Speaker 1: It's time to celebrate the biggest team sport known to man,
where modern day gladiators collide for all the glory on
the Gridie, Let's talk some college football on Cougar Sports
with Ben Credle.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Sports one O three nine ninety
eight point three. S been a fantom that we're broadcasting
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And he's time for a little college football segment. Gonna
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Speaker 3: Let's get out to the hotline.
Speaker 2: Welcome in Big Twelve Insider, Big twelve Podcasterer. He's got
a fantastic newsletter that's rusted by many in the Big
twelve world. Also a part of the Casey Sports Network.
Let's welcome in John Kurtz for the show. John, How
you living?
Speaker 4: What's up?
Speaker 1: Ben?
Speaker 5: I'm doing great, man?
Speaker 3: How are you doing?
Speaker 2: Fantastic? What's been keeping you busy this week?
Speaker 3: John? What have you been delving into on your podcast?
Your show? What have you guys been discussing?
Speaker 5: I think the better question this week is what hasn't
been keeping me busy? I'm sitting down, I'm writing the
open for business Big Told newsletter right now, and I'm like,
you know, there are three or four things that kind
of buried the actual Big twelve championship game in the
news cycle this week, which is nuts because that game
obviously is so consequential BYU's playoff live probably on the line,
though I do think there is maybe one sliver of
a scenario where it wouldn't be but Texas Tech playing
for a playoff by all that's going on. But yet
this week you had Kiwanie Sataki's flirtation with Penn State
and how just painstaking I'm sure that was around Provo
and for BYU fans, and now it turns into i
think a massive boom for BYU football because they have
gotten so many resources together and in line to support
that football program moving forward. You had Joey McGuire signing
an extension with Texas Tech, so he's not going anywhere.
You have another set of playoff rankings coming out, where
again I think BYU is just criminally disrespected, especially compared
to Notre Dame who is right in front of them,
and Texas Tech winds up in the fourth spot, which
would mean that they are in lines essentially for a
top four seed and a buy in the college football playoffs.
So it's like all that and then I'm a k
State guy. So in KSE State world, it was Chris
climb In deciding to retire and Colin Clin coming in
as the head coach at k State. So that all
happened by the time we got to Wednesday yesterday. So
there's been a lot. There's been a lot going on.
Speaker 2: So give me a little breakdown on the climbing situation.
I mean, look like I look at this schedule. I mean,
he's been there for seven years, right, and he's done
some fantastic work. I mean, this is a good football
program that yeahs has lost games, but they've been on
the cusp of greatness it seems every single year. And
you know this year they've had a ton of close losses.
They're right there. Yeah, disappointing losses, but they're a good
football program.
Speaker 3: What happened? Why did this happen?
Speaker 5: Yeah, So it hadn't been a very well kept secret
for a couple of years around Manhattan that Chris Cleman
was not a guy who was going to or was
likely to coach deep into his sixties. He's fifty eight
years old now as he retires, and so there had
always been this thought like, he's not probably going to
coach too terribly much longer. And I think that all
got hastened by just how crazy the entire environment in
college sports has become. And Jean Taylor, case State's athletic director,
referenced that in the press conference yesterday as a reason
why this is happening. You know, Chris Piman's a guy's
he's kind of like he's an old school ball coach man.
He wants to coach football. He doesn't want to fundraise.
He doesn't want to be out on the road doing
speaking engagements. I'm sure he doesn't want to be working
around the clock always rerecruiting his roster, like just you know,
managing the money aspect of this with a GM, like
all the stuff that goes into it now in college football.
I think he just wanted to be out there and coach,
you know, And I think all that really started to
wear on him. He had had a couple instances of
getting dizzy on the sideline over the last couple of
years too. I don't know if there's a major health
issue there, but at least, you know, seemingly just like
some stress related things had been popping up to so
going into this year, and really when they started one
and three this year, there were whispers about, like, hey,
is this going to be it? Like is he gonna
hang it up after this year? Now, Having said that,
after the Utah game and the tearful press conference and
all that, everything I had been hearing behind the scenes
was that he was pretty re energized and fired up
and wanting more NIL support and ready to go to
bat for that. And so it was a shock to
me when I first found out like Tuesday afternoon that
this was going to happen. I think one other factor
that you do have to keep in mind here is
that Chris Clement has handled this all very selflessly. He
made this decision really quickly, and because of that, Case
State was able to turn around and get calling Klin
lined up ready to go, and that was It was
a point of stress for Case State fans throughout the
year because Clent almost got the Oklahoma State job. He
finished runner up there, he was about to take the
South Florida job when Case State called. The fear was
he's going to take a powerful job this offseason and
you'll miss your opportunity to grab him forever. And Case
State fans definitely felt that stress. And I kind of
tend to think Chris Climban in the back of his
mind had that lodged in there too, like, Hey, if
I'm already teetering on this, I don't want to be
the guy that keeps k State from taking a shot
at the prodigal sun coming home here one of the
hottest names in the coaching industry. So I think all
of that probably factored into what happened with Chris climbing there.
