Speaker 1: It is a Big twelve SEC breakdown tip of Joe
coach Bawl and for Thomas Bridges this week with a
comprehensive look at Big twelve and the SEC. And this
week we're gonna look at the Big twelve at SEC
teams in the playoffs. Also talking about Trappis Hunter winning
the Heisman and Rich Rock now the new head coach
at West Virginia. We'll discuss all those things kind of
rapid fire, real quick. We begin with our hot takes
as we do each and every week, and uh, my
hot take this week, Uh, I'm gonna go looking at
the playoff route of things, and Bau I will say
with with my hot take this week the direction that
I'm gonna go. I've been thinking about this and and
I really like what Tennessee can do against Ohio State.
You and I were talking about it. I just think
that there's something there that Hypool and Nico and and
these guys, there's there's an opportunity for this team to
really just kind of shake things up. And I would
be surprised if if they got past Oregon and if
they made it the semi final of the National Championship.
But to me, that that's the one that says watch out. Like,
to me, that's just a for Ohio State if they
were to take on anyone in this first round outside
of Texas. I think for Ohio State vote that's the
last team they wanted to face was Tennessee. Of those
first round teams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that. I can't see what you're saying there. Yeah,
I think if you look at that bracket, you go, well, yeah,
if you're Ohio State, it's a super athletic team you're playing.
I think that, I mean, be in the eighth seed.
Anybody lower than them, I think, yeah, Tennessee obviously the nine,
but I don't think any of the team's below that.
You know, Indiana, SMU, Clemson. Yeah, you really not want
to play Tennessee. I think of the teams that are
the top four, I think a couple of them are
still better. I think if you're Ohio, stated rather to play
Tennessee than Texas, Tennessee, Penn State, I'd rather play. I'd
rather play Notre Dame than Tennessee. But I do think
that Tennessee will mattm atholticisms. I don't I don't dislike
to take there. I like Ohio State in that game,
as we talked about earlier, But I see where your
goal with that, and I could see a way more
than anything. I like what josh Hipel's doing there, so
I could see where you're goal with that. I think
that would be I think it's not a terrible take.
I don't think it's a I don't think it's a
bad take at all. I just don't. To me, I
don't necessarily agree. I think I like Ohio State's too
much case.
Speaker 1: Bo. I'm so confident in the direction that Tennessee is
going with josh Hipel, with with where they're at and
everything and how they've been building this, doing this the
right way. It won't be this year, but I do
think at some point in time Tennessee's day will come.
Josh Hipel is going to win a national championship at
Tennessee at some point in time. Might be five years
from now, it might be ten years from now, but
there is I think there was something going right that
we haven't seen there since Philip Palmer was there in
the nineties.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Philip, I'm only won one. Yeah, and
did you know he didn't win it with Peyton Manny.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, the year accurate team with Martin, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Team Martin the quarterback the year after Peyton Manny left.
You know, I don't I don't disagree with that as well.
You know, I think that in the SEC you see
these teams, whether it's Florida traditionally like a Florida, like
an LSU, like a Tennessee, that they had that one
spectacular year and may make that magical run. You know,
Auburn had one of those at cam Newton a number
of years ago. Yeah, I can see that happening with
Josh Snipeley. He's good enough a coach. They have a
commitment at Tennessee within I L and money and and
what you need to have to be successful. So I
don't disagree with that either. I can see them having
that magical year, especially with the Boogeyman not in Alabama
any more. You know, if you could have a year
where they don't have Georgia on the schedule, you can
make that run, maybe get a little bit of help
and not face Georgia at a championship game. I can
see that being something that a Tennessee could take advantage
of in that situation.
Speaker 1: All right, both give me a hot take Big twelve
or SEC related what direction you want to go?
Speaker 2: All right, I'm gonna go back to the Comfotball Playoff two.
I think Arizona State makes the College Football National Championship game.
Speaker 1: So, just so people are aware, we're what we would
be talking about of their potential path here, this is
what would be ahead for Arizona State, just so everybody's
on the same page. They would take on the winner
of Clemston, Texas. Obviously we expect them to be Texas,
and then they would take on the winner of either Oregon,
Ohio State, or Tennessee, which we expect to be Oregan,
but any and those three would be tough. And then
of course a national championship after that against likely Georgia.
Uh likely Georgia Georgia.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So well, I think if you look at it, okay,
so here's my argument. You don't have to face Tennessee,
Ohio State, and.
Speaker 1: Oregon, right you face yeah, because.
Speaker 2: Tennessee are one of the limited the other one I
think Ohio State limited Tennessee, and then I think Ohio
State and Oregon ends up being one of those punching
matches like it was the first time they played each other.
They just go back and forth, they beat each other up. Meanwhile,
I think Arizona State they got to buy. Then I
think they get a second buy because I think Texas
does beat Clemson, but I think Arizona State's gonna beat
Texas and I don't think it go out, but I
don't think it's gonna be this huge, like knockdown dragon
like Ohio State. Oregon it's gonna be. And I think
that that's the team, and I think it's the Oregon
that beats Ohio State. But then from there, I think
that you're gonna have that one game where Oregon is
not gonna be great. And I think Arizona State's team
it's hot enough to play a little bit of defense
and has an offense that can outscore you. And so
that's why I'm gonna take my hot take is an
Arizona State wins that side of the bracket and we
see Arizona State versus Georgia for the national championship.
