# North Dakota State Goes FBS, Nebraska Palace Intrigue & Six Teams on Trend Watch

An episode of [The Solid Verbal College Football Show](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/270037732), 12 Feb 2026, 1 h 08 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/21437ee1-47d9-4b16-8696-b30d011a2c26/381c5fe1-5170-446c-9e44-b3ee0146d50f/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=51c7e0eb-425c-4d93-b5a8-b30d011a2c46

In today's episode, we break down North Dakota State's historic move to FBS and the Mountain West, including the financial details, the NCAA's probationary period challenge, and why the Fargodome is a must-visit destination. We also unpack former Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos' new book, Crab Creek Chronicles, and what it reveals about the Scott Frost hire, Chip Kelly almost landing in Lincoln, and a secret meeting about Nebraska potentially returning to the Big 12 Most importantly, we play "Trend or Not a Trend" with six teams heading into 2026. Is Miami's high-level winning sustainable? Can Oklahoma's defense carry a middling offense deep into the SEC? Is Arizona's defensive leap here to stay? Where does Virginia go from here at quarterback? Is Texas A&M a playoff contender with that gauntlet schedule? Can USC get back to double-digit wins under Lincoln Riley? Timecodes: 0:00 - Intro 4:13 - North Dakota State goes FBS 17:33 - The Bill Moos Nebraska Book 29:16 - Six Teams on Trend Watch 30:48 - Miami's high-level winning 36:20 - Oklahoma as a 2026 SEC contender 42:12 - Arizona's reborn defense 47:11 - Virginia as a 2026 ACC contender 52:05 - Texas A&M as a 2026 CFP team 58:03 - USC as a 10-win team Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] Speaker 1: Welcome to the solid verbal. Hull that for me. I'm
[0:06] Speaker 1: a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say, well,
[0:09] Speaker 1: I want to be happy.
[0:10] Speaker 2: You want to be happy for a day? Edith Steak
[0:13] Speaker 2: is that whoo whoom?
[0:14] Speaker 1: And Dan and tie Dan Rubinstein, my good friend. Welcome
[0:21] Speaker 1: back to the solid verbal what's up? How you been?
[0:25] Speaker 2: I've been pretty good, ty. I had a good soured
[0:27] Speaker 2: oat bake this morning. The sun has been out the
[0:29] Speaker 2: past couple of days, so we have I saw my
[0:31] Speaker 2: grass in my yard for the first time in twenty
[0:34] Speaker 2: twenty six.
[0:35] Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, pretty important moment. Uh.
[0:39] Speaker 2: Watch some NBA last night, watch some Golden Girls. I
[0:42] Speaker 2: have zero complaints. The coffee I just made is pretty good,
[0:45] Speaker 2: so I feel good. How about you good?
[0:48] Speaker 1: I'm hungry. We're doing this over lunch. I didn't had
[0:50] Speaker 1: a chance to eat yet. Oh yeah, I just hate Hey,
[0:52] Speaker 1: it was delicious. So if i'm if I'm a little
[0:54] Speaker 1: bit on edge, I started get a little bit angry
[0:56] Speaker 1: as we get in the weeds of today's show.
[0:59] Speaker 2: Give me a little a grace, a little bit of
[1:01] Speaker 2: gree Well, I will absolutely welcome back one and all.
[1:05] Speaker 1: If you made it this far, I'm tie. He is Dan,
[1:06] Speaker 1: Please hit follow, please hit subscribe, Go and check us
[1:09] Speaker 1: out at ribaulers dot com. That is our patreon where
[1:12] Speaker 1: you can go and support the team if you are
[1:14] Speaker 1: ever so inclined. You also can subscribe to our newsletter
[1:17] Speaker 1: quickslants dot soliverbal dot com if you are interested in
[1:22] Speaker 1: getting semiregular dispatches from deep within the bunker here of
[1:28] Speaker 1: SVHQ and all things going on in and around the
[1:31] Speaker 1: world of college football. Do our best to keep you
[1:33] Speaker 1: up to speed on that front. Of course. Soliverbal at
[1:37] Speaker 1: gmail dot com is where you can reach out, or
[1:39] Speaker 1: you can go to our website and fill out the
[1:41] Speaker 1: form send in whatever is on your mind. On today's episode,
[1:47] Speaker 1: we got some news that I think you and I
[1:49] Speaker 1: want to talk through at the top, which we didn't
[1:51] Speaker 1: talk through a whole lot of on our last episode.
[1:54] Speaker 1: We also have a fun little game. I don't know
[1:56] Speaker 1: if it's right to call it a game, but a
[1:58] Speaker 1: little concept that we're going to trot out there. We're
[2:00] Speaker 1: gonna look at six teams and things within those teams
[2:04] Speaker 1: and determine is it a trend? Is it not a trend?
[2:07] Speaker 1: That all sounds right to you, Dan.
[2:09] Speaker 2: Yeah, we're gonna look at six teams and look at
[2:11] Speaker 2: what they've done recently and what they're hoping to continue
[2:16] Speaker 2: doing as they grow into twenty twenty six, perhaps what
[2:19] Speaker 2: they did since the twenty twenty five season ended, and evaluate.
[2:23] Speaker 2: This is not a preview, but it is a as
[2:25] Speaker 2: you mentioned, the preview to the preview of the twenty
[2:27] Speaker 2: twenty six season, just like a vibe check for a
[2:30] Speaker 2: few teams as we sort of get closer to springball
[2:34] Speaker 2: and as our opinions begin to form more and more
[2:38] Speaker 2: right that the three D printer of this all we're watching.
[2:41] Speaker 2: I don't know how three D printers work. That's my
[2:43] Speaker 2: disclaimer time, but I've watched some three D printer content
[2:48] Speaker 2: on YouTube.
[2:49] Speaker 1: People making it's really good. It's so good. Yeah, they're
[2:53] Speaker 1: making houses like that now. I don't know if you
[2:55] Speaker 1: knew that.
[2:56] Speaker 2: I did not see that. It's mostly me just watching
[2:59] Speaker 2: people print parts that they can't find as they try
[3:02] Speaker 2: to refurbish old electronics. It's real cool stuff, sure, real
[3:06] Speaker 2: cool stuff. But this is this is our three D
[3:09] Speaker 2: printing of our twenty twenty six opinions. It's very early on,
[3:13] Speaker 2: but we are in the software trying to figure out. Okay,
[3:17] Speaker 2: is there a curve here? What material needs to go
[3:20] Speaker 2: with it? That kind of stuff, and so, yes, that
[3:23] Speaker 2: is what we're doing. It's a what February Vibe check
[3:26] Speaker 2: for some I think of some of the more interesting teams.
[3:29] Speaker 2: We also have some news to discuss. But I'm looking
[3:31] Speaker 2: forward to this because it's good for our brains to
[3:35] Speaker 2: dip into, Like, Okay, this is what this specific team
[3:37] Speaker 2: did in the portal.
[3:38] Speaker 1: This is a.
[3:39] Speaker 2: Reminder about which important players this team is bringing back
[3:42] Speaker 2: or is losing.
[3:44] Speaker 1: Yeah, and so sure, this is.
[3:45] Speaker 2: Us just prepping for the twenty twenty six season six
[3:50] Speaker 2: months in advance for more content that much.
[3:54] Speaker 1: But we're no, no, no, no.
[3:55] Speaker 2: Speak for yourself. You might have this information on hand
[3:58] Speaker 2: in your brain. I'm losing names, situations, and scores by
[4:04] Speaker 2: the second tie.
[4:06] Speaker 1: It's bleeding out of my ears.
[4:08] Speaker 2: So I need to do everything I can to refamiliarize myself.
[4:12] Speaker 1: Every day. You want to get into news, I would
[4:14] Speaker 1: love to. I'm bringing it out, baby, we have the
[4:23] Speaker 1: recking news. I like it. North Dakota State, baby, oh yeah,
[4:30] Speaker 1: Bison are coming to the Mountain West. They're making the
[4:33] Speaker 1: jump up to FBS college football and they are immediately,
[4:40] Speaker 1: I say, immediately petitioning the NCAA because of that stupid
[4:44] Speaker 1: rule that says, if you're an FBS newcomer, you can't
[4:48] Speaker 1: compete for the playoffs, can't compete for your conference, can't
[4:51] Speaker 1: play in a bowl for what is it, two years?
[4:54] Speaker 1: Whatever the hell they're trying to get out of that.
[4:57] Speaker 1: They're going to have the backing of the Mountain West.
[4:59] Speaker 1: Hopefully the NCAA will follow suit, because Dan, I should add,
[5:03] Speaker 1: this is the most dominant FCS program in history. They
[5:09] Speaker 1: have won ten national championships over the last fifteen years.
[5:15] Speaker 1: Per our good friend Bill Connolly from ESPN dot com,
[5:19] Speaker 1: the purveyor of all things sp plus rankings, he has
[5:24] Speaker 1: North Dakota State this most recent version of North Dakota State,
[5:27] Speaker 1: mind you, as the sixty fifth best college football team
[5:32] Speaker 1: in all of America across all formats. North Dakota State,
[5:38] Speaker 1: just for context, would have been slightly below Arizona State,
[5:41] Speaker 1: slightly below Florida, slightly below Boise State, and just ahead
[5:47] Speaker 1: of teams like Kentucky, Minnesota, and Baylor. He also points
[5:53] Speaker 1: out that North Dakota State would have been a nine
[5:54] Speaker 1: point favorite over Purdue, not to rub salt in that wound.
[5:58] Speaker 2: Wow, Perdue, fans are just trying to live their lives. Tie,
[6:01] Speaker 2: I so, okay, what you're saying brought astray.
[6:04] Speaker 1: I apologize to the Purdue faithful out there.
[6:06] Speaker 2: Right if I can translate Thaie, I'm semi fluent in Thie.
[6:11] Speaker 2: What Tie is trying to tell you is there is
[6:13] Speaker 2: a case to be made, at least statistically and occasionally
[6:16] Speaker 2: on the field that North Dakota State recently has been
[6:21] Speaker 2: of the quality of a lower ish middle class ish
[6:25] Speaker 2: power conference team.
[6:26] Speaker 1: Correct.
[6:27] Speaker 2: Okay, So they enter into the Mountain West, which is
[6:30] Speaker 2: a new look Mountain West. As a reminder, a number
[6:34] Speaker 2: of teams left. A couple of teams are entering in
[6:37] Speaker 2: two So the twenty twenty six Mountain West Conference. As
[6:41] Speaker 2: far as I can tell, again, information is bleeding out
[6:44] Speaker 2: of my ears constantly as the season ends. Air Force Hawaii, Nevada,
[6:51] Speaker 2: New Mexico, Northern Illinois. I now live in Mountain West Territory.
[6:55] Speaker 2: San Jose State, unlv UTEP, Wyoming. Correct all, correct it all.
[7:01] Speaker 2: Try so you know your your Fresno's, your Boise's, your
[7:04] Speaker 2: San Diego States. They're entering into a conference that is
[7:08] Speaker 2: calling themselves the PAC twelve correct, good for them. I
[7:13] Speaker 2: suppose Oregon State and Wazoo legitimate PAC twelve programs, but
[7:19] Speaker 2: I will, I guess, recognize that sovereignty and right to
[7:22] Speaker 2: exist of the PAC twelve when I see what it
[7:23] Speaker 2: actually looks like. But the Mountain West is different. North
[7:28] Speaker 2: Dakota State at its best I think, can be excellent
[7:32] Speaker 2: and can obviously compete for this new look Mountain West.
