Speaker 1: Diehard's not a Christmas movie, all right, I'm gonna.
Speaker 2: Go Welcome to It just means more football and coffee.
I'm Rob Williams. He is Craig McMichael. Can find us
on Socials at Rob Williams GCP at mcmichah seven. And
the day has finally come, ladies and gentlemen, where we
have the man, the myth, and the legend, Memphis Spence
on the show at the same time that I'm on
the show. You know, I'm thankful that he was able
to Greg. It is indeed possible. So if you're on
X at Memphis Spence, you can check him out. Spence,
what's happening, tell us what's going on? Tell us how
tell the listeners how they can find you and listen
to you on a regular basis.
Speaker 3: Well, it's interesting because I think you all have just
missed one of the last radio broadcasts I had. Uh,
We're gonna be doing a whole lot more TV and
everything else. But you you can catch me at Memphis
Spence on well, really almost any platform.
Speaker 1: I usually hang out on X these days. I'm trying
to figure out Instagram and Facebook a little bit more,
but I'm usually on X.
Speaker 3: And that's kind of where you can kind of catch
what's going on. Sports Radio America is the outlet which
I'm the general manager and one of the owners of.
And I've been fifteen years running that, fifteen years of
actually having a live streaming show, and it was time
to time to progress, time to move on, and now
is the.
Speaker 1: Time to do it. So you all catch me.
Speaker 3: As a matter of fact, by the way, Merry Christmas,
because I don't I never do anything this late.
Speaker 1: This is a gift, is.
Speaker 4: It is a gift that I appreciate you.
Speaker 5: I want to I want to give you like a
hat tip because you have been the guy. I mean,
we've we've known each other. I think it's three four
years now. Whenever it's only the only rough part about
the new job is sometimes I get stuck in that meeting,
in that twelve to two spot.
Speaker 4: But I tell you, like the college credit.
Speaker 5: Hour, not only are you bringing on like unk, but
you are bringing on the guests. But the biggest things,
you're setting the straight and that's what I always love.
So it's a gift whenever you're on. So I will
take this Christmas gift of you coming on, you know
here I think this show is going to come out
Christmas Eve.
Speaker 4: What a perfect day. I would celebrate with a steak.
Speaker 5: I know Rob is probably going to have like a
piece of coconut shrimp or some cheese fries, but I
will have a great celebration in your honor.
Speaker 2: We're still We're still the morning ha ha half bal
as ready for Christmas Eve as I'm that's good, that's great.
Speaker 5: But what I do want to do is I want
to I want to toast both of you. Uh, not
only are you my co host, but you guys. I
swear I was with my best friends, so I appreciate
you all.
Speaker 4: And there's no one else the.
Speaker 1: Tears.
Speaker 2: I'm rocking the eggnog again. It's Christmas time, baby. We'll
get to the drinks in just a second. Let me
backtrack and make sure that you that you guys remember
to go to at Gridron Coast on x as well
and check out all of the family of shows that
are on our network there. In affiliation with the Last
Word on college football, we love we love being a
part of grid Iron Coast and there's so many opportunities
to check out every conference in college football. It's specific
to your geographic location or maybe a specific to your conference.
But here we are looking at the SEC because the
SEC is the best. Baby, we know it just means more.
So what does it just? What does it just mean?
More of? In your cup tonight, gentlemen, I once again
have the eggnog. I see Craig has pulled out a
nice sippy cup with a straw over there, looking like
some looking like some OJ So we can only imagine
that he's supporting the Georgia and I.
Speaker 5: L I am hungering down for Georgia student athletes. We
are hitting the portal, hitting the portal hard. We got
to make sure the classic city is well supported.
Speaker 2: Spence the tumblr. The tumblr is full. What you got
rocking over there? Oh?
Speaker 1: I got some coffee. I thought I thought this was
about coffee and football, So I have coffee here. You
know what was I supposed to were you drinking?
Speaker 2: I had my I had my late night coffee last
night with a nice slice of pound cakes. Shout out
to my mom. But yeah, maybe not tonight. Maybe I'm
gonna try to get a little extra sleep tonight and
and not be not be rocking with the coffee. All right, Look, guys,
we can chit chat all night long, but we do
talk about we know we're here for one thing. Because
we just had an opening round of college football playoff
for the first time ever, a twelve team college ball playoff.
You get home home games.
Speaker 1: Did it have to be twelve?
Speaker 2: Yes, I think it has to be sixteen.
Speaker 5: It's a compromise twelve, So I think twelve. Was that
compromise right, because it's like, if we're going to have
auto bids, because we're gonna have to have autobids, we're
gonna have to do twelve. But like what I think
we have to keep in mind, anything in life, if
you're going to be successful, has to be iterative. And
I know we like to talk and finalities that everything
is this or that. Instead I would rather elevate and say,
let's be iterative, because yes, the games were not quite
what we wanted, but there was an opportunity presented to us.
And I want to start with the positive because any
good as a teacher now of twenty years as of
February four, team twenty twenty five, anytime you have a
conference you said something positive, something negative, something and here's
the positive. It was fantastic to see these games at home,
whether you're looking at you know, Notre Dame and how
beautiful touchdown Jesus and everything looked at but even you know,
we were poking at the balls here a little bit earlier.
Sh right, right, I mean, I mean totally totally there.
What a shock, Josh Heipel and the Bows cracked themselves
in a big game.
Speaker 4: Well, what was really.
Speaker 5: Impressive was like thirty thousand Voles fans coming up seventy one,
taking over Columbus, embracing that party, you know, coming coming
to Ohio Stadium. Because there was something more this weekend
because we weren't at a dome, because we weren't at
Mercedes Benz. That's true, that's true at the Superdome. So
like and I know it wasn't truly a home field advantage,
but you know what, like there's something special there.
Speaker 2: It was truly a home field advantage. It was I
would say it was truly home home environment completely because
I tried to know fither that's another debate.
Speaker 5: But but but when they get together at the Championship,
I guarantee you Josh Brooks and Georgia is going to say,
like I'd rather have that game in Athens in New Orleans. No,
for sure, I know for certain Oregon would rather have
that rematch against Ohio State as nice as it is
history to be you know, with the Suns that at
the Rose Bowl, better to be at Austin. So, like,
I think it would also be fun to see what
James Franklin does. I'm the Blue Turiff of Boising we all,
I think know what he would do, but I think,
but I think that.
Speaker 2: Would be fun.
Speaker 5: And even seeing Arizona State having to host the enemy Texas,
you know, in Arizona to me, to me, that would
be fun. So I would rather look at the positive.
We can talk about the game here in a minute.
With the positive.
Speaker 4: Were those environments?
Speaker 5: Were those We're going to talk about them positivity.
Speaker 1: So here's what here's here's the donate I'm going to
throw into this conversation because obviously I've been doing this
professionally for a while.
Speaker 3: What you're talking about is what we want to see,
but not in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: We want to see that during the regular season.
Speaker 3: During the regular season is when these games need to
be played. Home field advantage in college the regular season,
it's not for for for the playoffs especially well, because
then what happens if Tennessee plays Ohio State during the
regular season. Now we have a meaningful game.
Speaker 1: What we're looking for in broadcast, you're.
Speaker 3: Always looking for meaningful games. Meaningful games you can actually
sell advertising around, you know, in television, if you have
more than five million people, we call it a golden
ticket because you can pretty much sell anything around goal ticket.
But even if you have a million people watching something
these days, with as fractured as media is, it's still
it's still meaningful. And college football usually gets you a
lot of games. Get to that million, we'll watch your
market at some point in the game.
Speaker 1: Quite a few.
Speaker 3: Those games during the regular season boost the They do
two things. They boost the value of the regular season
because then all of a sudden, you have meaningful games during.
Speaker 1: The regular season. Not that we have more now.
Speaker 3: Because I've been complaining about this for like fifteen years,
actually probably twenty we have more now, But there would.
Speaker 1: That game that we just watched, if we had.
Speaker 3: It during the regular season, then those kids at Tennessee
wouldn't have been out there hurt playing Ohio State, which
was a way better school than they are. But we
but we fancy ourselves like we didn't know, I knew,
answer ourselves, like, we didn't know because they haven't played, right,
So there's not a because the matchups don't happen during
the regular season, teams get to places where maybe they
shouldn't be.
Speaker 1: Just because they don't have the depth of schedule.
Speaker 3: And that's all being done. Really, there's there's a whole
lot of behind the scenes. The commissioners themselves. At some
point in time, they're going to have to get together.
I know once we had the alliance and we saw
how that worked.
Speaker 5: Out, right, look me in my eyes, the Alliance, right,
but that.
Speaker 2: The biggest that's the biggest joke we've heard in the
past ten years of the sport.
Speaker 3: Right right, exactly, rob the Alliance because that was pretty
much like a it was a heist by the big
Ted really like, hey guys, hey, I have.
Speaker 1: Nothing on me. You know, I have nothing on me,
and then decides to murder both of the conferences basically,
but the ending game.