Speaker 1: So that leads us into our next conversation of talking
about the playoff paths for the Big twelve at SEC
teams with Arizona State. Here is we've kind of already
talked about their path of sorts, but this would be
my one concern about Arizona State, and that is not
having Jordan Tyson, their top receiver who had over eleven
hundred yards. He is out for the entire playoff. Obviously,
they look good without him. In the Big Twelve Championship,
their offense was fantastic. Anyway, Scataboo has been great, Levin's
been great. But you know, as I see them potentially
taking out of Texas, potentially taking out in Oregon here,
I do wonder. I think that's the biggest question mark
for me. When does it finally hit them where they're
like And it could be in your case you mentioned
the National Championship where it finally happens, could be in
this quarterfinal on the Beach Bowl where they're sitting there
saying themselves, damn, we wish we had Jordan Tyson right now.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't disagree. I mean, Sam Levit's played really
well this season, you know, but what they do is
they minimize his touches, they minimize what he has to
do to win games. Yeah, that when they do need
him to play well to win, he does. And I
think that that's where that piece to me is kind
of is kind of forgivable because that run game is
so good, Scotty Dow's so great, and they use him
in some interesting ways. To me, I think that the
quarterback doesn't turn the ball over much. He's only had
one interception in the last five games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the thing.
Speaker 2: Now I'm looking at it going, Okay, Oregon's gonna turn
the ball over a little bit. You're gonna have teams
make mistakes. We've seen if Ohio State team to be target,
we've seen them turn the ball over a lot this year.
Speaker 3: This Arizona State team, I guess I'll get the last
month they've been I don't want to call them unbeatable,
but they've just been very very good and continue to
do what they have to do every week to win.
Speaker 2: And they don't do it in spectacular fashion. They just
beat you. They're just bludgeing you. Yeah, and their defense
isn't bad. I mean they don't give up a lot
of points. They haven't. They haven't given up more than
thirty points since the UCF game back in early November.
You know that's playing that took They're play in Iowa State.
Arizona at Arizona BYU Case State. These are all teams
to score points throughout the year, and I just look
at it going. I like what Arizona State's done. They're
healthy at the right time, They've got this this sweep
of momentum. If there's gonna be a team that's gonna
ride away with momentum, I think it's them, And I
think that that path can be done.
Speaker 1: Let's talk Texas's path. Now, you get Clemson and then
you potentially take then you would take on Arizona State,
and then you know Oregon Tennessee or Ohio State and
the semi final and then a national championship. Question I
have about Texas bo We've really only seen Texas look
great twice this year against two pretty mediocre teams in
Michigan and Oklahoma. It's about the only time we've seen
Texas look great this year. Yeah, And what I would
say is, you know, obviously the health of Quinn is
a bit concern, and you know this two quarterback thing
with Arch and all this whatever. But where my concern
is the team that we saw back against Michigan against Oklahoma.
Can Texas revitalize themselves and be that team they were
back then, or is this who they've been the entire time.
You know, they didn't beat a team this year with
a record better than eight and four all season long.
They benefited from one of the easiest schedules in the SEC.
That's to me, it's it's one of two things. Either
Texas can go back and be that team that they
were in early in the season, or they've just been
exposed recently. I think it's one of those two.
Speaker 2: And I don't know that it's I don't know they're
as good as they were at the beginning of the year.
I think at the beginning of the year they just
had something going. I look at it now and I go, okay, man.
They had to the game against Michigan. We thought that
was kind of the coming out party, but we saw
how bad Michigan was for most of this season. Especially,
they weren't Michigan level. You know, they had the big
Minnigan's Oklahoma. Oklahoma has been bad. That's been a bad team.
They went to Vanderbilt and er lost, right, You know
that in that situation the most the best win for
them is going to A and M and winning, And
they only scored seventeen points with their defense did hold
a and m A seven and that's the best thing
to beat. That's the one, eight and fourteenth they've beaten.
You know, I look at it and go, well, okay.
To me, Texas's biggest problem is teams are going to
score some points on good teams are gonna score points
on them. And the quarterback situation is Quinn. You we
ares healthy, he's got the foot issue, and we're seeing that.
They don't believe he's fully able to carry this load
right now. Otherwise Archie Manney wouldn't be out there. It's
almost like again you know my saying, if you have
two quarterbacks, you got no quarterbacks, And that to me
is a big deal. I just I've only seen it
work one time. The one time I saw in college
football work was University of Florida. It was Chris Lake
Chris Leak his senior year with Tebow as a freshman,
and that was because they had the whole change of offense.
But that team was just stacked with talent. I mean
you think about that, even if they had Christlin at
quarterback the whole time, the would have won a national title.
I mean, it was just a ridiculously talented too, but
that's not what Texas is. There's talent, there's NFL talent,
and they are Textas with the all the NIL money
and great coaching. I think Stark's done a really good job.
I just don't think that this team right now is better.