[7:37] Speaker 2: Their coach has been there I think a couple of
[7:39] Speaker 2: years now, Tim Polisek, and he was an internal hire,
[7:44] Speaker 2: and it was Matt Enz who's at Fresno State now
[7:46] Speaker 2: who is there before. So I love this for North
[7:51] Speaker 2: Dakota State. I love this for college football. I love
[7:55] Speaker 2: this for the hopeful ascendants of excellent pros, you know,
[8:01] Speaker 2: to challenge themselves if they keep you know, we've seen
[8:03] Speaker 2: like Farris State dominate D two.
[8:05] Speaker 1: Right.
[8:05] Speaker 2: You want to see these programs if they're able to
[8:08] Speaker 2: make the finances work. And I'm sure we'll have Matt
[8:10] Speaker 2: Brown on in the near future to discuss what kind
[8:13] Speaker 2: of financial responsibility this entails to make a move from
[8:17] Speaker 2: FCS to FBS and by the way, subscribe to his
[8:20] Speaker 2: Extra Points newsletter. Yep, But what this entails in terms
[8:25] Speaker 2: of new travel, in terms of any sort of stadium
[8:29] Speaker 2: editions that are required. Although the Fargo Dome is excellent.
[8:33] Speaker 2: It should be a must visit place for Mountain West fans.
[8:36] Speaker 1: It's now awesome experience and it is loud down there.
[8:41] Speaker 1: It is loud. We went to that playoff game. I
[8:43] Speaker 1: mentioned this on the last episode, but we went to
[8:45] Speaker 1: the We had a whole thing back in twenty eighteen.
[8:48] Speaker 1: You and I ended up driving from Minneapolis up to
[8:51] Speaker 1: Fargo and then went to the game between North Dakota
[8:54] Speaker 1: State and Colgate.
[8:55] Speaker 2: And first off, it was cold. It was the coldest
[8:59] Speaker 2: I have ever been outside of a stadium. And suffice
[9:02] Speaker 2: to say, the folks up in the upper planes in
[9:04] Speaker 2: Fargo are built different. They had like jet engines that
[9:08] Speaker 2: were firing with open flames inside of tents that had
[9:12] Speaker 2: multiple layers on. They figured it out.
[9:14] Speaker 1: Okay, we were warm inside, but once you got inside
[9:18] Speaker 1: the actual arena, it is loud. Dude. It is whatever
[9:22] Speaker 1: it is, stadium arena, whatever it's considered. It is. I
[9:24] Speaker 1: posted this online. It is a perfect hybrid between minor
[9:29] Speaker 1: league hockey and a monster truck rally. Yeah, it is
[9:32] Speaker 1: somewhere in between, and it's awesome.
[9:34] Speaker 2: It's like a perfect rectangle in there that I think
[9:36] Speaker 2: it may be used to house rodeos or maybe still
[9:39] Speaker 2: houses the Fargo or North Dakota Rodeo. In any case,
[9:44] Speaker 2: we saw it a few years ago. It was like
[9:46] Speaker 2: an hour and a half ago. James Madison was an
[9:48] Speaker 2: FCS power. They make the move. They're in the College
[9:50] Speaker 2: Football Playoff almost immediately, you know, relatively speaking to the
[9:54] Speaker 2: modern history of college football. And so the hope is
[9:58] Speaker 2: a team that has the winning end infrastructure that North
[10:01] Speaker 2: Dakota State clearly does, that they're able to compete. That
[10:06] Speaker 2: recruiting remains unchanged because they have recruited you know, the
[10:10] Speaker 2: High Planes and Minnesota and Midwest, and you know they've
[10:12] Speaker 2: gotten some transfers in and that hopefully the finances are
[10:16] Speaker 2: there to support now supporting FBS level players, quality players.
[10:22] Speaker 2: I don't know how that changes any sort of calculus,
[10:25] Speaker 2: but that they will be more visible, that Fargo will
[10:27] Speaker 2: be more visible, that this kind of excellence over time
[10:31] Speaker 2: is being rewarded with the opportunity. I mean, what do
[10:33] Speaker 2: we always hear about Notre Dame, right, Notre Dame It's
[10:35] Speaker 2: joined a conference when North Dakota State just keeps winning or.
[10:39] Speaker 1: Competing for national championships.
[10:40] Speaker 2: You're just like, okay, but like, let's see what they
[10:43] Speaker 2: can do if they're able to make a jump up
[10:45] Speaker 2: to the next level, right and really measure themselves against
[10:49] Speaker 2: a full schedule of similarly talented teams. I think they're
[10:52] Speaker 2: going to do really well. I can't wait to dive
[10:54] Speaker 2: into It's only football, I believe, right, it's a football
[10:56] Speaker 2: only football thing.
[10:58] Speaker 1: Yeah. I have some of the particulars here on that,
[10:59] Speaker 1: but it's football only. Yeah. But TLDR very cool it is.
[11:05] Speaker 1: And look, this is one of those hypotheticals that get
[11:10] Speaker 1: sent into us all the time. You know, we've kicked
[11:13] Speaker 1: it around with promotion and relegation, and I don't really
[11:16] Speaker 1: think that's going to happen at least on anytime soon.
[11:18] Speaker 1: But anytime you have an exciting promotion like this, not
[11:22] Speaker 1: because of the system, but because of the program deciding
[11:25] Speaker 1: it wants to press its luck and see what it
[11:28] Speaker 1: can do, it's really exciting when you've got a program
[11:32] Speaker 1: of this caliber on the finances. Though.
[11:35] Speaker 2: This is from Brandon Marcella out at CBS. I'm reading
[11:38] Speaker 2: directly from his piece. Quote, does a great job at CBS.
[11:42] Speaker 2: By the way, I want to be paying more compliments
[11:44] Speaker 2: if we're going to make fun of people in the
[11:45] Speaker 2: college football media.
[11:46] Speaker 1: Brandon does a great job and it doesn't also continue
[11:49] Speaker 1: he does. I've been reading Brandon for years. Correct. Here's
[11:52] Speaker 1: what he says. Financially, North Dakota State will not receive
[11:55] Speaker 1: a full revenue share from the Mountain West through the
[11:58] Speaker 1: twenty thirty one thirty two season, the length of the
[12:02] Speaker 1: conference's current media rights deal. However, the Bison would receive
[12:07] Speaker 1: fifty percent of the college football playoff and bowl revenue
[12:10] Speaker 1: distributed to full members beginning in twenty twenty six if
[12:14] Speaker 1: they reached the postseason, and one hundred percent after their
[12:17] Speaker 1: second postseason appearance, according to the conference's membership agreement, obtained
[12:22] Speaker 1: by CBS Sports through an open report through an open
[12:26] Speaker 1: records request. That's a mouthful. North Dakota State would also
[12:29] Speaker 1: earn a one million dollar bonus for reaching the college
[12:32] Speaker 1: Football Playoff before twenty thirty two. He goes on. North
[12:37] Speaker 1: Dakota State is paying the Mountain West a twelve and
[12:40] Speaker 1: a half million dollar entry fee over six years, in
[12:43] Speaker 1: addition to the NC doublea's five million dollar reclassification fee
[12:48] Speaker 1: which increased from five thousand to five million going back
[12:53] Speaker 1: to twenty twenty three. Bit of a jump there, I
[12:55] Speaker 1: would say, a bit of a jump. The NC doublea's
[12:59] Speaker 1: probation probationary period was designed to give transitioning programs time
[13:04] Speaker 1: to meet FBS benchmarks, including scholarship expansion and facility upgrades.
[13:10] Speaker 1: But again they are going to challenge that. It seems
[13:13] Speaker 1: as though they will have the backing of the conference,
[13:15] Speaker 1: and I would imagine the college football fan base at
[13:18] Speaker 1: large because this is one of the unique situations. I
[13:22] Speaker 1: know James Madison is sort of an earlier example of
[13:25] Speaker 1: a team stepping up and immediately being competitive, but this
[13:29] Speaker 1: is probably an even better example of a team that
[13:31] Speaker 1: looks ready to party. You know, they're ready to sort
[13:34] Speaker 1: of jump in right away and contend for this thing
[13:37] Speaker 1: in the Mountain West. Now, I would add, as a corollary,
[13:41] Speaker 1: if you do subscribe to our newsletter and if you
[13:45] Speaker 1: read what Tyler, are wonderfully talented newsletter writer put together.
[13:51] Speaker 1: He presented two potential pathways that this thing could go.
[13:56] Speaker 2: There is the James Madison route, which obviously they've been
[13:59] Speaker 2: very successful in very short order.
[14:01] Speaker 1: There's also the Georgia Southern route. Georgia Southern was another
[14:04] Speaker 1: team that was very successful at the FCS ranks. They
[14:07] Speaker 1: moved up, they sort of lost their identity, be it
[14:09] Speaker 1: with coaches leaving with greater demands on the program, and
[14:14] Speaker 1: you know, they're kind of doing their thing right now.
[14:16] Speaker 1: They have Clay Helton, but Georgia Southern is not at
[14:19] Speaker 1: the FBS ranks what they once were at the FCS ranks.
[14:22] Speaker 1: This could go in one of those two paths. Obviously
[14:25] Speaker 1: for North Dakota State, we would root for the successful
[14:29] Speaker 1: one as fans, but nothing is a guarantee, I think
[14:33] Speaker 1: when you step up to this new level. So I'm
[14:36] Speaker 1: excited to see what the future holds for North Dakota State.
[14:39] Speaker 1: And full disclosure, we did send out some emails to
[14:42] Speaker 1: try and bring somebody on to talk more specifically about that.
[14:46] Speaker 1: At some point this offseason. We will. We just couldn't
[14:48] Speaker 1: make it work for today's episode, but pretty cool.
[14:51] Speaker 2: I totally agree, And it does have the feeling like
[14:55] Speaker 2: unofficial promotion in a system that does not feature promotion
[14:58] Speaker 2: and relegation. Just because you know, we recently saw success
[15:02] Speaker 2: from what Kennesaw winning double digits this past year, and
[15:05] Speaker 2: then Delaware and Missouri State. We mentioned the James Madison thing,
[15:09] Speaker 2: that there are teams and programs that have won enough
[15:13] Speaker 2: and have found the money necessary to make that leap.
[15:17] Speaker 2: And we'll see what happens with North Dakota State and
[15:19] Speaker 2: being eligible for bowls or the College Football Playoff. I
[15:22] Speaker 2: don't think any ruling has been made I had anything.
[15:24] Speaker 1: Like that yet. Yeah, they just announced on Monday that
[15:26] Speaker 1: this was going to be a challenge. THO it's going
[15:28] Speaker 1: to take a little bit to work its way through
[15:30] Speaker 1: the system, but it is.
[15:32] Speaker 2: It is a cool thing that like there is a
[15:34] Speaker 2: proving ground to this all hopefully, and I you know,
[15:40] Speaker 2: I'm very excited to see what happens with North Dakota State.
[15:43] Speaker 2: It's obviously a different kind of conversation, all due respect
[15:46] Speaker 2: to maybe the best of the Sunbell and the best
[15:49] Speaker 2: of Conference USA Mountain West is difficult now. It's different
[15:53] Speaker 2: with the sort of changes that have happened in the conference.
[15:55] Speaker 2: But the best of recent like New Mexico and UNLV
[16:00] Speaker 2: and the teams that are moving on to the Pac twelve,
[16:02] Speaker 2: Like I feel as if it's perhaps a steeper challenge
[16:06] Speaker 2: to come in and immediately you know, toss teams around,
[16:10] Speaker 2: but if there's anybody built to do that kind of thing,
[16:13] Speaker 2: it's a team that has won as demonstrably and as
[16:17] Speaker 2: often as North Dakota State has done recently. I don't
[16:20] Speaker 2: have their depth charts and returns in front of me.
[16:23] Speaker 1: It's going to take us a minute to go through
[16:25] Speaker 1: all that.