So I'm really excited to see what happens here. I
think you've got a really high upside with Klein. I
think this could be like the State's Kenny Dillingham, would
be like your best case scenario. But hey, Texas Tech
fans had almost the exact same scenario play out with
a guy who was the offensive coordinator at Texas A
and M once upon a time in Cliff Kingsbury. And
obviously Colin Klein is coming over from being the offensive
coordinator at Texas A and M right now, and Kingsbury
was pretty beadyocre at Texas Tech. So we'll see. There
is an element of be careful what you wish for
I think probably in play here, but it's it's taken
a big swing, for sure.
Speaker 3: Man, crazy times, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2: How how powerful, how strengthened is the Big Twelve with
some of these moves, do you think or is it?
Is it weakened by some of these moves that we've
seen Oklahoma State right there was a there was a
lot of turnover on Gundy's staff because the donors just
you know, they wanted more wins, and so he had
to he had to make some changes. Now, he's out
after an atrocious season.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, what do you make of the Big twelve?
Where do we stand as a Big twelve conference?
Speaker 5: Well, I think the the Klonie Sataki piece of it
was just huge, you know. I mean to me, that's
the one that matters a lot. And it's it's not
you know, I'm not somebody that's out there saying like, hey,
Byu couldn't have found anybody to come in and win games,
you know, if it was gonna be Jay Hill or
whoever else, Like I'm there, there were definitely options. It's
a strong program. There are a lot of resources there.
But man, Kolonie Sataki is just like the perfect fit.
I mean, he is a perfect ambassador. He totally embodies,
I think it what it means to be a BYU Cougar.
On top of just being clearly an excellent football coach,
He's got four double digit win seasons and now has
won twenty two games the last two years and has
you on the brink of the playoff yet again. So
the combination of the fact that Sataki is coming back
with I'm going off of Pete nkos At on Freeze
report about the ten to fifteen million extra NILB and
dumped on top of Revshre. I mean, if that's going
to be the case, and having a roster that is
that loaded for bear financially like BYU is going to
be really really competitive, and that's huge. Locking down Joey
Maguire or not that I ever thought he would leave,
but locking him down that's another huge thing at Texas
Tech with the financial resources that they all have committed there.
So I think those really headline it for me. I
think BYU and Texas Tech are really positioned to be
the powers of the league right now. The fact that
they have the coaches that they do, with the financial
support that they do, it's really hard to argue against that.
And as much as the Big Twelve has been this
conference of parody, what it really needs to be more
respected nationally is like big brands that people trust. And
I think what Texas Tech and BYU have done this year,
and for BYU last year too, you know you're starting
to see them position themselves as that. I think there's
a lot of upside with Eric Morris at Oklahoma State.
I mean, I definitely like that higher and I think
it's another situation where Gundy leaving and having to go
hire a coach and Eric Morris, who I think was
coveted by, you know, perhaps a place like Arkansas. You
were going to have to have your nil ducks in
a row to attract a coach like that, to attract
a good candidate. So I think that probably whipps Oklahoma
State into shape. I think Colin Klin's going to help
you that at case State too. He's coming from the
SEC at Texas A and M, where they spend like
nobody else, and he has seen what it takes to
win at the highest level of the SEC and make
the playoffs. So I think he'll come and demand at
least in the ballpark of that type of support at
k State, which Case State probably needs a little kick
in the rear end on that front right now. So
I think those are two high upside plays and then
two I mean just blue blood you know stock that
you know is going to hit with Colonie Sataki and
Joey McGuire up.
Speaker 2: Top, John Kurt Big twelve Insider here on ESPN the
Fan talking Big twelve Football College Football playoff as well.
Let's trans obviously BYU fans feeling slided right now, feel disrespected,
called Football Playoff Committee just not giving credence to their resume,
their eye tests versus the U in that Texas Tech game.
Speaker 3: Where BYU, yeah, you know they didn't. They got beat.
Speaker 2: Handily, but so has everybody else. You know, everybody else
has been beaten handily by Texas Tech. Do you think
anything changes this week in Arlington? Do you think by
is much more competitive? Can they get the win? How
do you see this game playing out?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I mean there's there's so much here, so I think,
first and foremost, the infuriating part about the playoff discussion
is that it's not even so much that BYU as
of right now wouldn't be in the playoffs, sitting just
one spot outside of that, But it's how little they're
included in the national discussion when it comes to like
ESPN and any of the national reporters talking about this,
so much of the discussion is just about Alabama, Notre
Dame Miami, and it's like we've literally seen the graphics
multiple times that just omit BYU from that discussion. And
before anybody tries to say, well, BYU's basically got a
playing game this week, well so does Alabama they're playing
in a conference championship game too. They make the graphic
and the discussion every time. It's it's insane to me.
It's the same thing that happened last year, but just
on a more egregious scale this year because BYU's resume
is better. It's crazy, man. They have a better strength
to record, a better strength to schedule than Notre Dame,
and they have a better best win than Notre Dame.
