Cole Cubelic vs Josh Pate + Transfer Portal Legal Chaos

The entire draft room groans because you just took the guy they wanted. There's no better feeling than crushing your fantasy football league. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the award-winning late-round podcast. Before your draft, our players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. Listen to the late-round fantasy football podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you are tired of listening to opinions without practical solutions, the Tesla Figural Podcast is a training room, not another commentary show. I'm Tesla Figural. As an award-winning business owner, political strategist, trainer, and jurist, Dr. Candidate, every episode breaks down the law, politics, media, leadership, and to practical strategies you can use in your everyday life. You have an additional footprint, you need to be aware, because it can help you catch a case, or it can help you catch a case in your household. Listen to the Tesla Figural Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello my love. I'm Ryan Weiss, and for the past 15 years I've been an emotional intelligence coach and a spiritual guide, and I'm sharing with you my new podcast Waking Up With Ryan. Waking Up With Ryan is a daily audio video podcast here to help you connect with yourself before the noise of the day takes over. So let's start our days together with a moment of calm that's just for you. Listen to Waking Up With Ryan on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Dancing with the Stars is looking for a new pro, and since last season I came in eighth place. I'm basically an expert. I'm Daniel Fischel. And I'm Vouch Merkowski. And we have a new podcast called Stepping on Toes with Danielle and Val. Every week we're breaking down Dancing with the Stars the next pro. To find out who I'll be sharing the boring with next season. Listen to Stepping on Toes on America's number one podcast network iHeart. Follow Stepping on Toes and start listening on the free iHeartRadio app today. Every time you try and go 48 hours in this world without talking about lawyers, someone files a temporary restraining order. But you know what? 95% of this show tonight will have nothing to do with that. It's Thursday, August 27th, the year of our Lord 2026, jam packed high atop a very, very anticipatory downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Kublai's on the show tonight. He was in here earlier today. We recorded, I don't know, Jesse, like an hour, 10 hour, 15 with him. Little good college football talk, which is rare in this day and age as we know with lawsuits being filed left and right and former NFL players trying to play college football again. I do have a couple of things on that because I know there's been big news on that late this afternoon. So right before we get to the real stuff, we'll talk about the fake stuff. They're watching us in Detroit, Michigan, Birmingham, Alabama, O'Cala, Florida, Eugene, Oregon. It's week zero. I mean, we got college football games happening. We're right on the precipice of what many, including me, are saying could be the greatest college football season on the field in the illustrious history of this sport is as soon as we can get the games on the field, the better. Please make sure you subscribe to the channel, like the video, subscribing to the channel. That's all we ask. We don't ask for super chats. We don't ask for donations. We don't ask for you to sign up for anything. Just subscribing and liking. That's it. Let's dive in to the show. Like Kubelet coming up in a few minutes. I thought, let me back space. I hoped that we could go throughout the duration of Thursday with nothing in the way of legal ease. But this is college football. The game's not played on fields anymore. It's played in the courtroom. That's a lie. And it's actually going to change radically in the coming days. But one last gasp earlier today, we're in the office and you saw the breaking news. Probably I saw the breaking news and we just need football so bad. So as you know, the timeline this week has been well, the timeline backing up a little ways was the NCAA granted a fifth year and a new rule like five years to play. But then that 2022 class, they kind of were told, no, that doesn't apply to you. And then they sued and then the courtroom said, yes, no, you're good to play too. And then a bunch of people who had declared for the draft and gone to the NFL said, wait, if we had known that, we never would have gone to the NFL. So then they filed a lawsuit so they could come back and play college football. And then the court said, yes, of course. And they just keep dunking on the NCAA over and over and over again. And then everyone got real been out of shape because it's dumb for players who have been professionals to come back and play college athletics. Turns out like 95% of us agree with that and the other 5% just want to be difficult because deep down you know it's true too. And this is where it really got interesting. When we last spoke to each other a couple of days ago, the big 10 in the SEC and since then all of the other conferences came out and said, yeah, it's our policy now that you can't do that. And it was really interesting as you watched Greg Sanky and the SEC come out and say that only because Lane Kiffin and LSU had become the poster children, child, whatever of this. And they said our policy in the SEC kind of like the big 10s policy is if you do this, it's important distinction. If you do it, which means you technically still have the freedom to do it, we're going to suspend coaches for 50% of their season. We're going to strip away your money. So we're going to come after you where it hurts you the most. We're actually not going after the players with that in mind. Costellinger reporting late this afternoon that a Dallas judge granted a TRO for those of you who are the unwashed non-legal ease out there. That means temporary restraining order, avoid those kids if at all you can. A judge granted that earlier today for several college athletes granting them an additional year of eligibility. The TRO names the NCAA SEC and Commissioner Greg Sanky as the defendants now full disclosure. I was recording with Kubrick as this news broke. So I looked at my phone and I thought it was really weird when I saw a bunch of my DMs on the home screen saying, well, what do you have to say about it now? And then I found out what they were talking about. So what do I have to say about this now is the exact same thing I said two days ago guys. I think went off the air a couple of days ago by me saying what? I said that full timeline had happened up until the other day. And we were fresh on the heels of the SEC and the big 10 and all the conferences putting their collective foot down. What was the last thing I said Jesse? I said, maybe as soon as the next day, so I guess I was one day off, we're going to have more legal action on this front. I fully expect players to file lawsuits against conferences and Greg Sanky is going to get caught up in this Tony Petitio will probably get caught up in it. The key then and now to me is the stances those conferences took were not towards players. In fact, they didn't really even say much towards the players. They spoke directly to their member institutions and what they said was, you want to play them? Play them. You want to add them to your roster? Adam, we may not be able to stop you there. The courtroom may be a barrier for us there, but what we can do and what we've taken league wide votes to give our commissioners full authority to do is come down on you, the coach, any way we see fit. And to come down on you, the institution, any way we see fit. So unless I'm missing something, doesn't seem like much has changed there. Basically, here's the deal. You want to sign professional players to your roster, go ahead and do it. But there will be consequences as there should be because this is dumb. And so we're going to find out whether it's an SEC program that pushes the envelope here, feels like it will be well before a big 10 program would do it. But if an SEC program, if tell us you or someone else wants to force the issue on this, do it. And in doing so, what you've got to be announcing to the world is for the sake of adding a little depth to our roster, we are quite literally willing to run the risk of the SEC stance holding up and then following through on it. And if it's Lane Kiffin, Lane suspended half the year, LSU is stripped of millions of dollars. Your voting privileges in league matters are taken away. Are you willing to do that? And this is the decision that goes well above Lane Kiffin or any head coach. Are university presidents willing to allow that hammer to potentially fall on their head? My guess is the answer is no, but we'll see on that front. And look, is there a balance to all this? Yes, there is. I know if we had Lane on the show right now, just like Pat did the other day, I know what he'd say. Well, these kids got caught in a really, really unfair situation. And to him, it would feel like the SEC is selectively enforcing rules. The difference is that you're dealing with a pretty universal collegiate principle here. And that is once you're a pro, you can't play in college anymore. So if you're one of those players and you come to me and say, Josh, you don't get it. I would still be a college player. And I know this rule was going to get passed. And the NCAA who just forever keeps screwing things up unless this was a plan all along, which there is a halfway reasonable conspiracy theory of. But for the time being, let's just, let's just believe the NCAA can't take a leak without getting the front of its pants wet. And they passed a rule in June that they could have passed in October to circumvent all this. The player would come to me and say, I didn't know that that rule was going to get passed. And I didn't know that the legal challenges to the rule were going to hold up. Had I known that, I wouldn't have gone out for the draft. I wouldn't have left Texas Tech or Baylor or LSU or Alabama. I'd still be here. I could listen to that guy and could say, I fully get your point, man. I empathize with that. But there's a greater balance shift like the counterweight here of your argument versus the counter argument greatly yields toward the counter argument. And that is be that as it may, everything you just said is outweighed by our need to maintain a very, very basic balance of principle here in that principle is full stop. Professional athletes cannot play college football or basketball or whatever sport. That's really it. And that's all. Maybe someone asked right before we were going to start the show tonight. They were saying, man, do you think Sanky's going to back down? No. Why would he? Greg Sanky's got everything he needs. He's got the support of every member institution in his conference, except maybe one abstaining for obvious reasons. And this is a rare situation. Got full support of like 95 plus percent of the general public. You fight this. You fight this because it's a fight worth having. So I can't wait for football to start. Not that this will end once football starts, but at a certain point, it's got to end because your entire fight is you want to be able to play this season. The further the season goes on, the less and less there's a reason to fight. It's also stupid, man. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd rather talk Bill Bella checking North Carolina than to talk about this anymore. You know what I'd rather talk about, our store is an awesome place to visit because every couple of days, Alex drops some new items in there. You know the corn field, you know the picture I post in the countdown every Saturday to kick off. Well, those of you who have followed me for a long time, you know that about 20 weeks out from the season, I'll start posting the corn pick where I'm just looking off in the distance in a corn field, but those of you who have followed the show for a long time also know one Saturday out of the year. And it's next Saturday, actually, I post that picture and that is the celebratory. We made it corn field pig Alex just put it on a t shirt. Alex has the full don't tread on Saturday line in the store right now. The football is coming line is in the store right now. There are entirely new ramen noodle express items in the store right now. This was talking to me the other day asking if we have a ramen noodle express logo, fandal wanted to know. Do you got a ramen noodle express logo? Yes. Yes, it's that train engine with the train car that's nothing more than a bowl of noodles with money symbols instead of smoke coming off of it. It's incredible. It's on a t shirt. The don't tread on Saturday rowpads, by the way, that you guys demanded in my DMs. They're in the paid state store, paidstatematerial.com. Take your way over there early and often, it's an amazing time, an amazing time around here. And those flags are still our bestseller. Those don't tread on Saturday flags are still our bestseller. We had Brandon Walker in studio a couple of weeks ago, it's a very, very highly traffic episode. But I thought to myself, if we could bring our enemies in here, why not bring friends in here? Imagine how much more cozy and how much better that would go if we brought friends in here. So earlier today, sorry about that, Bradley, earlier today, Kubrick got off of his radio show and made his way all the way from Birmingham up to Nashville and walked straight into the office, changed clothes for what reason I don't know and sat down on this very stage and we just went for like an hour, hour, 15, most of which will be unedited. I'm told and we'll be kept in the show. And so without further ado, here is myself along with Cole, Jeremiah, Kubrick from earlier today, you sit down 10 minutes ago, got gum in the mouth and you said, where should I put it? There's no trash can here. There's no paper to water it up in and Jesse, producer Jesse, once upon a time thought to be fictitious, but a real person offers to extend his hand so you can spit your gum into. You haven't had that happen since you were a child. I dream of that. He would never do that for me and you turned down the opportunity. And so I guess my first question, Cole Kubrick, as you joined us today, drove up from Birmingham earlier this morning is why? Why would Jesse do that for me because he appreciates me and respects me. I think are the two reasons number one, number two, yes, respect for you. I don't know. Oh, what? Head nod. Okay, continue. I feel like Jesse is being disrespected by this show based on the 15 minutes of football that he and I talked before we went on the air today. Would you happen to be absent from the office on your important phone calls? I think he deserves more football time. Let's be very clear. It was 15 minutes of Penn State Talk propaganda because I walked out at the tail beginning and walked in at the tail end and your eyes were wide open. I feel like you're on board with 11 and one. I feel like you're on board with it. Man, just make it to Andy. You guys are in the playoff. My favorite thing about college football, all the changes and everything that's different that's happening is how much we pick and choose our narratives, but then refuse to apply the same narratives to other teams. So our comp there was he's like, hey, Matt Campbell, who we all love bringing over some players, who we all love, Rocco Beck, amazing. And I said, okay, cool. So Auburn's going to win 9 or 10 games. No, no, no. Oklahoma State going to win 9 or 10 games. It's the same philosophy. It's essentially the same model, but that model only applies for Penn State this year. I understand the schedule is a little bit lighter. I get that. Fair to discuss and talk about, but that was his only best step. Did you, it sounds like you dunked on him. Is what it sounds like? No, he laid it up to be dunked on himself. Oh, got you. Okay. All right. He laid it in the wrong goal. He went the opposite direction. That was an own goal, as we would say, in the World Cup days of this past summer. Yeah, that's four years away. Where were we for SEC Media Days last year? Was that Atlanta? Was that Dallas? No, no, no, no, the year before. Dallas? Okay. So we did at that time about an hour and a half long sit down, and it got really good numbers, which is truthfully the only reason that you've been brought up here for the algorithm. And so here's what I would like to do, okay? Like three, two, one action, let's just take turns. What do you feel about the SEC this year? Who can extend from the middle of the pack? I think the middle of the pack has a great chance to cannibalize itself. The amount of teams that you could sit here and convince me or I could convince you or a week together could convince the viewers are going to win nine or ten games, but also those same teams could win four to six games. I think it's probably five or six in the league all the way down to 14, 15 in the league. Why are one of those teams going to extend? Why are one of those teams not going to extend? Is it just going to be a bunch of six and seven win teams? Are some of the teams not named Georgia, not named Texas going to end up with 10, 11, maybe 12 wins? I don't know. And they're certain teams, Josh, that I go day to day that I'll gain momentum on. Like I'm a little down on Tennessee right now. No major reason as to why I just look at true freshman quarterbacks in this league. How often has it been really good? Not much. It hasn't. I love their offensive line. I love their starting running back. Don't know what the entire running back situation looks like. It's a new defense. People forget that defensive line has been loaded the last couple of years and the defense still irresponsible at times, but Josh has done a great job. I could totally be wrong on that. I'm a little down on Missouri right now, but I love the old line. Even without a mod heart, I love Jamal Roberts. I think Brett Norfleet is the best duel threat tied in the SEC. And we know what kind of talent Austin Simmons has, but it's just you measure these and ifs, buts, ors on all these teams and certain days I'll be up, certain days I'm way up on Florida right now. A lot of that is just overall talent. And I'm a big fan of John Sumrow and how he's going to manage and handle things, but who are the teams that are going to extend? Are we all going to get caught in the middle? And if that does happen, what does the national thought process turn into on the perception of the SEC? So, I mean, are you, uh, and just give me a yes or no on this because I'm about to dive on it for a second. Are you a believer in that whole Texas Georgia tier one, five more teams tier two, clear separation, in other words, and then you go down to your Missouri, South Carolina, whoever. Like, is that how you see this right now? I don't know if I had that many teams in tier two really, it would be perfectly honest with you. I might have tier one, Texas Georgia today, this would be different tomorrow, maybe take Ole Miss Oklahoma, tier one, B, kind of tier two, and then tier three. Here we go, A&M Alabama, LSU, something along those lines. I'm a little down on A&M right now. I think the losses on the defensive line in Torren, York are going to hurt worse than people think. I love Elko, the scheme's incredible, the offensive line's being rebuilt. It's still a new offensive coordinator, we don't know how that's going to look with Marcel Reed. You don't have as many weapons as you had a year ago. Is it all going to work? I don't really know how that's going to look. So there we go. a little bit down. No, are they going to win, they're going to be bowl. They're going to win eight, nine games maybe, but we're talking being a playoff contender, get in and win a couple games in the playoff. I don't know if they're there for me just yet. Yeah. Alabama's still a big mystery for me. They would be in sort of that next tier for me as well. You know the feeling. You make a pick in your fantasy draft in the entire room groans because they wanted that player. Or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in prime time. I'm JJ Zacharyson, host of the late round fantasy football podcast. Before your draft are players to target and players to avoid episodes tell you exactly who to circle and who to cross off. We've got data driven analysis, historical trends and the strategies that separate winners from the rest. And your dominance doesn't stop with the draft. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers and the mail back data driven, quick hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late round fantasy football podcast on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Dear honeys, this is goodbye. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author patron authors and her husband, Michael, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know that they had died by suicide. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop Wonderland. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy and in love. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? I would have given a million reasons to not leave this world had I known. I keep coming back to a truly hope that Petra was a thousand percent on board with the plan. Do you think of him as having killed her? Yes, I do. I hold Michael responsible for my mother's stuff. I'm Leon Nayvak. And I'm Alice Gregory. Together, we set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael's letters as one married couple trying to understand another. Listen to death of an artist on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. On big lives, we take a single cultural icon. People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Richard Pryor. And we pull apart the story behind the image. And we do this by digging through the BBC's vast archive. We're talking iconic moments in broadcast history. I'm not just a boxer. I'm educating. I can talk all week on the millions of subjects. And forgotten interviews that change how we see these giants of our culture. Well, if changing the system from the ground up is revolutionary, then I'm revolutionary. We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. When I go on stage, I like to dress as slutty as possible because it makes me dance better for some reason. I'm Immanuel Jocci. I'm Kai Wright and this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get podcasts. Hi, I'm Michael and Perioli. I want to tell you about my new podcast Underground Zero. It's about what happened in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. We're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. While the world was mourning, five powerful New York families saw an opportunity. The debris supposed to go to the city on salvage and some of it will. They would go on to make millions of dollars. What's in the tunnels? Go on bars, shove a engage. It could be worth half a billion. And they would have made more if it hadn't been for one courageous cop. Don't, Dad, don't. You're gonna need all of us. I'll call you when I can. Frank, be careful. Underground Zero. It's starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael and Perioli. Would you be willing to see your family go to pieces? Some ways it already