They'll be better next year with arch Manning Courts.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I mean.
Speaker 2: Next year is the year where I go, that's a
team arch Manny is a Heisman Heisman candidate. Next year,
that's team had a lot of monice with next year,
he's going to be incredible next year. I think that
you have to play Quinn. You as you made that
problem earlier in the year and now you're like, okay,
now we're kind of paying for it. You know. Any
of the injury to you is the big deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Tennessee's playoff path Ohio State in Oregon, then a
semi final against either Clypson in Texas or Arizona State,
and then a potential national championship after that. As I
mentioned earlier, Tennessee great story on talent. I love Nico
at quarterback. I think that they got the right guy
for a long time, get a very good defense. But
for Tennessee, I feel like the party for them is
going to be, you know, hey, we win the first round,
that's great. I can't see them beating both Ohio State
and Oregon back to back weeks. It's if they somehow
can beat Ohio State in Oregon, then they can win
the whole thing at that point. But I just don't
see them winning both. I feel like it's a win
against Ohio State and that's probably it for Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think they had the toughest draw of every
team in the standard. Yeah, they wish they were the
ten or the eleven instead of the nine. I mean,
I rather be to ten, the eleven or twelve and
than nine, because again, you drew Ohio State and AID
and then you're gonna play the number one overall seed
in Oregon, and then you're gonna play again, I think
even Texas or Arizona State. I like Arizona State. Either way,
that's gonna be a good team coming out of there.
So now you're playing really three top ten teams. Let's
just say that, it's three real top ten teams as
opposed to the bottom side of the brackets. So and
that's just it gets the finals. You know, that's just
to get to the final boss, which is gonna be
Georgia come out the other side. He's gonna smack him
around like they did it earlier in the season. So
I just, yeah, if Tennessee were to run this table
and go all the way and win the national title,
you crown Josh Hype best coach in the nation. I mean,
just my hat will be off to you. I'll tip
your big butt and I'll buy you dinner. I'd love
to see it. I like that guy, but I bet
he could eat the shit out some barbecue ribs too.
I just he's a quarterback of college too. Boy, I
just shucks me seeing him.
Speaker 1: Now, Oh yeah, it looks like Bobby all grown up.
Speaker 2: Now yeah, he doesn't like Buffy all growing up, but
he Uh, you know, if they pull that off, they
pulled that guy off. It's the greatest run in college
football history. Did win that many games.
Speaker 1: Let's talk George's path, easiest path of anybody. Uh, it
should beat Indiana or Notre Dame and then you get
either Boise State SMU or Penn State ball. What I
think is gonna end up happening is Penn State is
going to Penn State. James Franklin's gonna slip up against
either SMU or Boise State. I think they beat SMU,
but I like Boise State to upset Penn State in
that quarterfinal game. And then George is sitting there like,
all right, we gotta play Boise State. Yeah, we're fine
even if they Even if they play Penn State, I
think they win that game. But I think in all
likelihood that side of the bracket is gonna be very
favorable for Georgia.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that there might pick for the national champ and
and the reason a lot of is to draw. I mean,
I think they're the best team, but the best draw
Notre Dame in Indiana. The winner of that game. It's
gonna be an easy game for Georgia. Their defense is
too good. They're not gonna let somebody score a bunch
of points. They're gonna beat them. And then I wougree
with you. I think Penn State beats SMU. But I
think the thing to look at is if Boise wins
that Fiesta Bowl, Penn State has to go clear across
country to play the Fiesta Bowl out in Arizona. Ways,
he's only coming from down south. The little there's something
to them, and I think that that's gonna be a
little bit of a gute. Georgia gets to play in
the Sugar Bowl not very far away. You will have a
lot of their fans there in New Orleans. And then
you're going to the Orange Bowl. They're going to Miami.
It's gonna be a little bit of a home field
advantage for them all the way to the Championship. I
think that's a big difference to.
Speaker 1: The Georgia in their backyard too.
Speaker 2: And then in the championship is the champions I don't
see the Where is Atlanta? It's in Atlanta? Oh yeah, yeah,
I mean yeah, that's gonna be a home game. And
so I they got a great draw. They're a great team,
and they got the best coach. They might have the
best roster. They don't have the best quarterback, but they
they've won them with that best quarterback before. They haven't
had a good quarterback and his whole Kirby Smart era,
and they don't have to have a great one now.
So the Cole Carson Beck thing to me, isn't that
big a deal.
Speaker 1: All right. So there you have it that's breaked out
of the paths throughout the college Football playoffs. A couple
more notes, and then we'll wrap up Big Droves is
a breakdown here. Travis Hunter wins the Heis and Trophy
closest Heisman vote since Seviliva was two thousand and eight,
two thousand and nine, over Ashton gent Baul. I think
the Eisen committee got it right Travis Hunter. I mean,
here's the show, Oh hey, Otani of football, I mean
playing both ways, playing at an all American level on
both sides at the ball, gent was fantastic, don't get
me wrong, and about any other year gent would have
won the Heisman Trophy. But Travis Hunter was the best player,
and he was on a very good football team too.