Speaker 3: What we need in college football is we need meaningful
games during the regular season, which makes the actual rankings
worthwhile without having Let's take the ACC for example, Clemson
didn't play Miami.
Speaker 1: Miami didn't play SMU. SMU didn't play either one of them, right, And.
Speaker 3: We're all like, well, which once you go to the playoffs,
we don't know unless you actually have your top teams
playing each other.
Speaker 1: But the commissioners are scheduling. They're doing these scheduling for
that purpose so that you don't have that you have
that everybody's trying to confuse the committee instead of the committee,
and the NCAA is saying, okay, let's stop this nonsense.
Speaker 3: In the NFL, they have schedules, Hey, you're playing this
this division's playing this division that we already know who's
playing who's who next year in terms of the divisions.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: They do that so that there's not a question on
you know who, the strength of schedule. If we're having
some schedule issues in college football, then we're still doing
it wrong.
Speaker 2: We talked about that. But right, Craig, is what if
we stop scheduling out eight years in advance and we
pair of.
Speaker 5: Shows we could, and we pair up the in coastal
didn't they get together like in three days?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 3: We because and Craig, I'm glad you said that. Rob,
I'm glad you said it. Also, we know that we
can COVID showed us something that we've also been told
as the media.
Speaker 1: They're like, oh, we can't do that.
Speaker 3: These these games take a long time to plan unless
you need to.
Speaker 1: Unless you need to, then.
Speaker 3: All of a sudden, hey, everybody has a full schedule,
or at least most of the schedule.
Speaker 1: How did that happen? Guys? I thought they had to
take three or four years out.
Speaker 3: But now that we know, that's all been a sham,
which I suspected from the beginning, because I mean, it's
you know, if I can get up and get somewhere,
so and it's not that easy to move a team, the.
Speaker 1: Equipment, you know, being the big thing.
Speaker 3: But still if you can get the equipment out there,
you can get the team out there.
Speaker 1: Planes fly every day. I mean.
Speaker 2: But we also know you know you're going to move it.
It's not like you're not planning to move it at all, right, right,
you know that you're going to move it somewhere. Are
you moving on to Starkville? Are you moving it to Austin?
Speaker 5: Are you moving it to We know it's not going
to Starkfel though, Let's be honest, they're ever going to
Starkvielle never want to start so so so so so
let me let me respond to that. There, I got
two things on that. So you look at those those
rate ratings, and especially you look at.
Speaker 4: The ratings this year.
Speaker 5: Yes, one thing the SEC did do well is ratings
that they may have choked, you know, like they were
in that that you said the golden number was five.
Really I think they had close to twenty five. Like
I did a report, maybe it was like week twelve
something like that. There was like about eighteen games that
were on that and I think there were there were
a handful more. Yeah, And so like I take a
look at those home home fields and if they and
if we do a better job of balancing those matchups.
If Notre Dame is playing Clemson instead of Notre Dame
playing Indiana, that number both I think that number goes
from six to eight maybe maybe you know, six six
eighty six eight.
Speaker 4: Whatever that may be. And again that's right, but I
think you also have to look at it.
Speaker 1: But if Not Dame's playing Miami, I mean think about that,
like what.
Speaker 2: We're gonna find it. We're gonna find out because they're
opening the regular station in the next year, right, you
know what.
Speaker 3: I'm saying the old common I mean, you know, Catholics
versus Convicts, bringing that back. I mean, what if that
happens in the playoffs. There are so many there were
so many other matchups that could happened. I get why
they did the Indiana versus Notre Dame matchup. I completely
understand that when they had it there. As a broadcaster,
that's something that people wanted to see in that region.
You're gonna be able to pull numbers from that region.
Speaker 1: I get it.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, and you know, outside of
the whole point of like selling regional advertising out the
and that was the chance to do that. I didn't
think it was gonna be a good matchup. I can
at this point in my career. I'm like, Okay, that's
not gonna be a good matchup. I was sitting with
one of my friends that's an NFL scout, and we
were sitting there.
Speaker 1: And looking at the Ohio State Tennessee game, like, you know,
this isn't gonna be a good matchup. We're like, yeah,
South Carolina would have been a way better matchup for
Ohio State just because of how their position.
Speaker 3: Because keep in mind, all of these games are about
matchups about records. Records don't really matter on the field.
Speaker 5: We both got so so and Uncle Tony has has
had some disagreements with us, But like in our writers chat,
we have made that very argument that a win is
not necessarily a win and a record is not necessarily
a record. It makes it hard. And then the other
part that's also hard too. From if I'm looking at
it from SEC perspective, it was very easy for.
Speaker 4: Lane Kiffin Isle on Indiana at an SMU.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was no.
Speaker 5: I think, I think, I think there's a layup, right,
But mister go thirty would agree that the moment got
a little bit too big.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we know what, right, But like, here's the deal.
Speaker 5: The moment got too big for the SEC, and here's
the deal for your ten and two SEC team is
down twenty one nothing in the first quarter. Is a
harder argument for those three nine and three teams, which
one lost to Tennessee un.
Speaker 2: Leg You look at Tennessee's schedule. There's a reason that
my spring schedule predictor had them at eleven and one
this year. And it's not because I thought they were
going to be that good. And I said that the
whole time. They had a cakewalk. The same reason I
had Missouri predicted at ten and two because they had
a cakewalk. It wasn't because I just believe in Brady
cooked that much.
Speaker 4: So here, so here, So here's my question.
Speaker 5: Where as they're going the school right as we look.
Speaker 4: At the schedules, eight games is a non starter for us.
Speaker 5: I know Rob likes Old Dominion and our Sisters the
Poor and whoever else?
Speaker 2: Off, who are you playing next year? Go ahead and
give me that Georgia schedule real quick, Austin P.
Speaker 5: You don't have to go there, but but I think
what would help us balance this and figure out who's
really good? But the SEC is not going to like
this because Alabama old Miss South Carolina got left out.
You go to a ten game conference schedule across the board,
and then you do the SEC versus a C challenge,
you know, something like that. You're gonna a number of
conference games and then you're you're going to match up
with two other conferences, however that is, and we're all
roughly one to sixteen or so, kind of kind of
make it, kind of make it work.
Speaker 2: Three, if not four, other conferences is coming.
Speaker 4: So would you do, so would you do it?
Speaker 2: What did it mean? I've heard it's coming.
Speaker 3: If it's coming, then this would be I can retire
because one of the things that I've you guys know
that I'm a national voter for the FWAA. It's one
of the hardest things that I do week in and
week out. Right, there's fifty five of us. We try
and figure out exactly who the best teams are. Each
and every one of us have different ways to do that.
I've talked to other voters or whatnot, and you know,
they all have their own systems and I have mine.
Speaker 1: And the unique thing about our systems is A. I
think the FBA takes it way serious, more serious than
like the AP. Don't tell them that though.
Speaker 2: But b.
Speaker 1: There's less of us than the AP, so our votes
count more.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So it's one of those.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's the big piece. And you know there's
if you Phil Steel has his own thing.
Speaker 3: You know, Rachel Lendzay talked to her quite a bit
for Buffalo Buffalo News. She has her own thing, her
own way, her own system or whatnot. Bill Bender, you know,
I have him on the show quite a few times
Sporting News. He has his own system and I have mine,
And you know, there's the hardest thing to do is
to because we're kind of serving Oh man, we're kind
of and I think you'll get this rob me and
you will crank to you. We're kind of serving two masters.
And you should never do that. You should never do that, Yeah, because.
Speaker 1: If you're going to be true to.
Speaker 3: Your system, then you should do that. But then you
know you're turning this into a system that wants a
certain result. So me trying to defend why old missus
you know nine and three is better than Alabama's nine
and three is really hard to do, especially in the
same conference. It's even harder to do because of the
bias that people would believe that, hey, this nine and
if I tell you this nine and three might be
better than this ten and two over here.
Speaker 1: That's even harder to do.
Speaker 3: Even though I have some data, especially because my system
still has some of that BCS data in it. I
love the b CS and I did. I think that
we should have built on that system instead of getting.
Speaker 1: Rid of it.
Speaker 5: Hey, who am I to be a component?
Speaker 1: It should be? It should it should at least be
a tool that we can we can all.
Speaker 2: Kind of we don't need any tools. We don't need
any tools. We need to put businessmen and lawyers in
a room with with with nothing to write on, not
a computer.
Speaker 5: Insight, billable hours, wins again and and let them.
Speaker 2: Make the decision.
Speaker 1: Well, that's what's happening.
Speaker 2: What you know we should do. We should give them
eighty hours of work in their in their day job
and then also have them holding the balance all of
college football and what's happening in the playoff. That seems
like that would really work.
Speaker 3: Well better yet, Rob, this is what we should do.
And Tony, Tony, Sarah House and I have talked about
this and we can't. I cannot find a reason why
this isn't a violation of some sort.
Speaker 1: This will be a.
