related thing is gonna be just this is gonna

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Speaker 1: be a Bonker's year for quarterbacks, gonna be really really good.

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Speaker 1: It's very rare that you get a returning Heisman Trophy

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Speaker 1: winner back in college, and we do have that. Embryce Young,

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Speaker 1: the quarterback from Alabama, the winner of the two thousand

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Speaker 1: twenty one Heisman Memorial Trophy is Young. A lot of

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Speaker 1: people think c J. Stroud, the quarterback at Ohiose Sate,

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Speaker 1: is better than he is to the side touch to Garenawson.

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Speaker 1: Uh and he did have a higher pass efficiency rating.

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Speaker 1: The top five guys last year in past efficiency are

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Speaker 1: all back Grayson mccaull from Coastal Carolina, who broke the

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Speaker 1: single season record in that category. And then you've got

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Speaker 1: Stroud who I mentioned, Stepson Bennett who was the you know,

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Speaker 1: the underdog story who led George of the championship Hendon

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Speaker 1: Hooker at Tennessee, and then Caleb Williams who went from

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma to USC. So a lot of quarterback movement but

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Speaker 1: also just a lot of quarterback talent. Back this season,

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Speaker 1: I think we're gonna we're gonna have fun time watching

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Speaker 1: him sling. It always fun to watch the quarterbacks. Pat

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Speaker 1: wrote the most Intriguing Quarterbacks for s I dot Com.

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Speaker 1: Encourage everybody to go and check that out. You also

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Speaker 1: Pat wrote the was intriguing non quarterbacks? Uh ross, give

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Speaker 1: us somebody who's a non quarterback that you're paying attention

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Speaker 1: to and then promises isn't like the USC show. But Addison,

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Speaker 1: Jordan Addison over there at at USC pick it back.

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Speaker 1: But toss down out former pit receiver, maybe one of

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Speaker 1: the biggest movers transfer movers of of the off season.

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Speaker 1: Certainly he would be a guy that that should be

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Speaker 1: on everybody's list to watch for if you're talking about

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Speaker 1: none or non quarterback type Heisman. So I would circle

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Speaker 1: him as as a guy. But two, to imagine a

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Speaker 1: quarterback in the stand age of football not winning the

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Speaker 1: Heisman is is hard for me. Although it's happened, just

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Speaker 1: happened just a couple of years ago with the receiver,

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Speaker 1: but it's hard to not see a quarterback, you know,

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Speaker 1: when the Heisman. I think the way offenses are, in

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Speaker 1: the way the game is now, if it was like

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Speaker 1: every three out of every four years, you know you're

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Speaker 1: you're gonna have a quarterback with the Heisman Trophy. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it seems like almost a foregone conclusion these days, but

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Speaker 1: there's so many storylines and some many moving parts already

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Speaker 1: in college football has barely just begun. Pat, We've had

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Speaker 1: you on this program to talk about all kinds of things,

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Speaker 1: including and especially n I L. I'm wondering what you've

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Speaker 1: seen so far from that system and how it's shaped

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Speaker 1: college football. As we had into the season, continuing to

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Speaker 1: be fascinating, evolving topic. Ross really is the expert on

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Speaker 1: on n I L. But to me, the way that

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Speaker 1: it has appre shaped for frudent has been the biggest thing.

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Speaker 1: And players that are absolutely using NILE as a recruiting

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Speaker 1: inducement boosters that are using it that way, schools that

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Speaker 1: are using it that way, and it's it is not hey,

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Speaker 1: you've come here and perform well and you can do

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Speaker 1: commercials and things like that in in some instances as

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Speaker 1: it is, but but in many others it is, hey,

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Speaker 1: here's this pile of cash if you'll sign with us,

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Speaker 1: And that's allegedly against n c double A rules. But

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Speaker 1: who's enforcing the rules. How well is that going? I

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Speaker 1: think we know how well it's going because last week

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Speaker 1: the n c a A sent a memo to all

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Speaker 1: the members schools saying we need your help. We can't

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Speaker 1: get these cases. We know it's happening, but we can't