I think the Heisman Trophy committee got it right in
this decision to go with Travis Hunter. I think he's
got a bright future. I know we're hearing all this
about Dion is gonna, you know, have his say where
he and Travis Hunter and Shador end up. I heard
a great rant from Lewis Riddick the other night. I'm
on the Night Football saying, hey, Dion, I know you
may be watching right now. This is the NFL. NFL
teams are going to do what they want you can't
control that, but Travis Hunter. For me, bo I don't
know about you. Jenny was genty was great, but you
couldn't not give it to Hunter. I thought they made
the right decision. In fact, you look at the numbers
and everybody compares him to Charles Woodson. The year he
had when the Heistan this year was much better than
Charles Woodson's Heisman year two.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I've always been in the Campell Charles Woodson.
He should have won the highest Peyton Manning should have won.
That's me. I'm biased, but Travis Hunter was absolutely the
best player in college football this year. I don't think
there's any doubt. I think Genti's been great. I think
he's had a great season the end. I think the
issue is that he's at Boise and it's just that
they didn't play the schedule the Gauntlet. Not that Colorado
had a great goy not in the sec A Big Ten,
but there's just a little tougher schedule, a little better
opponents throughout the season. And I think that the reason
that that team was so good, especially late in the year,
had a lot to do with him. I mean, he
was the best player on his team. He was the
real reason that team was very, very good down the
stretch and made it as far as they've made it.
And I think that he's a special s talent. I'll
go this far. He may not be the first pick
in the draft, but he's the best football player this year.
If I was going to just pick the best football player,
I would take him. And I think that he's been
the best football player in college football this year. And
I know people will say, well, you gotta give it
to an offensive player, and just the's numbers are great,
and they are great, and he's been fantastic, and he
would have won a het has been a lot of
those years. But I just think that Travis Hunter has
been better than everybody this year. He's been more valuable
than everybody this year. And what he's done in two
years at Colorado has been amazing for that program, and
this year I think he really showed it. I also
loved his speech speaking to the camera about his father
and speaking to his father directly. You know that I've
heard a little bit of the rumors of what's going
on there, and you know, Dad not being able to
make it to the thing for some reasons, and I
don't really want to speculate on that unless you know,
but I think that he really I said it on Twitter.
There was a lot of people who attacked him winning
that and they didn't like it for some reason. They
thought that, you know, him and coach Prime up there,
it's a little let's just say it's a little too black. Okay, Look,
this is what college football is. This guy is great.
He's a fantastic player. He's the one of the future
great players in the NFL. And he's someone that's gonna
play both sides of football in the NFL. He's gonna
primarily play defense. He will see some offensive steps. You'd
be stupid to not put him out there. I mean you,
you gotta find a way to get great players in
the field when they can help you. He's been the
best defensive player in football all year. He might have
been the best receiver in football as well this year.
That's just too much for me to not choose him
to be the Heisman winner. And I'm I'm rooting that
kid for here on out. Oh man, I'm ready for
this kid. I really even impressed with him as a
player and impressed with him off the field too, So yeah,
I and this whole thing with coach Prime is gonna
help him get to where he wants to. You know
what every coach does that. You think Nick Saban hasn't
done any sort of things for his players before, do
you know, just say that out loud, that's all. You know.
He doesn't want him to go to a bad situation.
He doesn't want to be into a Jacksonville, you know,
that's what he's trying to do. He's trying to steer
him the where he's not going to be some shitty
organization that's happened before where coaches have said, don't draft
this kid here, he doesn't want to play for you,
you know, I and I just don't think that's that
big a deal. And I think people who are being
negative about that are being more negative because they don't
like those two men than anything else.
Speaker 1: Well, and I think Lewis Riddick coming out in the
middle of a broadcast saying that he's trying to interview
for some GM jobs and put himself out there, and
that might be you know, trying to actually on his
own end, trying to put himself like send a message
to these NFL owners like, hey, I'm gonna do whatever
it texts to get the top talent. Like, really, that
could have been Lewis trying to send send his own
message of sorts for for other people, besides using Dion essentially.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't and I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't think you're wrong on that, And I think
and it's a shame he got into that because I
like Lewis Riddick and I think he should be an
NFL GAM I think he'd be excellent at it. I've
heard a lot and I just seen him on ESPN,
but I've heard him speak. I've heard a lot of
his stuff. He's speak on podcasts, I've heard a lot
of his speaking engagements. I think he is a NFL
general manager level talent and uh in mind right now.
And it's the shame he hasn't gotten the opportunity already.
I think he will get the opportunity at some point.
I just don't like that he picked that moment. But
I think there could be something to that case. They
could have been him saying, Hey, I'm gonna promote myself
a little bit on this too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, last thing, Big twelve SCC. I'll break down
this week. Rich Rod, the new head coach at West Virginia,
returning after leaving the program for Michigan. Obviously they didn't
work out. Coach Arizona, had a little bit of success there,
got fired, goes to Jacksonville State. It's done a really
good job at Jacksonville State and now comes back. Says
that he regrets leaving in the first place. He's their
best coach in program history. Pat McAfee is heavily involved
and apparently they're inn il program is gonna take a
big step up. I've been a big fan of Ren Baker,
their ad for a long time. I think that Baker
is one of the best ads in the country. You know,
they have a good, really good, I think foundation at
West Virginia with some of the way that they're doing things.