Speaker 3: Violation if this happened in say a different context. Uh,
the NCAA would come down hard on this. There's a
clear conflict of interest when you have active, active athletic directors.
It's crazy athletic directors on the commission. I'm not saying
they don't know what the they you know, they don't
know their football or whatnot, but when you.
Speaker 5: Likest they don't know the nca there's one that doesn't
know the NCAA rules, and somehow they got the nation's
number one quarterback.
Speaker 4: You know what, I'm sure that was all.
Speaker 2: They don't know their football Half of them aren't aren't
even sports people. They're hired for other purposes.
Speaker 1: Well, even so, if they're the athletic director, it's in
their best interest for number one, their school to be represented.
Number two their conference to be represented.
Speaker 5: Right, maybe you get something dumb thing. They're gonna have
to have that conference together.
Speaker 1: Yeah, have their best interest to do the other.
Speaker 3: I mean, they're legally bound to have a fiduciary duty
to actually act in the best interest of their university.
Speaker 1: It's actually in their contract. So riddle me this, batman.
Speaker 3: Why on earth should I ever believe that the college
football Playoff Committee is acting in anything else other than
their particular school's best interest. Every year, I've actually looked
at who's on the committee because it changes out. The
thing is it just changed out like year after year
after year.
Speaker 1: You know, Ward Manuel was the guy this year was.
Speaker 3: Boo last year. It changes out year after year after year.
But because it changes out year after year after year,
there are you can see some clear divisions in what
they want year after year, which is why when I
attend those meetings and we ask them those questions, I'm
trying to and all the rest of the journalists are
trying to get a feel of, Okay, how how how
are you thirteen going to look at the records this year?
Because it's changed, and it changes every year as to
what they value the most. And then once I figure
out exactly what they value the most, then I have
a good idea as to who's going to be in
this college football playoff based on what schools they're representing
and or what conferences they're representing, and especially the active ones.
I mean, you know, or Manuel's on the committee. Of
course Michigan. Michigan's not going to get penalized. They're going
to play for national championship.
Speaker 1: What did you do we think that that's a coincidence?
And of course not. I mean, and I know that.
Speaker 3: I'm one of those people that will point out things
that look like improprieties a little bit more. And I've
slapped on my hand by by Indianapolis quite a.
Speaker 1: Few times for that. But I got to keep it real, guys.
There's there are things that are going on that the general.
Speaker 3: Public, for entertainment purposes kind of has an idea like
wait a minute.
Speaker 1: What are we doing? What are we watching?
Speaker 3: And it's really just a performance that's put on by
They're not bad actors because they want the best for
the sport.
Speaker 1: But I will I.
Speaker 3: Can say with a degree of certainty that they for
the conflicts flips of interest that already exist, they cannot
be as objective as even journalists covering the schools because,
if nothing else, journalists aren't paid by the schools that
are going to get into the playoffs make the.
Speaker 5: Money anyway, What is it like when you think about
if we flipped from administration journalists, is it going with.
Speaker 4: The national guys? Is it going with b writers? Like
like how like?
Speaker 5: And that that becomes a question of like because well, yeah.
Speaker 3: You're I like the question great, because now you're thinking
along the same line like I was all in favor
of a BCS system that helped take.
Speaker 1: Some of that responsibility out of our heads.
Speaker 3: The reason is is because if you think that it
can be which it is corrupted.
Speaker 1: Now for certain reasons.
Speaker 3: What do you think a journalist making most of us
make less than one hundred thousand dollars at least doing that,
you know, they can be corrected a lot easier than
an athletic director. Right, So you know if you if
you leave it in the hands of just journalists, then
you're opening yourself up to other improprieties just like you.
Speaker 1: Did, you know, I mean even NBA.
Speaker 3: You know refs get paid under the table sometimes. We
know that, So we don't want that. We want the
best system possible. And the computers helped at least helped
take some of that responsibility. Well, how do you corrupt
a computer unless you hack it?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 5: So well, but but but I think what what you
always worry about mm HM is data can tell a story.
It always do right, And if you're good and you
know how to tell a story, m you can make
whatever data you want like And I think.
Speaker 4: That becomes a question. That's why I like to be SI.
Speaker 2: That's why I yeah, why not steal from why not
steal from basketball? And have have established metrics, but also
have people in the room to course correct if the
metrics are clearly not meeting the eye test. I saw
a graphic today, so it makes sense that presented the
idea of the quad system that's used for the net
rankings and the NC do a basketball and I think
that that would go a long way towards us fixing
this quote unquote strength of schedule problem. If we're not
going to get interconference scheduling back and forth, that balances out.
Speaker 1: Now, keep in.
Speaker 3: Mind, interconference scheduling is what the actual answer is. And
the commissioners themselves have been playing games. It's it's literally
game of Thrones, honestly behind the scenes. I mean, if
people don't really why watch HBO when you can watch
you know, the SEC and the Big Ten. You know
kind of plot against the ACC and the PAC twelve, right,
so the whatever's left of the PAC twelve now, But
it's it's really game of Thrones. I mean they're acting
in their best which is why I go back to
the whole idea.
Speaker 1: Why these people on the committee.
Speaker 3: We know what they're doing. We just watched a conference
collapse because a commissioner got together with athletic directors in
the Big Ten and decided.
Speaker 1: To, you know, hey, let's let's let's let them think
that you know, you know.
Speaker 3: Where the where the allegiance, you know where the alliance.
Speaker 5: So so so so if if you're looking at Matthew
become you take over Greg Sanky's job and you become
the I don't want that because because that's that's why
we moved on from college credit hour. But like, so,
one data point is your b CS and what would
the ideal be We have nine conferences, lost nine conference
games within that conference, okay, and then what we do
We put the remaining nine conferences in the pods of
three and then one will play one, two will play two,
three will play three, and you make it make sense's
you don't worry about the asset must be honest. What
we're worried about is like one to four. But I
think if you, if you kind of do that, we
would have a whole lot more clarity because then we
could actually see it was South Carolina deserving or were
they really behind old mess in Alabama.
Speaker 1: But that's the whole point.
Speaker 3: The reason why they're not doing that is they want
the cloud of smoke because then they can rely on.
Speaker 1: Marketing. I mean, there was never a power flot like
I career.
Speaker 4: I don't think I'm going to argue there's not a.
Speaker 2: To There's literally one. There is one, and I understand
that's the that's the lean of this podcast and that's
kind of the whole purpose. M h. But we're standing
firm on that. It's not it's not just it's not
just a ruse. That's not just they have actually believe it.
Speaker 4: They have doubt.
Speaker 5: Listen, that other conference that where I'm sitting now, where
it's cold and snowy, in the Big Ten.
Speaker 4: They have the dollars.
Speaker 5: But outside of two programs, I'll say three, I'm gonna
un organ in there. Outside of the three programs, h
who's actually leveraging that money to like really to.
Speaker 4: Really put their notes out there.
Speaker 5: I got Ohio State, I've got Michigan, and I've got Oregon,
and I have Penn State, like crying always like oh
we're not we're not as strong. USC is just trying
to find ID right the US. But outside of that,
like you looked at like you know, Robin and I
were talking about Illinois was the number five team. If
you're a serious player, can you really tell me you're
the number two conference in the way And I'm and
I'm being serious, it's not just my sec bias, but
when I tell you Illinois is your five teams?
Speaker 1: Mm hmm. Really, hey, Illinois, Well, I mean they have
a rich history hasn't been anytime soon, but lately they've
been putting together teams that are decent every in every conference.
There's there's there there. There are two teams you should
pick out in every conference because I do this every year.
Speaker 3: There's your baseline team, which means they're the team that
usually fiddles, finishes middle of the pack.
Speaker 1: Almost year in and year out. They're towards the middle
of the pack. You'll hear a whole lot of hype
about them finishing. You know, hey, this is the this
is the year to go to the championship. They're not
gonna go They're always gonna finish in the middle of
the pack, and that's kind of what they are as
a program. And then there's your bottom feeder, and every
conference has one. You know, they may not be proud
of it.
Speaker 3: And then you know if the bottom feeder somehow gets
up one day and says, hey, we're gonna start beating
people like Vanderbilt, and they start, well, okay, Indiana, Okay,
who's the bottom feeder? Now you know you have to
you have to switch these things out.
Speaker 1: So but if you have those, you have when you
look at those two programs, you look at who's beating
those programs. If you're not beating those programs, then you
start having to ask yourself, Okay, what do we have here?
Speaker 3: Because either you have intense competition. And I was telling
somebody this in another group chat.
Speaker 1: On on ex champions come from intense competition. If you
have intense competition, then that kind of that that weeds
out a lot.
Speaker 3: Of inconsistencies in your play and it kind of course
corrects along the season, which is why you see one
conference that has intense competition in it really honestly, they're
battle tested by the time you get to out of
that SEC championship. And then you have other conferences that
don't don't necessarily see the different types of formations and
plays and skill sets, and you're like, well, they may
be bettle tested, but we don't know. There could be
some inconsistencies. And every year you're like, well, Ohio State
has this great roster, but are they battle tested enough
to beat Georgia Alabama? You know, are they battle test
enough for that? But those are those are kind of
a or Michigan. You can say the same with Michigan
or Penn State for that matter.