has. Listen to Underground Zero on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Here's what I'm asking. Are you still like, let's say it roughly shakes out that way. My question is, if we get to 1st week of November, has the bottom of the league more meshed with the middle of the league in terms of results? Or has the middle of the league meshed with the top of the league? By that, I mean, you've got Oklahoma taking down Georgia or you've even got like Florida mixing it up with some teams. Or is it Kentucky makes noise, Missouri makes noise? I kind of want to figure that out because to me, that speaks to the broader question of, alright, is this just a really deep league with no elite at the top? Or are there two shark fins, three shark fins that could really pop up and and match up way down the road with an Oregon or a Notre Dame or whatever? I think you have a little bit of both. Because I think Georgia can win an actual title. I think obviously Texas can win an actual title. Just based on talent, I still have my question marks with kind of both of those teams really, but I have question marks with every team that can win an actual title this year. But I do think what you reference about the bottom is also going to be true, because I think KJ Jackson and Arkansas are going to get a team or two this year. I think Mississippi State, if that offensive line is truly repaired, and Camario Taylor is making quick decisions the way that he needs to, I think they're going to be a handful. It's picking, choose what you're concerned with. With Mississippi State Josh, I'm just more concerned about where the roster is going to be at the end of October. I mean, they are going to be full tilt on offense, full tilt on defense. Can you survive that with a roster that's not built great from a depth perspective anyway, which kind of nobody is. So there are things about all these teams that I feel like when we're talking about Auburn, South Carolina, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi State, they're going to be able to reach up and grab somebody and be a problem. Can they do it each in every week? And that's what Indiana Mastered last year was consistency. They gave you the same product almost every single week that they went out. Very few teams are doing that in college football right now. So I think you will have one or two teams separate. That could be Ole Miss Georgia, that could be Texas Georgia, Texas Ole Miss, whatever it is, maybe Oklahoma, Bama sneak up in there, one of those teams. But I also think the bottom is going to be stronger, because let's just say Kentucky, you brought them up. This is the most talented Kentucky, roster on the offense side of the ball I have ever seen. Ever seen. And they're proven commodities. Now some of the proof is limited. It's fair. But guys who we know can play. Does that work for eight of 10, 12 weeks? We don't really know because it's also a new head coach and it's a lot of other new there. But they're going to be dangerous in certain weeks. They're one of the teams I'd rather play late than early, because then healthy, I think it's going to be very different than then beat up. Same with Mississippi State. All right, here's something I feel. No one has more respect for Georgia than I do. So I pick Georgia to win the SEC. I feel like Georgia is the best equipped team to win the SEC. And then at the same time, I don't feel like they're the most equipped SEC team to win the national championship. So my thinking there is I love their style, I love their identity. I trust them the most to make it to Atlanta. Okay. Therefore, like I could go either way on Texas. I could go either way on Ole Miss. Those are much more high variance teams in other words. Whereas Georgia, the floor is insanely high with them. And like it would utterly shot me to fast forward to December. And you tell me man, Kirby lost four or five games this year. That's a scenario that would shot me. So on that front, I feel really good about them getting to Atlanta. I feel really good about betting on them to win it. But then if you tell me Texas is in the playoff. Or if you tell me Trinidad Chambles, Noel Messer in the play. If you tell me Keelan Russell really was everything someone thought he could be. Or if you tell me Oklahoma, you know, John Matthew really did take the next step. More heroic in the true sense of how college football is supposed to be played. I believe the highest of highs for those teams may be a little bit higher in a postseason setting than Georgia's able to reach. And that's a really, really weird thing to try and explain. Because it's just like last year. Like it's just like last year. Ole Miss is not making a run to Atlanta to win it. But then they run into Georgia and to playoff and they beat them. After those are two Georgia playoff appearances, you think impacting that. You mean me seeing them go one and done? Correct. And just how they played in those games. Probably a reasonable amount. But then again, if this is, I try and say this and it's going to sound disrespectful to Gunner Stockton. But I don't mean it to sound that way. But if I don't know, if like Dante Moore transferred to Georgia today. I'm just picking a name out of it. It's CJ Carr transferred to Georgia today. Guys, I feel really, really highly about I couldn't care less what they did or didn't do the last two years. So it's part team that they're going to have on the field. It's part, I really want you to have at least a difference maker at wide receiver when you get to that level. I really want you to have that. And I don't know that they have it. But yet they've got so much consistency and so much ability to do that to you that I trust them in the SEC more than anyone. I think receiver is a big reason you're saying this. I think production or lack of in playoff appearances recently is a big reason you're saying this. I would just overweight that with all the other things. I think they have a chance right there. They would be neck and neck with Notre Dame is having the best offensive mind and college football heading into the season. We talked about on your show a year ago after what week three that I pretty much told you like Ohio State's got the Joe Moore award right now. They looked like a bunch of trained killers out there that were just bouncing people out of the club. And then it took a nose dive towards the end of the season. So you don't know how it's going to go all year. I think there are more younger players on the the George Orraster that are going to explode this year, that we're not- talking about the way we're talking about Dante Moore, Trinidad Chambers, whoever else. Yeah, cause one of them's a right guard. Well, and one's a detackle and one's an outside linebacker and one's a corner and one's a safety. They just don't get the love that some other Georgia guys have gotten in the past. All right. I think they're going to be big time players. I actually would disagree with part of what you said as far as being built to in a national title. Miami would be the reason I would give you that last year. Now, on Malachi, Tony, totally different maker, I get it. But why did they really win those playoff games? Cause they were a steamroller. Minus crewmage, right? I mean, and it doesn't mean Georgia has a Rubin Bane or even a Moton or whatever, but they are going to have dudes up front that can be problematic on both sides of the ball by any control games. Why they win one of those football games. Um, and I think too, you have two coordinators at Georgia that are not overly stubborn. Now, Georgia feels like I'm going to hate this. I'm sorry. I apologize to you guys and I get it. But Bobo has done an exceptional job, specifically the last two years. How to move the pieces alignment personnel groupings. He finds ways to produce things and then they have great players on top of that. They're going to be a match up nightmare on offense because they have so many tight ends. They have a legitimate run game that can be downhill that can move you and push you around very few teams in this country can do that. Miami with some youth on the offensive line being injected this year. I give them a good chance to get there just because how Mario runs it and what they've been, like historically, traditionally, they're probably going to have that. They just have some pieces of the way I hadn't seen just yet. And I'll go back to the last two national champions. One thing that you and I talked about yet, but I think you heard Greg and I talking about this morning, who is going to be the greatest team? We've gotten so far away from that with, give me your highlight wide receiver. Who's our flex guy that we can move around? Who's our edge rusher? Like all the cool things in football are fun to talk about and fun to watch. Who does the stuff that nobody else likes? It's what Indiana did last year. It's what Ohio State did two years ago. Like who the, who's the best at a combination block staying with it and coming off on the linebacker late? Well, you want to run a twist? Who's the unselfish linebacker that knows he's not going to get a sack, but he'll try to dent the face mask of your guard so the defensive end can wrap around and get the sack or TFL for himself. That's what we don't know. And that's what I would lean heavily on Georgia with right now. I do. I do. I do love is you look at their schedule. They're going to play Mateer. They're going to play Keelan Russell. They're going to play Trinidad Chambliss and they're going to play Lenora Sellers in the regular season. And I'll go back to this. Everyone at SEC media days wanted to dial in harp on Spent time talking about the lack of sacks. If you really watch their defense, if you dive into it last year, they got to the quarterback a lot. Their pressure rate was high middle of the pack in the SEC. Their sack rate was very low. So that'll be a great test there to say we got to the quarterback last year. This year, we have to get the quarterback to the ground. That's what they did a poor job of a season ago. And I think Glenn Schumann, Kirby smart, that staff can find a way to manufacture a little bit more of that with how they rush, where they rush from. And maybe having a couple more individuals that are going to give them some like Contraviors Johnson, I think. Cole, I think our guys are going to play hybrid spots for them. And they can manufacture different ways to not allow that to happen as much. All right, balls in your court. Go ahead. What do you feel about Georgia or just the SEC? No, remember, remember before we press record and we went over the format and what we were going to do, this is your turn to just completely lick your index finger, turn the page and tell me something totally new that you feel. I usually do not feel hurt feelings with you. But being like the fifth or sixth person to be asked to come in here and sit down with you would be towards the top of the list right now. It's disrespectful. Number one is what it is. But it was all laid out early in our pre-show meeting where it's a numbers game. It's about numbers for you. And that's fine, but that's where you want to go. And that's how we're going to operate things here. So viewers at home, no, it's not about content. It's not about ball knowledge anymore. It's just a clown show that's looking to produce numbers. That's what you're dealing with. But I'll tell you what we haven't done. We haven't sold out on this show. Not like some other podcast and look as there that we know how as I cover up the label of this water bottle. If there's one thing you know about us, we're not going to sell out. And I've read your comments and I can't