I mean the resume. Really on paper, they have a
better resume than Notre Dame. I don't think there's any
denying that. It's just the eye test gets thrown against them.
And so that is where all raised one interesting point here,
and I don't think it's been talked about a lot,
probably because people don't have faith in this working out.
And I agree because that means you have to trust
the committee that clearly cares more about logos than what's
actually put out there. But if the eye test is
the one thing holding b YU back, right, they have
a better resume than Notre Dame. But people look at
the eye test and they say, hey, Jeremiah loves playing great.
Notre Dame's smashing people and the one time everybody watched
BYU this year at Texas Tech. They were not very competitive. Okay, well,
what if Texas Tech goes out or BYU goes out
on Saturday and plays like a knockdown, dragout overtime game
with Texas Tech. I think of the Big twelve Championship
game a couple of years ago between K State and
TCU goes to overtime, there's a goal line stand and
then a game winning field goal. If Tech's on the
winning edge of that. But BYU shows like, hey, this
team that you all think is consensed like top four,
now you think it's worthy of a playoff. By everybody
has gotten behind Texas Tech on that front. We show
now that we are actually a good enough team to
go toe to toe with them. Is that enough to
then sway the committee to be like, well, we our
eye test has now changed a bit, and if we're
going to say all things are pretty equal here, then
let's give the edge resume wise to BYU.
Speaker 6: There.
Speaker 5: I don't have a ton of faith that that would happen,
but I at least would raise out of a possibility
will that happen. I would not predict it. I mean,
I like everybody else watched the first game. This year,
I've seen a lot of Texas Tech. The problem really
just is the defense, you know, I struggle to see
how BYU is going to consistently move the ball on
that defense. The other thing that it's you know, I
mean it, it's been a distracting week, right. I know
Kolanie's Ataki's not necessarily in the minutia on everything that's happening. Offensively,
Aaron Roderick is handling a bunch of that, and certainly
could well Kolani was dealing with whatever he needed to
with Penn State. But I do think that's something you
have to factor in at least a little bit. So
I think the line seems about right. I think BYU
will be more competitive. I don't think it's going to
go exactly the same way it did last time, but
I would probably predict an outcome that's similar to what
the line is telling you there. I would take Texas
Tech by ten to seventeen points, probably in a game
that is moderately competitive, but not probably what you would
need to get a boost in the rankings.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, So if that happens, and let's say, how far
does BYU drop. What bowl game do you think they're
going to do they think Alamo picks them up?
Speaker 3: Is it a b Y U USC matchup?
Speaker 2: Do they get relegated over to the Pop Tarch Bowl?
Maybe a b YU Miami matchup? What's the ideal situation
if Bwie's not in the College Football playoff?
Speaker 3: Do you think?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's so hard to know what the like how
the Bulls these days will handle that, because I mean,
you're right, like the Alamo is obviously the thing that
makes a lot of sense then being first up in
the pecking order there, But if you just played in
it last year, how much a deal is there on
both sides? I mean, I do think BYU would still
send a ton of fans. I don't think they would
have to worry about attendance, which is a lot of
what I think a bowl game would typically worry about.
If you're going back to back there, like how many
fans are actually going to go do that same trip again,
I think it's a little litle bit different when you
have such a you know, so many people with the
LDS Church that are just going to be living there
and want to go to the game no matter what.
So maybe that makes it a bit more likely. But yeah,
I almost think, you know, I mean, I hate saying
it out loud. I mean the season by you's had
nothing against the Pop Tars Bowl, but that it seems
kind of disrespectful, you know, to think that that's where
they could wind up. But if it is a matchup
against Miami, that would at least be fun, depending on
how many how many teams are playing, Like not just
from a hey, Miami's a big brand standpoint, but also
just from these were two of the teams that were
really in the center of that playoff debate that kind
of like, you know, I loved the idea of Vandy
was trying to set up a game with Utah this week.
Like I mean, it's in essence a game like that.
Two teams that are right on the periphery of the
playoff discussion, I think could be great to see them
go play. So yeah, I think you're probably onto it
there as to what the possibilities would really be. At
least if it were the Alamo, you know, you wouldn't
have to be playing a conference opponent again, so there
is that that would be a little bit better.
Speaker 2: John Kurtz ladies and gentlemen, John, best way to support
you what you do, how you do it for all
of our listeners.
Speaker 5: Yeah, appreciate that. You can check out the Open for Business,
a Big twelve newsletter at ofbnews dot com. It is
totally free ofbnews dot com. And then I've got the
Open for Business Big twelve podcasts which you can find
on YouTube or Spotify, Apple, anywhere you get your podcasts.
Just search Open for Business with John Kertz. Should be
able to find it there. And you can follow me
on Twitter as well.
Speaker 4: It's J. L. Kurtz, j L k u r t.
Speaker 2: Z my man, John Kurtz, Ladies and gentlemen. I always
love chatting with you. Always learned something from you, a
great insight as always. Man, thanks for conversing with me
today on our show.
Speaker 5: Hey anytime, Ben, Take care Man, Yes.