Speaker 1: But a lot of times you don't see those teams
have the same time because they you know, you know
who's in your conference.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: And if your conference has intense competition, then.
Speaker 3: There could be one day where a Vanderbilt wakes up
and says, hey, we're gonna win six games. You know there,
we're gonna win eight games, We're gonna win and you
know we're gonna try and win nine games. That happens
from time to time with intense competition, So you have
to even if the bottom feeders can do it, then
you know you have intense competition in that conference. If
you never see that happen, then you don't.
Speaker 1: And that's kind of the that's that's the way that I.
Speaker 3: Always look at these these conferences is, well, you know,
who's the worst team.
Speaker 1: Have they ever gone to a bowl? Have they been
to a ball game in the last ten years?
Speaker 2: Yep? Ye not.
Speaker 1: Then you probably don't have intense competition in your conference.
Speaker 2: So let's let's look at yesterday and I guess Friday
night here for just a minute. So the takeaway for
me was that the biggest point spread going into the
weekend ends up being the most competitive game in Clemson
and Texas. In my opinion, Yeah, and Texas still covered.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so.
Speaker 2: Corrected me with this earlier margin and victory was up by
two points on average.
Speaker 4: One from like seven to like nineteen to five something
to give or take.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So the average first round games, all twenty first
round games during the four team era was seventeen and change,
and it went up to nineteen and changed yesterday. Yeah.
Before we get into Craig's breakdown receipt of how it
should have been seated versus how it was seated, I
want to go do a couple of questions here. Number one,
let's start with everybody's favorite segment on our show, the
I Was Wrong segment. And I'll kick us off because
I went three and one this weekend against spread and
I rode with Tennessee money line, and that was my terrible,
terrible decision.
Speaker 4: And I also won three in one simply.
Speaker 2: Because simply because I I had questions about Ohio State.
Now the question I didn't have. The question I didn't
have was the level of talent. And they put it
all together and they executed. Will Howard was throwing absolute dimes.
They were attacking, and when they play like that, they
are the best team in the country, because they spent
twenty million dollars quote Ross Bjorke to respond and go
and go after this season specifically. So they do have
the most talent out of anybody in the country, and
so we should expect them to be that way. We
just haven't seen it in any sort of consistency all year,
and they just lost the Michigan again, and so my
thought process was, if Tennessee comes in, I'm going to
roll the dice on Nico hitting three twenty plus yard passes.
He did not have time, nor did he have open
receivers to hit twenty plus yards down the field, and
they absolutely ran into a bus. Saul So credit credit
to State. I've got mister McMichael, mister Michael.
Speaker 5: So from Twitter Bear Bryan's burner, So take it for
what it's worth, Bear Bryan.
Speaker 1: Oh my good.
Speaker 5: Nico I am a lava finished the season with nineteen touchdowns.
Fifteen of these came against UTEP, Dandy, Mississippi State, North
Carolina State, Oklahoma, Chattanooga.
Speaker 4: And Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 5: He had a combined four touchdowns Mamma Uga Florida, Arkansas,
Ohio State, which Tennessee lost three of five.
Speaker 4: Why are we sliping this kid?
Speaker 2: And one of them was one of them was overtime Florida,
So they almost lost four out of five.
Speaker 3: We had everything, everything about Nico that I wanted to see.
Everything that I needed to see to understand who Nico
was this year was right.
Speaker 1: There in the Arkansas game, yep.
Speaker 3: And because you know Arkansas, uh the there are certain
teams that you know that if they don't have anything else,
they're going to.
Speaker 1: Have a line and Arkansas is one of those teams.
And I was like, all right, let's see what happens
when he gets a little pressure. Let's see what happens.
Let's just see what happened. They don't really have great backs,
you know, they've lost a lot of games or anything
like what happens when he doesn't get through his progressions.
That's all I wanted to see, because.
Speaker 3: You know, he's a young kid, right, I mean, if now,
if he was bow nickxish and could get through his progression,
scramble around, not get sacked or whatnot like we saw
at Alburn.
Speaker 1: Except throw the bad pick at the end of the game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but if he was at least bow Knicks level
of talent, then I would have been like, Okay, Tennessee
might be able to do it.
Speaker 1: He wasn't.
Speaker 3: And we saw that against Arkansas and I was like,
all right, they're not winning it.
Speaker 1: Now. I know Georgia exactly well. Because it's easy to
the hardest.
Speaker 3: Thing for a quarterback to do, coming from one level
of play to the next, figure out exactly how much
time they have to make a decision. Quarterbacks of decision makers.
In high school, you usually have seven seconds. In college
that gets down to about four to five, depending on
how good your offensive line is.
Speaker 1: In the NFL, it's two and a half. And that's
why they have the combine.
Speaker 3: Do they have a release that they can get rid
of the ball, make a decision, get rid of the ball.
Speaker 1: In two and a half.
Speaker 3: That's all the time. You have got two and a
half seconds get rid of the ball. If you can't
do that, you can't play in the NFL because nobody's
going to block you. But you're not gonna have consistent
blocking for more than that amount of time.
Speaker 1: So if you can change, and it happens every year,
you get weeded out every year.
Speaker 3: If the kid that's used to having seven to ten
seconds to just stand back.
Speaker 1: There and okay, my first progression. Nope, second progression.
Speaker 3: You know, they have two seconds basically on all four
of their progressions. If he can change that, you know,
and all of a sudden they only have two, you
can cut them down to two because.
Speaker 1: Now they only have four seconds.
Speaker 3: Then you already know, like a lot of young kids
at a lot of young quarterbacks, they have to and
then they're gonna pull down the ball. If they pull
down the ball, what are they gonna do? Are they
Jane Daniels where Leave him back then? You don't want
him to pull down the ball, you know, Labar Jackson.
Leave him back then, don't let him pull on the volved.
Speaker 1: Or are they you know? You know quarterbacks that yeah, man,
if he runs, we got him, you know.
Speaker 3: And that's kind of a that's that's what most defensive
coordinators are going to do to a young kid like Nico.
We saw that with Arkansas and I was like, all right, well,
I hate to rain on the parade of the Valls, but.
Speaker 1: He's not there yet. He might be there. You can
hype him up, but you can see some skills. He's
not there yet.
Speaker 3: And this year shouldn't have been the year where he
was overhyped because now a lot of the balls are like,
well what happened?
Speaker 1: Like nothing. You have a.
Speaker 3: Quarterback that's that's trying to get through his progressions. The
game come a little too fast. And if you have
Ohio State, you know the Ohio State, Penn State. There
are a lot of teams that.
Speaker 1: Have great defensive ends that are gonna they just kill
somebody if they get a chance.
Speaker 5: And that's and that's when Dylan Sampson not too like that.
It was already behind the sticks.
Speaker 2: Yeh.
Speaker 5: The key to that one we talked about last week
was Dylan Sampson as much as what Nico could do.
If Damnson could have a big day, they had a
chance real quick.
Speaker 2: You want to talk about you want to talk about
really quick. Sure it's nothing to do with the SEC,
but it is wrong, so go for it.
Speaker 5: No, listen, like I still don't. I still don't feel
good about Penn State and James Franklin.
Speaker 2: Well sure but no, but you put up give against them,
and that's what do we get. Right.
Speaker 5: But but at the end of the day, Kevin Jennings,
maybe his high school team was warding TV. I don't
know that Navy is no longer is not in. That's
a used color scheme. And those uniforms look good, but
damn did they look bad. And they just I mean,
he was.
Speaker 2: The epitome of moment was too big. And we said
that test saying, I don't want to pile on him,
but I want to kid but oh my goodness, but.
Speaker 5: I want to give a shout out. That was a great,
uh little piece. Rht Lashley found him right after the
game and gave him like this big hug. And as
a coach, there's nothing work all right, Yeah for sure, Yeah, but.
Speaker 1: Sophomore as well.
Speaker 3: And I think Rob was exactly that moment was too big.
And when you start having when you're playing certain see,
you can scheme against certain teams, and you can do
certain things against certain teams, but when all of a sudden, oh,
there's an NFL there's a future NFL pass rusher over
there there. We can't scheme against that. That's not he's
he's pushing people out the way. There's no way we're
using two people to block him. And then all of
a sudden, wait a minute, what's our weaker parts of
our line than to do?
Speaker 1: And there wasn't anything if a defensive coordinator all of
a sudden, that kid only has two places to go,
like I was saying before. So that's what they're that's
what they're telling the backs. That's what they're on the
safeties like, there's.
Speaker 3: Only two places this ball's going and or he's pulling
it down. And if we have a spy on them
the other two places, you know, it's either left or right.
Speaker 1: You know what his tendencies are. And it's really easy
for really good defensive backs to pick that ball off.
And that's what we saw.