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Speaker 1: get there. So basically we need you to. We need

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Speaker 1: everybody to snitch on their competition, uh tangibly with good

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Speaker 1: evidence of what's been going on, so that we can

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Speaker 1: make some cases here. Good luck with that. I think

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Speaker 1: mostly that just kind of looked like a cry for

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Speaker 1: help from the n c a A. But you know,

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Speaker 1: it's it's a definite factor to keep watching. I'm not

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Speaker 1: opposed to the players getting paid, getting goods and services

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Speaker 1: and all those things, but it has been a game

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Speaker 1: changer in terms of how recruiting is going. Ross Pack

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Speaker 1: called you the n I L expert. You tell us

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Speaker 1: how's how's this system unfolding so far? For you? I

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Speaker 1: don't know if anybody's an expert on it. Where it's

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Speaker 1: just so new. Um, it's a challenge to wrap your

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Speaker 1: hands around. And it continues to change, it continues to evolve.

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Speaker 1: You know, we've gone from n I L being with

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Speaker 1: the traditional use of an I L commercial endorsement opportunities,

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Speaker 1: and it's obviously involved into boosters getting involved in an

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Speaker 1: I L. And I don't know what the next evolution is.

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Speaker 1: I'm sure it's out there somewhere, but it's hard to

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Speaker 1: keep track of everything, you know. I think they're probably

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Speaker 1: twelve the fifteen schools that are using in I L

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Speaker 1: through a most of through a booster or booster collectives

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Speaker 1: that are using in I L. You know, significantly, where

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Speaker 1: you're talking about a lot of money millions of dollars

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Speaker 1: going to being dispersed among a team, and I think

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Speaker 1: that number probably is only going to grow if you

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Speaker 1: have twelve or so doing it now. You know, this

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Speaker 1: time next year, you're probably gonna have thirty or so

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Speaker 1: doing it unless we get, you know, some kind of

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Speaker 1: more regulation. And that's who we really don't have in

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Speaker 1: professional sports. You have the salary caps, and you have

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Speaker 1: waiver wires and players signed contracts, and right now you've

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Speaker 1: got college sports are probably as close as they've ever

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Speaker 1: been to pro sports, and there's really no regulation. So

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Speaker 1: that's the frustrating part. I know from people inside. For

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Speaker 1: professional sports, the magic word is parody. Right at the

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Speaker 1: NBA the NFL, you want to have that parody. You

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Speaker 1: want to have as much competition as possible between the

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Speaker 1: n I L. And then also Pat, you and I

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Speaker 1: have discussed this on the show. Before usc U c

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Speaker 1: l A signaling that they're going to go to the

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Speaker 1: Big ten the SEC coaching teams. Are we looking at

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Speaker 1: less parody? Are we looking at you know, the power

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Speaker 1: to conferences and everybody else? Because there's the halves that

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Speaker 1: have a lot and then there's everybody else. I think, yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're inevitably trending that way. It's started, and it's only

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Speaker 1: going to keep going and perhaps even accelerating in terms

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Speaker 1: of the revenue disparity between what the SEC and Big

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Speaker 1: ten can bring in and the rest of the so

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Speaker 1: called Power five as they become less powerful. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: mean you can't have a Clemson pop up and win

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Speaker 1: a national championship. It doesn't mean that maybe you talk

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Speaker 1: could make the playoff this year, or a Baylor or

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Speaker 1: an Oklahoma or in Oklahoma State from the Big twelve.

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Speaker 1: But it gets harder as we go along, and I

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Speaker 1: do think, you know, the signals are are pretty unmistakable.