Speaker 2: Sir, that was John Kertz and that segment was brought
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Speaker 3: Let's take a brief time out. We'll be back.
Speaker 2: This is Cougar Sports on one of three nine ninety
point three e Esperate.
Speaker 1: It's with Ben Kretel and it's time for the Cougar Beat.
Getting the dish from the local reporters that cover Cougar athletics.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Ugar Sports one O three nine ninety your
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Speaker 2: Let's get out to the hotline and welcome in Cougar
Sports in Saturn, representing BYU Radio. We got Matt by
a Monte on the line. Matt, how the heck are you?
Speaker 4: I've never been better?
Speaker 6: This is I mean, what transpired this week and where
we're at today. I think I'm I'm the best I've
ever been. Guys, We're headed to a Big twelve title game.
We've walked the Saloni Sataki eyo hooks they rolled last night,
Like this is you just can't be any better right now.
Speaker 4: If you're a BO, you can shoot.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 2: It's really there's not a lot to complain about now
where we have a persecution and complex like let's be real,
like we're I was gonna poke at like the void right. Hey, well,
but but Kilate's not up for the head coach of
the Year nationally our Beart Bachmeyer's not up for the
the Freshman of the Year the Shawnigs Alexander or hey,
why is b YU outside the college football Playoff at
number eleven? There's much to complain about, but I'm with you, man,
lots to be grateful for as well, all as well
to a certain degree in h Cougar country right now.
Speaker 6: Well, of those things that you said, we can complain
about by far and away, the biggest complaint is the
mockery of the college football Playoff integrity with b U
being an eleven. It's just it's the more you read
into all the different angles that could possibly be at
play here, there is not a single logical reason that
BOU should not be safely in the field. And I
think that is the true, the true gripe that BYU
have right now. I don't want to clin one out,
but I heard someone on social media making the case,
the the hired case that is completely unfair that if
BOU just wins.
Speaker 4: Then it's all fine.
Speaker 6: Well, yes, that's true. If feel you wins, they get
in if we get that. But what we're talking about
here is having a set criteria that we apply fairly
across college football.
Speaker 4: And in particular the power for right.
Speaker 6: And when you look at some of the things that
Bou has done so well this year, six wins against
teams with FBS teams with winning records, for road wins
against bull eligible teams, do you have a great strength
to record? Do you have a good strength to schedule?
That is the one thing that I think, to your point,
then fans can gripe about because of it's truly preposterous.
Speaker 4: How BOU is positioned right now in the rankings.
Speaker 2: It does hurt the college football cabal, the oligopoly, the monopoly,
the good old Boys Club. There's stiff arm and Brigham.
But why are they stiff arming Brigham? Why if you
had a Pike Chart of accountability. How would the fractionalize
the pieces of the pie look from your vantage.
Speaker 6: Point, I would say it is ninety percent due to
them not being in the SEC or the Big Ten.
Even though we hear the term Power four use the lot,
it's very clear that's the powers that be love the
power too, the Big ten in the SEC, and there's
a little to no love given to the ACC and
the Big twelve in particular the Big Twelve, which I
think is what is so mad, is that even though
the ACC is having a horrific year in which you
have a Virginia team that is ranked in the title
game and a seven and five team in the title game,
the ACC does not all a candle to the Big twelve.
But in years past you had Clemson, which is one
of the best programs in college football. For whatever reason,
whatever Clemson did in the past, there's still a little
cachet with that that's not big granted to the Big twelve.
And I think I think ten percent of it too.
And maybe it's along the same lines, is that BYU
for whatever reason, amongst the national media.
Speaker 4: And the elite of college football.
Speaker 6: They are not viewed as being a member of a
power conference. To me, the national media in particular still
looks at BYU.
Speaker 4: As an independent or a Group of five caliber team,
and that is just clearly not true.
Speaker 6: Any metric you want to look at would tell you
that this team is not only a Power conference team,
they're one of the best better Power conference teams. I'm
not saying they belong with an Alabama or a Georgia.
Those teams have been elite for a long time. But
you can't tell me that BYU, especially in the last
five years, have not been better than the upper half
of the Power four.
Speaker 4: They have a top ten.
Speaker 6: Winning percentage since since twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4: They have.
Speaker 6: Some great players that wanted to play in the league,
and it's like, anyway you want to slice the dice,
it players in the league winning percentage, players that make
all conference teams, like that they have everything, and that
they're just not being respected. And I think it is
simply due to the fact that people don't want to
acknowledge the Big Twelve as being a good power conference
league and that BYU is one of the best teams
in that power conference league.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's sad, but true. There's there's there's some
issues we got to we got to address, and you know,
it's hard to diagnose exactly why it is the way
that it is. You know, some people are calling for
religious bigotry. You know, they're trying to say, hey, there's
there's the upper the the institutions of higher learning.
Speaker 3: They don't like Brigham anyway, They stiff on him for
a long time. Didn't want them in the good old
boys club. I get it.