You know they're they're university president uh is one of
the most respected presidents in the country, Gordon g who
used to be the university president of Ohio State and
a couple other places. UH got an Ivy League background.
You know, bo, I don't hate the higher I know
that rich Rod is in a much different situation where
they're at in the Big twelve now compared to when
he left when they were in the Big East. But
if the money is there, if McAfee and these others
are going to be behind him, we know that rich
Rod's an offensive mind and he's won there before. I
don't I don't have a problem with what West Virginia
did bringing rich Rod back, if you know, that's a
unique job and that takes a unique head coach, and
I think rich Rod knows what it takes. And I
liked I like the higher for West Virginia here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I did too. I've been rich Rod guy since
he was an offensive coordinator at Tulane in the in
the late nineties. He's an offensive minded guy who I
think is very similar to Lane Kipping, And I'll tell
you what I think about that why. I think they're
both great offensive mines. And they're also guys who have
at certain times in their career taken success to their
brains a little bit too hard and said, hey, I'm
better than what I actually am as far as a
head coach. But I think that what happened to rich
Rod at Michigan and then going and really that was
a bad situation for him the get go. He was
not a good fit there in the first place. They
get him there, he doesn't. You know, his offense didn't translate.
There goes to Arizona. They had a couple of really
great years. The end at wasn't a great fit. Uh,
he wasn't getting players. It was a big part of
that piece. And then well we saw Jacksonville State. I
mean they score points all over the damn place. I
mean that was a rich Rod offense in the Big twelve.
It's gonna work. I think he's gonna have a chance
because you're gonna score points. That Big twelve is not
as talented as the SEC. Is. That not the gauntlet
the SEC is or or the Big ten is when
you take all the teams into account. I think in
those cases, I look at it and go, this is
a really good fit. The guy who probably shouldn't have
left there, but who doesn't leave West Virginia to go
to Michigan as a football coach. I mean, if you
get that opportunity to take it, yeah, you know, it's
glad he's come back around. But now he's come back
seeing the mistakes he's made, hasn't let the other success
get to him, and now he's more mature sort of
how Lane Kiffin now is an old miss. It's insane.
Lane Kiff knows Tennessee or with the Raiders or in
the USC, you know, it's it's I think there's a
lot of similarities there, but I think Richal has even
become more mature. Hit got Jacksonville State bringing him to
West Virginia, getting them involved. That's also a place has
a lot of pride in being local and being their history.
You look at their basketball team years ago. Rehired by
bringing in Bob Huggins is a big deal. This is
an example of who they are as a community. Rich
Rod buys into that. He understands what that is, and
he's got helping people like McAfee. On the nil side,
that's a name and some cachet and some money they
could bring in and help things. I think you can
be competitive there and I think it's a good hire.
I do.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think McAfee had big influence in his hiring too.
He obviously McAfee played under him, and he did his
show live from his introductory press conference. I mean, you
got the right people excited. I know some of the
fan base is split about bringing rich Rod back, but
if you got people like McAfee. Your most notable alum
bought in and what's going to come with that then,
I think that's a huge step forward for that program.
Chad winthrow to join us from out Kick. Coming up next,
we'll get his thoughts on the college football playoff and
more are coming up on the other side. Stay with us,
join us now with the program this week. Please to
welcome in from OutKick and Outkicks Hot Mike. It is
Chad Witrow who's back on the program once again. Chad,
appreciate the time, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas to you. Thanks
for giving us some time today, man, And what a
time was everything going on? College football playoffs about to
start NFL playoffs here in a few weeks. Certainly a
lot going on these days, Chad.
Speaker 4: It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
It really is, with everything going on in the holidays
of course, and Merry Christmas to you as well. And
I'm excited to watch these playoff games, something we haven't
seen before with the twelve team college football playoffs. So
anytime you get a first like this in sports, it's
always exciting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's start there. I know you're a big Tennessee
volunteers fan and they got a big game of course,
coming up against Ohio State. I feel really good about
Tennessee's chances in this game with everything going on with
Ohio State in that Ryan Day situation and Tennessee playing
with really nothing to lose. I love the job that
Josh Hipel's done this season, what he's been to build
that program. How do you feel about Tennessee's chances to
potentially pull off an upset going into Columbus here?
Speaker 4: I mean, I think they got a good opportunity in
this game for sure, And you're right, Tennessee's playing with
house money in this one. Of this side of the
of the game, there's no doubt that Tennessee's the one
that they're not just they're just happy to be there,
and you know, they don't care how their team plays
or anything. But this was the goal coming into the
season if they were going to make the twelve team playoff.
