Josh Pate, Will Compton & Taylor Lewan Predict The 2025 CFB Season

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, Boys and girls, we are finally here another season of college football, a new season of the locker room. We will be here every Wednesday at six pm Central Time, delivering you your favorite picks every college football weekend. Teams across the country they've revamped their locker rooms.

00:00:17
Speaker 2: We have revamped the locker room of our own.

00:00:20
Speaker 1: There's going to be a three headed monster that you're going to see every week, starting with your boy right here, Willie See will Compton, nine year NFL VET, debately ten, zero time Pro Bowler linebacker out of the University of Nebraska.

00:00:31
Speaker 2: Twenty twelve listen to me.

00:00:33
Speaker 1: Twenty and twelve all Big Ten second team coaches pol joining me two studs Taylor Lawan nine year NFL VET, three time Pro Bowler, All American left tackle out of the University of Michigan two times, two time All American out of the University of Michigan, and the final boss to round out this three headed monster. He is one of the best, if not the best, personalities and figureheads in all of college football.

00:01:00
Speaker 2: And that's Josh Pate.

00:01:01
Speaker 1: I know the Pate Staters are going crazy in the comment section right now.

00:01:04
Speaker 2: What we did is.

00:01:05
Speaker 1: We took Josh Pate's College Football show, we took Busting with the Boys. We mix it together and we created the Locker Room. And today we are talking about futures where we will be predicting and projecting the champions of the Big Twelve, the Big Ten, the ACC, the SEC. We'll be trying to predict the national champion, trying to predict the Heisman Trophy winner.

00:01:24
Speaker 2: We are excited that you're here. Listen.

00:01:27
Speaker 1: If we bring the juice, if we bring a good product to you, this show is free. All that we ask of you is that you simply hit the subscribe button, comment throughout the episode, engage with us on social media. We are ecstatic. Let's kick this football season off. Let's get this party started.

00:02:02
Speaker 2: Fellows the Locker Room.

00:02:03
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00:02:08
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00:02:08
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00:02:28
Speaker 3: All great points Will Compton. Let's face it, boys football is here. We're fired up about the season, but we've got to start by walking in some predictions on how our year is going to play out. That's why Fandel, Thank you. Fandel has created a whole new holiday for us, Futures Day. Futures Day launches Tuesday, August twenty six, and they're giving twenty four hours of deals on your season long picks. So market calendars, set your reminders, whatever you got to do, because August twenty six is about to be the most epic day and futures betting history. Just head a Fandel dot com forwards last Future's Day to get those picks loaded up for this two Tuesday, August twenty six.

00:03:02
Speaker 4: Must be twenty one plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or eighteen plus and present in DC. First online real money wager only five dollars first deposit required. Bonus issued as non withthrawble bonus bets, which expires seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply see terms at sportsbook dot FanDuel dot com. Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler, or visit FanDuel dot com slash rg call one eight eight eight seven eight nine seventy seven seventy seven, or visit CCPG dot org slash chat in Connecticut, or visit nd gambling heelp dot org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling Helplinema dot org or call eight hundred three two seven fifty fifty for twenty four seven support in Massachusetts. Or call one eight seven seven eight Hope, n y or text Hope and why in New York.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: Guys, we made it. We're here.

00:03:49
Speaker 5: Been doing this all morning, just been tapping, all happing away.

00:03:52
Speaker 3: I went to bed last night. There were two things going on my head. One that fucking pitch. The second thing that was going through my head is I can't believe I get to sit at this at this studio with you two fine gentlemen and talk a little bit about football.

00:04:04
Speaker 2: That is for me, though, We get to sit with the goat.

00:04:07
Speaker 5: This is Josh America. This is the American dream.

00:04:10
Speaker 3: This is the American dream. And how lucky three quats sitting here getting to live the American dream right now.

00:04:16
Speaker 2: It's beautiful.

00:04:17
Speaker 5: Only in Nashville.

00:04:19
Speaker 2: Only in Nashville. T shirt Baby T shirt put it on there.

00:04:22
Speaker 1: How are you feeling about the reaction of the collaboration of busting with the boys in Josh Pat's college football?

00:04:27
Speaker 2: Unbelievable?

00:04:28
Speaker 5: So we did it the other day, I go to the gym, show gets uploaded. Next day, I'm at the gym, been there two hours, it's been up two hours, and we're getting left and right comments. Love it. Man, Hey, hey like this. Hey hey. A couple of guys said they hadn't even subscribed to the channel yet and they have subscribed because of that, and then probably several more on the other side. So the neighborhood's talking.