[16:25] Speaker 2: But something tells me if you keep competing for and
[16:29] Speaker 2: often winning a national championship, you're doing pretty well in
[16:33] Speaker 2: terms of development and returning production year over year. So
[16:38] Speaker 2: maybe it's a different kind of year this year, but
[16:41] Speaker 2: thrilled to have a story like this in the sport.
[16:43] Speaker 1: I'm just laughing at them increasing the reclassification fee from
[16:47] Speaker 1: five thousand to five million.
[16:48] Speaker 2: The NCAA has got a lot of bills to pay,
[16:51] Speaker 2: uh huh because of legal stuff, so that's probably where
[16:54] Speaker 2: that's going. And I don't know how much of that
[16:57] Speaker 2: goes to the Mountain West, which is losing revenue right,
[17:00] Speaker 2: losing teams that you know, we're bringing in bowl stuff
[17:03] Speaker 2: that were you know, big name schools that would attract
[17:07] Speaker 2: TV eys, and you know it's a transitionary time for
[17:10] Speaker 2: is that a word transitionary?
[17:11] Speaker 1: Yeah?
[17:12] Speaker 2: Soundar like one. Yeah, why not for the Mountain West
[17:15] Speaker 2: as well. So good for them for hopefully solidifying membership
[17:19] Speaker 2: and numbers here.
[17:20] Speaker 1: Well, we welcome our new North Dakota State Bison Brethren. Yes,
[17:25] Speaker 1: and we will be talking much more about this as
[17:27] Speaker 1: we get a little bit deeper into the offseason. A
[17:30] Speaker 1: couple different angles we can go with this one. But
[17:33] Speaker 1: that's the first thing. The second thing do you hear
[17:35] Speaker 1: about this book? Oh yeah, yeah, Bill Moose called Crab
[17:41] Speaker 1: Creek Chronicles from the wheat fields to the ball fields
[17:45] Speaker 1: and beyond. That doesn't mean anything to anybody listening. But
[17:50] Speaker 1: what should mean something is that the author was former
[17:53] Speaker 1: Nebraska athletic director Bill Moose. In this book, which was
[17:59] Speaker 1: released this week, he says that Scott Frost was not
[18:03] Speaker 1: his first choice to be the Nebraska Cornhuskers coach back
[18:06] Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. He was also ordered to undergo an
[18:10] Speaker 1: evaluation for alcoholism, and that he looked into the possibility
[18:14] Speaker 1: of Nebraska leaving the Big ten and returning to the
[18:17] Speaker 1: Big twelve. So lot going on there, buddy.
[18:20] Speaker 2: It's more of a story connected to a now governor
[18:22] Speaker 2: in the way it was Jeff Landry and Louisiana with
[18:25] Speaker 2: the Lane Kiffin and Brian Kelly Saga.
[18:27] Speaker 1: So now we have was it pillin the.
[18:30] Speaker 2: Governor of Nebraska in on the decision to not hire
[18:36] Speaker 2: perhaps Oregon's basketball coach, and he is brought into this
[18:41] Speaker 2: whole thing, and he was a region I want to
[18:44] Speaker 2: say at the time, but Bill Moose decided basically like,
[18:46] Speaker 2: here are all my stories, and some of them are
[18:48] Speaker 2: going to make me look good. Some of them are
[18:50] Speaker 2: mean to look not so good. Yeah, my wife was
[18:52] Speaker 2: in on the meeting with Scott Frost in what it
[18:55] Speaker 2: was in Philadelphia, I want to say, when the Nebraska
[18:59] Speaker 2: team was in town and the UCF team was in
[19:02] Speaker 2: town and they arranged a meeting, and his wife was like, Ah,
[19:04] Speaker 2: this guy doesn't seem.
[19:05] Speaker 1: Like it too immature, too immature reaction.
[19:08] Speaker 2: And so we're just like, like, there is something that
[19:11] Speaker 2: we want to believe, or at least used to want
[19:14] Speaker 2: to believe about the professionalism and how buttoned up all
[19:18] Speaker 2: of the things behind the scenes we hope are And
[19:23] Speaker 2: you read stories like this, and you hear other stories
[19:25] Speaker 2: about other places, just like nobody knows anything. They're all
[19:27] Speaker 2: trying to figure it out. They're all trying to impress
[19:29] Speaker 2: each other. They're all trying to throw around their power
[19:32] Speaker 2: in any ways that they can. And yeah, there was
[19:34] Speaker 2: a thing in here about Scott Frost wanting to cancel
[19:37] Speaker 2: both a Rutgers game at the end of the season
[19:39] Speaker 2: in twenty twenty one and cancel a home and home
[19:42] Speaker 2: with Oklahoma, and that would have thrown a potential return
[19:47] Speaker 2: to the Big twelve. And Bob Bowlsby's involved in these
[19:50] Speaker 2: conversations and a secret meeting in Dallas. The secret meetings
[19:53] Speaker 2: in this sport always in Dallas, always in a conference
[19:57] Speaker 2: room near DFW. Right, that's well, we decided to meet
[20:01] Speaker 2: in Dallas. Could you meet literally anywhere else? No, that's
[20:04] Speaker 2: where all the planes flying too. Fine, Okay, So it
[20:08] Speaker 2: was all very interesting here. And how you know, Scott
[20:12] Speaker 2: Frost said, you know, in retrospect when he rejoined UCF
[20:15] Speaker 2: that he never really wanted to go back to Nebraska,
[20:17] Speaker 2: but he was pulled in that direction by like friends
[20:19] Speaker 2: and loved ones. And so Scott Frost didn't want to
[20:23] Speaker 2: go to Nebraska, at least, he says in hindsight, the
[20:26] Speaker 2: powers that be at Nebraska were at least split on
[20:29] Speaker 2: bringing Scott Frost back, but they all decided to do
[20:32] Speaker 2: it anyway, and we're all still sitting at a point
[20:36] Speaker 2: with Nebraska football where they have one non Bo Polini winning.
[20:41] Speaker 1: Season in the Big Ten. Yep, that's right, and it's
[20:44] Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. Yeah, the quote here was Nebraska being
[20:48] Speaker 1: in the Big Ten never felt quite right to me,
[20:51] Speaker 1: nor for that matter, did it for most Husker fans.
[20:54] Speaker 1: Moose wrote, A big reason for this is the school's
[20:57] Speaker 1: location deeply rooted in America's heartlet and the land Grand
[21:00] Speaker 1: institution just fits better with the schools of the Big
[21:03] Speaker 1: Eight and most of the ones that were added when
[21:06] Speaker 1: the Southwest Conference disbanded back in nineteen ninety five. We've
[21:11] Speaker 1: had people write in about this, yeah, more times than
[21:15] Speaker 1: I could count, So I understand that sentiment. It's just
[21:19] Speaker 1: funny to hear coming from a former athletic director. As
[21:22] Speaker 1: he said, also want a data altman for basketball, but
[21:25] Speaker 1: that didn't work out. Wanted Chip Kelly instead of Scott first,
[21:29] Speaker 1: which is.
[21:29] Speaker 2: Met with Chips Uphand yeah, in New Hampshire, I believe
[21:33] Speaker 2: when Chip was working in TV, when he was also
[21:35] Speaker 2: I think talking to Florida.
[21:36] Speaker 1: Yeah, he ended up being announced like the next week
[21:39] Speaker 1: as UCLA's coach. So this was right in that timeline.
[21:43] Speaker 2: Yeah, there is, and there's something still to be said about.
[21:45] Speaker 2: Like I think it seems that there are some Nebraska
[21:49] Speaker 2: fans who were like, yeah, the Big twelve kind of
[21:50] Speaker 2: felt more like us, but we're making so much money
[21:54] Speaker 2: and we want to secure our spot in the future
[21:56] Speaker 2: of the sport, and the Big ten is just a
[21:57] Speaker 2: lot more powerful and a lot more stable, So it
[22:00] Speaker 2: just makes sense for us to be here, and they
[22:02] Speaker 2: just move on, it seems, and try to build the
[22:05] Speaker 2: best possible Big ten team possible. I'm curious what you
[22:10] Speaker 2: how you stand in what we're still in twenty twenty six?
[22:14] Speaker 1: Is that where we are now?
[22:15] Speaker 2: Yeah, it all sounds fake to me, Like have you
[22:20] Speaker 2: grown to accept the teams who have moved around in
[22:24] Speaker 2: this sport as this being there new? Like this feels
[22:29] Speaker 2: right and it feels like they you know, everything has
[22:32] Speaker 2: sort of come into place, as you know, Oregon as
[22:36] Speaker 2: a Big ten team, or Maryland as a Big ten team,
[22:39] Speaker 2: or Miszoo as an SEC team, Like has the vibe
[22:42] Speaker 2: shifted to you where you just automatically get the feeling
[22:46] Speaker 2: that this is this all makes sense and this is
[22:48] Speaker 2: where they're supposed to be because basically for none of them. Like,
[22:52] Speaker 2: I just don't feel it, Like I look at Maryland
[22:57] Speaker 2: and I still think about them playing Duke and all
[23:01] Speaker 2: the hatred on the basketball court.
[23:02] Speaker 1: Buddy, before I was before we kind of move forward
[23:07] Speaker 1: and talk about our next segment here. Yeah, I was
[23:10] Speaker 1: clicking into projected rosters for twenty twenty six. Yeah, I
[23:17] Speaker 1: could not find Oklahoma. I was looking up and down
[23:21] Speaker 1: that big twelve roster. I could not find them anywhere.
[23:24] Speaker 1: And then I had my little aha moment and realized, uh, yeah,
[23:28] Speaker 1: you're looking at the wrong spot. But listen, we were
[23:33] Speaker 1: raised on one version of college football with teams being
[23:36] Speaker 1: aligned in a certain way, and it still requires a
[23:39] Speaker 1: certain bit of mental energy to remember who is where.
[23:42] Speaker 1: So no, it doesn't feel right to me. It still
[23:44] Speaker 1: feels different. I obviously understand it. We talk about it
[23:47] Speaker 1: right and will continue to talk about it in its
[23:49] Speaker 1: new iteration.
[23:51] Speaker 2: But man, yeah, it's some of this stuff is kind
[23:54] Speaker 2: of baked into the whole college football fandom of thirteen
[23:58] Speaker 2: year old Tai Hildenbrand. Yeah, there's still like an element
[24:02] Speaker 2: to me of somebody coming to you one day and saying, hey,
[24:06] Speaker 2: just so you know, we recast your friends. Right, we
[24:09] Speaker 2: had a casting call, and your buddy Feldman is now
[24:13] Speaker 2: going to be played by this guy, Steve had I
[24:16] Speaker 2: told you the story before.
[24:17] Speaker 1: I had a college roommate who went by one name,
[24:20] Speaker 1: and then I forget exactly how, but we ended up
[24:25] Speaker 1: finding out midway through our final semester in college that
[24:29] Speaker 1: his actual first name was something else. This was just
[24:32] Speaker 1: a nickname that he went by. We had no idea.
[24:34] Speaker 1: This was like learning a new person completely. I feel
[24:37] Speaker 1: a little bit like that with this because as teams
[24:41] Speaker 1: move around and I'm an SEC team. Now, okay, I listen,
[24:44] Speaker 1: we're dating ourselves here.
[24:46] Speaker 2: No, no, but we're not dating ourselves. This all happened
[24:49] Speaker 2: in like over you know, ten fifteen years. But you
[24:53] Speaker 2: can't absorb something in a certain way and then have
[24:57] Speaker 2: people arbitrarily and it is arbitrary. Let anybody lie to
[25:00] Speaker 2: you and tell you that it's not. It's arbitrary in
[25:03] Speaker 2: that like who wants the money, who's gonna be able
[25:05] Speaker 2: to get the money, whatever. But it's as if your friend,
[25:10] Speaker 2: what was your friend's name before his old name was Ricky.