Speaker 2: I hope that there's enough advocacy out there that will
hopefully rally in ba's favorite We're seeing some of it, obviously,
Stool presidente Dave Portnoy, I think we saw earlier today.
Speaker 3: I just put this out.
Speaker 2: There's others kind of coming to the table and advocating
for b yu Will Compton breaking down BoA's unfair college
football playoff scenario. Will we get enough advocacy to sway
the college football playoff that if we lose in a
close one that we could inchin that we could get
in as an at large BIN.
Speaker 6: I don't believe that will happen, because this has been
the most contradictory committee and quite frankly, the most mind
boggling committee in terms of their rationale week over week.
Speaker 4: For them to say.
Speaker 6: That they are not comparing Miami and Notre Dame because
they are not ranked next to each other, that makes
no sense. That makes absolutely no sense, because we've been
told for years and this is specifically written out in
the in the committee's criteria is that you group teams,
you submit a ballot for the first four and then
the next four, and so on and so forth until
you fill the full twenty five. So if you're grouping teams,
and we've heard this with Byu Ben, we've heard them
say we aren't grouping BYU with with a Notre Dame
in an Alabama right now, They're being grouped with Miami.
Speaker 4: And these other teams.
Speaker 6: So if they are truly grouping teams, does it matter
that there's one team in between Miami and Notre Dame
when applying the head to head metric. We could spend
the next thirty minutes talking about all the things that
this committee has contradicted. But the one thing that is
certain about this committee is that they are not going
to suddenly use rhyme and reason to determine this this
seating of teams, because there is no rhyme or reason
and so I think the only way deal he gets
in is to win.
Speaker 4: I do think that is unfair. I don't think it's right.
Speaker 6: I think the Big twelve having two teams at eleven
and one, they should be safely in.
Speaker 4: But that's not where we're at.
Speaker 6: And it doesn't matter if it's still president.
Speaker 4: Or heck, even President Trump.
Speaker 6: I don't think any president Ben could convince this committee
to make sense and have rationale when seating.
Speaker 4: And I don't expect that to change.
Speaker 2: Do you Pavis asking for an executive order to expand
the playoff to sixteen?
Speaker 1: Eight?
Speaker 4: You please get that exection of ordered.
Speaker 3: Baby man, crazy time.
Speaker 4: A perfect year for sixteen, though, Ben, don't you think?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I mean, look, we're we're always going to want to expand,
but yeah, sixteen would be helpful this year. I think
I think sixteen would be perfect. I mean, what's the
perfect number?
Speaker 3: Right? Is sixteen the perfect number? The sweet sixteen of
college football? Is that what we're going with.
Speaker 4: I've kind of like hear me out on this.
Speaker 6: I kind of like twenty. And the reason I say
twenty is I like that the top four seeds are
rewarded with a buye. I think there is some mare
to that it is. I don't want to say it's
unfair because they would get a lower seed, but that's
a that's a tall ask. It's it's very hard to
go on a run like Ohio State went on last year,
where you're playing in the opening round and so on
and so forth. So I like twenty to where you
get the top four that buye and then you've got
the round of sixteen first and then and then off
you go. And then it kind of feels good too,
because you're saying top twenty. This is the top twenty playoffs,
So I would say twenty. But you have to find
a way to cut some games too, because I just
I just have a hard time seeing them getting all
those games in in the right amount of time. It's
it's it's hard to it is hard to figure out
what is best. But man, it doesn't feel like what
we're doing right now is best because there's there's teams
that are not being judged fairly and accordingly, and I
think that does use a buzzword of the week, and
I think it does do a disservice to college football
that we're not judging these teams fairly and equally.
Speaker 3: No doubt about it.
Speaker 2: Everyone's beginning to think that there's corruption in college football still.
The cabal, the olygopoly of college athletics is is just corrupt.
It's been uh, it's been bought, it's been paid for.
It's it's not true merit as it should be. That's
what sports all about, right, That's what sports all about,
supposed to be merited and won on the football field.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm well said.
Speaker 6: And it feels like in this year in particular, more
so than any other college football playoff year. And there's
been some there's been some years where there's been some gripes,
like what happened in Florida State was tough.
Speaker 4: You go undefeated and you don't get in.
Speaker 6: But this year in particular, it feels really tough because
there's a team like BYU that has, you know, based
on merit, I feel like, deserves a chance to be
in this playoff regardless of the outcome this week, and
then you have other teams that compare against similar teams
in terms of record, and yet the logic seems the
shift based on you know, from my vantage point, we
want to have the blue bloods in the in the
tournament we got to have that gold Dome.
Speaker 4: Baby. We gotta have touchdown Jesus in the same we
got to have the elephant. We gotta have role tied
in there.
Speaker 6: And those teams are not clearly better in terms of
merit from from a b YU And and look even Miami,
Miami's got a fair case against Notre Dame and that
doesn't seem to be happening. So this year, this year
is the one that I think is the most frustrating
and unlic it's the most strong opinions because there's just.
Speaker 4: No set criteria.
Speaker 6: There's no rhyme or reason, and that's that's that's very frustrating.