00:04:49
Speaker 1: The neighborhood is talking. I've been diving into some Josh Pat Laura a little bit. Do we have to we have to put a disclaimer out there that you got paid for the show?

00:04:57
Speaker 5: You do you do if I got paid for the show that was the other day?

00:05:03
Speaker 1: Yeah, I like, I'll go in and somebody like jab him on something about getting paid for a show. I don't know what the inside, I don't know what the context or anything is, but I feel like it's like an audience where they, you know, they battle back and forth. There's some trolling going on, there's some fun being had.

00:05:17
Speaker 5: It's normally. It's normally people who have been in your DMS asking you to be on their show, and you like haven't gotten back to them, right because you're busy. And then the week later you do some random appearance and they accused you of being paid for it, which I wasn't. They weren't even talking about disappearance. And then everyone jumps down their throat and then they want to apologize to you in the DMS, but they're really not sorry.

00:05:35
Speaker 2: They're just sorry they got called out.

00:05:37
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh that's the dude you ratioed into oblivion. Then I think he deleted the tweet.

00:05:42
Speaker 2: His fault, man, he deleted it too late.

00:05:44
Speaker 5: He waited.

00:05:48
Speaker 3: If you think you're getting ratio bad and someone's going to screenshot that.

00:05:50
Speaker 5: Thing, screenshat man, They got screenshot anything.

00:05:54
Speaker 1: This is the first this is your first time on camera since the first pitch. Anything that you want to.

00:06:01
Speaker 2: Talk about, because it's went.

00:06:02
Speaker 1: It's went from a lot of levels, Like right when you threw it, I kind of look on my face. You're walking to me, You're like catchable, catchable. Then it's like you know, reality starts to set in.

00:06:11
Speaker 2: That's a good place to start out.

00:06:12
Speaker 3: When I throw the ball, it's like a son looking at his father being like, please tell me that was good enough for you. And so I'm trying to give you the answer that I want by saying catchable, catchable. You come up, your face says it all. It's like, yes, it was catchable. Was it the result? We want to know? And Josh and I were talking about this before. It's like, if that happens in Saint Louis a couple months ago, this this whole redemption pitch story thing never happens. It's like, yeah, it's a little high onward and up where we keep moving forward because the pitch happens at Cardinal Stadium. Then we take a few months, we get one percent better. Every single day. We're going I'm pulling you to the side every single day being like, hey, we gotta get a couple throws in.

00:06:51
Speaker 2: Hate's talking. We've thrown.

00:06:53
Speaker 3: Everybody who walks in this building has throwing a baseball with me. And then I go and take a flight to Kansas City to throw that. I'm we checked a box. But at the end of the day, like is checking a box.

00:07:03
Speaker 2: What busted? What the boys all about?

00:07:04
Speaker 3: No, it's about truly meeting the standard, and we did not meet the standard. So I need to reevaluate my level of athleticism. I need to reevaluate the choices that I've made in my life. I need to understand that. Right now, it's football season, so I have to take my own selfish wants and needs and put them to the side because we got a big slate of college football and NFL football coming up for the next six months. But eventually we've got to go back again. Eventually, I've got to.

00:07:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it was a family affair. Like you said, everybody in the show. Everybody in the shop has played You've played didn't you play catch with Yeah?

00:07:36
Speaker 2: Did?

00:07:36
Speaker 1: Absolutely everybody's played catch with them. When you go out there, it's like, I think of it as you've trained all off season and you go or you went through all these wrestling tournaments and you're you're sitting there, you're grinding and out with your old man.

00:07:49
Speaker 2: It's a family affair.

00:07:50
Speaker 1: You got the coaching staff, you got your teammates, and you go out there thinking it's not just podium. We're trying to get the gold medal and you come out of that tournament with a ribbon?

00:08:00
Speaker 2: Can I tell you this and the kids? I did? I do you know how much work did we put in here first the year? Yeah? Like, did we waste our time flying out here?

00:08:10
Speaker 5: I don't think so. If you learned a lesson, you didn't waste your time. But I got to tell you so I was as you guys were there. I was live on the air last night. We were up at Penn State last night. I didn't have a laptop on set because I needed information. I had a laptop on set because I was refreshing it waiting for updates. And the video dropped during the show and I looked at it and there's a moment in the live show where I just do a deep sigh and there's a moment of pause, and the production crew they were kind of like on their phones and they look up because they're silence, and I just kind of, you know, I do the hand motion. It's okay.