[25:14] Speaker 2: His old name was Ricky, and he became he didn't.
[25:16] Speaker 1: Become anything else by Ricky, but there was another first
[25:21] Speaker 1: name that was his birth name that we didn't know about.
[25:25] Speaker 2: Right, that you didn't know about, and he probably had it,
[25:27] Speaker 2: you know, until a certain age whatever. But it was
[25:29] Speaker 2: as if Ricky was like, by the way I used
[25:31] Speaker 2: to be called this, I've also decided I'm a Buddhist
[25:35] Speaker 2: and I'm learning Portuguese and I'm pretty much only gonna
[25:40] Speaker 2: speak that.
[25:40] Speaker 1: It totally. It shook us, man, it should I get it,
[25:44] Speaker 1: same guy, but just like, oh wait, whoa, whoa. I
[25:47] Speaker 1: know I know a couple of people like that. Actually
[25:50] Speaker 1: that went by a middle name or a nickname or
[25:53] Speaker 1: something else, and then you find out what their actual
[25:57] Speaker 1: birth name is and it's like, oh, what are we talking?
[26:00] Speaker 2: I get why, and this is this is a whole
[26:03] Speaker 2: other conversation. I get why people as they get old
[26:06] Speaker 2: and they just become obsessed with like it's it's not
[26:10] Speaker 2: how it used to be kind of thing.
[26:12] Speaker 1: I get. There's so much more.
[26:14] Speaker 2: I'm probably especially prone to it. But you just you're
[26:20] Speaker 2: telling me Nebraska's playing Oregon and Rutgers and Ohio State
[26:25] Speaker 2: and Washington, and you see it like it's just off
[26:29] Speaker 2: to me, man, And Nebraska is just that they're like
[26:31] Speaker 2: the legacy program, a blue blood program, of course, but
[26:35] Speaker 2: like you just bundle these teams together in your mind,
[26:37] Speaker 2: Like I'm just going to pay more attention to the
[26:39] Speaker 2: University of Arizona because of how often Oregon played Arizona
[26:43] Speaker 2: and had cool wins and awful losses or whatever. And
[26:47] Speaker 2: it hasn't worked with me with like Louisville and the
[26:49] Speaker 2: ACC and Rutgers in the Big Ten and you know,
[26:53] Speaker 2: SMU in the ACC, like all of these things still
[26:57] Speaker 2: feel to me. And so I get it from a
[26:59] Speaker 2: Bill Moose. I get it from a like Regent's at
[27:02] Speaker 2: Nebraska being split standpoint where you're like, yes, we're making
[27:06] Speaker 2: more money, Yes, the TV deal is better. Yes that
[27:09] Speaker 2: like the opponents are going to be of higher esteem
[27:13] Speaker 2: more often in the Big Ten. But also we miss
[27:16] Speaker 2: a fall the state, we miss Colorado. We mean, look,
[27:19] Speaker 2: there's the Big Aid and there's the Old Southwest Conference.
[27:22] Speaker 2: I understand things change and evolve all the time in
[27:24] Speaker 2: this sport, but I don't know at a certain point
[27:27] Speaker 2: you hit your limit and just be like, man, I
[27:30] Speaker 2: want something familiar, and that's it's it's all going to go.
[27:33] Speaker 2: And change is the only thing that you can count
[27:36] Speaker 2: on in this world. But I'm just I get it.
[27:39] Speaker 2: I get it from a certain perspective. We're just like,
[27:42] Speaker 2: what if we just went home, we could probably get
[27:46] Speaker 2: this guy on the show. He's got a book to
[27:48] Speaker 2: promote former orgon ad, but we could probably make this work.
[27:52] Speaker 1: So maybe that's something we should consider. We got space
[27:54] Speaker 1: to fill. Doc.
[27:55] Speaker 2: Yeah, Nebraska fans are with a hard pass on that one,
[27:58] Speaker 2: but everybody else you have questions about running high level
[28:02] Speaker 2: athletic departments, you know, there could be some meat on
[28:05] Speaker 2: that bone. But yeah, I also I enjoyed this story
[28:08] Speaker 2: because you saw Nebraska fans online and on social media
[28:13] Speaker 2: and it was all just like this confirms all of
[28:15] Speaker 2: our biggest fears about how this program was being rung.
[28:18] Speaker 2: We unfortunately, man, unfortunately, and I am strictly talking about
[28:22] Speaker 2: college football here. Yeah, unfortunately, we have seen some of
[28:28] Speaker 2: the message board fodder, conspiracies, rumors, whatever you want to
[28:33] Speaker 2: call them, come true here on a couple of different
[28:36] Speaker 2: fronts as of late, this I think being the most
[28:40] Speaker 2: recent example. But to the point, yeah, people are talking
[28:43] Speaker 2: and this confirmed a lot in the Nebraska universe. We'll
[28:47] Speaker 2: see if maybe we can talk about this more unpack
[28:49] Speaker 2: this book at some point in the very near future,
[28:51] Speaker 2: if that works for you.
[28:52] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[28:53] Speaker 2: Now there's a lot of yeah, a lot of the
[28:55] Speaker 2: uh Palace intrigue, like Scott Frost got an extension?
[28:59] Speaker 1: How exactly it wasn't Bill Moose Like?
[29:01] Speaker 2: There was just so much in the little excerpt, so
[29:05] Speaker 2: curious to read the book and Seeah, say, I think
[29:08] Speaker 2: it's called Crab Creek Chronicles. That's yeah, Crab Creek Chronicles
[29:13] Speaker 2: from the wheat fields to the ballfields and beyond.
[29:15] Speaker 1: There you go. All right, Dan, let's throw some teams
[29:19] Speaker 1: in the computer. Give me that sound. Oh, I got you?
[29:21] Speaker 1: Well a computer? Do you want? You want? There will
[29:24] Speaker 1: be blood? I can do either one. Well, I like
[29:27] Speaker 1: there will be blood. I've never seen it. But do
[29:31] Speaker 1: you like that one? Play the other one too? Okay,
[29:34] Speaker 1: So I also have this right here. You have a
[29:36] Speaker 1: great chance here. Bear in mind, you can lose it
[29:38] Speaker 1: all if you're not careful. I like that second one better,
[29:43] Speaker 1: Thank you me too. Why don't we roll with that?
[29:45] Speaker 1: So here's what we did. You've got three teams. I've
[29:48] Speaker 1: got three teams. We're looking at what transpired in twenty
[29:51] Speaker 1: twenty five. And as he said, it's not a preview.
[29:54] Speaker 1: If anything, it's a preview to the preview of the preview.
[29:58] Speaker 1: But we're just gonna throw some darts here at whether
[30:02] Speaker 1: or not some of these trends will continue in twenty
[30:06] Speaker 1: twenty six. So my three teams are Arizona, Miami, and
[30:11] Speaker 1: Texas A and M Your three teams are Oklahoma, USC
[30:16] Speaker 1: and Virginia. And we're gonna go back and forth on
[30:21] Speaker 1: whether some elements of those teams will continue some things
[30:25] Speaker 1: will continue trending.
[30:27] Speaker 2: Yeah, just we I think I have a pretty good
[30:30] Speaker 2: handle on how those teams are trending. I think largely
[30:33] Speaker 2: all of these are in a positive direction. And what
[30:38] Speaker 2: the odds are, what our vibes are, what our understandings
[30:42] Speaker 2: are of what these teams have done to take that
[30:46] Speaker 2: next step and build upon these trends.
[30:48] Speaker 1: Give me a team, who are you doing first? Let's
[30:51] Speaker 1: do Miami. They earned it, Miami. So the question is
[30:54] Speaker 1: whether or not Miami's high level winning like we saw
[30:58] Speaker 1: this year will continue. Went to the National Championship Game,
[31:02] Speaker 1: played it at home. Was something of a rebirth for Miami.
[31:08] Speaker 1: Very exciting season. Miami in twenty twenty six looks to
[31:12] Speaker 1: be very, very good. Again at the skilled positions. Bring
[31:17] Speaker 1: over Darien Mensa from Duke as the new quarterback, have
[31:20] Speaker 1: a lot back in the running back room. I think
[31:22] Speaker 1: out wide they'll be fine as well. Clearly, Malachai Tony
[31:26] Speaker 1: we'll get another bite at the apple as a true sophomore,
[31:28] Speaker 1: which is crazy. I have a question about the offensive line,
[31:33] Speaker 1: especially the two tackle spots. Are gonna have a lot
[31:35] Speaker 1: of freshmen coming in this year, obviously led by Jackson Cantwell,
[31:39] Speaker 1: who was the big name recruital on the line, But
[31:42] Speaker 1: for a Chrystal Ball team to have a question mark
[31:45] Speaker 1: at offensive line, though it's a little bit different than
[31:48] Speaker 1: we saw this past year, it is one of those
[31:50] Speaker 1: areas one of the core competencies of any Crystal Ball team,
[31:54] Speaker 1: so I think they will be fine there, But at
[31:57] Speaker 1: present mid February, that looks like that's a relatively big
[32:01] Speaker 1: question mark. Yes, I think the bigger one is defensively. Defensively,
[32:05] Speaker 1: when you're replacing the likes of Reuben Bayn and a
[32:07] Speaker 1: keem Mesador, both of whom could be first round picks,
[32:10] Speaker 1: there's a question about your pass rush. They'll be stout
[32:13] Speaker 1: in the middle defensively, but there is a question about
[32:16] Speaker 1: what that pass rush is going to look like. They
[32:20] Speaker 1: are losing some experience, I believe at linebacker, but there's
[32:23] Speaker 1: enough there that I feel pretty confident they'll be fine.
[32:28] Speaker 1: And I think they're gonna be good enough in the
[32:30] Speaker 1: secondary as well. So Miami is set up in a
[32:34] Speaker 1: pretty good spot. They have questions like any team ass questions,
[32:37] Speaker 1: and it just so happens. The biggest question mark is
[32:39] Speaker 1: an area where the coach excels pretty well.
[32:42] Speaker 2: Agree, I think it would be impossible for Miami to
[32:45] Speaker 2: win single digits in twenty twenty six.
[32:48] Speaker 1: It is an ideal schedule too. That is the other
[32:52] Speaker 1: thing here, as far as we can tell right first,
[32:55] Speaker 1: and you know, we try not to lean too heavily
[32:58] Speaker 1: on the schedule thing, right It's hard, especially in middle February,
[33:02] Speaker 1: February eleventh, as we record this. Yeah, the only game
[33:05] Speaker 1: that really scares me here as we look at this
[33:09] Speaker 1: well in advance, is a road tilt against Notre Dame.
[33:13] Speaker 1: But otherwise the ACC schedule, the biggest land mine is
[33:17] Speaker 1: a road game at Clemson, and who knows what we
[33:19] Speaker 1: have there. I have no idea what to make a
[33:20] Speaker 1: Clemson At this point. It seems to me as if
[33:23] Speaker 1: the ACC outside of Miami is wide open. I don't
[33:27] Speaker 1: know who I'd even put it number two in that
[33:30] Speaker 1: conference at this point, but as it stands right now, Miami,
[33:33] Speaker 1: at least to me, looks like you could pencil them
[33:36] Speaker 1: in to the ACC title game, and in terms of
[33:40] Speaker 1: high level winning, I don't know if it continues on
[33:42] Speaker 1: the playoff side of this, but they will, in my
[33:45] Speaker 1: opinion at least have an opportunity to contend again in
[33:49] Speaker 1: the college football Playoff. Based on what I'm seeing right.