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Speaker 1: I had a Big ten source that told me we

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Speaker 1: are not done expanding, and so if they whether that

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Speaker 1: means within weeks, months or years, probably years, but in

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Speaker 1: three to five years, I think we'll be looking at

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Speaker 1: a significantly different landscape and probably certainly less parody across

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Speaker 1: the board, a much bigger Big Ten. You're outing off

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Speaker 1: some names there of schools that will be paying attention

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Speaker 1: to as a season unfolds. Let's run through the rankings,

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Speaker 1: the AP rankings and PATS ranking slightly different. You had Alabama,

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Speaker 1: Ohio State in Georgia, as did the a P at

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Speaker 1: the top three, we'll just start there. Uh Ross, how

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Speaker 1: do you feel about that grouping? Any shot of of

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Speaker 1: Georgia repeating? Is is it another march for Obama towards

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Speaker 1: a title? What are we looking at with those top three? Well,

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Speaker 1: I yeah, I mean I ended up picking shockingly picked

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Speaker 1: up Alabama to win it all bouncing back from from

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Speaker 1: their loss to Georgia and the championship game. It's hard

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Speaker 1: to see, you know, Georgia had a lot of turnover,

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Speaker 1: certainly from that defense, right it was probably arguably the

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Speaker 1: best defense that college football has ever seen, certainly the

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Speaker 1: best in the last few years, and lost a ton

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Speaker 1: off that team. So hard to think that they're gonna

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Speaker 1: challenge again in the Ohio State. I think could very well.

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Speaker 1: I mean they're they're They're my pick to be in

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Speaker 1: the championship game with Alabama, and so I think they're

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Speaker 1: right there. Clemson is a big question mark this year,

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Speaker 1: coming off of you know, their worst year and I

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Speaker 1: don't know what six seven years, probably they're the worst season,

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Speaker 1: uh not making the playoffs, not winning the conference, um

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Speaker 1: in with the quarterback that we still don't know if

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Speaker 1: he's the guy. He's going to win the job again

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Speaker 1: and and start to start the season. But they're they're

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Speaker 1: the of those top four, they're they're the biggest question

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Speaker 1: for sure. AP has Clemson ranked fourth going into the season. Pat,

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Speaker 1: you're slightly lower on them at seven. The big disparity

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Speaker 1: though between you guys. You have Michigan much higher, Michigan eighth,

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Speaker 1: and the AP rankings you've got the Wolverines fourth. What

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Speaker 1: do you like about the Wolverines this year? Well, I

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Speaker 1: have said this and we'll maintain it until we actually

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Speaker 1: start seeing teams play. But I don't like anybody fourth

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Speaker 1: room twell, Like, I think the top three are much

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Speaker 1: better on paper than everyone else. So after that, it's

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Speaker 1: like you can find a problem with everyone. So I

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Speaker 1: mean the things I like about Michigan though, I think

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Speaker 1: they're gonna have a very good offense. Um, they've got

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Speaker 1: two good quarterbacks. They got to settle on one, or

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Speaker 1: maybe they don't, maybe they mix and match. They've got

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Speaker 1: good running backs. They have got a really good receivers,

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Speaker 1: including Ronnie Bell who got hurt in the first game

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Speaker 1: last year, and we'll be back. They have an excellent

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Speaker 1: tight end. They've got young talent at those areas. Offensive

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Speaker 1: line was one of the best in the country last

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Speaker 1: year and most of those guys are back, and then

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Speaker 1: they brought in a key transfer from Virginia, So I

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Speaker 1: think this will be Jim Harbaugh's best offense at Michigan. Defensively,

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Speaker 1: you're filling some huge holes there. They had obviously Aidan Hutchinson,

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Speaker 1: who was the number two pick in the draft, but

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Speaker 1: also David a Jabo, the other rush end who was

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Speaker 1: a high draft pic on the second round, and then

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Speaker 1: they had a first round pick, safety Decks Hill. So

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Speaker 1: they've got some holes to fill there. But I think

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Speaker 1: that Michigan is going to be good enough offensively that

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Speaker 1: you can bring that unit along as things go. And frankly,

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Speaker 1: the schedule is pretty easy right Their non conference schedule soft,

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Speaker 1: so I can see them getting off to a a

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Speaker 1: easy start through September without even being challenged, and kind

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Speaker 1: of building their defense up as they go through that

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Speaker 1: that first month season. The other disparity between the AP

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Speaker 1: rankings and PATS rankings USC outside the APS top ten,

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Speaker 1: just inside Pat's top ten at number nine. Ross you

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Speaker 1: you said it was the USC show earlier. You want

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Speaker 1: to make a case for USC for against Yeah, I do.