say the same about you lately. Shame on you. The other thing is, and you've heard me say this, survive October, hit your over. The amount of mid-season runs that these SEC teams have to make. Like you look at Auburn's October, it is filthy. Oh, it's gross. Mississippi State's October, Florida's October. I mean, some of these teams, you can literally, Josh, look at a four game stretch and say, if you split that, you may be continuing for a play else. You're supposed to grade about Mississippi States October. They have a buy and it's still our Detroit got Alabama at LSU and Oklahoma. Keep your buy. Just have your buy. It's still brutal. Auburn, just for those who don't know, you're going to go at Tennessee. A hold on October. There it is. I think they have a buy in there too. They do. And then it's at Georgia LSU. And then let's close it up Halloween with Adol mis. So let's seriously think about that. Stacks and wins are really going to run late. How many teams can literally just survive October in the SEC? Only drop one or split two out of four. And you could be sitting pretty going into November and be able to make a run late. Now, there are some teams like Oklahoma who have just disgusting finishes to their schedule. LSU would be another one that comes to mind that you're going to have to get hot late. The other thing too is I think there are some games out there that we're not pointing to that are going to be much more important or maybe much more dangerous than we go on. I mean, I got one right now, but I want to know if you're going there. Well, I got two. It's Ole Miss going to Florida and it's A&M at LSU the week after those two teams play. We have put all this hyper focus, all this energy, all this drama, which is great. It sells. It's going to be fun when Lane goes back to Oxford. It's going to be incredible for a ton of reasons. I can't decide right now if I would rather be the cook. This sounds insane and I get it, but I want you to hear me. I'm trying to think about it. I don't know if I would rather be the coach that wins that game or loses that game because if you are Pete Golding and you win that game, the library ain't going to close that week. It'll literally just stay and by the way, they're in games real the next weekend, so it might just stay open for two weeks. Those big red trash cans in the Grove, they'll just leave them and say, y'all can keep your tents out here and your chandeliers and your tents. And like, we don't care anymore because we just won this game coming back down to earth from that win, especially for those guys that were on that team for the playoff run last year is going to have monumental difficulties on the flip side of it. Pete Golding wins that game. Think about how many people are telling that team how great they are, how much they love them, what they've already accomplished. That's a dangerous part to be into. Now Lane's group, it won't be as emotional for them, but they've been here in this noise this off season. They've been talking about this all of a sudden you go lose that game. You're feeling sorry for yourself. Here comes Elko's A&M team into your place. And if your offensive line's not figured out and you got to go against that front and those looks, or if you're old miss and you drop that game and you got to go play a John Somerall coach team that you know is looking for us fistfight. They are ready to punch you square in the nose only to find out if you want to punch back the only thing that they're going to care about and have the games that they play. So I look at those two games that weekend as ones we are not talking about. Now, I think you have some other swing games like Auburn Florida. Well, that's one no one's talking about either. And that that precedes the ones that you're talking about. Like that's the same week LSU plays Ole Miss. So I'll grant you not many people are going to have it on the radar screen. But if you think about how these early games happen. Okay. So if we walk through this right quick Auburn opens against Baylor, they're about to touch down favorite, but, but you know, very loosable game. They they win that game. They come home a couple of weeks later and you're going to have Florida rolling into town at that point. They're both undefeated presumably if Florida wins that game. They come home to face Ole Miss either way coming off the LSU game. It just continues like you've you've talked about this. We we've touched on this for a number of months because you've just had to sit on this schedule talk for a number of months. If you're talking sleepers in the SEC and you keep on looking. All right. Where's the path? Where's the path? Where's the path? It is, it doesn't take a whole lot of mental gymnastics to say, all right. Let's see Florida. They start to know they go to Auburn. That's a really tight game. Listen for the sake of argument. Give it to him. Three of no they got Ole Miss coming in there the week after LSU either way. I could chalk that up as a win. Four of no they go to Missouri. They should out personnel Missouri. Five of no South Carolina's got to come to the swamp. That could be six and no. And then it's like it takes you about 20 or 25 seconds to put Florida. Seven of no going to Austin. Yep. When we saw how that one's gone. So I want to think I know John Someral's going to do is bring more fight. More physicality to that roster. And we can say one of the same things about Florida. esteem ball. Noah Jesse and I were talking about this before the show today. The laundry list of teams in the South Eastern Conference right now. That we could talk about a two game swing based on offensive line performance this year is staggering. Staggering the teams that we could say I could see one in nine I could see one in six. Or I could see one in seven or nine or eight or four whatever it is. Strictly based on we do not know what you're going to have with your offensive line. Here are the teams that I have confidence in their offensive line going to this year. Ready. Georgia and Tennessee and Ole Miss. That's three. Feen. That's three. That's all you don't even have. have to relegate that to the SEC. As you can say the same thing about-- - It's a national conversation. - It's crazy, but Notre Dame, I love your group. Indiana, I love your group. Actually, we talked about it. I have confidence in my Emmy's group, even if I don't know a little bit about it. I'm never going to say that I think one of Mario's offensive lines is gonna be a liability. That's just, it's not gonna happen. Now Ohio State, maybe, here's one of the things where the Ohio State will talk national a little bit later. When you look at when they've been great, they have had a frickin' dude that tied in. Now, here's where that gets cloudy because when we say dude that tied in, everybody thinks trade-as green or Kyle Pits. No, no, no, no. They've had Jeremy Ruckard, like, they've had G-Scott. They've had that dude that tied in that literally wants to run a hole through your chest. Do they have that this year? I don't know. But they've been great, great when they've had that guy, and he helps their offensive line. Usually when they do have that. So, it's even a little bit of a question with Ohio State right now. Now, Iowa, do I have concerns there? No, but there's other concerns that are gonna allow us to say, can you go win those big games if you get into a shootout? How's it gonna go? But it is also a national conversation. It just feels like it's highlighted more so in the SEC because Josh, the confidence we have with other areas, like Mr. B. State, I like your receivers. I love your running back. I think your quarterback's got immense talent. Your defense is now gonna attack and be tough to manage. Is your along gonna be better? Alabama. Keel & Russell, highest rated recruiting program history. They're gonna be able to lead on that receiver core. I don't really know what you're gonna be. I get running back. I love Josh Ford to tie it in. He's gonna help the O'Line no matter what. Your defensive secondary is gonna allow your front to do anything they want, which Kane did from the LSU game on last year. But I don't know what your O'Line's gonna look like and it doesn't matter how good Keel & Russell is if he's running for his life. So, it's Auburn is in that boat. Missouri is in that boat and I have confidence in their O'Line, but there's still some changes. And Chip Lindsey comes in. I don't know exactly how that thing's gonna be run. It's almost up and down LSU. People say LSU's in the playoffs. They might be Jordan Seaton gonna come in and all of a sudden it's better. Now, I love that you bring James Craig back. I love that you got Eric Wolford helping coach that group. Like, their chances of being successful on the offensive line are better than some other teams because of all the things they've added. But man, it feel A&M. Marcel Reed, great SEC quarterback. Completely revamped offensive line. Don't know exactly what it's gonna look like. - Um, past month or so, I felt myself starting to go a pretty opposite direction of the public on Alabama. There was a point in the summer where if you pinned me down, I would've said eight and four, nine and three maybe if I was feeling a little aggressive that day. And now I'm more in the nine and three, 10 and two. - Yeah. - Camp. So, Keel and Russell, I'm not gonna say it's because he got announced to the starter 'cause a lot of people were kind of leaning that direction. But I don't know, I went down there and watched them last week. I guess the areas that I thought were gonna be big concerns for them, linebackers, one of them for example. I just don't think are nearly as big a concern as I thought they were gonna be. And then the other thing which I think is just gonna take people watching them play this year before you really realize it is how thoroughly they overhauled their defensive front. The personnel they brought in, man, you don't really have to wait for the game. Your eyes can see the difference in warmups, then live bullets flying, you gotta play and you gotta back it up. But I think they, you were mentioned in the tight end position a second to go with Ohio State. They had, what was it, two years ago, they had Quavis there. - He was there last year too. - They were a different team when he wasn't in the lineup. - And so they brought in, they brought in Ford at tight end. They got a couple of guys at tight end that are pretty versatile in the way you were talking about Ohio State having tight end versatility. But I don't know, man, the attrition on the offensive line there taken into account. You can tell me if this makes sense 'cause you played the position. I feel like the bodies that they have on the offensive line this year, the personnel they have, the traits they have on the offensive line, probably fits what they wanna do better than the personnel that they had last year. So even if you're replacing four of five, you know, like the public will look at them losing a first round draft pick at left tackle. And they'll say, that's gonna be a massive downgrade. I don't necessarily know that Jackson Lloyd at left tackle mid part of the season and on this year is gonna be looked at for what Alabama wants to do as a downgrade, but I fully understand why the public would think that. I can fully understand why the public would look at them and say, man, they sucked run of the ball last year cause they did. And I mean, who do they have this year? They got the same guys back and then a couple of true freshmen. I think the true freshmen are the best guys in the room. AKD or pre-injury probably looked pretty good. But I don't know, I think I could come together