[33:51] Speaker 2: Now, it's a tricky road slight just in terms of
[33:54] Speaker 2: what these teams could be if they also trend in
[33:58] Speaker 2: the correct direction. At Wake Forest there should be a challenge,
[34:00] Speaker 2: but Wake lost a couple of big names, but we'll
[34:02] Speaker 2: see if the offense gets better. Clemson is overhauling a
[34:05] Speaker 2: lot on both sides of the ball. At North Carolina
[34:08] Speaker 2: the week before at Notre Dame and after Pitt you'll
[34:11] Speaker 2: let down look ahead, Sandwich. I'm not telling you, Billy Edwards.
[34:14] Speaker 2: North Carolina is scaring me up nights, but it's a
[34:19] Speaker 2: tricky seeming road slate. We have no idea what Virginia
[34:22] Speaker 2: Tech's gonna look like with Ethan Grunkemeyer and James Franklin
[34:25] Speaker 2: by the end of the season. But with how Miami
[34:29] Speaker 2: has been building, it would take a pretty big effort
[34:34] Speaker 2: to not go at the very least ten and two
[34:37] Speaker 2: you make one of your more difficult opponents weaker by
[34:39] Speaker 2: taking their quarterback in the last second after the portal
[34:42] Speaker 2: closes in Duke and Darien Mensa. So it would be
[34:46] Speaker 2: a pretty shocker if this trend did not continue. I
[34:50] Speaker 2: don't know if they're making a national championship game, but
[34:54] Speaker 2: being in the conversation for winning this conference and being
[34:56] Speaker 2: a top six seven seed in the College Football Playoff,
[35:01] Speaker 2: I think it's a reasonable trending expectation.
[35:04] Speaker 1: I think so too. I would say bigger picture, it
[35:09] Speaker 1: does feel like crystal Ball has gotten this program to
[35:11] Speaker 1: some kind of critical mass. Yeah, and the conversation that
[35:15] Speaker 1: we had had in the past about Miami trying to
[35:17] Speaker 1: bring talent in and assemble and rebuild, it feels like
[35:21] Speaker 1: it has now gotten to a point where it is
[35:23] Speaker 1: sort of recruiting to itself again like it used to,
[35:26] Speaker 1: whether that's via the transfer portal or in the high
[35:29] Speaker 1: school ranks.
[35:29] Speaker 2: I mean, he's always been a very gifted recruiter. So
[35:31] Speaker 2: it should come as no great surprise, but it took
[35:33] Speaker 2: a minute to get to this point.
[35:35] Speaker 1: Now. The fact that they made it to the national
[35:38] Speaker 1: championship game, albeit did not go to their own conference
[35:41] Speaker 1: championship game, but we can put that to the side.
[35:43] Speaker 1: The fact that they are doing what they are doing now.
[35:46] Speaker 2: In a crystal ball and attracting this level of town
[35:48] Speaker 2: I think is pretty exciting if you're a Miami fan.
[35:49] Speaker 1: So I would expect the high level winning here to continue.
[35:52] Speaker 1: I think this is more of a trend. It's not just,
[35:55] Speaker 1: you know, a momentary blip.
[35:57] Speaker 2: By the way, if you had told me in twenty
[35:59] Speaker 2: twenty one one that in twenty twenty six, I would
[36:02] Speaker 2: say an interesting matchup might be Mario Christobal's team against
[36:06] Speaker 2: Bill Belichick's team, my brain would have turned into ntella tie.
[36:11] Speaker 2: My brain would have completely split and collapsed on itself
[36:16] Speaker 2: into goo.
[36:17] Speaker 1: So here we are. That's the reality in the ACC Dan,
[36:21] Speaker 1: I want you to give me the loadown on Oklahoma
[36:23] Speaker 1: as a continuing SEC.
[36:27] Speaker 2: Slash college football playoff. Let's call it fixture. Okay, are
[36:34] Speaker 2: they mixture.
[36:35] Speaker 1: As one of the contending teams in either of those two.
[36:40] Speaker 2: I don't have a downward trend. I don't have an
[36:41] Speaker 2: upward trend. I think they're I maybe plateauing, if that's
[36:46] Speaker 2: an acceptable answer here. Because of the way that they
[36:50] Speaker 2: had to win last year. I think they did a
[36:53] Speaker 2: very good job addressing what needed to be addressed, and
[36:56] Speaker 2: that is filling out offensive skill talent, building more depth
[37:00] Speaker 2: in talent along the offensive line. They made a change
[37:03] Speaker 2: Jason Witten's now there tight ends coach. They made have
[37:06] Speaker 2: changed a couple assistant spots, but coordinators are the same.
[37:12] Speaker 2: I just there's so much more I need to see
[37:16] Speaker 2: from the pop of this offense that. Yes, their schedule
[37:20] Speaker 2: is interesting enough where there's new quarterbacks and new coaches
[37:23] Speaker 2: whatever on this schedule, and it starts in a pretty
[37:28] Speaker 2: tough way, we think, traveling to Michigan, traveling to Georgia
[37:31] Speaker 2: in September. But they return enough on defense where you're like,
[37:36] Speaker 2: this is one of the best three or four defenses
[37:38] Speaker 2: in America. They return a ton of key pieces, even
[37:40] Speaker 2: losing a couple of key pieces, but on all three
[37:43] Speaker 2: levels they are key guys back. The hits depth wise
[37:47] Speaker 2: are what might concern me a little bit. You know,
[37:49] Speaker 2: they lose two key rotation pieces at linebacker. Our Mason
[37:53] Speaker 2: Thomas is gone, so there is some star power gone.
[37:55] Speaker 2: The Bowen brothers are back where I feel good enough
[37:59] Speaker 2: about this defense doing enough to hold up their end
[38:02] Speaker 2: of the bargain as an SEC and college football playoff fixture.
[38:06] Speaker 2: But it's still to me that that question of can
[38:10] Speaker 2: they build and execute on the level of like a
[38:13] Speaker 2: top forty offense, that to me is something where I'm
[38:18] Speaker 2: just like, I don't see them trending in an upward
[38:21] Speaker 2: direction until I get some answers in September. By the way, yeah,
[38:26] Speaker 2: does this not feel backwards to you? It still feels
[38:29] Speaker 2: backwards if it.
[38:30] Speaker 1: Feels backwards to me. Speaking to things that we got
[38:34] Speaker 1: used to that have seemingly been upended in college football.
[38:39] Speaker 1: We used to have this conversation when Lincoln Riley was
[38:42] Speaker 1: a coach all the time, and the conversation was always, hey,
[38:44] Speaker 1: if the defense can get twenty percent better, they might
[38:47] Speaker 1: win the national championship. It's completely flipped now, completely flipped.
[38:51] Speaker 1: If the offense can improve just to a marginal degree,
[38:56] Speaker 1: it's a completely different conversation. How about Oklahoma as a
[39:00] Speaker 1: starting point, though having a beast defensive line, having a
[39:04] Speaker 1: good quarterback behind an offensive line with plenty of experience,
[39:07] Speaker 1: having his primary weapon in Isaiah Setania coming back. That
[39:11] Speaker 1: is all a very very good start to ensure some
[39:14] Speaker 1: base level of competence.
[39:15] Speaker 2: Yeah, they added Virginia's best receiver. There's a lot that
[39:18] Speaker 2: they are proactively doing. They are, They've been very proactive. Yeah,
[39:22] Speaker 2: so I like what Venables has done. The schedule is
[39:25] Speaker 2: front loaded for Oklahoma this year, which might be.
[39:28] Speaker 1: Good because they do return a fair amount of experience.
[39:31] Speaker 1: They do have a bit of an X sandwich though
[39:33] Speaker 1: in week three. I don't know if you saw that
[39:35] Speaker 1: I did. That's between a road game at Michigan, come
[39:39] Speaker 1: back home play New Mexico, then go back on the
[39:41] Speaker 1: road the following week to square off against Georgia. That
[39:44] Speaker 1: could be an interesting game for us to take an
[39:46] Speaker 1: ec and cheese. I like it, thank you. I like it.
[39:50] Speaker 1: We got options there, man, we got a lot of options.
[39:52] Speaker 1: But I think Oklahoma is a legit threat again, I
[39:56] Speaker 1: think because of the starting point with the line and
[40:00] Speaker 1: healthy quarterback, hopefully healthy quarterback this year, fully healthy in
[40:03] Speaker 1: John Matier.
[40:04] Speaker 2: The schedule's just brutal, though, what did you call it
[40:06] Speaker 2: on the last episode. We've got any sec schedule. Yeah, Yeah,
[40:12] Speaker 2: we've got a tough schedule here.
[40:13] Speaker 1: But I think if it's gonna happen, and if we
[40:18] Speaker 1: are going to continue talking about Oklahoma as a legit
[40:21] Speaker 1: contender on both fronts, whether it's conference or the playoff,
[40:26] Speaker 1: it goes without saying they got to get better as
[40:28] Speaker 1: a run blocking unit. They got to get better. They
[40:32] Speaker 1: just weren't good at that last year. The offense cannot
[40:34] Speaker 1: revolve entirely around John Matier, good as he is, it
[40:38] Speaker 1: can't rely entirely upon him drawing something up in the
[40:41] Speaker 1: dirt and making a play. So if they can get
[40:45] Speaker 1: decent offensive production, let's call it twenty percent better offensive production,
[40:51] Speaker 1: ten percent better offensive production next to what looks to
[40:55] Speaker 1: be an awesome defense. Again, they're in the playoff, but
[40:58] Speaker 1: if the offensive line struggles, then we're probably having the
[41:01] Speaker 1: same conversation next year. Yeah.
[41:03] Speaker 2: And look, it's the SEC gauntlet, and with these huge conferences,
[41:10] Speaker 2: with the schedules being as varied as they can be,
[41:14] Speaker 2: that you're playing a bunch of teams that aren't super competitive,
[41:18] Speaker 2: or you're playing gauntlet of teams at or near the top,
[41:22] Speaker 2: that you combine that with the fact that rosters are
[41:26] Speaker 2: changing as they are with what it's Kentucky and Florida
[41:30] Speaker 2: with new coaches, and then South Carolina trying to rebuild
[41:33] Speaker 2: on the fly in Mississippi State making a quarterback change,
[41:36] Speaker 2: obviously moving to Camaro Taylor, like there are always going
[41:39] Speaker 2: to be on these major conference schedules, there are always
[41:42] Speaker 2: going to be three to five swing teams that are
[41:45] Speaker 2: either clearly better than they probably should be, clearly worse
[41:50] Speaker 2: than they probably should be, or just whifted in the
[41:53] Speaker 2: portal and don't have the talent to play more than
[41:56] Speaker 2: five or six games at a high level because they're
[41:59] Speaker 2: just having depth issues or whatever they can't sustain. So
[42:02] Speaker 2: we don't know how difficult any of these schedules are,
[42:05] Speaker 2: but it becomes especially dramatic in the Big Ten, the
[42:10] Speaker 2: ACC and the SEC.
[42:13] Speaker 1: You mentioned Arizona earlier. Let's talk some Arizona, yes please.
[42:17] Speaker 1: Arizona improved from the eighty fourth best defense in the
[42:22] Speaker 1: SP plus all the way up to number twenty three.
[42:26] Speaker 1: It was a huge jump and a very big deal
[42:30] Speaker 1: for Brent Brennan. They improved across a bunch of key categories.