Speaker 3: That was that was classic defensive uh, but just basically
playing against.
Speaker 4: The quarterback Memphis.
Speaker 5: If you had your show on Monday, what would your
message be to the Ashaw Boosters that had to divert
their planes a little further out and didn't get into
didn't get into Happy Valley until it was already twenty one?
Speaker 4: Nothing? Is there any advice you you you would give them?
Speaker 3: Well, got to get there early if you want to
if you want to get in the Happy Valley, you
gotta get there early.
Speaker 1: But to SMU, I'll be honest, hats off this here's
where I was wrong.
Speaker 3: SMU did okay in the American obviously they weren't as
even as good as Memphis in the American honestly, just
tear them up quite quite a bit. But them going
into the a C C A a CCA, get those
confused acc this year, and even having the opportunity to
play the first year in without any money coming to
them or anything like that, just hey, we're going to
the playoffs first year in.
Speaker 1: That worked out for their boosters. That worked out. They
got a pay check even though they.
Speaker 3: Weren't gonna get paid, and they made a way, you know,
and and I'll I'll give hats off the rest of
lastly for accomplishing that, because.
Speaker 1: I didn't know that they were going to be that good.
Speaker 3: I didn't know that there was actually going to be
a legitimate conversation about at the beginning of the year
what I saw with this Miami team, Like there was
absolutely no reason why Miami couldn't make it to the
chance in a.
Speaker 1: Four game playoff.
Speaker 3: There shouldn't have been any reason for Miami to miss
the playoff this year.
Speaker 1: To miss it at twelve is just unexcusable.
Speaker 5: There was one reason, though they crystal balls all over
the place.
Speaker 1: Yes, he's the problem, He's not the solution. He's the problem.
There are coaches.
Speaker 3: One of the things that I've been able to do,
and it's something that I was actually telling a Twitter
follower of mine the other day. Most people don't follow
the coaches like I do. Certain coaches have tendencies.
Speaker 1: We're all human. We all you know, if where you
at ten thirty on a Sunday, I'm probably gonna be
in church. If people know me, I'm probably gonna be
in church. That's where I'm gonna be.
Speaker 3: Sunday's seven thirty eleven Sonday, I'm gonna be in church.
If I'm not in church, is he in the hospital,
is he traveling? You know what's going on, But I'm
probably gonna be in church.
Speaker 1: We all have tendencies.
Speaker 3: We all do some of the same things, and it
doesn't really You can change teams, but it's hard to
change tendencies.
Speaker 1: When I was talking to folks when.
Speaker 3: When Brian Kelly came over, you know, down to LSU,
somebody have me on the show and they're like, well,
what do you expect. I was like, well, you have
a baseline of eight games. He's gonna win eight. You
probably won't win more than ten, and you're gonna live
in that eight to ten.
Speaker 1: That's where he lives. That's what he does. And then
people are like, well, yeah, that's after three years they're like, well,
that's exactly what he does.
Speaker 3: I was like, do you think I was, you know,
covering him while I was at Northern another day or
at Cincinnati.
Speaker 1: I've been in this game for quite a long time.
The coaches do certain things.
Speaker 3: Lane Kiffin does certain things, you know, and some of
his short I kind of know what the shortcomings are
of all these coaches, especially in big game situations, because
those are usually the games I'm watching to evaluate the
talent to begin with, is the is the games? I
the stat that you that you read Craig about, you
know what Niko is doing against those teams?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's there's a you.
Speaker 3: Can with certain schedules, you can pad those stats, you
can make them look really good.
Speaker 1: But what but what when you're.
Speaker 3: Up against your biggest competition, the top three teams that
you play that that year, what are you doing against
those games? Because I can tell you my friends, the
NFL scouts, there are those games. Those are the games
they want to That's what you want to see right,
you want to see against top competition, other competition that
could be in the league.
Speaker 1: What do you doing against that? And that's how you
know when somebody I mean, if you're not if you're
not doing it against Arkansas, you're probably not doing it
against Ohio State. Let's be honest. It's just I mean,
we can pad it up.
Speaker 3: We can, we can try and sell it a different way,
but not likely if you can't do it against Arkansas,
even if you can run you know, a weaker Alabama
team off the table for whatever reason, because that's the
second time they've beaten Alabama in the last three years,
I think, but they weren't going to be able to
do it against Ohio State, not this year.
Speaker 1: It's not he's just not ready.
Speaker 2: And to bring this back around to the SEC. That
would be the same reason that I'm not totally convinced
that Texas running game yesterday, although was very impressive, is
as impressive as the stats may show, because Clemson was
like what fourteenth, fifteenth in the ACC and rush rushing
yards allowed this year. So yeah, I mean, what do
we expect. You can only imagine that we're going to
run all over them because Texas has a decent running game,
then I would have been.
Speaker 1: Like, Okay, there's mouth seasons here, because the one thing,
the one way that you knew.
Speaker 3: That you could be Clemson was running because you just
watched other teams do it that were weaker than you
in that area.
Speaker 1: And I was like, all right, if he if if he.
Speaker 3: Doesn't do this, then it's always something's up, something's rigged,
or whatever.
Speaker 1: But Texas is Texas is good enough this year.
Speaker 5: They're good exactly, and that's that Arizona State. Listen, they're
gonna wank. They should, they should. I think that game
is going to be close. I think that's gonna be
one of our more exciting games next week.
Speaker 1: It was the truth.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he has to in order for him to be effective,
he has to get past his line, and that's gonna
be a lot harder.
Speaker 1: For him to do.
Speaker 2: They're gonna learn. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think Texas's defense is legit.
Speaker 6: Their offense absolutely gonna dare Sam Levitt to do it.
Speaker 2: He's gonna have and and don't forget they're still down
on that receiver, right.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm mm hmm.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Longhorns are going to be the long Horns
are the Longhorns are good enough this year, and that's
kind of when you when you when if Sark didn't
do that, then I was like, Okay, Stark.
Speaker 1: No, I know you're smarter than this. Why aren't you
running against Clemson? Why are you? Because Dapple was probably like,
wait a minute, why wouldn't he run against me? Because
that's how people are beating us this year. So if
he did.
Speaker 3: If that didn't happen, then there would have been some mouthfeasts.
I would have I would have called BS like something,
something's going up?
Speaker 1: What was the exchange? Guys? How much? What was the number?
But go ahead, go ahead?
Speaker 2: Rob is a high State the most impressive team of
the weekend. I mean nothing was close. Who's the most impressive?
They're most there, my most impresive team. And actually, actually,
you know what, if I'm going to drill down, I
think Will Howard's my most impressive player. Everybody wants to
give Jeremiah Smith all the flowers.
Speaker 1: No, Will Howard did a did A did a darn thing.
Speaker 2: He but you got to get the ball there. There
wasn't that much separation in a lot of those cases.
Speaker 5: He dropped in the No, no, he was he was
on from the start, and it also showed you can
score points even when.
Speaker 2: It's cold outside. It's when we've had this discussion when
when that's the thing that keeps keeps you from throwing
the ball not there and actually not even the rain,
as much as people want to think it is, I.
Speaker 1: Want to Actually, I guess it depends on where you
have the standards for the programs, Like I have Ohio
State as a pretty high stadude, So it wasn't as
impressive to me.
Speaker 3: Like, like I said, I was talking to my friend,
I was like, man, South Carolina probably would have had
a wait before the game started. South Carolina would have
had a way better chance of beating this Ohio State
team than this BASS team.
Speaker 1: Does that to be Like, I'm looking at the matchup and.
Speaker 3: I'm looking at how things match up, and I'm like,
Nico's not Niko's not going to be able to win
this game.
Speaker 2: To you have two red shirt freshman quarterbacks, and I
think it became clear this year that the one that
got got no preseason hype is actually better of the two.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And I mean, but I would say, honestly, Franklin
surprised me a little bit because he was ready for
this game. And what do we know about Franklin. He
usually blows games like this, usually blows these big games,
and he was actually ready for.
Speaker 2: His design got you covered against Bois State.
Speaker 3: Hey, I'm I'm if there was a team that I
thought would blow the game that played better than I thought, if.
Speaker 1: I was wrong against at any of these these predictions,
it would have been Fenn State. I didn't think Fenn
State would would run away with the game like that.
Speaker 3: I mean, there wasn't anything that during the season that
would have told me that Pens they're actually gonna have a.
Speaker 1: Game plan, uh, you know, to have a double digit win.
Speaker 4: So Jennings Jennings two pick six gifts. I don't you know.
Speaker 2: Either of you. Has either of your prediction for the
National Championship winner changed after this weekend. I'll start, I'll
start min Mine has changed, and it is simply because
mine was Georgia and we now have Carson Bak developments.
And as much as I do believe in Gunner Stockton,
I don't know if it's gonna be enough time to
get him ready for a National championship run. And it
may just be leaning on the rest of the team.
Speaker 5: But I see I think I think he is. But
the element he's gonna bring he's got, He's got a
nice arm, but the ability.
