Speaker 1: It is the Big twelve sec breakdown time of Joel
taptain Bridge is here with you with our comprehensive book
around that, both the Big twelve and the FVC. We
begin as we do each and every week, with our
hot takes. Tom. I'll start with you, which direction do
you want to go this week?
Speaker 2: Jones? I'm gonna I'm gonna dilly dally between.
Speaker 1: The two here, okay.
Speaker 2: O, you you know they I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think I sent the link to the to the
group chat, but there was like an OU blogger that
was like ready trying to get fans to fight the
team after the South Carolina game.
Speaker 2: Uh, And I thought that was pretty funny.
Speaker 3: Because I've i've i've I haven't wanted to fight the
OSU team, but I haven't wanted to fight the coaches.
Speaker 2: More on that in a minute.
Speaker 3: But so, oh, you goes out they like, what, don't
score a touchdown for seven eight quarters? Something like that? Yeah,
And you know what I hate is it pains me
to say this. And you know what I like about OU?
They they are they they aren't very tolerant to any bullshit.
Speaker 2: And what do they do?
Speaker 3: They get beat by a great Texas team, who then
went on to lose to Georgia. But and then they
get shellac by the game Cocks. They literally got slapped
by the Cocks. And after the game there was some rumors.
There was rumors after the Texas game and they said,
you know what, we've had enough of you South the trail.
We are done here. This is ou this is not
we don't play like this. We're not gonna stand before it,
damn it, and we're gonna fire your ass.
Speaker 2: And they did, and they did. And you know, I
don't know who took over. Who's the play caller now?
I don't know any.
Speaker 3: Who John Finley is now, oh there, you know, so
you give somebody else a chance. You obviously you see
something that's not working. You're getting you're getting slapped in
the in the mouth a couple weeks in a row,
and then you do something about it, turn it over.
Oklahoma Stak comes off of bye plays Friday Night Provo
pretty spooky BYU slapped around K State in Provo b
Yu's undefeated. Oklahoma Stak goes in the air after losing,
however many and does not look good.
Speaker 2: At all.
Speaker 3: I don't think any of the fans were ready for
what Oklahoma State ended up doing.
Speaker 2: Right. I was very shocked.
Speaker 3: They kept that game close, they had a shot to
win and then blew it with a minute eleven to
go and let the byj go down the field on them.
I couldn't believe well, I could believe it. I sat
there at two almost two in the morning, and Raleigh
drunk on a couch and said to the person I
was watching with as she was excited, She's like, Ohlahoma
State's gonna win. Oh my god, they're gonna win. I said, no, no, no, no,
no no. I said, there's still a minute eleven. I've
seen it happen before. You just wait.
Speaker 2: And then the.
Speaker 3: Defense times yeah. And even Billy texts me. He goes,
I'm ready to be hurt. As soon as issues scored
to take the lead. Friend of the show, Billy Locke
texts me and he doesn't. If you guys don't know,
listen and Billy our friend. Billy, he'd he could probably
count on his on one hand how many times he
stayed up past midnight in the past year. So this
is big, and he said he was. I talked to
him previously. He said, I'm planning on go to bed
before halftime because I think b Yu is gonna win
by like twenty eight. And I thought so too. I
was out drinking and partying and Raleigh having a good time.
I wasn't too concerned. And then I saw the score
and I said, well, I'm gonna tune in. And you know,
Oklahoma State fans have complained both about Casey Down, the
offensive coordinator, and they've complained about Brian Nardo, the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: In case he done.
Speaker 3: You know, by god, he had something going out of
the bye week. It seemed like or they went to
the second string quarterback, Garrett ring Gel, and you know what,
he looked pretty damn good before he got injured. Then
you here comes Bowman back in and I could almost
hear the the side despair from the Oklahoma State fans
in Raleigh. I mean I could hear it all clear
across the country.
Speaker 2: Ah shit. And he played pretty good.
Speaker 3: He came in, kept him alive, got the go ahead touchdown,
you know, and I'm like, okay, well we have life here.
We're gonna beat the Mormons, you know. And if it's
not the offensive coordinator one, we guess what it's gonna
be Nardo. There's gotta be changed in Oklahoma State that
that whole rigamarole. As much as it pains me to say,
be more like, oh you, oh you leaves the conference,
Texas leaves the conference, you gotta be We're like, oh,
we're new big man in town. We're gonna be running
the mother fucker here. Guess what you're not? Then they're
not doing it. And it's like, if you want to
be good, like oh you, you have to act like
oh you. You can't be tolerant of bullshit. And that's
what I've said it before. Mike Gundy's running the damn
good old boys Club. Somebody's got to get their ass fired.
Oh you didn't tolerate stuff, the trails bullshit.
Speaker 2: But for two and a half weeks they fired his ass.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they're playing in the SEC much harder schedule
than the issue comes in here, and Gundhy just pitters
patterns around his same old bullshit coaching like it's you know,
we got to go back to the drawing board and
we're gonna look at some things this week, and no,
fuck that fire somebody.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Well, and I think too that Brent Vnables knows that
his job is now on the line too. That it's
not just the coordinators of making changes, but also pressure's
not him because if they have another performance or two
like they did against South Carolina, then it might be
time to cut bait. Now if you're owe you potentially
and say by to print fennibles, that's a that's a
real reality at this point. And I think if you're
Mike Gundhy, he's had such great job security, he's the
second longest tenured coach in college football, only behind Kurt Ferrence.
That you know, you get a little too comfortable at
times and sometimes.
Speaker 2: You gotta be them, and.
Speaker 4: I think that's why he has been inept to make
changes in the way they've been doing things.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think I think you raise a good
point there.
Speaker 4: I'm going to go I'm gonna go to Alabama for
my hot take this week, and Tom, I'll say this
a team that has not played great as of late.
You know, after the Georgia win, they lose to Vandy, shocker,
they didn't play good against South Carolina, and then they
lose to Tennessee and what was just I know it
was a close game, but it wasn't a good game.
Speaker 1: That was ugly gross football.
Speaker 2: Team.
Speaker 1: They should have won too, like they were.
Speaker 4: They had every opportunity to win that game, but they
let that one slip away. And Alabama fans such a
spoiled fan base, Tom, of you know what they got
from Nick Saban and just all the success they've had
for all these years and everything, and they're asking themselves,
you know, is Kaylen de Boor not the guys either wrong?