Speaker 2: That by a monte, Ladies and gentlemen, Matt, what else
has been maybe keeping you up at night, anything else
that you've been kind of pondering on that you you
can pontificate on our airways with us.
Speaker 6: This hasn't been keeping me up at night lately since
Kilani extended. But I was, I was very worried about
the future of b U football when it felt like
there was.
Speaker 4: A moment that Klan he was going to leave the program,
and then.
Speaker 6: BYU the Board of Trustees, President Reese ad Brian Santiago
for them to be able to retain him and in
the terms of Brian Santiago, significantly invest in the program.
This is something that I think BYU fans. I know
I felt this way, but I think most BOU fans
would say, this is a day in a week that
we have dreamed of our entire lives. I was thinking
about this earlier today.
Speaker 4: Ben.
Speaker 6: I remember vividly and I'll never forget this being in
ri Cycle Stadium as a fan in twenty twelve.
Speaker 4: That was the infamous game where mo Ley scooped.
Speaker 6: And scored and BYU had multiple cracks at field goals
late fans running onto the field and they don't and
they can't get it done. And that was that was
very That was very early into independence and early into
Utah's timing in the PAC twelve, and you just felt like,
can we compete with the resources, specifically in terms of
poaching salaries and investment into the program. And I just
remember driving home with friends and family, the long drive
back from Rice Cycle Stadium down to Utah County. Is
there ever going to be a day where the church
invests into BYU athletics at the rate that they need
to to compete at the highest level, and it felt
like at the time it felt like no, but you
could help yourself with dream about what it would be
like because we know the dollar base is there, we
know the alumni bases there, everything is there. It just
felt like for so long we were doing it at
a disadvantage because the resources were not matching those playing
at the highest level. This week, I think we can
now say BYU is invested at the highest level. They
want to win. These are all things we've heard at
the press conference. Significant investments. We want to win at
the highest level. We want to do with the BYUA
that is happening. We're in a Big twelve championship, we
got two top twenty five ranked teams. And in major
sports basketball and football. There's other sports that are are
doing very very well, Boston Country, all the track and
field under coach dil g Taylor, women's soccer, the women
in a.
Speaker 4: Nice little run.
Speaker 6: Like there's there's so much success and there's so much investment,
and now we're finally getting to live out that dream
then of what BYU could do if the investment in
the resource backing was there to match the.
Speaker 4: Passion it's all aligned, and.
Speaker 6: For a moment there this week it felt like that
might be something away a little.
Speaker 4: Bit, but no, credit to all those.
Speaker 6: Individuals who helped retain Kalani and invest into football. This
thing is can continue to rise and it's it's a
beautiful thing.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're a Utah fan, you're kind of you're
kind of ticked off. And you lost three in a row.
Now they had what a thirteen fourteen year head start
on their rival and they hey, they want they got
nine in a row. Credit to them with that PAC
twelve logo that no longer exists. It got destroyed with
their their their their Conference of champions Right, but it's
got to really take off the utes ceen b Yu
catch up so quickly and surpass them so quickly. And
by the way, it's flip season. We may have a
few flip recruits soon.
Speaker 4: Hey, that would be fantastic.
Speaker 6: This is already a great signing class. I know there
was a little stress there with Ryder Lyons, but he
signed on the dotted line. This is one of the
great recruiting classes at big football history. This is why
I feel like with the investment in Kilane in the program,
you're going to continue to see an upward trend. You're
you're getting good talent out of the transfer portal, you
are building great high school recruiting classes, which I think
is key been to maintaining success, which is what Brian
Sanciago told us he wants to do this week. It's
not just about having a one year or a two year,
it's about sustained success. You got to do it the
high school ranks, and then you got to have that
that resources to retain coaches and players, which they're pumping
in there. So hey, if a few people slip and
you continue to keep this trend on the tracks, we
could be seeing a lot more of BYU in meaningful
games like the one coming up to Saturday.
Speaker 3: Score prediction, What do you Got for Me?
Speaker 2: BYU Texas Tech BOH is a twelve and a half
point dog and ESPN Analytics Wally gives him like what
a thirty four to thirty five percent chance of victory.
Speaker 6: I think that if LU has any chance to win
this game, there's gonna be there needs to be some
ball control. It needs to be a slower paced game,
which I think would favor BYU.
Speaker 4: Their top of the conference and time of possession.
Speaker 6: I think getting Kialani back, extending him that was a
jolt of energy.
Speaker 4: Into the program.
Speaker 6: I think that there is tremendous motivation, not only from
the loss, but also knowing well, if these these players
and coaches aren't they're not naive to what's happening in
college football. They know how how they're probably going to
get left out if they don't win. That is a
huge motivating factor. I have all the way around from
BYU having a hard time winning this one too. I
had the Coubs winning and I think the score will
be twenty four to twenty twenty four twenty. There you go,
twenty four twenty Couves winning their first ever Big twelve championship.
Speaker 2: It's been it's been almost twenty years since we won
a conference championship. Man twenty years nice time was seven.