[42:34] Speaker 1: It was points per game, passing yards per game, rushing
[42:36] Speaker 1: yards per game, yards per passing attempt third down conversions
[42:40] Speaker 1: was a big one, turnovers, you name it. Danny Gonzalez
[42:44] Speaker 1: was promoted before the year to defensive coordinator. Danny Gonzalez
[42:47] Speaker 1: did a very very good job. It was a very
[42:50] Speaker 1: big deal, that enormous step forward that we saw defensively
[42:55] Speaker 1: this season. They lose a lot Dalton Johnson, Genesis Smith
[43:00] Speaker 1: with Trad and Stukes, Eiding Garns, Michael Dansby. Losing all
[43:04] Speaker 1: of that production is a very, very big deal. It
[43:07] Speaker 1: is a combined sixty seven hundred defensive snaps, two hundred
[43:11] Speaker 1: and eighty eight tackles, thirty nine pass breakups, and twelve
[43:14] Speaker 1: interceptions all from the twenty twenty five roster that's in selot. Yeah,
[43:20] Speaker 1: that's a lot. I would say though, as I look
[43:24] Speaker 1: at this structurally, it looks like there is like a
[43:29] Speaker 1: sustainable core in place, at least philosophy in place. They've
[43:38] Speaker 1: got a really good linebacking core that is again coming back.
[43:41] Speaker 1: Tay Brown, Chase Kennedy, Jabari Man. I like those three
[43:45] Speaker 1: guys a lot. Arizona might have one of the most,
[43:49] Speaker 1: if not the most experienced linebacking cores and all the
[43:53] Speaker 1: big twelve. That's a good starting point in the great
[43:55] Speaker 1: Art defense. I also think it's notable that the schedule
[43:58] Speaker 1: this year is going to be backed So if we're
[44:01] Speaker 1: talking about this in terms of the secondary and all
[44:04] Speaker 1: that is leaving the secondary, brought a bunch of new
[44:07] Speaker 1: guys in a backloaded schedule, gives you an opportunity to
[44:12] Speaker 1: figure things out before the rubber really meets the road.
[44:16] Speaker 1: So I think given the fact that there is now
[44:19] Speaker 1: a stronger coaching situation on the defensive side of the ball,
[44:23] Speaker 1: this gives them a chance to congeal and figure it
[44:25] Speaker 1: all out before they really get into the nitty gritty.
[44:27] Speaker 1: I like that.
[44:29] Speaker 2: I think the defense is probably taking a bit of
[44:32] Speaker 2: a step back, but I still think those dudes are
[44:35] Speaker 2: NFL dudes at safety.
[44:38] Speaker 1: Johnson, Yeah, all NFL dudes, great secondary. It is fair
[44:41] Speaker 1: to assume that there's going to be a step back,
[44:43] Speaker 1: at least in the back end of that defense. But
[44:46] Speaker 1: I still think the defense is going to be good.
[44:48] Speaker 1: Like on a fundamental level, they got really good at
[44:50] Speaker 1: tackling last year, much better than they were the year before.
[44:53] Speaker 1: If that's your starting point, if you're fundamentally sound, I
[44:56] Speaker 1: think again we can assume a base level of excess
[45:00] Speaker 1: with this defense. So it's not gonna be as good,
[45:04] Speaker 1: but it still will be fine. It's just gonna look different.
[45:07] Speaker 1: You got less experience in the back, You've got more
[45:09] Speaker 1: of a threat with your linebacking core. And I just
[45:12] Speaker 1: think the story of Arizona is one of a coach
[45:15] Speaker 1: figuring it out in year two. Okay, figured it out
[45:18] Speaker 1: in year two. And so there's a lot coming back
[45:21] Speaker 1: on offense that we can speak to if we want.
[45:23] Speaker 1: But if this is more of a conversation about the
[45:26] Speaker 1: Arizona defense and the trend line on that side of
[45:30] Speaker 1: the ball, I think it sort of flattens out. But
[45:32] Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna nose dive. I don't think
[45:34] Speaker 1: we're gonna see year one, Brent Brennan. I don't think
[45:36] Speaker 1: we're gonna see year two. I think this is somewhere
[45:39] Speaker 1: in the middle. Okay.
[45:40] Speaker 2: So a plateau ish ish, yeah, a plateau ish yeah.
[45:45] Speaker 2: And the big thing last year and we were sort
[45:46] Speaker 2: of locking in on the defense because that's what led
[45:48] Speaker 2: the way last year. But the defense wasn't put in
[45:50] Speaker 2: any bad positions or as many bad positions because Noah
[45:53] Speaker 2: Fafiita was a lot more careful with the ball last year.
[45:56] Speaker 2: So it's twelve picks and twenty twenty four of only
[45:58] Speaker 2: five picks last year. So they weren't dealing with short fields,
[46:01] Speaker 2: they weren't dealing with the barrage of turnovers that they
[46:04] Speaker 2: were in twenty twenty four. And so you know, Seth
[46:08] Speaker 2: Thagi's back running the offense.
[46:10] Speaker 1: I believe.
[46:11] Speaker 2: So there is continuity on both sides of the ball
[46:14] Speaker 2: that back half of the schedule. If those teams are
[46:16] Speaker 2: all at least competitive, and it's a tough back, that's
[46:19] Speaker 2: the problem. He should be a ball team though they
[46:21] Speaker 2: should again be a bolt.
[46:22] Speaker 1: They should. And by the way, as we're talking through
[46:25] Speaker 1: each of these teams, note we're not talking about Arizona
[46:30] Speaker 1: as necessarily a contender. Talked about that with Oklahoma and
[46:34] Speaker 1: talked about that with Miami. That is not the trend
[46:37] Speaker 1: we are analyzing here. We're looking specifically at the defense
[46:40] Speaker 1: and the games that we saw on that side of
[46:41] Speaker 1: the ball. So I think the Arizona story bigger picture
[46:46] Speaker 1: is a great one for Brent Brennan and what he
[46:48] Speaker 1: figured out in year two, and it definitely felt like
[46:51] Speaker 1: a lot clicked, but defensively TBD dive. I don't think
[46:58] Speaker 1: we're going to see up into the right. We're not
[46:59] Speaker 1: gonna see like a big old hockey stick on the
[47:01] Speaker 1: line graft. But somewhere in between is where this defense
[47:05] Speaker 1: is going to be in twenty six.
[47:06] Speaker 2: I would say trending danger. The danger trend continues for
[47:09] Speaker 2: the Arizona defense.
[47:11] Speaker 1: Uh guine something on Virginia.
[47:15] Speaker 2: Okay, Virginia is super interesting because with a good chunk
[47:21] Speaker 2: of changes, but some back on this roster. Obviously, they
[47:24] Speaker 2: hit the portal pretty hard after the twenty twenty four season,
[47:27] Speaker 2: especially succeeding on defense, but Chanmo was pretty good at
[47:31] Speaker 2: quarterback last year led them to the ACC Championship game,
[47:35] Speaker 2: which they were in until the very end and had
[47:37] Speaker 2: a chance to win the conference in a huge back
[47:40] Speaker 2: bounce back moment. They were my team that I was
[47:43] Speaker 2: looking at skeptically, but they returned just enough on both
[47:47] Speaker 2: sides of the ball. Hit the portal and their schedule again,
[47:52] Speaker 2: we don't know the swings and the spectrum of this schedule,
[47:56] Speaker 2: but they miss a bunch of the perceive good teams
[48:01] Speaker 2: once again in the ACC. When you look at who
[48:04] Speaker 2: they don't play, notably, you know they miss pitt. I
[48:08] Speaker 2: believe in Louisville and Miami. They don't make a west
[48:11] Speaker 2: coast trip, so that doesn't screw things up from a
[48:13] Speaker 2: travel standpoint for a couple of weeks. They do travel
[48:15] Speaker 2: to SMU, which will be tough. They have like one
[48:19] Speaker 2: of the no question, yeah no Clemson on here. They
[48:23] Speaker 2: have one of the weirder quarterback rooms in that they
[48:26] Speaker 2: brought over both Eli Holstein and Bo Pribula. Correct So
[48:31] Speaker 2: in terms of guys with high hopes who didn't work
[48:34] Speaker 2: out at big places, they've cornered the market by having.
[48:39] Speaker 1: Two of them.
[48:39] Speaker 2: They got to come in this season, so Bo Prabula
[48:44] Speaker 2: threw a bunch of picks. Eli Holstein was inconsistent enough
[48:46] Speaker 2: that he lost his job to Mason Heinschel into the season.
[48:52] Speaker 2: So that to me is the interesting question. It's just like,
[48:56] Speaker 2: do they have a quarterback I'm excited about. I'm not
[48:59] Speaker 2: there yet, and so that's the problem to me that
[49:03] Speaker 2: you couple that with some of the really close, weird
[49:06] Speaker 2: wins from last year by single digits, like low single digits,
[49:12] Speaker 2: That to me has me questioning if this is replicable.
[49:15] Speaker 2: I'm going to say because of the seemingly upside ish
[49:20] Speaker 2: ski part of this schedule. I'm gonna say, yes, I
[49:23] Speaker 2: can't go beyond plateau. I can't look at this roster
[49:27] Speaker 2: and immediately say they're going to have more pop.
[49:30] Speaker 1: I can't immediately do that.
[49:32] Speaker 2: I'm going to say it's likely that they take a
[49:34] Speaker 2: step back, though I could see them at least plateauing
[49:38] Speaker 2: and ending up in that late season. What was what's
[49:42] Speaker 2: the website that has all the tiebreaker situations that you
[49:45] Speaker 2: would follow.
[49:46] Speaker 1: Some basketball reference, right? Not nothing dot net? Yeah?
[49:50] Speaker 2: Yeah, there is not nothing dot net that they're weirdly like,
[49:54] Speaker 2: oh yeah, they just need these two teams to lose
[49:56] Speaker 2: in the a SEC Championship game. And it's a proposition
[50:00] Speaker 2: hadn't considered at all. So yes, I could see them there.
[50:04] Speaker 2: But I could also see like, oh god, tie, I
[50:07] Speaker 2: apologize in advance. I could see a bow Plateau, a
[50:09] Speaker 2: bow for this virginal Well, look, I mean, Virginia is
[50:14] Speaker 2: interesting for a whole range of reasons. The schedule is
[50:18] Speaker 2: very gettable. It's very gettable, and there are a fair
[50:24] Speaker 2: amount of good pieces that I see on this roster.
[50:29] Speaker 2: They're just very reliant on a lot of the new
[50:31] Speaker 2: pieces coming together, very reliant. I mean, they're gettable in
[50:36] Speaker 2: the secondary I'm not sure about the past rush. I
[50:38] Speaker 2: could talk specifically about questions, but that's not really what
[50:40] Speaker 2: we're doing here. We're talking about Virginia as a contender. Yeah,
[50:43] Speaker 2: I think by virtue of the schedule and given the
[50:46] Speaker 2: fact that there's at least enough in place here that
[50:48] Speaker 2: I feel pretty good about it, I don't think we
[50:52] Speaker 2: can sit here and say they're not a contender. But
[50:55] Speaker 2: I also look at this roster and I say I
[50:56] Speaker 2: don't necessarily think they're better.
[50:59] Speaker 1: Right where that puts them. I don't know. I'm inclined
[51:02] Speaker 1: to say no on the contender front because I just
[51:06] Speaker 1: have more questions than I do answers about what it's
[51:09] Speaker 1: going to look like. When Tony Elliott tries to piece
[51:11] Speaker 1: all this together on the fly, just feels like it's it.
[51:15] Speaker 1: What we saw with Chandler Morris a year ago was
[51:18] Speaker 1: fundamentally different than what we're going to see this year
[51:20] Speaker 1: with some combination of Bo Pribula and Eli Holstein, two
[51:23] Speaker 1: guys by the way that I like a lot. I'm
[51:25] Speaker 1: just not sure how that all fits together, and I'm
[51:27] Speaker 1: not sure with you au guess around them books it's
[51:29] Speaker 1: I have too many questions at this point to subscribe
[51:32] Speaker 1: to this.