I think preseason they were, you know, fifteen sixteen somewhere
around there. They were picked seventh in the SEC. So
to finish tied for second in the SEC and to
be in this twelve team playoff is a huge success
for Tennessee fans in this program. Ohio State's expectation coming
in this year was one, get rid of the losing
streak to Michigan, and two when the national title. Because
this was a team and a roster with the expectation
was win the national title. They didn't accomplish objective one
by beating Michigan. Now their chance is to go on
a run and win the national title, and it's a
roster that's absolutely capable of doing that. I really think
this game is going to come down to the two
running to the two quarterbacks, excuse me, and their ability
to run. I think Niko Yamalaava for Tennessee got better
and better as the year went on, played his best
football in November. But he's a first year player. I
think Will Howard there's some mixed results in there. He's
not the most talented Ohio State quarterback we've seen, but
he's got so much talent around him that he's been
able to make it work. But I think there's gonna
be some opportunities where two teams that want to run
the football, there's gonna be some rushing opportunities for the
two quarterbacks, and this could come down to which quarterback
runs the ball better in a game that's going to
be very cold featuring two great defenses. So I could
see this being a low scoring game where maybe a
big coreck runner two is the difference.
Speaker 1: You know. One thing I'm watching for Chad is what
goes on to the light of scrimmage, because you'll look
at that Ohio State team. For as much money as
been spent on the buck guys, they haven't really invested
in the offensive line the way they should have, and
they got worked in that Michigan game. You compare that
to Tennessee and that is a scary good defensive line.
James Pearce, I think is arguably the best edge rusher
in this upcoming draft. I think he should be a
top ten pick. To me, that's where I look at
being a difference for Tennessee.
Speaker 4: What say you, Well, it could be and Seth McLaughlin
being out for Ohio State. It's a big one that
they've got some injuries across the offensive line, you know,
and I love James Pierce. Also Tennessee, though they actually
have fewer sacks this year than they did last year,
they're really good at stopping the run, and so is
Ohio States, who are the best teams in the country
against the run, and they do have a lot of
depth on the defensive line. They need to get home
a little bit more than they've been getting home quite
frankly in this game to have a chance. But I
just look at both teams Tyler, and I think both
have a very distinct advantage on defense against the other
team's offense. I think what Ohio State does well, Tennessee
also does well on defense and vice versa when Tennessee
has the ball on offense. So some creativity is gonna
need to get involved in this game with both both staffs.
But yeah, I think Tennessee is very good across the
defensive line. They need to get home to Will Howard though,
and they haven't been getting home as much this year,
so I think that's gonna be a big key in
this one as well. And we'll see if those injuries
across the offensive line for Ohio State end up playing
a big factor in this game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll see indeed. And when you look at these
two teams in their path after this game, obviously they
would await Oregon in the Rose Bowl. I'm looking at
this Chad if if Ohio State wins this, they very
well could go on and win the national Championship. Even
though I like Tennessee more of this game, I don't
know necessarily that Tennessee could make a deep run. Do
you think they have it in them if they can
get this done against Ohio State or do you think
that eventually it catches up to them where it's too
much playing teams like Ohio State and Oregon back to back.
Speaker 4: Here, I think this is the game to watch in
the first round because either one of these teams could
win the national title. I truly believe that.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 4: I'm picking Ohio State to win a close one. I
think it is going to be a low scorer in
close game, but I think being at home matters, and
if Tennessee was able to get that home field, they
would have won this game at Neeland. I think that
Ohio State will win in Columbus. But yeah, I think
the winner of this game has a great shot against Oregon.
We already saw it with Ohio State. They lose by
one point on the road, and they have a chance
with the ball late to where they could have gone
down and won. So they're gonna have a great chance
on a neutral site, and I think Tennessee's very similar
to Ohio State, So while I would think Oregon would win,
it's going to be a tough test. The craziest thing
about this is Oregon is the number one seed may
have the toughest, the toughest path, yeah, winning the national
title as opposed to those other teams that gotta buy.
So that's a tough break for Oregon that they're gonna
play the winner of this game in the first in
their first matchup.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, definitely so ched windthrow of Alkick joining us
here of the program this week, Chad. Last question of
this Ohio State Tennessee game. If Ohio State loses, what
do you think of Ryan Day's future? Do you expect
him to still be the head coach of the Ohio
State Buckeyes next week? If they'd lose this game at home.
Speaker 4: It's tough because they're going to owe him so much money,
you know, And there's a lot of talk about does
Ryan David want to be there because his kids are
getting harassed in school and all this stuff has happened,
and all the pressure around it's really eating at him.
And you saw his demeanor and the look on his
face when that brawl was happening after the Michigan loss,
where he's just dead eyes, dead eyed, looking straight ahead,
looking like a zombie after that game, And you wonder
how how long is he for this job? I don't know,
but I know he's got an agent, and his agent's
going to be telling them, will you make them fire you?
You're not gonna resign because you don't want the job.
That they can fire you and give you the entire
buyout and you can go be an offensive coordinator of
the NFL for Mike Vrabel, or go coach somewhere else,
you know, if you want, because you're gonna get a
job somewhere else. So I'm not sure what they do.
If they know exactly who they want to hire and
feel like they can get them, maybe they make a move.
But man, I think it's gonna be tough. I get it.
I understand the vitriol from Ohio State fans about that
loss to Michigan. It was a terrible loss, But I
think you got you'd have a hard time firing Ryan Day,
especially based on what they would owe him in a buyout.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and even though they haven't won the big one,
necessarily the win loss record is still outstanding as good
as any coach out there in the country, and that's
hard to replicate and replace out there, even in Ohio State.