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Speaker 1: I like USC. First of all, you know, they obviously

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Speaker 1: they have a coach who's who's proven to do it,

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Speaker 1: have has taken multiple teams to UH to the playoff

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Speaker 1: and delivered to Heisman Trophy quarterbacks. And he's got one

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Speaker 1: now that a lot of people say has just as

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Speaker 1: much talent, if not more than the other two. Hey, look,

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Speaker 1: well for the secondary touchdown Homa And you know, I

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Speaker 1: think they picked up obviously some key transfers. You know,

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Speaker 1: they kind of rated the Sooners. Uh. Not only did

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Speaker 1: they get the quarterback they got, they got the top

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Speaker 1: defensive back in packing correct me at running back, receiver, receiver,

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Speaker 1: Mario Will receiver receiver and then of course Addison as

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Speaker 1: we talked about earlier. So the question there obviously is

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Speaker 1: going to be defensively. You know, they were like a

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Speaker 1: hundred and ten or something last year and I want

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Speaker 1: to say overall defense. So they really struggled, But they

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Speaker 1: got a manageable schedule right in the in the in

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Speaker 1: the Pact twelve and and uh So, Yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: there's a case there to be made that that maybe

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Speaker 1: we'll have a West Coast team in the in the

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Speaker 1: playoff for at least challenging in UH for a playoff

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Speaker 1: spot in the final few weeks of the season, which

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Speaker 1: is somewhat of a rarity these days. Al Right, So

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Speaker 1: we've spent a lot of time talking about the big

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Speaker 1: schools in the top ten for both of you, give

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Speaker 1: give us a school that maybe slightly under the radar

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Speaker 1: that could surprise people this season. I'm gonna say North

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Speaker 1: Carolina State, which you know they're they're fairly highly ranked.

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Speaker 1: I think they're in the top fifteen. But I think

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Speaker 1: that if they can get out of their own way,

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Speaker 1: which is historically the North Carolina State's problem. They just

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Speaker 1: find ways to screw up games, sometimes in heartbreaking fashion.

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Speaker 1: But they've got talent. It's a good team. You know,

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Speaker 1: They've got players across the board UH in a lot

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Speaker 1: of places. They've got a quarterback starting there, Devin Leary.

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Speaker 1: Leary's gonna thrown to jump. It's a touchdown. Francy State.

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Speaker 1: A lot of the NFL people like him, great arm talent,

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Speaker 1: thirty five touchdowns, only five interceptions last year. A lot

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Speaker 1: of people think that, you know, he could end up

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Speaker 1: being a first round pick. He's got guys to throw too.

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Speaker 1: They've got runners, they've got a solid defense returning uh

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Speaker 1: and I think that you kind of put it all together.

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Speaker 1: If they can beat wait Forest, and if they can

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Speaker 1: beat Clemson, and they have either beating Clemson or played

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Speaker 1: him close several times in recent years, including beating him

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Speaker 1: last year, then I think they could have a chance

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Speaker 1: to jump up from their nine and three last year

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Speaker 1: to possibly eleven or twelve wins. I have a I

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Speaker 1: have a cow all behind me right here. Um Missisi

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Speaker 1: stay grad and uh so you know hear me out? Okay,

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Speaker 1: the Bulldogs have you know, arguably one of the better

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Speaker 1: quarterbacks in the nation, Will Rogers. Rogers, look at us,

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Speaker 1: checked up. Now he's looking at the end zone. Dump

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Speaker 1: it up. So I'm gonna I'm gonna say that they're

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Speaker 1: gonna surprise some folks. The problem is their schedule playing

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Speaker 1: in the SEC West, so you have to play at

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Speaker 1: l s U. Actually this year I have to go

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Speaker 1: to Arizona for a game in Tucson, which is winnable,

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Speaker 1: but it's on the road a couple of times in

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Speaker 1: the away. The problem is stopping Misssippi State, I think

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Speaker 1: will be their competition. But there are in a few

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Speaker 1: people stop twenty five, and I think they can make

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Speaker 1: a little more noise offensively with Mike Leach and the

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Speaker 1: old air Raid than maybe some folks give them credit.