Higher you know, what the hell is going on right
now and all this And my my my thing I
would say, Tom, is that my hot take is that
Kaylen de Boor isn't doing anything wrong necessarily. I think
that as I warned you all before the season began,
this is a team that lost what was it close
to forty players to the transfer portal or to graduation
or to the NFL that you know, there was big
changes going in even even when you talk about the
staff at Alabama. Caitlin de Boor comes in and he
thought he was going to have Ryan Grubb as his
offensive coordinator, and two weeks later after taking the job,
Ryan Grubb all of a sudden says, you know what, actually,
I'm not even leaving Seattle. I'm gonna go be the Seahawks,
O see, and he had to find another offensive coordinator
on the fly after the market had already changed, and
you know, like it was a much harder situation to
walk into than people realized. And I said that at
the time that you know, Caylen de Boor has got
to do his own thing. And the Georgia winn I
think was a big deal. And I know they haven't
played great yet, but I would just tell Alabama fans
be patient, give this thing time. Caylen de Boor has
been a winner everywhere he's been and it's just going
to take some adjusting that this is not going to
be overnight. He's not Nick Saban, nobody's Nick Saban. Kirby
Smart isn't even Nick Saban for that matter.
Speaker 1: Just be patient.
Speaker 4: I think I think Caitlin's gonna do a good job,
but this is not gonna be overnight. And you know,
Nick Saban only won six games his first year there
at Alabama himself, So I don't think they're a playoff team.
I think they're out of the playoff picture at this
point already. They've lost two games. I predicted at the
beginning of the year that they would lose four games.
I said they go eight and four. I think that's
looking more likely now at this point, But that would
be my hot take is be patient with Kleb de
bor that, yeah, they're not as good as what most
people thought, but I think they're actually where they they
should be realistically.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I think you're right.
Speaker 3: And I remember you saying at the beginning of the
season that you said, well, don't you know, any Alabama fans,
You're gonna have to tempeat to your expectation because it's
it's not going to be puppies and roses coming out
of the gate with him. And you know, I think
I think at the beginning, at least from the Twitter
atmosphere and the Reddit and from all the blogs and stuff,
just reading fans comments and things, it seems like their
expectation was tempered down a little bit. You go out
and you know, you do beat Georgia, and at first
it looked like they were just gonna bend Georgia over
and it was gonna be an all time ass whoop.
Georgia ends up coming back. Still probably the best game
of the season, still far in my opinion as a
neutral fan, But do you do that, the hype gets
real big. Then you're like, wow, we just we just
took it to Georgia and yeah, they did come back,
but we pulled it out and we're riding high on
the hog again. We are not taking any steps back.
Kaylen de Boris is the second coming of Nick Saban
Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: We are here for it.
Speaker 3: And then you go to Nashville and then you lose
the Vanderbilt and you're thinking, oh god, the next game.
I remember after that loss, he said we're gonna love
We're gonna know what Kaylyn de Bores made of I
remember you saying that. I said, we're gonna see how
this team responds. They win was not very convincingly, I
believe was South Carolina.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they did not do so hot. They still won.
Still wasn't really that good.
Speaker 3: Then you go play Tennessee where what they beat them
last year, but the year before Tennessee wins that game,
they take down the goal post and put it in
the river, and you know, almost like a scene two
years later for Vanderbilt, same state, Phil goldpost goes in
the river. You go get beat by Tennessee again, after
how many times were they won like nine straight, ten
straight against Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Prior to two years ago.
Speaker 3: Right, so you're thinking, oh no, back to your point
of Alabama so spoiled. Oh no, the world's crashing down,
it's time to fire de boor Or. Back to the
ship house before sab and we're going, we're regressing. It's
not the end of the world, Alabama. I would I
would kill for my gunny to get fired and take
Kaylen de Boro right now.
Speaker 4: I think ou and OSU fans both right now, would
take Caitlin de Boor.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would.
Speaker 3: I'd take his firstborn sons and take a future on
his first board.
Speaker 2: So I'm like, all right, well, want to get some age,
We'll take him, right.
Speaker 4: And you know, there's a crowd of people that have
also said, did Kaitlin de Boor make a mistake leaving
Washington for Alabama?
Speaker 1: Like I wouldn't. I wouldn't even say that, Tom.
Speaker 4: I mean, Washington was losing so much with Michael Pennox
and Roma Doonsday and Polk, And I mean that roster
was gonna be much different this year, whether Caitlyn de
Bor was there or not. If if he was gonna
go leave, he left Washington at the right time, got
more money, got a better roster even with everything that
he lost, and you know, gets to be you know,
one of the blue blood programs and everything. Like, I
think that Kaylen de Bor is doing just fine. And
I don't think he made a mistake leaving Washington either.
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so either. I mean, you get
a chance to you know, go essentially go be great.
Of course you're gonna you're gonna take that job that
like they did it Wash, it available in twenty years.
Speaker 4: What they did at Washington last year, Tom, I think
that's like the best Washington Washington can do.
Speaker 1: And that's great. Like, there's how many programs would love.
Speaker 4: To compete for the chance to go undefeated and go compete.
Speaker 1: For a national title. I mean, that was a great
accomplishment for Washington.
Speaker 4: But that's about as good as it gets. It's hard
to imagine Washington win national titles. Kaitlyn de Bor can
win multiple national titles at Alabama. You can't say the
same thing at Washington.
Speaker 3: Right, I mean, yeah, of course, it's like it's a
I don't know if it's his dream to go co
Chilabama by any means, but you know, you've got to
seize the moment and and take it if it's offered.
Speaker 2: You'd be almost stupid not to.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I think, you know, I think that Georgia
game really skewed the expectation. I think before that game,
I think they were like, you know, we'll learn and
grow with him. As long as he doesn't miss a
bowl game or something in the first year, or you know,
as long as we don't let the whole bottom fall out,
will be will be fine. I mean you that's what's
expected to someone happened when you lose a coach like
Saban And even if that's ever even been done before.
I mean, that's you're losing what the greatest coach potentially
of all time.
Speaker 2: You're gonna have to temper your expectation down a little bit.
And and you.
Speaker 3: Know, I they might go eight and for they you know,
I'm I think that Alabama OU game is increasingly more interesting.
Speaker 4: Especially since OU should be, in theory a lot healthier
by the time they play that game than they are
right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's gonna be something.
Speaker 1: You OU's at home too. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4: That that to me, that game is more intriguing than
than probably it would have been a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: Ago, potentially speaking, but we'll see there.
Speaker 4: Let's talk Colorado here, Tom, the Buffalo's here. They are
one win away from clinching a bowl game, and I
feel like it's twofold Tom. Two things can be true
with Colorado here. They are headed in the right direction.
Dion will give him his flowers. He's doing a good job.
I thought last week was a great win for them
at Arizona the Domino. The way they did their defense
is much improved. Their offensive line as much improved. Shador's
taking care of the football. Travis Hunter looks like the
Heisman favorite. I think they are head of the right direction.
But the flip side of that is they haven't won
a big twelve game yet against a team with a
winning record in league play at this point. Now, you
play Cincinnati this week. I know Cincinnati's five and two
and they're a bit of a surprise, but I'm not
a believer in Cincinnati. Here, you look at the next
few weeks. Colorado plays Tech, they play Utah at home,
which I think looks like a much more winnable game.