for them. So I've trended up, I think, is I've since the nation kind of cool on them a little bit. - Well, you got a couple things going for you. And then go back two years ago, CJ DePri, Robbie Yudeset tied in. So they have been better when they've had that guy also. They have two great offensive minds that can put together a game plan. I'm not going to get away from that. I'm never going to not believe that cause I've seen them do it at Fresno State, at Washington, at Indiana, wherever they've been, they've done it. They'll do it at Alabama. But you can't be one dimensional in college football anymore. They have to be multi-dimensional. There are things about Keel and Russell that I absolutely love. When you watch him leave the pocket, you can watch the stripe on his helmet. It will stay with the receiver the entire time and it's why he's able to make those quick decisions to not run, get rid of the football. He doesn't scramble in my opinion. He leaves the pocket to gain an advantage. - It's your way to put it. - Now, you'll see a lot of guys that all of a sudden it just comes discombobulated. They look this way. They that way they do 360s. That usually, now John Matier can get away with that. Cause he's just freak show athlete and that's kind of his game. Like early bonus could do that. Like they were, that's what kind of guys they were. Keel and Russell is not that guy. He is, in my opinion, very distinct with what he wants to do and he begins to leave the pocket and he leaves one or two options open. And he's deliberate with how he does it. I'm a fan of his game. They still have to protect him. I think it's a question what the run game's gonna look like because of the running backs right now, mainly because they've been dinged up in practice. Like that's a position that whether we're talking LSU or talking Alabama, like do you have a guy? One of the other things we were talking about before the show. We love talking about takeover guys. When our seller's dealing sewer, how can South Carolina not win eight games have these takeover guys? Who, what teams have make you quit guys? 'Cause when I played college football and some of the college football teams, we've seen be great in recent memory. They got guys that flat out make you not wanna be out there anymore. Does Bama have that guy or those guys? And then we could go a step further and say who really does? Now I think Josh Ford's that guy. I think Josh Ford is a make you quit guy, but how much can he really impact the everyday offense? You can, you can have him 11, 12 personnel, whatever you wanna do, you can flex him, you can put him in the backfield, he can help, but not oftentimes do we say a tight end takes over a game when they're not catching 10 or 12 balls in a game? Just kinda what it is today. I think they lead on the receiver group. I think Ryan Williams bounces back. Like we, he went from four drops to 13 drops. You realize his actual receiving production was not that different, catches in yards. Now touchdowns was different, but the drops were what was different last year and I think he gets back from that. I think you have enough of a solid core receivers to take some of the pressure off, run the ball through the air, so to speak. Like I said before, the secondary is gonna allow the front to be much more active. So I see where you're going with Alabama. There's still some big ifs. Offensive line being number one, linebacker depth is still a problem, regardless. And they had it last year, but they survived it 'cause they didn't get dinged up last year at linebacker, and if they would have, they'd have been in big trouble. So I think they have a little bit better depth going into the season than they did fall camp. They developed a couple of guys. So I think they're going to be, the public's really on them win in eight games. See how you radio in Birmingham, so my vision's clouded here. It's either fire, kale and the board win a national championship. Like we only have that. Those are the only two things that we have on our show. But I see Alabama in the nine to 10 range. And if it's less than that, something fell apart. Yeah. If it's less than that, the offensive line was worse than last year. The quarterback doesn't know what to do when he drops back. Like something bad has happened if it's less than non wins in my opinion. I'll tell you the other thing that kind of stood out to me before we move on from them is when I watched them the other day, every other big play, you know, every other jaw dropper out there was a true freshman making the play. And that said Morgan at Wide Receiver, Jyre Edwards is an insanely good football player. At safety, I know he got dinged up a little bit, but they'll get him back pretty quick. The Trashon Brown kid who for nine tenths of the recruiting cycle, they probably didn't even pay attention to, who a spot opens up at the last minute four and they take him side unseen. Hey, come here instead of Boise. Okay, like that guy's going to get carries for them very early. I think one of the big questions actually is, I think a lot of their season hinges on how impactful those freshman tailbacks are going to be. Because they will, I mean, they'll be not too bashful about telling you how good they think E.J. Crowell can be, but he hadn't been available a whole lot, okay? To me, it spoke volumes that they took all that into consideration and still said, buddy, when he's on the field, it's a different game. It's just a different game. And he may end up being one of those guys we talked about. Like he can, Alabama has had, make you quit running backs before. They get that, that makes the O'on's life easier, which makes the quarterbacks life easier, which makes the receivers life easier. So they haven't had that in a couple of years now. That guy that you know, 25, 30 times a game, we can hand it to you and you're going to be able to get it done. All right, I want to talk about Florida in a more extended manner. Because I have since, from you. You've got a little aura about you with Florida right now. The side of the lips curl up a little bit. You get that look in your eye and you start feeling like you want to say some really reckless, irresponsible, hyped up things about John Somerall's team this year. Am I correct? I don't think they're reckless or hyped up. Still a lot new. I get it. But I look at what John Somerall has done in previous stops. To give you an example. We had John Somerall when he was a head coach at Troy on our radio show in Birmingham in about a four week span. The first time we had him on Commanding of a Doll went like 47 for 280. And the next time we had him on their quarterback through for 482 yards in the game. And I'm like coach, what are you? We get John and your grandpa and he goes, you know what we are, where whatever takes to win the game. And Josh, I think sometimes viewers of college football do not understand the level of ego that at times is involved and can hold your team back. Yeah, a system or a player or a play or not going to a play. I mean, many times I've Auburn fans in the last two years wondered where 27 was going because he had gone off in the first quarter or first half and then literally vanished in the second half. And that's just one example of 100. We could throw out there of systems, players, plays that were just all of a sudden gone. It's one of things like that Miami playoff win. I thought Shannon Dawson showed people right then in there like my ego is out of the window. I tried all this trickery. Every trick play we had imaginable. We ran it. And you and I were there on the sideline. We saw it and we asked each other a couple of times like can they even go draw another one up on the sideline in the grass to try to run. You know what he did? The same it. Mark Fletcher go. And then he saved one and he hit him on it when it counted. I think John Somerl just has that in him in general of if we have to rush 11 on every play by God will rush 11 if we need to play drop nine. We will play drop nine. He is not going to allow any of that to get in the way of his team. And then we start talking about make you quit takeover guys. Jayden boss towards the top of my list in that category. We just think Eric Singleton can't play football anymore because two years ago at Georgia Tech he was one of the best flex players in college football. He's like the SEC's Nick Marsh and he's back with the guy who basically built him in that system. He can go in motion. He can be in the backfield. You can hit him down the field. He has reliable hands in traffic. He'll work the middle of the field screen game. And then you have Dallas Wilson on the outside. And by the way, Marcus made from Wake for us who is another big physical target that when I put his film on I remember thinking why is no one talking about this? He'll be number one wide receiver. A lot of places. So how are you going to defend them? And you can say well, the offense of I might not be great. They might not be great. They might not have to be great because buster system number one is going to neutralize a lot of what you do as a defense outside zone. First thing is going to get going. So they're going to stretch you east and west. Then they're going to have plays that they hit you north and southwest. Quarterback run may not be as heavy as it was last year. Like I don't know. There are not many ram mans playing quarterback. That's an old school. He meant reference for you guys that don't know what that is. He had like a big metal head on. He would just run through walls. And that's what Haynes King essentially was in that offense last year. Like a battering ram at quarterback. But I don't think he's going to have to be that. Aaron Filo needs to play point guard. And I'm actually talking old school point guard. I'm not talking take 14 threes a game point guard and never pass. Like not James Harden. Like he needs to be John Stockton. Pull the shorts up. Play your pick and rolls the way the system asks you to play them and get it done. And like I'm my latest episode of cube show, which you should all go subscribe to and watch. Even though there's a giant call she read at the bottom of it. I still think you should pay attention to it. His manipulation of the offense and knowing how to fake here. Wind a pitch there. What read to come off of? Wind to throw the ball. Josh, that sounds hard, dude. That stuff is so hard to do in an offense like that. And he already has that. That's why he won the job. He didn't win the job on arm strength. He didn't win it on straight line speed. He didn't win it because he's his giant physical runner. It's the biggest misnomer with Diego Pavia the last three years at Vanderbilt or two years at Vandy, three years playing college football. Oh, he's tough or he's fast or these just that Diego Pavia was most successful because the manipulation of the football and the offense. He knew how to read the fakes. He knew how to manipulate defenders. He knew how to read defenders. Wind to put his foot in the ground and go north and south. Wind to keep the ball. Wind to pitch the ball. Wind to hand it. Wind to throw it. I think Philo's going to be ahead of the game with all that stuff. And all he's got to do is distribute. Don't effort up and distribute. Oh, and by the way, another thing that you guys might not know about. Brad White's a really good defensive. Yeah, he's made some bones there. He's really good. And what has Brad White done when he's had an elite edge rusher? Oh, yeah, they've gotten a lot of sacks and the defense been really good. And I think he's got that dude on the edge coming back this year. So yes, I am super high on the potential for Florida this