Speaker 2: Was My question is what happens when they run him
and he gets knocked out because they're going to run
the heck out of him.
Speaker 1: That's a good question.
Speaker 2: If he gets hurt, are we gonna get freaking Rashata
in a quarterfinal or a semi final game? Is that
what's gonna happen? You gotta get from the hand with
a dead arm.
Speaker 5: So so Beck is not even with the program right now.
Beca Beck has been gone. And I actually saw that
it was not even Rashata that would have came in
for that SEC championship. It would have been freshman from
Avon Farms, Ryan Police, you know, was the kid who
Georgia fans loved last year because he stayed committed to
Georgia even when Royola flirted with them for about three
months or whatever. I personally don't think will ever see
the field think he's gonna be your career backup. You've
got Rashata, You've got Stockton. You've also got a really
good kid coming in from Finley, Ohio this year. Five
star has torny CEO, So I do think what that
does Stockton's gonna give you another element to do that
because and then the other part with it.
Speaker 4: Is the big question.
Speaker 5: If Georgia comes to play, I think what they're going
to do. They're gonna load the box and they're gonna stop.
Notre Dame is run and they're going to force let
to beat them. And I don't believe.
Speaker 2: I'm not worried about We'll get to that next something,
but I'm not worried about Notre Dame. I'm thinking big
all the way down the road though I don't know
that they have, but they're gonna have enough juice.
Speaker 1: I think they have enough juice to get there. Now,
if you're asking me, who doesn't change who I think
will win?
Speaker 2: Maybe, but I think, like, yeah, if you have to,
if you have to pin one right now, who's winning
the whole thing out of I have.
Speaker 3: To say the team that's that's undefeated Oregon. But you know,
if that's that's a that's a change just because.
Speaker 1: Of the quarterback situation with Georgia, because I think it's
Georgia and Oregon. I mean, that's if you're asking me
who I think is going to be there is Georgia
and Oregon.
Speaker 5: And because I'm I'm gonna turn I'm gonna turn your
logic on you. Okay, no I I and I know
Landing is twelve and h mm hmm. But what has
history shown us the last two years? He gambles and loses.
Speaker 1: He's a gambler game.
Speaker 2: However, Ryan, what has Ryan Day's tendency shown us? Because
now those two are going to hit each other and
this and this matchup because that they're going to do it.
Speaker 5: Listen, I'm not going to be shocked if Ohio State,
if Oregon win the national championship again. I I just
feel that like Lanning has that gambler and it's that
he gambles sometimes again and when it works.
Speaker 4: It's great.
Speaker 5: Listen, when it works is great, It's fantastic.
Speaker 4: But I could see completely.
Speaker 3: I completely agree Craig. I mean, if there's one thing,
there's gonna be a critical moment during that Ohio State
game where he made the decision in the first As
a matter of fact, everybody listening to this, go back
and watch the first game.
Speaker 1: Find it. Whatever you need to do, go back and
watch the first game.
Speaker 3: I can guarantee you that there's gonna be a critical
moment in the game similar to the one that Landing
was in in the first game. He's gonna make a
different decision, and that decision is going to decide the
outcome of the game, because that's.
Speaker 1: Who he is, that's who he is a person.
Speaker 3: And whether or not that was a better decision then
the one he made during the game, because there are a.
Speaker 1: Couple of decisions. I'll scratch my hand, like, what did
you do that for? Because he can do that.
Speaker 3: It's possible for him to improve, but it's also possible
for him to just toss it all away.
Speaker 1: And we've seen it. We've watched it, watched it against
you know, Washington, I watched it against other teams. You
know that that he's played. That's that's just who he
is as a person, and just watch.
Speaker 2: That's the beauty of it though. That's the beauty of
it though, is that we theoretically, in this matchup, get
a true clash of Titans in this year's version of
college football, ye where it should be really competitive, and
we're gonna get something compelling like one of those one
of those decisions, whether it's a switch for the positive
or head scratcher. Either way, I think I think that's beautiful.
I think that's exactly what we're looking for.
Speaker 3: The thing I'll say about about this matchup, which I
think might be the thing that I cannot put my
finger on because I know Ryan Day's gonna do.
Speaker 1: I don't know what Chip Kelly's gonna do. And I
don't know how Chip Kelly's gonna approach this game because
he's kind of wet. You know beforehand he's gonna be aggressive,
but he's very I mean, he knows the rose ball
better than anybody.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: Who's Tony picking in that one?
Speaker 1: I didn't ask him. I don't know.
Speaker 5: You know, you know he's not picking a while Jeff Kelly,
we know well, I mean there's there's.
Speaker 2: I think it's a tag mode for Chip Kelly.
Speaker 1: I think, well, he knows the road. He knows things
about the Rose Bowl.
Speaker 3: I can tell you that particular stadium that other people don't.
You know, blind spots, Hey, where's the you know, where
where the lights hit so that the defensive guy when
he looks up, he gets blinded and my guy can
catch it. He knows that he knows it that well. Uh,
And I'm sure his time at U, C, L A,
and p that was.
Speaker 1: His home field. I mean, he's gonna he's gonna definitely
come out to some fanfare.
Speaker 3: He's gonna come out to some booze as well, but
he's I expect him to really turn it on, especially
in the second half when he figures out what Landing's
doing that game.
Speaker 2: If I'm if I'm watching, if I'm Chip Kelly, I'm
going I'm looking at the Big Ten Championship game, because
how in the world Penn State scores that many points
against an Oregon team. It's it's questionable to me. Drew
Alert does no, I think, to impress me whatsoever. He
had some amazing uh Houdini moments in the backfield, escaping
tackles against SMU, and then he just just I don't
even know, throws it in the dirt, airmails it over
the bench and he's just throwing like squat swing passes
to his outlet guy.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: It's very confusing.
Speaker 3: That's sometimes we're gonna see the game plan. I think
is gonna be a little bit different because I don't
think Landing's one of those guys that he tries to
be deceptive in the first half. And that's why I said,
if Chim Kelly figures out what he's doing, then in
the second half, it might be he might be a
blood path.
Speaker 1: But he tries to be deceptive. He tries to disguis,
especially his defenses.
Speaker 3: He tries to disguise what he's doing in the first
half so that you don't know you know where his
blitzes are coming from.
Speaker 1: One of the one of the best games that I
watched is he caught He got Dion flat footed. I
mean that that Colorado game where he just murdered that.
Oh my god, it was I was like, oh, look
at this, this beautiful fire blitz.
Speaker 3: Being a Steelers fan and and zone blitzing, I love
zone blitzing at all the different schemes. He had this
fire blitz that I was like, Oh god, this is
he somebody's schador might get hurt.
Speaker 1: Pull your kid, dude, pull your kid from because he's
gonna get hurt.
Speaker 3: It's but yeah, he has these he has he disguised
the defenses, uh, in the first half, and you don't
know where those blitzes are coming from. But they get
kind of repetitive throughout the game because there's only a
certain amount of combinations you have, right, so if you
see them in the first half, then you'll likely see
him in the second half.
Speaker 2: Is just win.
Speaker 3: And like I said, if chick Kelly figures out when
there's some big holes, if you know where the blitz
is coming from, right, So that and and that's why
I said it might be murdered in the second half
if chick Kelly figures out what he's doing and when,
because he flips that old we're in the second half.
Speaker 1: Ohio State.
Speaker 3: We know what talent Ohio State has. It's just whether
or not Will is going to be able to get
the ball out in enough time to the right receiver.
And if you if he if Chip Kelly knows where
it's coming and lets Will know beforehand in his pre snap,
that game might get ugly.
Speaker 1: But if it doesn't, then I think if Oregon.
Speaker 3: Gets past Ohio State again, I think they have a
really good chance at beating Texas and a decent chance
with a lamed up quarterback at Georgia and at actually
beating Georgia. If it wasn't a situation with the quarterback,
I think Georgia wins another championship. I mean it was
who else is beating Georgia in this in this conference,
I mean in this matchup that Georgia matches up better
with everybody else.
Speaker 5: If they don't James Franklin wins the national championship, we
all justire.
Speaker 1: But hey, I mean I just retired from my show.
Speaker 3: I mean my have to retired completely if James, like
I said, James Franklin winning that game actually showed me
something that he can win in some of the he.
Speaker 1: Can put together.
Speaker 4: I'm so biased.
Speaker 5: I see it like like, I like, I agree with you,
but I am just too proud to admit that.
Speaker 4: Look, I can own my bias.
Speaker 5: At least I can own my bias.
Speaker 2: Hey, Craig, before we close up, do you want to
take us to really quick? What would happen if we
did not have the auto buys, if we just did
auto bids for the and we just seated it straight through,
what would the matchups have looked like? Let's let's just
compare compare really quick.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think we would have had maybe some more
competitive games. I don't think we would have had the
nineteen points going going off the final college football playoff
ranking Oregon, Georgia, Texas, Penn State would have had your buys.
Speaker 4: Your five to twelve.