Now they play Kansas on the road, and if they
keep up this momentum in the hype, there might be
more Colorado fans that Arrowhead than Kansas fans potentially speaking.
And then you play Oklahoma State at home here to
finish out. They only have one conference loss. At this point,
there is a very real chance for Colorado to be
in Arlington playing for the Big Twelve championship game. And
that is not something I thought I would be saying
at all at this point of the year at the
beginning of the season. Credit where credits do? I've been
impressed Deon's figuring out. But let's let's see how they
do with this test against Cincinnati this week.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know in Cincinnati what they just relaxed on
Arizona State. Yeah, and I was singing Arizona State's praises
like a songbird, and then they almost started they starting
to let me down like UCF did earlier. Maybe I
need to sing the praises of Colorado to put a
reverse hex curse on him or something. You know, we
talked about Colorado in this season. Neither of us wanted
Colorado to be as good as they are, just as
a out you know, they were kind of an outsider.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, they it's like that.
Speaker 3: It's like the ex girlfriend that comes back and she
wants to sleep with you again, and you're like, damn it,
I guess so I guess we'll all well, all guess
I'll do it once. And then she keeps coming back,
and that's what Colorado is doing. It's like no, like no,
we didn't want want Dion in Arlington. That was not
how this is supposed to play out.
Speaker 4: And we were people like Joel Klatt that told us
at the beginning of the year, watch out, Colorado's got
a chance to win the Big Twelve. And I'm like,
all right, Joel, you're just being a homer. You went
to Colorado, you love Dion and everything, and it's good
for Fox if Colorado's a good team.
Speaker 1: But now I got to see it here be like,
you know what, Yep, that's uh hate the ad minute.
That's a good football team.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's I mean, they've got circle jerks so much.
Imagine the circle jerk that would happen if they won
the Big Twelve, get.
Speaker 2: A top four spot in the playoff. Oh oh my god,
I have to vomit, you know.
Speaker 3: And it's here's the interesting thing here, Jones Here's how
I thought it was gonna play out. Here's my crystal ball,
and I want to know your crystal ball.
Speaker 2: Here. At the beginning of the season.
Speaker 3: I thought Colorado is going to struggle to make a
Bowl game. Dion is going to pack up shop after
the season, and he's gonna go wherever sun those Uh,
he's gonna He's gonna.
Speaker 2: Follow like a LeVar bar LeVar Ball type.
Speaker 3: Character and get on the staff of probably wherever Shador goes,
or somehow be an influencer to whatever NFL team he
lands on. Travis Hunter, his honorary son, will also be gone.
It was just a fun little experiment there and Boulder.
He's gonna pack up shop and leave now, I'm not
so sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 4: Because I haven't looked at the recruiting numbers, but we
know the man can bring in talent, Like even with
the guys they'll lose after this year, if he stays,
they'll bring in more players. They they've they've got something
established there. And you also have to think that if
they keep on winning, then there's gonna be some other
job openings that are gonna be very interested in Dionne
next offseason. And you know, I wouldn't even possibly even
rule out the NFL potentially. You know, his former team,
the Dallas Cowboys, are gonna be looking for a head coach,
and Jerry loves him some don I don't think that
would happen, But never say never, Like it's started to
turn a corner here, Like they are we compared them
to the La Lakers for a long time that hey,
they're not a serious team. It's all glitz and glamour.
They're not serious about winning. They win this week, then
then we can admit we're wrong and put an end
to that discussion.
Speaker 3: Oh gosh, I might be eating the Skyline Chile this week,
just just for some good vibes. I don't mean, it's
not like if they didn't circle jerk Colorado like they did,
I wouldn't even be rooting against Colorado per se. It's
just the media that the media circle jerk.
Speaker 1: Then the stuff they brought on themselves too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's both. It's not just the media, it's how
they went about this. They turned me off on Colorado.
Speaker 3: Is it supposedly the locker rooms like GTA like just
just crazy there, And I'm just like, okay, I've had
enough of the bullshit, like and now they're winning, and
now I'm like, oh no, this is the worst timeline.
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 4: One more thing before we get to the big twelve
SEC slate of games for this week, Texas loses. This
past week's Georgia got shellacked, lost by double digits at home.
They looked awful on the offensive and defensive line, just
got bullied at the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 1: Quinn didn't play well. Arch didn't play well.
Speaker 4: But even with that said, Tom like, I've seen enough
good out of Texas where I'm sitting here saying, yeah,
that's one bad night, and this new playoff format, you
can afford to have one bad night. That doesn't end
your season. I still think Texas can win the SEC.
They can still win the national championship for that matter.
They have work to do. They had some of their
weaknesses exposed, But I don't think that's the end of
the world. What we saw from this Texas team on
Saturday night. I think at the end of the day,
that was one bad night. That probably is the wake
up call that team needed after it kind of got
to their heads a little bit the last few weeks.
With the way that everybody had been hyping them up.
Speaker 3: Well yeah, and I wouldn't even call it a I
don't want to call it a hangover game. You know,
you go in and you beat up on Ou pretty good.
We all thought they were going to beat OU, honestly,
but I think Texas probably did too. But I mean,
you hold Oe, you to a field goal, and you
walk out of the Red River shootout feeling real good
about yourself, thinking we're a bunch of backs asses.
Speaker 2: We're gonna go take it to Georgia. You know.
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, Kirby's sparts plot in your downfall and you you
probably get embarrassed in dk R, honestly, And that's that's
what happened. And so I think now I think Starks
good enough of coach that I think Texas is gonna
bounce back.
Speaker 2: I think they'll be just fine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. I think so. All right, let's
go over this light of games.
Speaker 4: We'll rapid fire here real quick, starting with the Big
Twelve slate no Friday games to the Big Twelve this week. Sadly,
I've liked this new Friday night football we've seen on
ESPN and Fox and all that, so that's unfortunate. But
we begin the day with b YU and UCF. That
game is taking place in Orlando. Tom, you seef gave
Iowa State quite the scare last week. Now BYU coming
off a come back win against Oklahoma State themselves going
on the road here. I think BYU is gonna be fine.
I don't think UCF can do that two weeks in
a row. But I don't think b YU is going
to play two close games two weeks in a row.
I think that they they put their foot down this week.
Speaker 2: I think so. I think you're right. I don't. I
don't think that.
Speaker 3: I don't think that that b YU is gonna let
this slip away. I will say is and I know
it's gonna be coming up soon if it hasn't already passed.
Maybe when is UCF's space game.
Speaker 1: I don't know exactly.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna look that up, because if it's the space
game this week, I'm taking.
Speaker 2: I'm riding UCF.
Speaker 1: That's all it takes to convince Tom's just get space.
Speaker 2: It's a spooky game, Oklahoma.
Speaker 1: State taking on Baylor. I know OSU lost.