year. I just put it out there. What's the record? I think they win nine. Oh, no, that's why you pointed me all you want to is Sophie. No, I'll see you guys here in December. But, but it's not like I don't want to pick Florida. I actually am very, very much rooting for them. It's just Jesse took a really hard stance in our production meeting the other day. Like like disrespectfully hard. Like you'll see like me and John will show you and you didn't even go down there with us. You didn't even meet him. You'd like him though, Jesse. I just want to reiterate that path that I that I tried to sell myself on a little while ago. Okay, the game at Auburn. Let's just say they win it three and OK, you get Ole Miss the week after that. Ole Miss is going to be shaken emotionally somehow. Yeah, you could be 4 and 0 at Missouri. Could be five. I don't care a lot of you less. Sure. Sure. South Carolina at home the next week. OK, then they go to Texas. Now the outside world, maybe even the inside world will tell you, yeah, that's where your luck runs out. Buddy, you notice who Texas plays the week before they play Florida? It's a game that references a river being red if I'm not mistaken. And a shootout, at least on this show. So I love that. All I'm trying to say is if Florida goes into the by week seven to know and they're headed to Atlanta because that's where the game is against Georgia this year. Hey, at least they get to face a high level secondary there. You know, that wide receiver core will have a lot to deal with. But it could be, it certainly would be if you told me outside that top group, that top seven or whatever everyone's talking about in the SEC outside of that group of someone were to come out of nowhere or somewhere. Yeah, it would certainly be Florida. I just I always wonder, you know how every year in college football, not just the SEC, you're going to have one or two teams that get shot out of a cannon at the beginning of the year. All right. And then you find out how long football seasons are. And eventually you find out they had like nine weeks worth of gas in the tank. That could still be Florida. I mean, they do have Georgia, Oklahoma. Here's the reason they can. Here's a reason they can circumvent what you're talking about. I got athletes. That's why. Yes, however, they're not going to try to win shootups. Yeah. And they're not going to be a defense that moves, blitzes, pressures and is overzealous on a high rate. Like they can conserve their bodies if they need to just by how they play their base offense and defense. They don't have to play a reckless style of football. And when you, now, listen, it's great because a lot of the deconiers are doing it now. You look especially now with what Mississippi state's going to be doing with what Tennessee's going to be doing. I mean, Auburn's doing it. Oklahoma's doing it. Almost every team in the league is saying, forget it, man. We're coming after you. But that catches up with you too. Like if you play at that rate and you don't, it's one of my one of my big questions with Oklahoma. Can they do it front line? Yes. Just they rolled three D lines in last year that were probably better than half the league's number ones. I don't know if they can do that this year. Same thing with Tennessee. We forget how good their individual defensive lineman had been the last three or four years. They're not as deep at that position as they are this year. So Florida, like Brad White doesn't have to win that way. He doesn't have to slant, stunt, twist, blitz. Like he can sit there and play three D and try to take you out and pick you apart that way. Now, he'll get aggressive at times if he needs to. But I have some extra confidence in Florida that they are not going to have to punish themselves and wins. Like a lot of other teams will do. And that gives you body conservation as the season goes on. Boy, that was nerdy. It was good. Push those glasses up. You make a pick in your fantasy draft in the entire room, groans, because they wanted that player or you grab a small school rookie off waivers and you start him right before he goes off in prime time. All season long, we have our 15 transactions, 10 trends, sleepers and the mail back, data driven, quick hitting episodes to help bring home that league trophy. Listen to the late round fantasy football. While podcasts on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. 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We do this by digging through the BBC's fast archive. I'm not just a boxer, I'm educating, I can talk all week on the millions of subjects. And when I go on stage, I like to dress as slutty as possible because it makes me dance better for some reason. I'm Immanuel Jochi. It's about what happened in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the world trade. Center in New York, we're looking at the opportunity of a lifetime for us and the other families. Gold bars, silver ingots, it could be worth half a billion. No, dad, don't. You're gonna need all of us, I'll call you when I can. Frank, be careful. Underground Zero, starring Steve Sharipa, Ray Abruzzo, and me, Michael and Perioli. Listen to Underground Zero on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. I mean, can I give you one more SEC? Sure. I've actually been waiting for you to do this. Why not, Ole Miss? I've never said it can't be them. Hey, that was accusing you of anything here, pal. There's no reason to get all defensive here, but the world, specifically, the computers despise Ole Miss. Oh, you're telling me they're an anti-model team? The models have risen up against them? No one even knows what your model is created by or the genocide of is. So therefore, I can't accuse your model of having some orchestrated work against Ole Miss. But there are a lot of people that look at this and say, "Nine wins, no. No way. I can't do it." And I can't figure it out, because second best deal on in the league, I just told you, probably right now with what they're going to have and what they're asked to do, probably a top three most capable offensive line in the league. You got haws and kale bone of it tied in, so you're more than capable of it tied in. The receiver question, I think you could bring up, but they at least went and got bodies that have proven to be quality players at other places. Like you take a Horatio field. That Auburn staff raved about that game, raved about them. Dunmene is going to catch a hundred balls, Trinidad Kiwan, we know that's a given. That's a given. An offensive scheme that's very similar to how it's been run prior, a guy that's actually been there prior. And I don't think you took a step back at the second, third levels of your defense. So is it just that much people don't want to give Pete Golden Credit? Like I don't understand it, because if you're going body for body, dude for dude, position group for position group, we should be talking about them with everybody else, potentially extending winning this league or being in the playoffs. All right. I talk about fortune cookie logic on the show a lot, bumper sticker logic, the kind of things that people often say that sound good as long as you don't break down thoroughly the statement. It just, they say it and they hope you move on. Got it. All right. I had a guy do it to me recently as the reason I mentioned this. He was talking about Ole Miss. He's not a believer in Ole Miss at all. The person is not me, by the way, but I was talking to the person and the person said there's such a sugar high effect about them. Like sure Pete got the job on an interim/full time basis in the playoff and sure they geared themselves up and they had a whole lot of energy like a sugar high would give you, but that was a short time frame. That was a month that they had to be like that, but now he's got the whole weight of the job on him. Now he's going to find out how long a football season is and basically he was saying all this stuff that I guess on one hand you could listen to and say all right, in theory I kind of get the logic behind what you're saying, but where's the root system of it? And this is kind of what I was asking and it was rhetorical because I didn't have time to get an answer, but I was asking what specifically does Pete not possess the ability to do that they head coach has to do to win because it's certainly not that he lacks the players. The players will be there. The same quarterback that I'm talking to the guy still in quarterback you fell in love with last year is there same tail back you fell in love with the still there still got pretty good defensive personnel, pretty good line of scrimmage play. So what is it and it was just, you know, Mimal was a big believer in the phrase him hawing. There was a lot of him hawing around because there weren't really football related reasons. No, I love the sugar high thing because what's our excuse been about all these teams that have buys that can't win in the playoffs. You can't just sit around for a month and go win a football game. That's true. That's true. Doss or sugar then I guess it's a very sedentary guy. I don't I don't really understand that and if Pete Golding was able to manufacture that in a short period of time, which I don't think he manufactured it. I just think he had them prepared to go play a game. Why would he not be able to replicate that for at least portions of a season that they were going into? Oh, here's what would the reaction would be. Well, the formula is just different again. They would just hope you move on from that one. Yeah. The formula is to win games. But it's different. I think Pete Golding has a pretty decent idea with that formula. I don't get it, man, like I think Lane Kiffin's an exceptional coach. I also think Pete Golding is prepared for this moment. I think he's been put in a great spot by what was on that roster and he still retained it. Did they all have a chance to leave? Yes, they all could have left. Right? Like you've said this about Indiana before and people who want to pull them are so old. Could other coaches have not gone and gotten these guys? Yeah. Could you guys not offer those same kids? I didn't know they were only available to one team. Right. Indiana exclusive. I didn't know the Ole Miss guys didn't have an opportunity to leave. So, I literally do not understand why we look at this and say, no, Ole Miss can't do that. They can't be that. The schedule has been a little bit lighter, yes. But I address schedule like this. The better you are, the easier your schedule is. Oh, yeah. It doesn't matter who you play because if you wanted to just play that game all the time, you would have been talking about how impossible Georgia schedule was the last two years. And some of the same in Alabama schedules, you would have been talking about how it, the same things we said with Arkansas and South Carolina last three years, you'd have been saying that about Alabama schedule. And you'd been saying about that. Some Florida schedules when Urban was there and others kept. But no, it's not that hard because those teams are good. Your schedule is as easy as you are good. It doesn't matter who you play, it's just how good you are. Something like we talked about before, who's going to be the better team? Better teams, good teams, find ways to win games. You don't have to have a takeover guy or a make you quick guy. You find ways to win games. So the schedule thing is fun and cool to talk about. But yeah, it's more difficult for Ole Miss, but I think they're going to be good. So therefore, I don't really obsess with who's on the schedule, who's not on the schedule because I think they're going to be a good football team. So