Speaker 5: Matchup would have been a Notre Dame against Clemson at Southound.
I think I think that's that's a more interesting game.
Speaker 1: That's a more is a more interesting.
Speaker 4: Game Friday night.
Speaker 5: I think that's a tenth that that's a ten million number.
Your Ohio State, your six to eleven matchup would be
Ohio State Arizona State to the same result.
Speaker 4: It might be the same result, but I.
Speaker 5: Think with the way Arizona State is kind of playing,
dealing had playing, I think I think it has the
potential to be interesting. Plus you also might get a
coin flip from Jake the Snake Plumber coming back from
like the nineteen ninety nine Rose Bowl or something like that.
Speaker 2: I think that you're doing that, you're doing You're setting
it up the same.
Speaker 4: Doesn't that one Memphis?
Speaker 5: He was still a baby, You're still.
Speaker 2: In Move on, I know who ja Plumber is. Keep going.
Speaker 5: Josh Heipel and Nico would have gotten a home game
against s m U.
Speaker 3: They would have been they would have beat s U.
They would have beat SU. That would have been a
bad matchup for s m U.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Yeah, that would have been a bad matchup.
Speaker 2: As they all are in this.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and then the the four million viewer marker would have.
Speaker 5: Been the new big new game would have been Indiana
against Boise State in Bloomington.
Speaker 2: I would have really liked that. I wouldn't really like that.
That's that.
Speaker 5: That is like FS one all over to me, doesn't it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it would have given somebody a chance that
shouldn't otherwise have one.
Speaker 1: Craig Signetti he uh would he have been able to stop.
Speaker 2: D Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Boise State might have actually won that game. I don't
know if they would have been able because it's harder
to people forget that Boise State played Oregon pretty tough.
Speaker 4: I mean they only Yep, there's a three point game.
Speaker 1: I believe it is a three point game, and you
know it is a is a higher scoring three point
game at that so you know it was one of
those situations like, Okay, if if or if if Boise
State's offensive line can fire off against Oregon State's D
line like this, this might get this might get interesting.
Speaker 3: I don't know if Indiana would be able to stop
I'm I'm thinking that maybe not.
Speaker 5: Well, here here's the most intriguing part about those games.
Let's just say we follow through to like what that
next game would have looked like.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 5: Oregon would have been playing Notre Dame. That's a spicy matchup.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm.
Speaker 5: Georgia would be playing the Ohio State University. We've seen
that that one. That that one's always good. Texas would
be playing Tennessee for the rights for the europe Real youtubet,
and then Penn State would have been playing the Boise State,
Indiana winner.
Speaker 2: So like, yeah, I like it does.
Speaker 1: Does James Franklin follow in that one because.
Speaker 2: He has to buy yes?
Speaker 5: You already know my answer, do you know?
Speaker 3: I just because, like I said, if there was in
the segment where I was wrong and Jane Franklin didn't fall,
what is it?
Speaker 1: What's a Penn State team?
Speaker 2: This?
Speaker 3: Can Penn State actually get? Penn State might blow this
whole thing up. And if it does, maybe Rob I
might take you up on retirement. I know my wife
wants me to retire, so I might take you up
on that. Because if if Penn State, if James Franklin
figures out how in a twelve game playoff never get
into this playoff before, in.
Speaker 1: A twelve game playoff.
Speaker 3: If he figures out here even how to get to
a championship game, I think that we have to reconsider
what James Franklin is. I mean, I know he has
you know, a dual carter, which is a monster, and
I know there's a I mean, there's a lot of
NFL teams fawning over that guy. But if he can,
if he can really get there this year, Penn State
might the Big the Big Ten, the Big Ten will
do really well if Penn State in Oregon get pretty far,
because that would mean that you're introducing two other legitimate
players in that conference that that you have to now
truthfully watch out about.
Speaker 1: And I don't know whatever happened to Wisconsin.
Speaker 3: Wisconsin was always on the because they were like they
were like twelve and one every year and missing missing
the the playoff because they lost to Ohio State or something.
Speaker 5: How did how did so so like so real quick,
real quickly answer that question on that. I actually turned
off the Notre Dame game or I'm sorry, the Penn
State game, and I actually put on the North Dakota
State South Dakota State game, which was fantastic so, yeah,
how did Wisconsin and Barry Alvarez my coaching pipeline? Because
to me, like, if you wanted to upgrade the Wisconsin
running game, you look at what North Dakota State does.
They still are running it.
Speaker 2: They didn't want to do that. They want changed the
whole system, right, but.
Speaker 5: It's not a traditional eye, but it comes at you
in a different way. It's a lot of shifts, it's
a lot of motion. But they're running down hill. You
have climbing at Kansas State, you know, and and it's
like it's plug and play with that system.
Speaker 2: And today they brought in Sam Houston, brand new Sam
Houston State or sorry, it's not state anymore, right, it's
just Sam Houston head coach Phil Longo to run the
Wisconsin offense. Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: I don't know what they're don't I don't even know.
Speaker 2: He decided to sling it.
Speaker 1: Stayed at Cincinnati there, Jesus just sayd Cincinnati. There's no
Cincinnati suffering in fickle suffering. I'm like, guys, what were
you doing?
Speaker 2: You know what what.
Speaker 3: Faust Gardener to your team? And now you're just gonna
leave up up and leave and go to Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: Why what do you think about?
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 3: Why do you think your stuff's gonna work in Wisconsin?
You take the team to the Big twelve. We could
be talking about Cincinnati. What was the Big twelve? We
saw the Big twelve. We could talk about Cincinnati being
in the conference for sure.
Speaker 2: Very competitive in that I don't know what he shot
his entire career anyway, So we talk about conferences. Here's
my thing. And as we close, as we close today,
the big narrative yesterday that I heard over and over
and over again was so and so doesn't belong, SMU
doesn't belong, Indiana doesn't belong, Tennessee doesn't belong, and so
and so Alabama or Miss Miami South Carolina would have
won this game, would have made this more competitive. We
would have been a more compelling matchup. And then that
conversation spirals down into the conference debate. This conference is trash,
this conference is great. And since we love hypotheticals, we do.
We love hypotheticals. I want to play a little game
called final four. So if you've ever had a site,
if you ever done one of these psychology things where
it's just word recognition, I'm going to read you the
name of four teams, and I want you both to
as quickly as possible, tell me which of those fourteenth
is the best in twenty twenty four?
Speaker 1: Perfect?
Speaker 2: Do it? Ready? Ready? So? Okay, West Virginia, Rutgers, Boston College, Missouri.
Speaker 5: Rogers, Boston College, TCU, Iowa, Georgia, tech A and M Iowa.
Speaker 2: Read those again, TCU Iowa, Georgia, tech A and M.
Speaker 1: Texas A and M. Yes, Texas A and M.
Speaker 4: Then he likes the dancing, that's why he said that.
Speaker 6: Okay, USC, Cincinnati, n C State, Arkansas, and it wasn't
paying attention. She has to read those again, USC, Cincinnati,
n C State, Arkansas, Dave.
Speaker 4: Doran, because you're guaranteed nine wins.
Speaker 3: Not this year?
Speaker 2: What do they get?
Speaker 1: They like they pretty terrible this year. The list was, Man,
that's a that's that that was that's a terrible list.
Speaker 2: I'll go again, USC, Cincinnati and C State Arkansas.
Speaker 1: I mean, I gotta say Arkansas, but I can't really.
I mean, it's it's it's it's a. I think Arkansas
could be any of the teams listed, but then just
to be like the best team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Craig, did you pick one yeah, I pick Dave
Dorn and then cy State.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, okay, almost they almost lost the Catamounts.
Speaker 2: I'm not no, no, they did. They absolutely did. They No,
they didn't lose, but you're right. It was one score game.
They were losing until the end concepts saved them. All right, Uh,
we'll still a couple more. I'm having fun. Stanford, Oklahoma State, Northwestern,
Mississippi Staten.
Speaker 1: What are you doing to us? Brom stop this.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna turn it. I'm gonna turn it.
I'm about to turn it. I'm about to turn it.
This is the less the last one stand for Oklahoma State, Northwestern,
Mississipi State State.
Speaker 5: Listen Oklahoma State because they will be picked like twelve
to sixteen the Big Twelve next year, and they'll they'll
be in the Big Twelve championship because that's what Gandhi does.
Speaker 2: I'm talking about this year though, Craig. If you match
up the teams from this year Stanford, Oklahoma State, Northwestern,
Mississippi State, I mean I gotta.
Speaker 3: Say Northwestern because they're just some edious losses by these
other teams. The Northwestern was just Northwestern this year.
Speaker 1: So yeah, Norwest.
Speaker 2: All right, let's play Virginia Tech, Minnesota, Kansas State, Ole,
miss ooh oh miss though, okay, Shock, Iowa State, Miami, Indiana, Tennessee.
Speaker 5: Tennessee, Miami, South Carolina with cam Ward? Are we saying
with cam Ward?
Speaker 1: Yeah? With cam Ye here miamim question.