Speaker 4: I don't believe in moral victories and all that, but
one thing I did like for what I saw from
OSU last week Tom was their ability to finally run
the football. The offensive line looked the best they looked
all year. Ali was fantastic. I don't think Baylor's very good.
I know Baylor's favored by seven, but if OSU runs
the football like they did last.
Speaker 1: Week, then I think they beat Baylor.
Speaker 4: I like OSU as an underdog to go into Waco
get the job done.
Speaker 3: You know what, I've been down on them. They did
surprise me last week. I hope they've made the correct
changes on defense. I hope they can keep it up
on offense. Set they might not win, but I think
I like Astrue enough to at least cover seven. That
seems like a That seems like one of those Vegas
things that they throw in there to see if you'll
put money down on Baylor since Osh was lost four straight, I.
Speaker 2: Think you could win that game.
Speaker 3: Meanwhile, real quick, UCF Space game is next week against Arizona,
So the Mormons are safe.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 4: Texas taking on TCU. TCU favored by six and a half.
Speaker 1: Rivalry game.
Speaker 4: TCU's four and three, Tech is five and two and
TECH with a sneaky good chance to make the Big
twelve championship game.
Speaker 1: This is a must win for them. Their offenses looked
pretty good.
Speaker 4: I like, I like Tech here, even though they're six
and a half point underdog here, Tom, I think Tech
gets it done on the road.
Speaker 2: I like Tech too.
Speaker 3: You know, they came out, had some trouble in the
beginning of the season, and they've I feel like they've
gotten a little bit better every week.
Speaker 2: I like Tech here too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and uh TCU coming off a thirteen to seven
win over Utah last week. West Virginia taken on Arizona.
I was on our buddy TJ. Reeves is a bit
twelve game day show on tune In, talking about this
it'll be it'll air on a Saturday morning, and I said,
for me, Tom, like, I think there's a talent advantage
for Arizona here with with uh Fafita and t Mac,
But also I think there's a coaching advantage too. I
know that this season hasn't gone Arizona's way, but I
still like Brennan a whole lot more than I do
Neil Brown, and I think that hot seat is as
hot as ever right now for Neil Brown, I like
Arizona at home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like Arizona too. If it was at Morgantown,
it was that West Virginia, I'd be a little spookier.
But I think Arizona should take care of business.
Speaker 4: Utah on a three game skid taking on Houston. If
Utah was looking for a get right game, this is
it right here. Utah's favored by four and a half.
If Utah could just figure anything out, there's no reason
why this game should be close if they played at
all close to their potential here, Tom.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it shouldn't be.
Speaker 3: But I mean they're kind of in a slide that
Oklahoma State has been in.
Speaker 2: Just after that OSU Utah game, both teams have just
looked horrible.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I think so KU and k State in
the Sunflower Showdown. KU finally wins a conference game last week.
Jayalen Daniels looked good, the run game was good, the
defense was much improved. But you take it with a
grain of AsSalt. They did against a very bad Houston team.
K State sitting at six and one, they're a contender
to win the Big Twelve, trying to get to Arlington
and everything. They're coming off a dominating win on the
road against West Virginia last week in prime time, Tom,
I think that KU has a shot here. I think
they can make this game interesting. And we've seen the
last few years, even when KU has been bad, they've
made this very competitive. But they have not won this
game since George W. Bush was president. The IPA was
not invented the last time Kansas won this game.
Speaker 1: I don't think this is the year the streak ends.
Speaker 4: But K State at home, I think K State's still
gonna have to play their best effort. I think KU
is this is as much as it pains me to
say this is their super Bowl, you know, like, Kay,
who's gonna put your awkward here this week? I think
K State wins, but I think it's a close one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what's the line on the game?
Speaker 1: Ky State by ten?
Speaker 3: I could see kase State. That's about what I would assume. Yeah,
that makes sense. I like K State here, But I
you know, maybe, like you said, KU super Bowl here,
you know, maybe they catch K State slipping.
Speaker 2: Could could happen. I don't see it happening though.
Speaker 4: And then we talked about Cincinnati Colorado earlier. Both you
and I like Colorado to win that game there. Meanwhile,
in the SEC, Old Miss taking on Oklahoma. Old Miss
twenty point favorites. Oklahoma's got a new OC and Joe
John Finley, I would think that Jackson Arnold's back in
the starting lineup. I haven't heard that confirmed or not yet.
But you know, Blane Kiffin, they're not taking this Oklahoma
team lightly. He said this Ou teams unpredictably as a threat.
He says that they cannot take this Oklahoma team lightly
by any stretch. And we just don't know what Oklahoma
team's going to show up. Honestly, we don't know what
Old Miss team is going to show up. They've very
much underperformed this year.
Speaker 1: I like Ole Miss here, but eleven AM game, we
don't know who either one of these teams are.
Speaker 4: I think it's gonna be very important to see who
comes out of the gates firing, because both these teams
have actually been known to get off the slow starts.
Old Miss should win, but if O you can find
a way to get anything going at in the first half,
they could make it interesting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker 3: And you know, I like Old Miss here, I don't
like them by twenty I think Joe John Finley calling
the game is a wild card. Uh, you don't really.
We don't know where we're really gonna get yet. And
a lot of times football teams, you see it all
the time, they'll fire coach, be it head coach or
oc DC, whatever, and then that group comes out and
just like a fire has been let under their ass.
Speaker 2: And I could see that happening.
Speaker 4: Arkansas taking on Mississippi State. Arkansas is seven point favorite
on the road. Sam Pittman every week he's fighting for
his job at this point.
Speaker 1: He can't be losing games like Mississippi State. They should win.
Speaker 4: But if if they lose this one, then we might
be getting closer to be singing sinar out to Sam
Pittman here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I might have to if they lose to Mississippi State,
I'm all have to pour out of old cold beer
for him because he probably won't make it.
Speaker 2: I mean, he is he is the Arkansas Neil Brown.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is. Missoo taking out Alabama at home.
Speaker 4: They're in Tuscalosa, Alabama, seventeen and a half point favorites.
Speaker 1: Miszoo.
Speaker 4: I haven't been impressed with I thought they looked bad
last week against Auburn obviously, the A and M loss
was awful for them.
Speaker 1: We talked about Alabama earlier here.
Speaker 4: Seventeen and a half feels like a lot here, Tom,
but I think that Alabama wins, Maybe not by seventeen
and a half though.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not miszoo. I think a bunch of frauds.
We talked about Bama.
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't call Bama frauds. I think it's just how
it is with the new head coach. I like Bama.
Speaker 1: Here, Texas taken out Vandy.
Speaker 4: Vandy one of the surprise stories in college football this year.
They're a top twenty five team, They're at home Texas
coming off a loss, and Texas favored by ten and
a half. I think the thing or not ten and
a half, eighteen and a half, the thing that makes
this game unpredictable Tom is the best quarterback in this
game plays for Vanderbilt in uh Pavilla, who's been phenomenal
this season, leading the team in passing and rushing. If
Pavia could play well, Vandy could make this interesting. Texas
more talented team. Texas should win, but let's see how
Texas responds after getting hit in the mouth last week.