earlier this morning, I was talking to Teddy Lehman and Gabe Ikerud behind your back about our thoughts on Oklahoma and about the rumors on your thoughts about Oklahoma. And so I want to put this out there for you because I'm a big John Matier guy. I've got his poster on my wall. I love heroes. That fits by the way. Let me finish. On the same page. I love heroes. I love people who do heroic things. I love people who have a heroic aura about them. And so when you say hero ball, I want to sign up for it. Cool. Now, I think I know what you mean by hero ball. But I also think, if I can speak for John, I also think he's got a little bit more in him this year than he did last year because I think he's got a little bit more around him this year than he did last year. So you were just talking about schedule being as easy or as difficult as you make it. Well, if I'm going to go down the Oklahoma road, could we not have said Oklahoma's got an impossible task on their hands? We did say that a year ago. Yeah. We said it. They can't win seven games and then there they are. in a playoff game. 50 cent in the house. Host in a playoff game. Probably in retrospect, a terrible decision because the game turned out to not repeat that. But they made it and they were an incredibly flawed team. They ended up facing an incredibly flawed team in the first round. So someone had to win that game. But I'm trying to do, you know, the copy paste year over year thing. So if I take that team into this year, but I think O-line play will be better. You trust the O-line coaching out there, right? Yes. I'll be in buzz one of the best in the business. All right. So, so I've got, I've got another year of seasoning there. I just, I blindly believe in John Matier. I think they'll be better at tailback this year. I think they're better equipped to run the ball this year than they were last year. I will never doubt defense with them. But I thought you made a point or it was probably McElroy that made the point this morning. But anyway, on that show, you're on the Birmingham. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you guys were talking about Oklahoma and you're talking about the physicality that their schedule will present them. They have to go to Michigan. And so if you think about styles offensively that these teams are going to pose threats offensively that these teams are going to pose you've got to play Michigan in week two. They are going to play at Georgia. They are going to play Texas and Dallas. They're going to play Camarillo Taylor on the road. They're going to play at Florida. They're going to got, they got Ole Miss. They got Texas A&M. So there are like half a dozen opportunities for them to face. I don't know top 20 caliber rushing outfits personnel. However, we were supposed to phrase that in the preseason. So you were talking about the depth. You were talking about the waves of offensive or defensive linemen that they could throw out you last year. I know everyone else's concern with them would be offensive. And I'm not, it's not like I've had that fully alleviated until I see them able to run the ball. But man, if I have a concern with them, it may actually be the totality of the body blows that that schedule puts on them. Which is crazy because I told myself I'd never question Vinnable's defense. I'm not questioning the X's nose or the tactical nature of it. I'm literally questioning the ability to withstand that entire season because we saw when they don't operate the way that they want to or need to. Texas game where they were completely stagnant, which means they didn't move. Go put that Texas film on. There were no slants, no stunts, no twists, no pressures. I still hadn't gotten an answer for the house of wise of that. But it was almost egregious as to how you manufactured yourselves in that game compared to all the other games. Two other things quickly. One, they don't have to go to Michigan. They get to go to Michigan. Sure do. It's an opportunity for them to prove what they are. And for someone who loves hero ball, let me just say that that fits perfectly like a glove because as someone who believes that they built all of this by themselves and does all of this by themselves on an everyday basis, it really does make sense that you would be such a fan of individual style football. So just I wanted to clear the air there and get that out and let the folks understand what they're dealing with. You notice how when people take personal shots at you and in many cases warranted, you're really quick to step on their words and I just let you I just let you cook. And what your cook is terrible. It smells horrible. It's burnt. It's no good. Throw it in the trash. Everyone knows. I mean, Bradley, am I not the most selfless first person to give praise elsewhere person that you've ever met? He's saying yes, probably. He looks like Santa Claus delivering gifts right now. That's the grin that's on his face. So I'll just take that for my answer. Here, the online situation that we brought up earlier is going to I think define this team. Here's the good news for Oklahoma offensively. I don't think it's just about is a running back capable. Is the offensive line going to be able to move people? There are a couple things that can happen, Josh, that can really change this for Oklahoma this year. Tight in is number one. They had a tight end. It felt like early in the season in Jared Canack. And it was like a weapon. Remember the Michigan game? He had a couple huge catches. And then it's all sudden, well, where's the panic guy? He's not making plays anymore. I don't even see him out there. That position disappeared. They've added some pieces in the portal that I think could be really good. The other's been our buckle. Been our buckle can control some of this. Don't give your quarterback the opportunity to play hero ball as much. Call it and run it. Is what you hear a coordinator say? Hey, John, we're running inside zone. Now you are under control if we go left or go right, but you are handing the ball off. Simple as that. Don't give him the opportunity to allow some of the hero ball moments to maybe be things that hurt the offense, then hurt the team. Throw the ball in the stands. Honestly, if there's one thing I'd like to see a little bit more from John Mateer this year, it's just to give up on a play in thought in the second 10 second 10 better than second 14 or 18. Now it is totally fair to say, well, he also turned some of his potential second to 10s in the 30 yard gains. He does heroically, but with how you were playing defense last year, you didn't need those true. And if the run game picks up a little bit and he has other weapons outside of Satanga that he can lean on, he may not have to do those things. And again, I think that comes back to Ben Arbuckle learning more about himself, more about his quarterback. And then what will this be year three or four together? Mate, I know you're three together. Yeah. Together. So they should be able to do that. They should be able to pull that off. Also keep in mind like when you're practicing offensive lineman and the guys that are going to play can't practice and then they play and then they have to come out because they're dinged up again in the game and like that musical chairs up front makes it almost an impossible task. There's no continuity, no field, no chemistry. They may have a little bit more of that and still not be a great group, but developing a little bit of that could help in all these other things you're talking about. Listen, I think Sky's a limit for Oklahoma. I really do. And to solve the defensive question of being hyper aggressive, moving on every snap, high pressure rate, whatever that is, if you're running the ball sum, you don't have to do those things. Huge shift. You just play straight up a couple of like you go out there and say, you know what guys we're playing based the whole series. We're up two scores, figured out if they need to choose some clock, great. We know we can score on them again if we need to and help put your two's in and you're good for a series or two. So I think all of that can operate off of itself, but I think at the core of that could be the offensive coordinator and how he's sort of orchestrates and manages things in a little bit of a different way. Yeah. All right. This is the last thing I have and then we can hit anything you want, but I wanted to go national for a second. One of the things my mind's focused on right now is does any team have the Penn State effect about them this year? And I don't really mean is your coach going to get fired? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that that team got itself so psychologically in the mode of this is the year we've got to do A B and C. And this is the year we're going to do A B and C and Oregon came in there and beat them tight game early and it felt like it completely cut the legs out from under everything there. Now that's partly an indictment on the DNA of your team and your building, but that doesn't mean it's exclusive to them. And so I'm looking around the country. I'm just going to throw some names out there as programs that are in a similar position as Penn State was. They're highly ranked. There's a lot thought about them. There's a lot that's expected of them and they're going to have early season moments. Ole Miss is one of those teams. LSU is one of those teams. Texas is one thousand percent one of those teams. I think Oregon when they go to USC week four, they're one of those teams. Clemson is not a top 10 team this year, but if they were to go down the road and they were to lose by 30 instead of three, tell me it couldn't get ugly there really quick. There's one that I felt like was the poster child for this team that you haven't mentioned yet. I'm interested to see if you kept going if you would get to them. Now see, I wouldn't have Oregon there because remind me, and honestly don't remember this, refresh our minute like where was James on sort of the I hate hot seat, but we'll just use it for now. Like where was his temperature right now a year ago? Non-existent. You would have been left back and forth with the media and he had gotten a little chippy. But even considering that, you would have been laughed out of any building if you even put his name in the same conversation as hot seat. Because that's kind of what I thought of when you brought up initially is like a guy that would maybe be on the way out and then you you went a little bit further with it. The team that came up for me in the scenarios Texas Tech. Oh, that's a good one. That's really good, but I did not even think about that because Houston week three. Yeah. Friday night. I'm this close to picking Houston. Houston in Lubbock on Friday night. Apparently no one's going to be there because of high school football. If you ain't got macaquees at running back two years ago, Tulane was incredible. If Conor Wigman takes one tenth of the step this year that he took from two years ago to last year, he is going to be a dynamo in that offense. Willie Fritz gets not even one one millions of the credit that he deserves. Austin Armstrong's defenses play as hard for him consistently as any other group in the country. It's not questionable. Most of his guys are back. You bolstered the offensive line through the portal. I think they could have a really good year. I really do. But the thing with Texas Tech Josh is, and once again, Jesse and I had a great, a much more intelligent conversation about this pre show than you and I could ever. I'm really glad you found time to talk to me during your trip up here. Well, you were on the phone the entire day. Jesse, where do