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Speaker 1: We'll see the last one for you. Ross. You kind

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Speaker 1: of already tipped your hand on this one, but way

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Speaker 1: too early for this. Doesn't matter. We're gonna do it anyway.

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Speaker 1: Who's gonna win it all? Yeah, I've got the tide right.

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Speaker 1: It's hard not to pick Alabama every year. If you

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Speaker 1: just picked him every year, you're gonna be right one

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Speaker 1: set of every two years. Basically, I think there's a

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Speaker 1: little fire there from last year and from losing to Georgia.

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Speaker 1: And they obviously have, you know, a Heisman Trophy quarterback.

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Speaker 1: He's pick to win it again this year, and and

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Speaker 1: in a crew of incredible playmakers and and maybe the

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Speaker 1: biggest defensive set in the nation in Will Anderson. So

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Speaker 1: they're they're about pick. Yeah. I hate to be repetitive,

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Speaker 1: but Alabama, um and I Will Anderson's my husband. Pick. Now,

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Speaker 1: maybe that's impossible for a linebacker to win, but by golly,

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Speaker 1: I thought who was their best player last year? And

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Speaker 1: boom lying into the Will Anderson just all leveling the

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Speaker 1: ball carrier. He had thirty three and a half tackles

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Speaker 1: for lost, which was eleven and a half more than

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Speaker 1: the second highest in the nation. He had seventeen and

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Speaker 1: a half sacks. He is an absolute game plan record.

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Speaker 1: You have to account for him all the time, and

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Speaker 1: he's got company that defense. This this will be close

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Speaker 1: to one of those old glory days Alabama defenses from

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Speaker 1: like two thousand nine, ten, eleven, twelve, when they were

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Speaker 1: just crushing people on that side of the ball. Of

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Speaker 1: this this unit, they may not have quite the run

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Speaker 1: stopper in the middle that they used to have, but

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Speaker 1: they're gonna be really good defensively on all three levels.

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Speaker 1: And then yeah, they've got the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback.

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Speaker 1: They did very well in the portal running back and

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Speaker 1: receiver to to add weapons. So I think that they

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Speaker 1: are well stopped, although I think O how Steak could

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Speaker 1: give him a heck of a run for their money,

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Speaker 1: because I think O how State is gonna have the

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Speaker 1: best offense. You guys are smart, You're probably right. I'm

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Speaker 1: hoping you're wrong, though, because something other than Choco would

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Speaker 1: be great. We'll watch that as the season unfolds. Make

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Speaker 1: sure to read all of their excellent work throughout the

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Speaker 1: college football season on s I dot com. There at

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Speaker 1: the top of our show rankings for sure, Ross Tellinger

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Speaker 1: and Pad forty thank you for this my pleasure, John Yep. Thanks,

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Speaker 1: thanks for listening everybody, and a reminder to please rate

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Speaker 1: and review the show. It helps people find us. Sports

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Speaker 1: Illustrated Weekly is a production of Sports Illustrated and I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit

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Speaker 1: the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your favorite shows. And for more of Sports Illustrated

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Speaker 1: It's best stories and podcasts, visit SI dot com. This

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Speaker 1: episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly was produced by Jordan Rizzieri,

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Speaker 1: Jessica Armoski, and Isaac Lee, who was also our sound engineer.

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Speaker 1: Our senior producers are Dan Bloom and Harry sward Out.

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Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Scott Brodie and me John Gonzalez.

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Speaker 1: Our theme song is by Nolan Schneider and if you've

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Speaker 1: stuck around this long, we leave you with this Bonus

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Speaker 1: points to Ross for bringing props, especially on a show

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Speaker 1: that's an audio medium. Can we get a little cowbell

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Speaker 1: us a little ring perfect? Are yeah? Uh? Fulmarks,