Speaker 2: I think Sark will have this team ready to play.
I don't. I think I think.
Speaker 3: Texas will be pissed off at themselves for playing like
they did. I like to see or I would like
to see Vandy win this, but I think I think
Texas will end up coming on top.
Speaker 4: The game of the week at college football this week
LSU taking out Texas and M both teams at six
and one trying to stay alive in the SEC race.
Speaker 1: A and M's at home.
Speaker 4: They're favored by one tom I think the LSU lost
to usc As. Every week passes looks more and more
like a fluke. Brian Kelly doesn't do well in week
one games. We've seen that, and USC is falling apart.
LSU's gotten better as the season's going along.
Speaker 1: A and M.
Speaker 4: I've been very surprised with credit where credits do. But
I like what I've seen from nus Meyer. They're opening
up the passing game more. The defense is improved from
a year ago.
Speaker 1: I think LSU finds a way to get it done
on the road here.
Speaker 2: I think so too. They did.
Speaker 3: I called it against Old Miss I thought they would
beat them, and they did. That was in Death Valley
at home, you do go to Kyle Field. I think
ness Meyer has provided a little bit of bulletin board material.
I think there has been comments made this week that
something about Kyle Field not being that loud or that's
it's not then intimidating, So be one to watch. I
know I'll be tuning in for that.
Speaker 4: I like the Tigers all right, and then Auburn Kentucky
also good on on Saturday. Kentucky at three and four,
Auburn at two and five. I think Kentucky should be
able to win at home. I think they're a better
team and that Kentucky defense is gonna keep them in
games all season, so we'll see how that goes.
Speaker 1: There you have it.
Speaker 4: That's our Big twelve SEC Breakdown four this week. Coming
up next, Matt Simmicks to join us as we will
get his perspective on all things college football here on
the other side. He's covered college football since two thousand
and one and currently is working for Trojan Wire talking
all things USC and the Big Ten. It is our
friend Matt Simmick who's back on the program once again.
Speaker 1: Matt always pleasure in the time we get the chance
to chat my friend, how.
Speaker 5: We doing you know, I'm doing okay, but USC football
is definitely not. So I'm sure that you know your
listeners in the in the Central Plains region of the
United States, they are they are gleeful about what's happening
with Lincoln Rowdy.
Speaker 6: So I'm sure we're going to do a little adutopsy here.
Speaker 4: Oh yes, we figured that we would need to do
a little check in on our old friend out west,
and you were the right man to do this. As
much as Oklahoma is struggling right now, at least USC
is not doing so hot themselves with the way that
they've been playing. And I was there, Matt for the
opening game against LSU in Vegas, and I mean, what
has happened to this USC team since then?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's really fascinating to see LSU improve since then,
USC deteriorate since then.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And isn't it fascinating.
Speaker 5: Tyler, just on a broader level that the problems that
Lincoln Riley had with USC last year, with Alex Grinch,
Oklahoma and Brent Venables are having this year on the
offensive side of the ball, It's like a mirror universe
USC defense Oklahoma offense. And yet the strange part is
USC's defense is better. It's not great, but like it's
still miles better than Alex Grinch because the ball the
bar was set so low. But even though the defense
is better, team's not winning. And it gets to the
heart of the matter at USC. Here's the deal, Tyler.
You know, Caleb Williams could make plays by himself when
things broke down, like he could overcome the shortcomings elsewhere
on a roster. Now that didn't entirely manifest itself last season,
but of course you had the terrible defense, right If
you had this defense with last year's USC, tropans will
probably be in pretty good shape. They wouldn't be a
great team, but they would have been a good team.
They probably would have been a nine win team, maybe ten,
you know, because like we remember Kayla Wiams losing fifty
two to forty two to Washington. He lost some other
shootouts against Utah and some other teams. And if we
had the this year's USC defense on last year's team
with Caleb Williams probably gets to nine or ten wins.
And so the miscalculation that Lincoln Riley has made at.
Speaker 6: USC is all right.
Speaker 5: I have Miller Moss and hey, Miller Moss is not
a bad quarterback. But he's not Caleb Williams. He's not
Baker Mayfield. He's not Kyler Murray, he's not Jalen Hurts.
He is not one could reasonably say a superman quarterback,
you know that, the dual threat guy who can transcend
and all sorts of situations, who can make really dynamic
plus plays that most other quarterbacks can't do. It's not
a criticism of Milor Moss. He's just not that kind
of guy. And like we all knew he wasn't that
kind of guy. And so the miscalculation Lincoln Riley made
is all right, I have Milmer Moss. I don't have
calv Wims like I have Sloppy Joe. I don't have
chateaubriand I don't have you know, the the gourmet surloin
t bone, you know, like that you get for fifty
dollars at a gourmet restaurant. I just have Sloppy Joe
or I have like a you know, McDonald McDonald's burger.
Not not to insult those things, but just it's not
top class. So if you have you know, good but
not great at quarterback, you know, a game manager a
guy who's you know, supposed to just you know, make
the checkdown and do the normal responsible thing you have.
You know, a good but not great quarterback, you better
have an elite offensive line in front of him. You
better have five excellent skull crush to protect the run
block to make the.
Speaker 6: Whole operation go smoothly.
Speaker 5: And all through the off season I said this, and
I wasn't really thinking that USC was gonna be this bad.
I also didn't think USC was quite at the national
championship standard. My preseason prediction was nine to three. But
I said consistently, however, this season turns out, if it's
gonna go well, Miller Moss is gonna get a lot
of help from his offensive line.
Speaker 6: Like that is the key.
Speaker 5: The offensive line has to help Miller Moss, has to
make his job easier. And that offensive line has fundamentally
not done that. And so Lincoln Rilly failed to recruit
on the offensive line at the elite level needed to
help a game manager quarterback, you know, a B B
plus quarterback. If you have Caleb Williams, you don't have
to have the best offensive line in the world. You
need to need a good one, but you don't need
a great one. And so it's really that balance, Tyler.
If you have Caleb Williams and a good offensive line,
you're fine. If you have Miller Moss and a great
offensive line, you're fun. USC has the good, not great quarterback,
and it doesn't have the great offensive line to help
the good quarterback maximize his talents.
Speaker 6: So that's where Lincoln Riley felt fell short.
Speaker 5: And so a lot of Oklahoma fans, quite reasonably say
Lincoln Riley has had rock star quarterbacks the whole way,
you know, from Baker through Caleb. Now he doesn't have
that rock star quarterback and so it's all crashing down. Well,
it's all crashing down because Lincoln Riley didn't recruit on
the offensive line to help his quarterback. And so that
that's sort of the thing Lincoln Riley needed to rerealize that, Hey,
I don't have a superman quarterback this time around, I'd
better have the very best offensive lineman. And USC did
not get a big, splashy, transfer portal offensive line, and
it is struggling to get five star offensive lineman.