you have him staying tonight? Where do you feeding him later? To blank stare. Blank stare. I got to get some chocolate hydration sticks out if you agree with this. Go back. We'll start four years ago and then back further. If we would have seen an offseason like Texas Tech had just had or honestly that LSU is dipping their toe in now. What would we be saying about the distractions or the other things and how much that was gonna hamper their team and how much this team just they can't be focused on football. But now because there's just so much we don't really pay attention to that and it's totally up into the world. It is now almost the expectation and there are some people out there I haven't gotten myself here yet. There are some people out there especially with LSU cause lanes done the portal thing several times. There are people out there that'll say oh dude that's a sweet spot that's actually additive to have all these new pieces come in and to have all this churn and all this drama. It's like that's a comfort zone you'll never convince me that that's a sweet spot the difference with Lane is you never know what his intentions truly are. Like there's a theory out there that he did this whole thing to get the rule put in place so it would just go away and honestly Josh I can't completely discount it because he at times is that much further ahead than everyone else and other guys might be that further ahead he's not afraid to do it. Correct. Which would be the biggest difference is there's some guys that are thinking boy if we could just that and maybe pull this off and he just says you know what forget it we'll do it and I'll find a way to get it done. The Texas Tech things interesting I just don't think you can have that many things happen and be that much a part of your conversation and it not affect you somehow. Now it's up to them as to how and I get it you brought in another wave of deliming but I'll see this is infatuated as we have been with the edges of that defense remember this the middle is what made it happen. And they're not all gone but two of two of the three are gone that really made things go for that defense last year. The offensive scheme I don't think is built to consistently generate what you need to win in the post season. I don't really trust the offensive on as much as I do some of the others on a national now we're talking about playoff continues national title continues here I don't trust that group as much I think will him can be great by the way I think will him it can be a really good core I love this film he's done some excellent things but I just wonder mentally and emotionally where is that program right now because I this is me you know and better than I do I like and respect Joey McGuire I think he has been put in some very uncomfortable spots and had to do some things publicly. That he just flat out did not want to do that's my observation from a million miles away so having said that about him you know what's happening other people in there I just wonder where they are and if there was a team that's going to be where LSU or Clemson was last year going into the season similar spot that can maybe end up in a similar spot that might be the one that I had to point yeah so I'll say this about Joey I think if we sat him here right now he'd be pretty honest and he would he would be fully convinced we've weathered that storm. I love the position we're in they're crazy about their defense of personnel and they should be and we were out there in the spring and this was during the source be stuff when they didn't think they were going to get him back way before the injunction and all that and he said I feel really good about us with will. If we get him back healthy I feel really good about our potential with him anyway my point is that's before that hurricane hit he would convince you if anything this is galvanized us okay now he would believe that. There's been things in the past I believed that ended up being the opposite of what happened sure that didn't mean I wasn't fully convicted in believing them beforehand so I'll say that on one side but then on the other side I will say that's going to be a big test of resolve and mental fortitude if Houston comes in there because you know get many opportunities on the big stage just like Penn State like the whole world was watching Oregon come in there and everything had been baked into it's either championship or what are we doing here. And all the sudden you found out man we're rattled and then you got the UCLA in the northwestern thing happens and it's off a cliff yeah that that's why I hesitate to say oh yeah man but even if they lose to Houston what's the big 12 schedule going to do probably the same thing UCLA and northwestern were able to do because this is a NASCAR race and I know the cars that are 15 car links back they look like they're getting smoked if you take your foot off the gas for two nanoseconds those cars fly past you right. Because even at the highest levels of this sport that's how tightly compacted the margins are you said I could ask you one more thing nationally yes is there a scenario in which Notre Dame does not make the playoff yes I think they would need to be at 10 and 2 they wouldn't make the playoff and that's losing bring him young and that's losing my enemy definitively I oh yeah because I'm about to tell you how they'd miss at 11 and 1. So definitively a 10 and 2 I'm telling you all right bump his head before the show well let me let me just walk it through now if we have a lot of chaos out there like we think there will be like I don't even think we're going to have an 11 win team in the SEC so if the if the country shakes out like that there's going to be room for Notre Dame but if we have some separation in the big 10 if you really do have a big three and let's say USC or even Penn State let's say they're kind of in the mix or you've got four or five from the SEC. And you got to put your G6 in there and you got to put your ACC and your big 12 in there if if their strength of schedule does them no favors if Notre Dame which we don't really think it will right yeah what I got him as the number one overall see so like I couldn't believe in him any more than I do but you ask me for the alternative scenario here I'm just telling you I'm not a person who ever faults them for a strength of schedule like I don't use that as a knock on them at all if anything I think it may have them help your company. You're come playoff time having said that if bring him young doesn't follow through for them and they aren't a top 25 caliber win if they go out there and win it and all their leaning on is Miami and Miami goes in there and beats them and let's say it's 30 to 17 something fairly convincing and they have no other win to hang their hat on. I don't even fall that committee for punishing that cause Notre Dame could look at him and say well it's not our fault even though it technically is called the controller schedule but that committee could look back and say all right but it's not nine and three Oklahoma's fault or it's not ten and two Georgia's fault either so like I know it seems insane when you say it on the surface one lost Notre Dame of course they're in maybe the eight seed but of course they're in that is heavily dependent given the nature of that schedule on the way the rest of the country. The country shakes out to me I think Navy is going to be pretty good I think SMU will be a little bit so yeah yeah so I didn't that wasn't exhausted they need Navy to come through they need SMU they need bring him young Miami or a combination of those but I'm just saying if they lose two but if they lose one if they lose two they're out I just don't just be out I'm saying if they lose one and the one is Miami and nobody else carries the love yeah correct yes I think if that were to happen what you said about the other leagues has to take place. Yeah can't be the SEC that you just described because I think the big the big 10 has that possibility to this year because we talk about Penn State I think Minnesota is the top five team in the big 10 this year. I'm Mississippi State in week two let me tell you this Kate and Halzer New Illinois quarterback can't frickin ball I'm just letting you know like be almost teams not going anywhere now I'm not putting them on the same plateau as Indiana and Oregon and Ohio State I do think the big 10 could be a little bit deeper this year so if that happens to both of those leagues and then the ACC maybe elevates or like we were talking about the big 12 I mean what if Texas Tex only lost is to Houston who makes a run this year and is a really good football team or those three with BYU are all really good teams could that be a two bit league maybe and then that would work against what you're talking about if you know today and where to lose a game or two I just find it hard to look at it and say I know the schedule I get it but also know the perception and I know humans are involved if they lose one there's no way they're not in there's no way if they lose two I still find it honestly difficult to think that they don't get in if that was that's not what I want or truly believe I'm just telling you what I think about the process and how it will go a lot of that probably has to do with the brand of Notre Dame and what perception certainly happened to them last year because I think if Virginia Tech has that schedule you're probably not as resolute in the stance no we know they won't play in a bowl game if that happens again so yeah that's bowl games or whatever I've exhausted myself how about you got anything else I could go for another three hours but some of us are built different you tried to wrap me at what 23 minutes when we did that hour long cube show from Tampa with the most horrific backlighting imaginable I don't even know that we needed the video on that was basically a podcast like making you look like a Jedi that was being projected by R2 D2 was a brilliant idea but hey some of us were against things like that I got introduced on a show the other day you flew in for a half a day you were in there grinding for five days like the rest of us I showed up on Tuesday and you said oh hey didn't know you were coming down here and then I went there on Thursday I didn't know you love the point is I got the credential I was there that was it alright go back to Birmingham I appreciate you yes sir thank you how was fun I think that was good for I hope it was good for him I think that was good for us I appreciate you guys so much look we do this show year round we love it college footballs all we do we've had tons of traffic on this show. Both the podcast and the YouTube channel, ungodly traffic. Thank you so much. Please continue to do so. We don't pay anything for marketing, so it's a word of mouth thing. Tell your friends, okay? This is, it doesn't have to be the exclusive home for them, okay, freedom of choice. It's an on-demand world, but make this one of your stops. For college football, and please subscribe to the channel or the podcast feed while you're there. That's it, that's all. We'll be back Sunday night until then for Director Bradley, producer Jesse. I'm Josh Pate. Hey, let's enjoy a nice appetizer week zero of college football. I know I will. (upbeat music) Must be 21 plus in present in select states. For Kansas, in affiliation with Kansas, Starkicino, or 18 plus and present in DC, first on my real money wager only, $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued as non-withdrawal bonus bets which expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandool.com. 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