As far as that goes other games this weekend, Chad,
what kind of catches your attention in these first round
matchups here?
Speaker 4: You know, Clemson Texas Dabo Sweeney is the one guy
that you look at the coaches outside of Kirby Smart. Yeah,
it's won a national title, that's been in these type
of settings of win and play on or win and
you know you're gonna play for the national title type situation.
Can Clemson go in there and win? You know, Kate
Klubnick has battled before with quinn Ewers back in high
school head to head, and Kate Clubney got the best
of them. I'm really interested in that game because while
Texas is very, very good, there's no doubt they're very
good defensively, there's just a little something missing on offense
with that team, especially in big games, and we saw
it rear It's ugly head again where they had a
chance Texas did to beat a backup quarterback in the
second half in Georgia and they couldn't do it. They
look bad against Georgia the first time too, So does
Clemson have a plan? Does Dabo have the swagger to
go into Austin and get a win? That's the game
I'm kind of circling where I think some crazy things
could happen.
Speaker 1: Well, and I look at that game ched in that
Texas team. I know that they've been a top five
team for you know, pretty much all season, but I
mean you look at their schedule and they haven't beat
anybody with a record better than eight and four this year,
and they don't look like the same team they were
against Michigan and Oklahoma earlier in the year. For as
much a it's been made about Texas, I still feel
like we don't know how good they really are.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they look really good against Florida late in the
year when Florida was kind of making a push and
playing better. But Florida played that game with a third
string walk on quarterback from Yale. They beat Vanderbilt. That's
one of their big wins of the year. And that
wasn't that pretty. You know, Vandy was actually kicking an
on side kick to get the ball and try to
win late in the game. So look, no, I get it.
There's there's some question marks around that Texas team. The
roster's really good and the defense is outstanding. I want
to see more arch Manning. Yeah, And I'm not saying
that he should replace Quinn Yours as the starter right now,
given what Quinn ewrs has done where they are on
the season, but he needs to play more. They need
to have some more design runs for him. They need
to put him in not to run, put him in
a couple times, let him take some deep shots, give
him part of the offense in this game. Get him
in the flow of the game in some way similar
to the way Florida and Urban Meyer utilized Tim Tebow
off the bench with Chris Leak in their National championship
run back in two thousand and six. You'll play arch
Manning that much. I think it's time to get him
more looks in the game, and I want to see
if Steve Sarkisian has a plan to do that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd be very curious if that's the case. The
other two matchups SMU Penn State, Indiana Notre Dame, Chad,
do you think we could potentially see an upset, whether
it's Indiana at Notre Dame or SMU at Penn State.
Do you think either one of those teams have much
of a chance to do something?
Speaker 4: I do. I think Indiana's got a great shot. They
got to play really well. You know, they can't have
special teams mistakes like they did against Ohio State. Certainly
can't turn the ball over. But I think they got
a good shot. If they're playing at their top level,
they're going to be right there with a chance to
beat Notre Dame. From what we've seen this year, SMU
is a little tougher to figure out. Penn State got
a gift with their route to go SMU to Boise
State to possibly get to the semi finals is an
incredibly favorable route for them. But I think both games
have a chance to be really good. But give me
Indiana as the best chance at an upset between those two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I certainly can see that being the case. We
just found out a little while ago Carson Back not
going to play in the quarterfinal matchup for Georgia and
could potentially be out for the entire playoff. We'll see.
We saw the way that Stockton came in and rallied
that Georgia team and the guys you know, played better
around him in that second half, and his performance was
just as good, if not better than Carson Becks was.
Do you see that being a big issue, Chad for
Georgia if they if they don't have Carson Beck here
and have to to roll with Stockton here for these playoffs.
Speaker 4: I think Carson Beck hurt them more than he helped
them a lot this season, quite frankly, which is crazy
to say, because you know, he was a possible number
one overall pick when he came back to Georgia this year.
He was great against Tennessee in November. He had flashes
of greatness. He was great in the second half against
Alabama and a loss, but it was not good. I mean,
they were winning in spite of Carson Beck at times
this year for Georgia. So Gunner Stockton gives them a
little bit more of a mobile, you know, a chance
to run the football a little bit more from the
quarterback position. I don't know, you know, I really think
it's kind of a cop out, Tyler. But I don't know,
because if they go out there and look terrible, it's
easy to go back and say, well, Carson Beck and
his leadership and having done it so long could have
really helped this team. But if Gunner Stockton goes out
and wins like he did the second half and overtime
against Texas, we're gonna be sitting here doubting why didn't
Gunner Stockton play earlier in the year, based on some
of the things we saw from Carson Beck this season.
So it's not the spot you want to be in.
If you're Kirby Smart, you'd love to have both those
guys ready to go and able, and certainly you don't
want Carson Beck to be hurt. But we'll find out
soon enough just how big of a loss that is.
Speaker 1: Well. I think for Georgia too, what benefits them of
going to Stockton is the offense doesn't really change a
whole lot schematically of what Mike Bobo wants to do.