Speaker 6: You know, I don't know if you noticed, but you know,
Michigan's in a bad state too.
Speaker 5: But Michigan landed a five star offense of linemen this
past weekend. So even though Michigan's struggling, they can get
the really big fish USC offensive line coach Josh Henson,
you know who memorably whiffed on Josh Connory who went
to Oregon instead, And so Connorley is now part of
the number one team in the country. USC not getting
those five stars on the trail and not getting those
really big studs in the transfer portal on the offensive line,
that is at the heart of what's going on, because
if you look at all these close losses Tyler to Michigan,
to Maryland to Minnesota, at all games that USC gave
up the go ahead score in the final sixty seconds,
all right. The offensive line was part of a drive
late in the game where USC could have put the
game away. USC led Michigan by four with five minutes left,
could have put the game away with two first downs.
Offensive line got blown away on that drive. USC led
Minnesota seventeen to ten.
Speaker 6: Early fourth quarter.
Speaker 5: Offensive line gets blown up in pass per ten leads
to an interception that totally changes the game. Offensive line
never played well in the final ten minutes there and
against Maryland, had a chance to get a first down,
get out of town with a win. Offensive line can't
do the job, and Lincoln Riley noticeably fails to trust
his offensive line on four and one, he opts for
a field goal and of course it gets blocked. But
still he didn't trust his offensive line to get one
yard against Maryland. So it all goes back to the
offensive line failing in high leverage situations. I didn't even
mention against Penn State in overtime the offensive line gets
blown up by Penn State's offensive front in that overtime possession.
So in every high leverage situation since that LSU game,
USC's offensive line has been a total zero.
Speaker 4: Well and one thing, Matt, I think that has been
a big narrative that's been thrown out there. USC and
Oklahoma had very similar circumstances in this sense that the
question was is USC Big ten ready?
Speaker 1: Is you SEC ready?
Speaker 4: And the problems I'm seeing with both these teams, it
doesn't matter if they're playing the Big ten, the SEC,
the Pac twelve, or the Big twelve. This has nothing
to do with the conference that they're in. This has
to do with the talent level and the coaching going on.
It doesn't matter what the conference is. These are much
bigger issues than adapting to a new league.
Speaker 5: Here, oh, one thousand percent, thank you for saying that. Like,
it's not as though the Big Ten is teaching USC
a lesson.
Speaker 6: USC sucks. That's the lesson, that's the takeaway.
Speaker 1: It would be struggling in the PAC twelve right now too.
Speaker 5: That's right, exactly like you think they'd be beating Oregon.
Speaker 6: You think they'd be beating you know, some of these
upper tier teams. No chance, no way.
Speaker 5: Yeah, thank you, thank you. That's not as though it's
the Big Ten. It's USC not being good. I mean,
you know you cover the Big twelve a lot in
your line of work, right, It's not as though the
Big twelve is a tougher league than what Utah faced
in the PAC twelve. The past few seasons you tied
in the just at quarterback, Utah didn't have a backup
ready to fill in for cam Rising. That's why Utah's struggling.
It's not because Kyle Whittinghams forgot how to be a
good coach. They didn't get a really good portal backup
for Cam Rising.
Speaker 6: They got caught short handed.
Speaker 5: You know, you look at some of the other teams
in the country, you know they have a good backup
ready to play. You know, the guys are able to
step in fill in at quarterback. They don't miss a
b I mean you're like, look at SMU. SMU had
a number two ready to step in when the number
one didn't play.
Speaker 6: Well, that's why.
Speaker 5: SMU is doing a such a good job in the
acc not as though, you know, Smuh, you know had
it figured out from the beginning, but they had a
number two ready to plug in. And like, if you're Utah,
you made back to back Rose Bulls, you went back
to backpack twelve titles.
Speaker 6: If you're Oklahoma, you know that speaks for itself.
Speaker 5: You're Oklahoma, you should have a number two quarterback who's
good if the if the number one, hot shot Jackson
Arnold isn't measuring up, you know, what are these coaches doing?
Speaker 6: And of course we've talked all off season and to
the early season.
Speaker 5: You know, Mike norvelmint Ride or Die with DJ Loui
Armalle and Hugh Freeze doubled down with Hayton Thorn.
Speaker 6: I mean, what in the Sam.
Speaker 5: Hill is going on with these coaches trusting these mediocre
quarterbacks like they're not doing their jobs.
Speaker 4: It is crazy, it is it is uh one more
thing on USC and then we'll move on from there.
With the way they struggled, and you look at the
win loss record, you would probably know this. It's it's
very similar Lincoln Riley to Clay Helton at this point
in his career, maybe even worse. Actually, I know that
he's got a major buyout. Is that seat getting warm
for Lincoln Riley at this point?
Speaker 1: Are we still a long ways from that?
Speaker 5: I think the way to read this is Riley's you know,
he's coaching twenty twenty five period. You know, the buyouts insane,
and of course you know he bought himself some time
by you know, having a great first season winning eleven games,
But he is coaching his way onto the hot seat
for twenty twenty five if twenty twenty five doesn't get
things back in order, I think that's the way to
put it. Like us, he's headed for like six and six,
maybe seven and five at best this year, So that
would be the second straight six season, seven and five,
no better than seven and five. If we were to
imagine USC going seven and five in twenty twenty five,
you know, three straight years with at least five losses.
I don't think Lincoln Riley is guaranteed for twenty twenty six,
you like, now, assuming that he gets like eight and
four or nine and three in twenty twenty five. Of
course he comes back for twenty twenty six. But if
he loses five games this year and next year, there's
going to be a conversation about whether he's the guy.
Speaker 6: I think. I think that that's where we are.
Speaker 5: But you know, USC fans who want him gone right now,
sorry he's coaching twenty twenty five. There's way too much
of an investment in him, you know, even if even
if you you know, just fervently wanted him out right now, No,
that's not happening. And and and I think that that's
fair that he should get a chance to turn this
thing around.
Speaker 6: We have to realizing all of all of anyone.
Speaker 5: Who's an Oklahoma fan can appreciate this, that Lincoln Riley
wasted a year of his life and his career by
doubling down with Alex Grinch last year.
Speaker 6: And that kind of brings.
Speaker 5: Us full circle, Tyler, because if Lincoln Riley had hired
all those great defensive coaches last year, and you paired
all of them with Caleb Williams. USC probably has a
good season, maybe not great, but probably good, and you
wouldn't have had the recruiting deficit that USC currently has
relative to.
Speaker 6: Dan Lanning and Oregon.