[51:33] Speaker 2: I'm going to say, I think you like your memories
[51:37] Speaker 2: of Bo Pribula and Eli Holstein. If I were to
[51:40] Speaker 2: tell you either one of these after last season we're
[51:43] Speaker 2: starting for Notre Dame, I think your tune might sound
[51:46] Speaker 2: a little different. Uh yeah, okay the other verifying Yeah,
[51:51] Speaker 2: that's fair. Yeah, because I I think if you were
[51:55] Speaker 2: to pull a bunch of Pitt and Maszoo fans about
[51:57] Speaker 2: their experience from last season, they'd be like excited to
[52:01] Speaker 2: see what Austin Simmons and Mason Heidschell bring to the
[52:04] Speaker 2: table this year. So okay, what am I talking or
[52:08] Speaker 2: what are you talking here? Texas A and m oh
[52:11] Speaker 2: I like Texas A and m going to be a
[52:12] Speaker 2: contender again, I say yes, But I didn't dip into
[52:19] Speaker 2: them like you.
[52:19] Speaker 1: Oh I dipped in more than just to tell this
[52:25] Speaker 1: roster is stocked. Okay, okay, offensively, there's enough back at
[52:30] Speaker 1: the skill positions. The line's not going to be as
[52:32] Speaker 1: good last year. That was the big talking point coming
[52:35] Speaker 1: to the year. I don't think they're going to be
[52:37] Speaker 1: as good. They're gonna be doing some work with the
[52:40] Speaker 1: guys that they brought in via the transfer portal. It's
[52:43] Speaker 1: not not talented. I just feel like we had a
[52:45] Speaker 1: better starting point last year. We knew what we were
[52:47] Speaker 1: in for. But they lose what is it like three
[52:50] Speaker 1: All American starters while on the offensive line to the draft,
[52:53] Speaker 1: they're going to be rebuilding a little bit upfront, albeit
[52:56] Speaker 1: with guys who had experience elsewhere. Yeah. Also of note,
[52:59] Speaker 1: both there's starting tackles are gone. Cash Is Howl, their
[53:04] Speaker 1: premium pass rusher is off to the NFL as well.
[53:06] Speaker 1: Looks like he's going to be a first round pick.
[53:09] Speaker 1: Pretty big void for me. On the edge, they lose
[53:12] Speaker 1: Casey concepts you on out of that receiver room. They
[53:15] Speaker 1: also lose Colin Kline J Bateman. There's just a lot
[53:18] Speaker 1: that is changing for this Texas A and M roster
[53:23] Speaker 1: and coaching staff. Yeah, there are a lot of ifs here,
[53:27] Speaker 1: and so I am inclined to say no. On the
[53:31] Speaker 1: contender front, I don't think they're a contender for the SEC.
[53:35] Speaker 1: I don't think they're a contender for the College Football Playoff,
[53:39] Speaker 1: mainly because lots walking out the door and this schedule
[53:45] Speaker 1: is freaking absurd. You want to use the gauntlet word again?
[53:49] Speaker 1: Can you say that for me?
[53:51] Speaker 2: Gauntlet, but it's especially instructive because last year's was look
[53:56] Speaker 2: the two things being true at once, I think holds
[53:59] Speaker 2: it's last year's Texas A and MPTEAM was good.
[54:01] Speaker 1: Was definitely good.
[54:03] Speaker 2: Also, they didn't play the best of the SEC by
[54:06] Speaker 2: and large until they played Texas late in the year.
[54:09] Speaker 1: Basically, I'm going to read this off in totality, Okay,
[54:13] Speaker 1: I want people to comprehend this. Missouri State to open
[54:20] Speaker 1: up the year. Whatever. Okay, Arizona State Week two at home,
[54:25] Speaker 1: Kentucky at home. Week three on the road at LSU,
[54:30] Speaker 1: Week four home against Arkansas at MISSOO, the following week
[54:35] Speaker 1: game against the Citadel in there, whatever, on the road
[54:39] Speaker 1: in Tuscaloosa against Alabama before a bye week, and then
[54:42] Speaker 1: to close out the year at South Carolina home against
[54:46] Speaker 1: Tennessee at Oklahoma home against Texas. That is your month
[54:51] Speaker 1: of November. This to me does look like a gauntlet,
[54:55] Speaker 1: And this to me does look like it's going to
[54:57] Speaker 1: be very, very difficult to get to ten and two,
[55:01] Speaker 1: which I think is sort of where you need to
[55:03] Speaker 1: get to in the twelve team field to be considered
[55:06] Speaker 1: logistically or realistically and logistically a true playoff contender. I
[55:12] Speaker 1: don't see it with the schedule, and I don't see
[55:14] Speaker 1: it with some of the pieces that are walking out
[55:16] Speaker 1: the door. I like Texas saying him a lot. I
[55:18] Speaker 1: had A and M in my playoff a year ago
[55:20] Speaker 1: when we did the preseason thing, so I'm not rooting
[55:22] Speaker 1: against A and M. I don't see it based on
[55:26] Speaker 1: the schedule. I don't see it.
[55:28] Speaker 2: So the counterpoint is that I think you and I
[55:31] Speaker 2: have an immense amount of respect for the coaching ability
[55:33] Speaker 2: of Mike Elco. I do so perhaps overachieve given opponent,
[55:38] Speaker 2: given roster, given depth, and has as good a roster
[55:43] Speaker 2: foundation at Texas A and M as he's had in
[55:45] Speaker 2: his career. There is also until Halloween. When you look
[55:49] Speaker 2: at this schedule, here's the counterpoint, Because nobody knows anything
[55:52] Speaker 2: about any of these teams. This is just a vibe check.
[55:55] Speaker 2: This is just us setting hype narrative for the season.
[55:58] Speaker 1: Tie.
[56:00] Speaker 2: I see a bunch of teams until their bye week
[56:03] Speaker 2: Halloween October thirty first, those marking that down A bunch
[56:07] Speaker 2: of teams that either have a new head coach, a
[56:10] Speaker 2: new starting quarterback or both until Halloween. Correct ASU new
[56:15] Speaker 2: quarterback Kentucky knew both, LSU knew both, Arkansas knew both.
[56:21] Speaker 2: I believe Miszoo new starting quarterback, Alabama new starting quarterback.
[56:25] Speaker 2: Obviously they're not going to be new once they're a
[56:27] Speaker 2: few weeks into the season, but in terms of an
[56:30] Speaker 2: unknown quantity, no, it's fair, and how we praise everything
[56:34] Speaker 2: right now, it's at least interesting to me. And I
[56:39] Speaker 2: understand where you're coming from from A and M though,
[56:41] Speaker 2: just because there are only so many spots to be
[56:44] Speaker 2: in contention for this conference and to be in contention
[56:46] Speaker 2: for the college Football Playoff when the conference is this big.
[56:49] Speaker 2: So yeah, this is the Universe bouncing back, likely after
[56:53] Speaker 2: last year's schedule.
[56:54] Speaker 1: And I my issue with this, and I really struggled
[56:58] Speaker 1: to this because I like this team, like the talent
[57:00] Speaker 1: on hand. It is I would say easily one of
[57:04] Speaker 1: the top five most talented rosters in college football.
[57:08] Speaker 2: They've got a ton of talent on this team. I'd
[57:10] Speaker 2: say top eight, nine to ten somewhere there. I put
[57:12] Speaker 2: them top five. Okay, we can talk about that later,
[57:15] Speaker 2: but I either way, either way, they're in that conversation,
[57:21] Speaker 2: and there's a lot of ammal on this roster.
[57:23] Speaker 1: But I just I look at what's leaving. I look
[57:26] Speaker 1: at what's on the schedule. It just feels to me
[57:28] Speaker 1: like a lot has to come together pretty quickly in
[57:31] Speaker 1: order to feel this good about A and M getting
[57:34] Speaker 1: back to where they were. Never mind the fact that
[57:36] Speaker 1: Marcel Reid, although he had most of the offensive stats
[57:40] Speaker 1: in both of A and M's final games against Texas
[57:42] Speaker 1: and then Miami, four picks like, just if you're an
[57:47] Speaker 1: A and M fan, they definitely sort of went out
[57:49] Speaker 1: with a whimper.
[57:51] Speaker 2: Yeah, of course, I mean the game against Miami, the
[57:54] Speaker 2: game against Texas does not leave anybody does inspired.
[57:57] Speaker 1: It doesn't leave you feel all uninspired. So I'm I
[57:59] Speaker 1: think I'm out for those reasons. I am out for
[58:01] Speaker 1: those reasons you are out? Okay? Should I?
[58:04] Speaker 2: I finish up with if we're going to talk Oklahoma,
[58:07] Speaker 2: got to talk USC.
[58:08] Speaker 1: That Lincoln Riley thread across all college football. Man. So
[58:14] Speaker 1: the question here is you sent this to me. USC
[58:18] Speaker 1: winning double digit games.
[58:19] Speaker 2: Yeah, that would be the trend, because I think they've
[58:21] Speaker 2: won seven and nine these past couple of years.
[58:24] Speaker 1: So in Lincoln's first year with USC, they won eleven
[58:30] Speaker 1: mm hmm. Then they took a step back to eight
[58:33] Speaker 1: and they won seven. This past year they won nine.
[58:36] Speaker 1: So if they continue in that direction as we saw
[58:39] Speaker 1: the last two years, yes, then that would seemingly mean
[58:44] Speaker 1: they're going to get back to ten this year.
[58:45] Speaker 2: Yeah, back to where they have already proven they can
[58:48] Speaker 2: be with Lincoln Riley and at least a Heisman quarterback,
[58:52] Speaker 2: which I guess Jade Mayava is on that shortlist.
[58:55] Speaker 1: Conversation, I think he should be. I think he should be.
[58:58] Speaker 1: I think he had a good year he did. I
[59:01] Speaker 1: think he's crazy talented. My question, though, is ky Lemon
[59:05] Speaker 1: Jacobe Lane gone. Yeah, real questions about the interior offensive line. Defensively,
[59:12] Speaker 1: a lot of talent, but new coordinator Dan Lane goes
[59:15] Speaker 1: to Penn State. They're bringing back Gary Patterson, digging him up,
[59:19] Speaker 1: putting him in the position of defensive coordinator. Obviously you
[59:23] Speaker 1: didn't like that, No, I mean it's just very dark. Continue, Well,
[59:27] Speaker 1: it's been a minute, scary Patterson like exhuoming him. Yeah,
[59:31] Speaker 1: he's back. Gary Patterson's gonna be coach. Sure, so how
[59:35] Speaker 1: does he assemble that talent? The schedule on top of
[59:38] Speaker 1: everything is ridiculous. Great home slate if you're a USC
[59:42] Speaker 1: Yeah s he's a ticket holder. Ticket holder, But tough schedule,
[59:46] Speaker 1: really tough schedule.
[59:47] Speaker 2: So I'm I am not necessarily subscribing to this being
[59:51] Speaker 2: the year they get to like ten and two.
[59:53] Speaker 1: I don't see it.
[59:55] Speaker 2: So a ton has to go, right. I don't think
[59:57] Speaker 2: it's out of the question, but we should add in
[1:00:00] Speaker 2: terms of pure numbers, USC ran away from Notre Dame,
[1:00:05] Speaker 2: which annually had been one of the most difficult two
[1:00:08] Speaker 2: or three games on their schedule.
[1:00:11] Speaker 1: Usually, kep, let me pause you for a second. Please, do.
[1:00:16] Speaker 2: I understand I'm supposed to be outraged about this. Yeah,
[1:00:19] Speaker 2: I understand. I understand that I am supposed to look
[1:00:23] Speaker 2: at this and more in the loss of a great
[1:00:26] Speaker 2: college football rivalry. I'm not not doing that.