If they were to go to Jayden Rashatta, for example,
then you would pretty much have to run a totally
different scheme and try to find ways to get shot
out in space. Here. To me, I think that complements
them well of who they've turned to in this case, which.
Speaker 4: By the way, I've never understood why you would bring
multiple quarterbacks in and have one that runs one offense
or scheme, and another one that runs right. Like you're picking,
you know in college, like go recruit guys that run
your scheme. And if there's a little bit of tweak
here and there of oh well, this guy we could
call more QB design runs for, then that's fine. It
just it expands. You want to expand the playbook and
not limited, I guess, is what I'm saying. No, I
mean Gunner Stockton's fine. Yeah, he's a time talent, and
he looked good in that second half, in that overtime,
so I'm not overly concerned about him. I'm picking Georgia
to win it all against Oregon in the National Championship
game because I've been there, done that. I've seen it
with Kirby Smart, and I know that Georgia at their ceiling,
they have a higher ceiling than anyone else in the country.
Their floor is pretty low, and it's lower than past
Georgia teams, no doubt about it. And we've seen that
low at times this year. But when they're at their best,
they're still the best team in the country. And I
think they're gonna be at their best in this playoff.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think they're gonna be tough to be for sure.
I like Oregon personally, but I think George is right there,
and it feels like those two teams kind of have
separated themselves a little bit from the rest of the pack.
Speaker 4: Has a good chance to be that next guy. Because
right now, it's Kirby Smart, it's Dabbo that we've seen
win national titles that are still coaching now that Savings retire,
but it's it's Sark, it's Dan Lanning. I put Dan
Lanning at the top of that list of who's gonna
be that other alpha that is a top college football
coach that can go win a national title. I'm Lanning's
right there. Sark is close. Maybe Josh Hipel wins a
couple of games this playoff and we're talking about him
as one of those coaches too. But that's a big
question I have, is who's gonna step up and be
that next guy? And you're right, very well, could be
Dan Lanning, a guy who came from Georgia.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and and those guys, I think what's good for
the sport. You know, everybody talks about Belichick last week
and what that did, but all of those guys. I
don't see leaving their programs anytime soon either. I know
that Dan Lanning's name has been potentially thrown out there
for the NFL, but doesn't seem like he's too interested.
Sark's got a good thing going to Texas. Kirby's not
going anywhere. I mean in this new era, you know,
with losing Sabans and these others, here should be some
good stability. We have some big name coaches for the
next several years on that front. Tell me about everything's
going on at OutKick. Last time I saw you, it
was back in July for a great event with Riley Gaines,
and all sorts of stuff go on. Every time I
see it, seems like something new is going with the
company and everything. The way Clay's expanded it all here,
seems like some exciting stuff going on at OutKick these days,
with you guys, and with Hutting and everything too.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you want to go up and not down, right,
So the growth of the site continues to go up.
We're up in viewership on our show Hot Mic, with
Hutting and with Row across all shows in the OutKick platform.
Readership of the website visits. There are up as well.
So everything's going really well. I'm enjoying hosting my show
with Jonathan Hutton. We're on four to six pm Eastern
Time every weekday hot Mic with Hutting and with Row
across OutKick the network on social media on OutKick dot com,
you can watch the show there. We'll have a YouTube
version of the show posted every single day. It's a
lot of fun. We get to talk about what we
want to talk about and do it and the best
way we know how to do it. Whether that's the
best way or not, we'll let the audience determine that.
But we have a lot of fun with it, Tyler,
and it's been a great experience without Kick, and we
look forward to bigger and better things in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: I love the studio setup you guys have there at
sixth and Peabody with just beer and liquor, just just
sitting behind decademic.
Speaker 4: People in Moonshine Distillery for their for their studio right yeah,
by Moonshine Bottles. We're in a distillery at sixth and
Peabody with Old Smoky and Yhaw. We occupy an entire
city block in downtown Nashville right behind a convention center
two blocks down from the arena, so you know, come
down and see us. It's it's a ton of fun
and we have a lot of fun with the staff
there at Old Smokey It's it's a blast.
Speaker 1: I love getting Old Smoky moonshine. Fortunately it does sell
where I live in Dallas, so I can still get
it all the time. What's what's the drinking choice for you? Chat?
What are you going with when when you decide?
Speaker 4: I'm a bourbon guy, so they have a bourbon there
that they make with their brand called James Own Bee Bourbon,
So I enjoy the bourbon there. The moonshine tastings are
a lot of fun when you have people in from
out of town to do the tastings. Not a huge
moonshine guy. They also have tons of beers on tap
with Yhaw Beer. But when I'm at six and Peabody,
I go with the Own Bee Bourbon, and the bartenders
there can attest to that. They'll they'll they'll know right
away when I walk up. They know the usual drink
and it's the own Bee Bourbon. Just pour it over
some ice.
Speaker 1: I love it. Chat. I appreciate the time as always
my friend. We'll talk in down the line, and thanks
again for being here with us.
Speaker 4: Man, Hey, this is always fun.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 4: I'll join you whenever i'm able to, and keep up
the great work yourself.
Speaker 1: Thank you.