Speaker 5: Dan Lanning's going into southern California in the USC's backyard
and getting the prime players that Lincoln Riley and USC
he should be getting. Lincoln Rally had set all of
this in motion one year earlier and made the defensive
coaching adjustments that he finally got around to one year
too late. You know, all of this might be on schedule,
but we're really behind schedule. So twenty twenty five is
basically the year where all right, Lincoln Riley was behind schedule.
This year, next year, twenty twenty five is the year
he has to get back on schedule. And if he doesn't,
I think it's pretty fair to ask for his head
on a platter.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think you're absolutely right about that. Matt Zimich,
John I Gus heard the program this week.
Speaker 4: Matt, kind of big picture looking at the Big ten
right now with the teams that are up there.
Speaker 1: Indiana obviously surprised people.
Speaker 4: Illinois had a nice year on top of already having Oregon,
Ohio State and Penn State there. You compare that to
the SEC, which has just been madness this year with
Georgia and Texas and Tennessee and LSU and A and
M on and on. How do you think the two
leagues compared to one another right now?
Speaker 6: Man?
Speaker 5: Like, it is amazing Tyler, just to sit back and
contemplate how radically different college football is in twenty twenty
four compared to twenty eighteen.
Speaker 6: You know, six years and for some maybe six years
feels like forever.
Speaker 5: For some it might feel like just you know, a
speck of dust in terms of how much time that is.
But to me to see the sport change so drastically
and six years is amazing, right because from like twenty
fourteen through twenty eighteen, it was like, you know, well,
we're just waiting for the Alabama Clemson National championship game,
right it was it was it was Nick Saban and
Dabos Swinney's world, and then Kirby Smart began to make
that really a triumvirate, you know, like it was just
a matter of you know, which team Alabama, Clemson, Georgia.
I mean, you had Joe Burrows LSU. That was kind
of a unique one year a deal, but it was
like two or three programs we're controlling the sport, and
now it's just an explosion of parody. And the thing
that caught me about last weekend in the SEC, Tyler
was the quarterback play in the two really big games Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas.
Like quarterback play has fallen off a cliff, like you
you do not have these reliable you know, stone cold
lock take it to the bank, Like these guys are
gonna put up thirty five points. These guys are gonna
deliver whenever they have to. I mean, you know a
lot of people bagged on Stetson Bennett, you know, as
like is he is he really good enough to.
Speaker 6: Win a national championship?
Speaker 5: I mean he looks like Dan Marino, he looks like
almost Joe Burrow compared to what we have right now
in the SEC.
Speaker 6: I mean, like the quarterback play was just shocking me bad.
Speaker 5: Like Jalen Milroe, He's so good in that first half
against Alabama and you're thinking, oh, this guy could win
the high and then next few weeks, like he starts
making mistakes and I mean Kaylin de boor, like we
saw what he did with Michael Pennix, Like that's been
shocking to watch that. Like Milroe's been around, like he's
he's a veteran, he went through the Wars last year.
What how does that happen that that you play so
well in that first half against Georgia and you lead
the Lake comeback drive to win the game, and then
the next few weeks he's just making these junior varsity
level mistakes. And you know, Carson Beck made plenty of
mistakes against Texas. I mean, Georgia won, but that was
because of defense. And like Texas's quarterback situation suddenly doesn't
feel nearly as stable or secure as we all thought.
And Tennessee with Nico Yamayama, you know, just making all
sorts of mistakes. And you know, it seemed in September
that Tennessee was going to have that Hendon Hooker like
offensive machine recalling twenty twenty two, but now like you
can't trust that Tennessee offense. I mean, the balls won,
but it was because Alabama made and Milroe made even
more mistakes. So it just all feels very wide open.
You go over to the Big ten. To bring the
Big ten into the conversation. Drew Aller Penn State beat USC,
but Aller played a bad game. I mean, it's certainly
a bad first half. He was all over the place.
I mean, he scrambled late. He made some great plays
at the very end of the game, but he was
bad for much of that game. And then you have
you know, Will Howard and Dylan Gabriel. Now they played
well in that bag Ohio State Oregon game, but really
in the Big Ten you don't have a lot of
quality depth because the quarterback play has just been so shaky.
I mean, Milmer Moss has been part of that at USC.
And of course Michigan scored just seven points against Illinois,
And again, what was Michigan doing, What was Cheron Moore
doing in the offseason, not finding a half decent portal
veteran as the bridge from JJ McCarthy. I mean, he
was just unprepared. And how are you unprepared when Jim Harbaugh,
you know, has hands you the baton at Michigan coming
off a national championship season, it's just really hard. So
the lack of consistent, reliable quarterback play is why it
is up in the air in both the SEC and
the Big Ten so much parody. And it's such a
dramatic change from where we were in college football six
years ago when it was just Alabama, Clemson and Kirby
Smart beginning to get it together at Georgia.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 4: And one thing I look at with the Big Ten
of some of their top tier teams, like let's say
Oregon and Ohio State, for example, Oregon led by Dylan Gabriel,
Ohio State led by Will Howard, and neither one of
those guys if we're gonna be frank or thought of
as any top pro prospects by any stretch, they could
be that. I expect them both to be drafted obviously,
but neither one of them is gonna be a first
round pick. Barking something drastic changing the next you know,
several weeks here.
Speaker 1: But it kind of reminds me, Matt.
Speaker 4: I know you're a big college basketball guy too, of
you know, you see these college basketball teams that maybe
they're not going to get the five star recruit, but hey,
I can go get the veteran from the portal, or
I got a guy that's been here four or five
years and like a Zach Eaty type, and they're going
to be a great college player and get me to
where I want to go is we're going to try
to go win the championship in this case, That's what
I see with these guys like Gabriel and Will Howard here.
Maybe they're not superstar talents, but they know how to
excel at the college football level, and it's working out swimmingly,
I think for both those two and for their two
programs with what they need right now.
Speaker 5: Well, And doesn't that kind of compliment the discussion we
had earlier about USC and Lincoln Riley, right, nor Moss,
no one ever expected him to be a superstar.
Speaker 6: I didn't.
Speaker 5: If you surround him with elite talent and everyone else
doing their job on offense, he'd be great. That's not
happy at USC, But at Oregon and ohiose date, you
have dudes at just about every other position. So Dylan
Gabriel and Will Howard can do great because they're surrounded
by elite talent, right, and so like roster construction Tyler,
that really is the theme of this conversation in many
ways that you don't have to have the godlike quarterback
if you have ten other dudes on your offense, you know,
but if you don't have ten other dudes that you
do need that godlike quarterback to transcend everything. So coaches
need to be very intentional about roster construction, you know,
just because we're talking a little bit about the Big Ten.
I just want to emphasize Michigan, Like you knew that
Michigan had to know it was losing key pieces on offense,
so it probably needed to emphasize the upgrade at quarterback
or not not not upgrade, but like we need to
have someone similar to JJ McCarthy. We can't have a
huge drop off at that position. And Sharon Moore just
swung and missed or did he even try? Such a
mystery there in ann Arbor.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And for all the people that doubted JJ McCarthy
last year, I think hindsight being twenty twenty, like, Okay,
maybe he wasn't so bad, yes.