[1:00:28] Speaker 1: I missed. I'm going to miss this game. Here comes
[1:00:30] Speaker 1: the butt. There is a butt. Yeah, Ty loves a
[1:00:34] Speaker 1: good butt. Continue. I look at the schedule and I
[1:00:38] Speaker 1: say to myself, I get I totally get it. If
[1:00:41] Speaker 1: your goal is to try and get to the college
[1:00:43] Speaker 1: football playoff, yeah, this is a tough schedule. It's a
[1:00:46] Speaker 1: really tough schedule. So I'm not necessarily cheerleading the move
[1:00:51] Speaker 1: to get rid of the rivalry, but at least within
[1:00:53] Speaker 1: the like immediate context of the twenty twenty six season,
[1:00:57] Speaker 1: I look at the schedule and I'm like, this thing's ridiculous.
[1:01:00] Speaker 1: They don't need Notre Dame on this to validate anything.
[1:01:03] Speaker 1: It is a tough schedule. That's just the draw they
[1:01:05] Speaker 1: got this year at the Big Ten. But I get
[1:01:09] Speaker 1: not wanting to play the Irish this year.
[1:01:11] Speaker 2: But also USC invested in a new general manager and
[1:01:17] Speaker 2: delivered a top recruiting class this year. They're recruiting like
[1:01:21] Speaker 2: they want to be. They want to be one of
[1:01:23] Speaker 2: college football's best. And a number of teams in college
[1:01:25] Speaker 2: football play annual tough opponents in the non conference portion
[1:01:29] Speaker 2: of the schedule. Clemson annually had to go through South
[1:01:32] Speaker 2: Carolina and vice versa, Florida Florida State.
[1:01:34] Speaker 1: Like, we see this thing.
[1:01:35] Speaker 2: You know, Georgia Georgia Tech isn't always the best matchup,
[1:01:38] Speaker 2: but lately it has been very challenging for Georgia.
[1:01:41] Speaker 1: I get that. I'm just saying, if they go through this,
[1:01:44] Speaker 1: what's the word god lose? You know, that's only SEC,
[1:01:48] Speaker 1: that's only SEC. What do we call it the Big Ten?
[1:01:51] Speaker 1: I don't know. It's a more humble conference tie that
[1:01:53] Speaker 1: just takes it week to week. Continue if they make
[1:01:56] Speaker 1: it through this, totally separate from whoever they play in
[1:02:01] Speaker 1: the non conference. They're still waiting to announce who they're
[1:02:03] Speaker 1: playing week one, by the way, if they is, what's that?
[1:02:07] Speaker 1: Oh yeah, week the August game? Yeah, to be announced.
[1:02:11] Speaker 1: If we make it through this, If we're USC, you
[1:02:16] Speaker 1: don't need the non conference doesn't mean anything, because there's
[1:02:19] Speaker 1: enough here on this schedule as is right now, right.
[1:02:26] Speaker 2: As of one hour ago, it says USC has a
[1:02:28] Speaker 2: new option with a new kid on the block, North
[1:02:32] Speaker 2: Dakota State. That'd be fun, actually, So yeah, Fresno State,
[1:02:39] Speaker 2: Louisiana and Rutgers on the road in Piscataway. Before you
[1:02:43] Speaker 2: mentioned the meat of this schedule, Oregon Washington at Penn State.
[1:02:47] Speaker 2: So it's Oregon Washington before traveling across the country to
[1:02:49] Speaker 2: take on now former defensive coordinator Danton Lynn and Penn
[1:02:52] Speaker 2: State running their defense a bye week before they're at Wisconsin,
[1:02:56] Speaker 2: and then Ohio State a bye week before they're at Indiana,
[1:03:00] Speaker 2: and then it finishes presumably a little bit easier with
[1:03:03] Speaker 2: Maryland UCLA just up the road. I think USC is
[1:03:10] Speaker 2: likely peaking at nine to three with this schedule. I agree,
[1:03:14] Speaker 2: So that's another Plateau. I agree, which I think there
[1:03:18] Speaker 2: are things trending in an extremely positive direction for USC.
[1:03:22] Speaker 2: I think there will be young receivers that at least
[1:03:26] Speaker 2: one of whom will establish himself in the way that
[1:03:29] Speaker 2: Tinook Hines did last year. Even without you know, Jacoby
[1:03:32] Speaker 2: Lane and mackay Lemon that there are enough bites at
[1:03:36] Speaker 2: the apple and Mark Bowman coming in one of the
[1:03:39] Speaker 2: best I think tight ends in this incoming class. They
[1:03:42] Speaker 2: really hit the defensive line and the edge hard. In
[1:03:45] Speaker 2: the recruiting class. There's a lot to like about where
[1:03:48] Speaker 2: USC could potentially be up front on both sides of
[1:03:50] Speaker 2: the ball, and at receiver they get Waymon Jordan back,
[1:03:53] Speaker 2: who was their best running back last season before he
[1:03:55] Speaker 2: got hurt. I think he busted up his ankle. Yep,
[1:03:58] Speaker 2: there's a lot here to point to. The problem still
[1:04:01] Speaker 2: to me is USC has a lot of tough games
[1:04:04] Speaker 2: on the road as well. I don't know how tough
[1:04:07] Speaker 2: Wisconsin and what is it Culton Joseph is going to
[1:04:10] Speaker 2: be on the road. I don't know how tough Penn
[1:04:11] Speaker 2: State is going to be on the road. I know
[1:04:13] Speaker 2: it's across the country. Is how tough will Wisconsin be
[1:04:17] Speaker 2: on the road. I'm saying a week before that Ohio
[1:04:19] Speaker 2: State game. Correct, it's a look ahead spot. And Wisconsin
[1:04:24] Speaker 2: at home. Last year you had the weird weather win
[1:04:25] Speaker 2: against Washington beat Illinois. I don't know what Wisconsin is
[1:04:29] Speaker 2: going to be this year. I just know even last
[1:04:31] Speaker 2: year USC on the road, was not it the way
[1:04:34] Speaker 2: that they lost to Illinois, the way that they lost
[1:04:36] Speaker 2: to Oregon, the way that they lost to Notre Dame.
[1:04:38] Speaker 2: These are all good teams and they were losing in
[1:04:41] Speaker 2: the fourth quarter to a Nebraska team that didn't have
[1:04:44] Speaker 2: its starting quarterback. That's you got a credit USC for
[1:04:46] Speaker 2: pulling that win out because that was a game that
[1:04:48] Speaker 2: they hadn't necessarily been pulling out. I still have questions
[1:04:52] Speaker 2: about USC on the road, and especially considering what's at home.
[1:04:57] Speaker 2: I just don't think you can max out a of
[1:05:00] Speaker 2: nine and three with some of those those performance questions.
[1:05:05] Speaker 2: Right in solid Verbal at gmail dot com, let us
[1:05:08] Speaker 2: know your thoughts on the trend line for the six
[1:05:11] Speaker 2: teams we discussed here today.
[1:05:13] Speaker 1: Yeah, you can, of course reach out across any of
[1:05:16] Speaker 1: our social platforms. Let us know your thoughts there. Again,
[1:05:19] Speaker 1: we read everything, though we cannot respond to everything. We
[1:05:21] Speaker 1: get too much, but right appreciate your feedback. We'd love
[1:05:25] Speaker 1: to hear more from respective fan bases here on all
[1:05:29] Speaker 1: of these topics and much much more. You're gonna be
[1:05:32] Speaker 1: in what California next week? You're going away for a
[1:05:34] Speaker 1: little bit.
[1:05:35] Speaker 2: I'm going away President's Day, going to take the boys
[1:05:37] Speaker 2: out there, just to see the grandparents and enjoy some
[1:05:40] Speaker 2: I don't know if it's actually going to be sunny,
[1:05:41] Speaker 2: but enjoy a change of pace for a couple of days.
[1:05:46] Speaker 2: And I'm looking forward to You know what else?
[1:05:47] Speaker 1: I thought of?
[1:05:47] Speaker 2: By the way, in the beginning of the show, the
[1:05:50] Speaker 2: Mountain West is now an elite Prestige TV conference. Fargo
[1:05:55] Speaker 2: and Albuquerque breaking bad.
[1:05:58] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[1:05:59] Speaker 2: I don't know if there are other prestige TV conferences
[1:06:01] Speaker 2: that have something to say about this whole.
[1:06:03] Speaker 1: Thing, But man, I liked Fargo when we went. I
[1:06:06] Speaker 1: thought Fargo was kind of cool.
[1:06:07] Speaker 2: Well, I'm just strictly talking about the Fargo TV show. No, No,
[1:06:11] Speaker 2: I know, I know, I get it, at least the
[1:06:13] Speaker 2: first two seas. Have you watched the first couple of
[1:06:15] Speaker 2: seasons of that show.
[1:06:17] Speaker 1: I'll go you one further.
[1:06:18] Speaker 2: I've watched no seasons of any of Fargo Okay, I
[1:06:22] Speaker 2: did see Breaking Bad, but not far Okay. The first
[1:06:25] Speaker 2: better call, Saul, I saw a better call Saal, Yeah, okay.
[1:06:28] Speaker 2: The first two seasons of the Fargo TV Show. Shout
[1:06:31] Speaker 2: out Noah Hally, who was like the creator and mastermind
[1:06:34] Speaker 2: behind them. Huge listener, huge, Yeah he's doing the new
[1:06:38] Speaker 2: Alien show. I want to say, I saw that. Yeah,
[1:06:41] Speaker 2: it takes place I believe in Minnesota, but I'm counting
[1:06:43] Speaker 2: Fargo as the home in this one. The first two seasons,
[1:06:48] Speaker 2: the first one is Billy Bob Thornton, the second one
[1:06:52] Speaker 2: is Jesse Plemmons and Kirsten Dunns.
[1:06:54] Speaker 1: There's a bunch. It's a big cast.
[1:06:57] Speaker 2: Billy Bob Thornton in that first season is one of
[1:06:59] Speaker 2: the all time great TV villains all time. Lauren Malvo. Wow,
[1:07:05] Speaker 2: if you have not seen the first couple of seasons
[1:07:07] Speaker 2: of the Fargo TV Show, find it on whatever streaming
[1:07:10] Speaker 2: service it's streaming on. Get yourself a warm beverage, a blanket,
[1:07:15] Speaker 2: tuck away. It's so good, especially that season one anyway,
[1:07:20] Speaker 2: Good for the Mountain West. Congratulations on your prestige TV status.
[1:07:25] Speaker 1: Why don't we leave it there? We will be back
[1:07:27] Speaker 1: next week, I guess, I'll be fine. I'll be fine. Solo. Oh,
[1:07:30] Speaker 1: I'll go solo on. You have come out to California.
[1:07:32] Speaker 2: If you want no, no, no go go enjoy with
[1:07:36] Speaker 2: your with your family. We'll have a solo show for
[1:07:40] Speaker 2: everybody early part of next week. You'll be back, I believe,
[1:07:44] Speaker 2: for the second show next week. Right, so yes, uh,
[1:07:48] Speaker 2: We'll do.
[1:07:48] Speaker 1: An interview on our Tuesday episode. I'll be back with
[1:07:52] Speaker 1: Dan on our Thursday episode. Again.
[1:07:55] Speaker 2: Please hit follow, please hit subscribe if you made it
[1:07:57] Speaker 2: this far, check us out at for ballers dot com.
[1:07:58] Speaker 1: If you want the shows with out the ads, if
[1:08:00] Speaker 1: you want to support the team, we would greatly appreciate that.
[1:08:04] Speaker 1: In the meantime, for that guy over there, Dan, for
[1:08:06] Speaker 1: myself over here, Ty, enjoy the weekend, Try to stay warm.
[1:08:12] Speaker 1: We'll be back with you next week. In the meantime,
[1:08:13] Speaker 1: stay so peace.

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