Speaker 6: Nineteen, eighteen, nineteen years crazy And this is the most
important one of them all. Of all the twenty twenty
three previous conference championships, there was nothing on the line
like this.
Speaker 4: So this is this is a big deal.
Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, Matt, best way to support you, what you do,
how you do it for all the listeners.
Speaker 6: Yes, this season, I joined the BYU Radio. I'm with
Greg Rebel, Hans, Mitch Jurgen and Jason Sheppard.
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 6: I'll be doing pregame this week live from AT and
T Stadium on all the places you hear BOU Radio,
on the app, app on Kiss, on these radio and
b your radio, all those things. So can follow me
on Twitter, but hey, listen to the game day broadcast
and that's where you'll find me.
Speaker 2: My god Matt by Monte, Ladies and gentlem make sure
you're follow him on X and listening to them on
BYU Radio. Thanks so much, Matt, great content as always.
Speaker 6: Hey, Hey, thanks again, Ben, appreciate all you guys.
Speaker 4: Have a good one.
Speaker 3: Yep, have a great night.
Speaker 2: That was a great segment ladies and gentlemen, and it
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Let's take a brief time out. We'll be back.
Speaker 3: This is Cougar Sports on one O three nine ninety
eight point three ESPN, sitting.
Speaker 1: To Cougar Sports with Ben Krettle, and it's time for
a Cougar Insider Report. Now, let's get that for a
prietary inside scoop on Cougar Sports from Critle.
Speaker 3: Welcome back to their Sports. Two of three, nine ninety
eight point three ESPN.
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at BMW in Pleasant Grove. All right, so, Ronald the
three Man Weaver, let's welcome you back into the show.
We have a number of different things that we want
to celebrate regarding the Big Twelve awards, and.
Speaker 3: Number one, I want to give a Big Cougar ar.
Speaker 2: Obviously the Kialane Shaitak is the Coach of the Year
Big Twelve Coach of the Year. Do you feel like
there was anybody that was really competing with him? I mean,
Joey McGuire, I guess you could have given it given
it to him, But why is it that Kilani deserved
it this year in your opinion?
Speaker 7: Look, he had an argument last year, Ben, if we're
gonna be honest, he just didn't get to the title game.
But everything points towards and to answer your question, no,
I don't think there was another coach outside.
Speaker 8: Of Joey that really deserved it.
Speaker 7: Since coming get to the Big Twelve right third season,
they're already in the title game. I mean, look how
long it takes other teams and opportunity to even get there.
Like Arizona State got it in there, what you know,
first year in and won it. Kenny Dillaham I think,
was the coach of the like Rifley. So right, So
Kilanie's on that same trajectory twenty two to three in
the last two seasons.
Speaker 8: Look, that's a coach that really knows how to win, has.
Speaker 7: A great program, and just look at his record over
the last you know, even six years as a whole,
four ten win seasons and what six seasons, So you
have to take that. You can't take that with the grin.
So anytime you get double digit wins been in college
football yet alone in a P four conference, it's you
can't overlook that, especially when you go what eight to
one and you went seven and two last year, Like
that's really respectable. You took the highest JUCO rated quarterback
last year, Jake, and then he was able to go
to Tulane and has his team in a good position. Right,
you take a true freshman this year and I know
that tomorrow of a robber. Kalani oversees all of this, right,
and this program now has an opportunity to go to
the college football playoffs. So I think it's the right move.
I think everybody got it right. But it is still
criminal that he is not even up for a Coach
of the Year in the world, Like he's not just
a Big twelve coach of the year. Ben Klania is
the coach of the Year in all of college football,
in my opinion, and that should have been a discussion
and it's criminal not because if they went on Saturday,
you tell me another program that has been able to
turn it around as fast and play at a high
level as BYU.
Speaker 8: I can't seem to find one of them when you
look at the numbers.
Speaker 7: I'm bringing up facts right there being a lot of
these other SEC teams and big teams based on strength
and number of strength to record, but people just want
to choose to ignore it and be dismissive.
Speaker 2: Kilanney guided his BYU Cougar's do an eleven to one
regular season record and number eleven overall ranking. He's coming
off a fantastic season. Going eleven and two would win
over Colorado. So there was some momentum of some great momentum,
and he seized that momentum and became coach of the Year.
My question to you, Ronald, though, is like, how did
he how did he outs? How was he able to
overcome the bell of the ball? Texas Tech and Joey
McGuire here, I think that's a conversation. I mean, look,
if you're Texas Tech fans are like, wait a sec wait,
just a minute.
Speaker 3: We're number four in the nation. Right where where.
Speaker 2: The cream of the crop? Where the Krem Dela Krem.
Joey McGuire just got his contract extent. He got a
big pay raised too. Why wasn't it Joey McGuire's title
to the taking.
Speaker 7: I mean, look, Texas Tech should be in that position.
That's what everybody's saying in the beginning. Ben, Look, it's
like baseball, right. Jason Kelsey said this on his podcast.