Speaker 6: Like Stetson Bennett. Like Stetson Bennett.
Speaker 5: So many people criticized each of those guys for their limitations,
but then what came after them, and that has made
us all appreciate what they brought to the table.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we mentioned the SEC and the Big Ten and
kind of you know, comparing the two leagues, and I
feel like that they're kind of joined at the hip
in this new era of college football. Everybody wants to
go to those two leagues. But Matt, even looking beyond
in the future, now, obviously you have the discussions about
potentially a super league involving those leagues, but now with
the playoff expansion, rumors of both them pushing for four
automatic bids and for you know, guaranteed spots as the
top two seeds, and we've also heard these rumblings about
potentially a challenge of sorts, like we say in basketball,
between these two.
Speaker 1: It seems like these two leagues are heading in.
Speaker 4: To kind of drive the direction of where college football
is going, of making making it known it's them and
everyone else right now.
Speaker 5: It is, and it does seem as though, you know,
before too long and what the timeline is, I don't know,
but like we're eventually going to get that super league,
and we're gonna get you know, like the upper half
and the lower half of college football. That seems to
be where this is all going. Like we can quibble
about what it's exactly going to look like, but like
that seems to be the underlying thrust. It's gonna be
really interesting to see, you know, what happens with all
the ACC litigation relative to Florida State and Clemson. And
of course right now, like we have Miami finally putting
it together. And wouldn't it be interesting that, you know,
if Miami not only wins the ACC and goes to
the playoff, but maybe wins a playoff game or two,
does that in any way the equation for the ACC
in terms of where it stands relative to the SEC
and the Big Ten.
Speaker 6: But yeah, it's clear that these are the two big
political power brokers. And of course, since we know.
Speaker 5: Tyler that no one's really minding the store, no one's
really no one has a firm governing hand in terms
of regulating all of college football.
Speaker 6: It's been the Wild West.
Speaker 5: It's going to continue to be that way, you know,
in this power vacuum without someone you know, being an
adult in the room. It just seems as though the
SEC and Big Ten are going to continue to consolidate
power and it's not healthy and it's a shame because
you look at Army and Navy being unbeaten, And wouldn't
it be absolutely incredible if Army Navy is for a
playoff bid. I mean, that would be absolutely spectacular. But
you know, maybe we're not gonna Maybe this year is
the last time we're going to get something like that.
If the SEC and Big Ten make maneuvers that create
you know, like a permanent ruling class and a permanent
under class in college football.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's fascinating for sure as far as that goes.
And you know, the next big domino in realignment to
fall of the the the prize that I think everybody wants,
you know, with Notre Dames sitting there not likely to
join a conference anytime soon, it seems to be North Carolina.
And you know, all indications are that they could have
their choice potentially between the Big Ten or the SEC.
Speaker 1: What league do you think would would be a better fit.
Speaker 4: What do you think more likely happens for North Carolina
win eventually they move, Which lead do you think makes
the most sense?
Speaker 5: Well, just if I was to make a prediction, like
I'm not going to claim to know exactly what's best
for North Carolina, I'll leave the people in Chapel Hillton
to determine that purely in terms of a prediction, it
would be the Big Ten because Jim Delaney has North
Carolina roots. And I know he's not the active Big
Ten commissioner, but like he's still alive. He's still he
can still be over voice in the room. He can
still work the back channels. You know, there's that famous
photo of Jim Delaney at the nineteen ninety one Final
four in Indianapolis, yucking it up with Roy Williams and
Dean Smith before the first National semi final. Like he
was good friends with both men because of his North
Carolina connections. So just as a prediction, if it's the
Big Ten or the SEC for Carolina, I would lean
Big Ten at this point.
Speaker 1: Well, and I would think too.
Speaker 4: You know, we've seen the directions that both conferences have
gone so far in realignment have been totally different. You know,
the SEC stayed focused on their region and bringing in
Oklahoma and Texas, and the Big Ten, you know, focused
on going west with those Pack four schools they brought in.
If the Big Ten could convinced North Carolina to go
to them as.
Speaker 1: Opposed to going to the SEC, that to me, Matt.
Speaker 4: Would feel like the first big win for the Big
Ten and kind of over the SEC and in this
battle for power here.
Speaker 6: I think that's fair to say.
Speaker 5: And I think, you know, so the natural follow up
if we just you know, we're not assigning levels of
likelihood to any of this, We're just mapping out scenarios.
If North Carolina goes to the Big Ten, then what
does that mean for Florida State and Clemson, you know,
in terms of where where they're going to go, where
they want to go? Like that, that to me would
be like the next really big domino, right, you know,
because because then because if you know, North Carolina leaving
the ACC, that would seem to point to the ACC's demise.
Speaker 6: Like the ACC is a basketball conference.
Speaker 5: We can talk about football all we want, but like
taking North Carolina out of the a CEC, I mean
that's like taking Alabama out of the SEC. I mean
like that that is like the heart of the whole conference.
So really it would invite the question of where Florida
State and Clemson then go. That would be the next
big thing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And do the SEC and Big Ten want them?
Do they end up in the Big twelve or do
they rebuild the ACC in a new way. There's so
many possibilities. We'll see all plays out long ways to go,
Matt before we run here, plug away where people can
find you and see all the great work you're doing.
Speaker 6: Bet well, So I'm at Trojan's Wire.
Speaker 5: Basically every weekend in October has become a Lincoln Riley pitchforks.
Natives are restless type thing, but Trojanswire dot USA Today
dot com.
Speaker 6: And of course you know now.
Speaker 5: People are going to be watching listening to this show
with you, Tyler after the USC Rutgers game actually ends.
But it's going to be quite a Friday night in
Los Angeles with the Dodgers at five pm local time
in LA and then USC at eight pm.
Speaker 6: And you just wish that USC had.
Speaker 5: Been could be a good team, because then that USC
Rutgers game would be like the sexy follow up to
Game one. But at this point, like people are gonna
click off their television sets at the end of the
baseball game, they're not gonna care.
Speaker 6: They're not gonna stay up for you three and four USC.
Speaker 5: They're probably gonna go on over to that Boise State
UNLV game. That's gonna be the game that you're gonna
want to watch after Dodgers Yankees, but it's gonna be fascinating.
There's also a Laker game Friday night in Los Angeles.
There are a couple of concerts like Traffic at Los
Angeles on Friday Night. It's gonna be fascinating to read,
like all the diaries from people who are trying to
chronicle all these games, and how many people are going
to try to go to Dodgers Stadium and then go
over to the Los Angeles Coliseum. That's obviously something that
you're gonna want to read about a Trojan's wire and
everywhere else.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to it. Matt, appreciate the time as
always much. Fred. We'll talk end down the line.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Always fun to be on your show.