Speaker 2: This is a twenty twenty four question.
Speaker 1: He said, twenty twenty four. And I'm like, no, Miami.
If Tennessee played Miami, that would have been a quarterback duel.
And I think Cam Woard would have you know how
to pull that out.
Speaker 2: So South Carolina, Baylor, Louisville, Illinois.
Speaker 4: Oh, South Carolina and so Baylor.
Speaker 5: Just to poke my teammate, Okay, that's.
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely garbage. All right. I got two more, two more,
two more U B y U s m U, Penn State, Texas, Texas,
all right, last one Arizona State, Georgia, Oregon, Clemson, Georgia, Georgia.
Every one of these combinations that I gave you was
where the team's finished in the power in their conference.
In the power for so for example, South Carolina, Baylor, Louisville,
Illinois all finished fifth in their in their conference. Just
a little bit of a test to see, look at
Craig smirking because he didn't like my last game, so
I think he may have liked this one better.
Speaker 5: No, I see, listen, I like this game because it
wasn't like what what does my random ask bold have
to do with anything? Oh no, not like that game.
Speaker 1: That was a really good game, bro.
Speaker 2: I think it's interesting to see maybe how few SEC
teams were chosen, because and I think which ones were
chosen right exactly. And I think a little bit of
what I was trying to do was actually remove the bias,
because we didn't say you didn't know ahead of time
that I was stating the conferences up like this, and
I didn't really give you enough time to think or
to crack the code in that way. And so if
there was built in biases, just name recognition of one
conference over another or one team over another.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: But but yeah, I mean, like you look at the
at the Arkansas, USC Cincinnati, NC State, they all finished eleven, Yeah,
and their conference that's disgusting, Like how do you how
do you how do you pick one?
Speaker 1: It's disgusting. And I'm just well, I was just.
Speaker 2: Gonna say, like Nebraska, Utah, Virginia and Oklahoma all finished thirteen.
That one's tough as well. Utah was not good this year.
I mean by name recognition, that's what I'm going with.
But if this year, if we're going to exactly they're
they're thirteenth in the conference. But if you're gonna, if
you're gonna, if you're gonna match them up, going back
to this the idea that that you're going to cross
conference schedule and you're gonna match them up based on
where they finished the previous year. This would be the matchups.
Speaker 1: And this this is what we want to see. I mean,
this is honestly. See there's a lot of people that
chant SEC SEC but with fair no better and any
of these other conferences. Honestly, they're not winning any of
these conferences. They think they can because they play in
the SEC. But the CAMP the thing, the matchups that
you really want to see are those matchups. That's what
they do in the NFL. Right one play once, two
plays two, three, play three, you know, and those are
the matchups that we really want to see as voters.
That's the matchups for games. That's what you want to see.
Speaker 3: Well, you finished here, you know, can you beat any
other conference? Team that also finish here. Those would be
great games that that I would love to see. If
they're going to have like these challenges like they do
in basketball, that's how I think they should do them.
Speaker 4: So can we see we're actually getting components for the SEC.
Speaker 2: The only one that I think we're actually gonna get
is South Carolina Illinois, but it's finished fifth according to
this is ESPN, So if you go, if you go
to the SEC website, it rearranges the order a little
bit because they don't take into account the full year.
They just look at the conference schedule. Yeah, but I'll
take those matchups based on what ESPN says, and so
South Illinois would get in a bowl game, So you
should get from what I'm understanding most of those most
of the team is going to play on both sides.
You got you got Ole Miss playing up a spot.
Ole Miss finished surprisingly eight below A and M and
L s U if you if you shake it out
based on how the schedules and the tie breakers fall,
which is just insane. And Duke finished seventh to the
A C C. Yeah, yeah, it's it's Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama,
South Carolina, A and M l s u ole miss
Missouri to get through the top nine, So I guess
I went one spot over the top half.
Speaker 5: But yeah, you had to mention Missouri because everyone you
always have to mention Missouri, Sorry Brett, but.
Speaker 2: Like, yeah, because they're just they're just a ranked but they.
Speaker 3: Are, No, They're they're gonna be It's gonna be interesting
to see what coach Drink can do with Missouri over
these next few years, because.
Speaker 5: Question, I think the key for him, he's getting the
number one guys in the state. It's keeping those guys
after your one.
Speaker 7: He's had a good portal class too, but he just
got the tribula however you say it back up from
Penn State just committed to that's a quarterback next year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's gonna be interesting.
Speaker 2: Yeah, very.
Speaker 1: Drinks another one of those guys.
Speaker 2: Greg says he's circling the drain for a listeners who
can't see us.
Speaker 1: I mean I I I think Drink is honestly, since
since uh, you know, James Franklin left for greener past
years and Penn State, I think Drink is kind of
like the new James Franklin. I don't know what he's
gonna do like he's taking a team that historically at
least is played in in SEC championship. Right, So we
know that Missouri can get there, it's just what can
Missouri put together to actually do that consistently?
Speaker 2: And I would argue they can't get there now. They
got there because of because of the divisions and how
we just happened to fall. Okay, and with no divisions, there's.
Speaker 5: No Okay, I think he punches up but where I think,
but but but I think again, I've said this a
couple of times. If I'm Auburn and I'm Florida and
we're still.
Speaker 2: If I'm Florida, I'm grabbing him. I think it's perfectly.
Speaker 5: I think I think he fits because that's those are
both step ups from Missouri in terms of talent probably,
and I they're also a little bit more of a
destination than what Missouri is.
Speaker 2: Missouri is not an SEC school. Nobody in the sc
likes them. Nobody's rival, but nobody likes them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, someone's another Columbia came in, I think.
Speaker 2: And twelve absolutely, And I was still from my guy
Jay C. Sherbert again when I say the only time
Florida has been successful in the history of their football
program is when they have some type of little bit different,
explosive offensive coach. We look at Spurrier, we look at Meyer.
Who else has done anything in the history of their
whole in their entire program.
Speaker 5: Come on, have you seen what Billy Napier has done.
He did so well against the hired the offensive version version.
Speaker 2: It was they literally hired the offensive version of Will
must champ personality and all. And it's just a slow
Sluggage run first. That's not who Florida is meant to be.
It's highline, fun and gun.
Speaker 5: That game was horrible on Friday or but I know
what I know. It looked crooked at the end. I'm
still saying when they.
Speaker 2: Asked the talent gap, it was a talent gap in
the end is but it was That's why it looked crooked.
Speaker 5: Yeah, because two Lange's quarterback was in Durham and it.
Speaker 2: Wasn't exactly exactly. And I think Florida, I think, just
like Florida struggles, they still start talent. He's not he's
not out recruiting what Dan Ollen did, which is incredibly ironic.
Speaker 5: But mm hm, Miami like ways Christmas Docking.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but who are they going. I don't think you
didn't already go with somebody and they can't contact him. Yeah, okay, okay,
all right, I think that's about time to wrap it up.
It's time for the last word, gentlemen. As we got
out of here, we started with Merry Christmas. Let's and
in the same way, give me your favorite Christmas tradition,
but you go.
Speaker 1: First, oh favorite Christmas tradition. It's usually my family actually
doing something in the.
Speaker 3: Community to help others that are a little less fortunate
than we are, and that changes from year to year.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's helping out with the food drive.
Speaker 3: Sometimes it's a toy drive, but it's something every year
to help out with those and just the spirit of giving,
the spirit of charity.
Speaker 1: That's what we usually do.
Speaker 5: Love that, Craig Mine was tonight before I came on
the podcast. We always go see Christmas lights. We've been
doing that with my little one since she was a
little baby. And there's a spot there's a concert over
here and they call it the Magic of Lights or
something like that. You drive through it is probably a
little bit overpriced. There's something special about driving through there.
Because we even told her like this, is special because
it's something that we've always done with you, and so
so I'm going to see the lights and talking through
and seeing how the things change over you.
Speaker 2: I'll go to I think growing up for me, it
was it was hot dogs, hot dogs dinner on my
mom's side because my grandmother made the best chili, or
makes the best chili I make. I can make the
chili now, but I think maybe maybe the hot dogs,
getting everybody together quoting Christmas vacation, uh and having having
some laughs. But but but I'll say now with with
kids on my own, I think making the Christmas cookies
from scratch for Santa on Christmas Eve has become a
fun one. I don't really participate much other than to
say cook picks of my wife and daughter as they're
making them together. But you know, I'll roll a couple up,
but just kind of sitting in that moment and observing
it's pretty cool too. Yeah, all right, thanks thanks again
to my guy Memphis Spence. Go check them out and
the new venture that's coming up. We're gonna see you
on screen mm h.
Speaker 1: And by the way, guys Diehard, it's not a Christmas movie,
all right, I'm gonna go.
Speaker 2: Time to get out of here. Shout out again to
Memphis Spence. I am Rob Williams, he is craignant, Michael
at Rob Williams up at McMichael seven and it just
means more football and coffee always. We'll see you next time.