I know I'm bringing in other national and other outlets,
but look, when you pay for the whole the best roster,
people expect you to be there. No one's surprised, Like,
are you surprised that Texas Tech is there? I'm not right, Like,
I'm not. Like they paid for that roster. So that's
what happens. And when you pay for the best and
then you achieve, that's exactly what's supposed to happen. Some
people thought they were supposed to be undefeated, Ben, because
they invested what twenty eight million, you'll Trevor Maddis has
been on record with us and you know, on ESPN
saying they paid for this having more like the defensive line.
Speaker 8: I think it's worth seven million a loan. So are
you surprised about Like?
Speaker 7: No, Jagar Rodriguez was the preseason Defensive Player of the
Year candidate.
Speaker 8: He ended up winning that.
Speaker 7: Like, you're not surprised by what they were doing and
it was supposed to no one expected by you. Brett
McMurphy went around and polled the fans. I'm not fans
the coaches right of where BYU was at middle of
the pack. No one thought by You would be above six.
I had BU between six and eight. I was wrong,
and the rest of the Big Twelve and everybody else was.
No one had BYU competing for a Big Twelve title.
Everybody else had Texas Tech as one of their top
three teams. No one had BYU in that mix. And
what they did with their true freshman quarterback after the
entire country doubted, you know, BYU Jake Retzff even been
in this is I think why Baron Morten came back
to Texas Tech. Right, even though they have Will Hammond
who was playing great, Guess what happens, Jake Leaves and
BYU isn't even ranked the top twenty five team. They
should have been, but they weren't in the preseasoniere at six,
still not ranked in the top twenty five, and it's
criminal that like that's disrespectful.
Speaker 8: It doesn't matter if Jake left.
Speaker 7: Ben Bye was going to be a top ten team
with Jake, and all of a sudden now they're not
even a top twenty five team. And then look what happened.
Now they're the number eleven team in the country. So
obviously those that work at ESPN, the College Football Playoff Committee,
those in ap Polton have no idea what they're doing.
Their jobs are should be on the line just as
much anybody else.
Speaker 6: As I know.
Speaker 8: I'm going on a ran. But that's why you picked
against BYU.
Speaker 7: You doubted them the whole time in the conference and
from the national level, and they've done the exact opposite.
Speaker 8: You don't want to give them their respect.
Speaker 7: So you have no choice but to give Kilane Sataki
the head Coach of the Year because you bet it
against him and he got it done.
Speaker 3: Got it done.
Speaker 2: Kalani Sitaki, Ladies and gentlemen, and he should be a
part of the the at least the Coach of the
Year finalist Kurt Signetti of Indiana, Ryan Dave Ohio State,
and Clark of Vanderbilt all Coach of the Year finalists.
So look, if money dollars spent on your roster negate
your coaching ability. What about Ryan Day? I mean they've
spent a lot. Goodness gracious, put Joey McGuire into that
coach of your candidate finalists as well.
Speaker 3: LJ.
Speaker 2: Martin finished the twenty twenty five regular season as the
Big Twelve statistical leader in rushing yards and twenty nine
yards per game. He became Offensive Player of the Year
because of it. He was tenth nationally in all purpose yards,
twelfth and rushing yards and fourteenth and rushing yards per game.
Shout out to the Earl Campbell, Tyler Rose semi finalists
l J. Martin forgetting that Offensive Player of the Year award.
Freshman of the Year in the Big Twelve, Bear Bochmeyer
was named the conference Freshman of the Week seven times
during the regular season. The six foot two, two hundred
and thirty pound true freshman at A Murrieta, California, completed
two hundred and eight of three hundred and twenty two
passes for two thy five hundred and ninety three yards
fourteen touchdowns, were just four interceptions. He averaged two hundred
and sixteen yards of passing per game with an efficiency
of one to forty four point one. In addition, Bachmeyer
was second on the team in rushing with one hundred
and thirty seven carries five hundred twenty nine yards.
Speaker 3: And I think he.
Speaker 2: Now he has over ten touchdowns, so he got eleven touchdowns.
Out I mean goodness, gracious me o mint, great work
from Bear Bachmeyer. Tanner Wall was second was also highlighted.
I think he was first team defense. Shout out to Tanner.
He had four interceptions, second in the Big twelve, and
was second on the team with fifty seven tackles. He's
a member of the twenty twenty five All State AFC
A Good Works Team and as a finalist for both
the All State Werfel Trophy and the Pop Warner College
Football Award, as well as a semi finalist for the
Jason Witton Collegiate Man of the Year Award. Jack Kelly
was also named to the first team. He was third
in the Big twelven tackles in saxxcuse me in sacks,
and fifth in forced fumbles. Was on the watch list
for both the Chuck Bennaric Award and the Buckkiss Award
and shout out to Bruce Mitchell, also part of the
first team offense for the.
Speaker 3: Big twelve The Tip of the Spear. Love it.
Speaker 2: Great work from Bruce Mitchell. Let's go to break, guys
a little sports cord coming up next. This is Cougar
Sports on one O three to nine ninety eight point
three ESPN. The