00:08:41
Speaker 2: You guys wouldn't understand.

00:08:43
Speaker 5: It's okay. I told this dude to pop three night weil. He didn't.

00:08:45
Speaker 3: He went and just said the night quill. And I think that was mentioned too in the hallway. Maybe I should have actually been the night quoll, but I thought you were trying to get me.

00:08:54
Speaker 5: No, I was trying to save you.

00:08:55
Speaker 2: It sounds like it. It sounds like it.

00:08:57
Speaker 3: And listen, there was a moment of a week and a half ago Jeremy clumpsits thing. He's like, you just seem too mechanical, like You're like, it looks like you're like trying big hard. And then so I just started ripping it because you work on the little processes, and then at the end of the day, like like the forty, you gotta just you just got to run. So I'm just throwing and it's starting to go. Now we get to the game. We're starting to throw a little bit, a couple of good ones, a good slew of like could be better.

00:09:21
Speaker 2: And then we finished strong one.

00:09:22
Speaker 1: I had to stand up in my hey lock in yeah yeah, and I go, we go.

00:09:27
Speaker 3: We do the tour. They're giving me the tour. It's a wealth of information. The guy that's taking on this Kansas City Royals tour. It's awesome, what a what a great franchise, all the things. However, I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about I need to grip it and rip it. We get to this FanDuel TV thing. There's a gentleman there at three hundred and fifty four saves. He said, I like to give you a little bit of, you know, a critique or something. When I see your throw. You're out here. You have to be essentially one hundred percent perfect to put the ball where you want it. When your arm's that high, you got to come over the top. And instead of just gripping and ripping, I'm in my head thinking about coming over the top and my release point was a little hot. You can't have it by you feel in slow motion that time, Saint Louis. That was a whirlwind. That was I can't believe that happened. Oh my god. This was like a frame by frame if you slow down a video. Like the whole time, I'm thinking what are we doing here? Like you're thinking about what this guy's telling.

00:10:16
Speaker 2: You, not just doing what you're supposed to be doing.

00:10:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, speaking of frame by frame, let's go frame by frame in each of these conferences this college football season.

00:10:23
Speaker 2: What do you want to start to?

00:10:24
Speaker 3: All right, we up this episode to bring you boost it with the boys. If you didn't know already the Boys of a fifty percent profit boost token available every college football Saturday. That's fifty percent boost on any college football game bet. Just open up the FanDuel sportsbook gap this Saturday and look out for the booster with the Boys PBT back to the.

00:10:42
Speaker 4: Episode twenty one plus and present in select states. For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or eighteen plus and present in DC, opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook dot fan duel dot com. Gambling problem call one eight hundred gambler or visit rg dash help dot com. Call one eight eight eight seven eight nine seven seven seven seven, or visit CCPG dot org slash chat. In Connecticut, Hope is here Gambling Helpline MA dot org, or call eight hundred three two seven fifty fifty for twenty four seven support. In Massachusetts, visit www dot MD gambling help dot organ Maryland call one eight seven seven eight Hope NY or text Hope n Y four six seven three sixty nine.

00:11:27
Speaker 2: In New York? Should we just?

00:11:29
Speaker 1: Should we let the Big Dog eat right out of the gate and just start talking juggernauts in the SEC.

00:11:33
Speaker 2: I'm down, SEC, turn me up.

00:11:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, Josh Fate, listen, you're the uh you're you're you're the college football expert. To me, there's three teams that I juggle in my head between Texas, Georgia and Alabama. I would love to hear your breakdown. I got a couple thoughts of my own, but I would love to lean on the college expert in how you've broken down the se SEC throughout your offseason?

00:11:58
Speaker 5: Right? Can I ask you this? So you said Texas or Obama or your three juggles.

00:12:02
Speaker 2: Yes, there's a fourth in there too.

00:12:04
Speaker 1: I don't is it lsu I For whatever reason? I just I think they can be really good. But something just something about the staff, something about coach Kelly that I just is he a national championship? Is he an SEC champion in that conference? I mean, when you got Kirby Smart debor.

00:12:24
Speaker 2: Sark?

00:12:25
Speaker 5: Like, hold on, if I were a detractor. Okay, so you're you're you're not knocking Brian Kelly, but you're putting a question mark on his forehead? Why does Sark get a pass? What has he done that Brian Kelly hadn't done it.

00:12:38
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:12:39
Speaker 1: I I so if I can be kind of personalized about it, I feel like Sark has a swagger and a player coach relationship that you don't necessarily see with Brian oi else we haven't necessarily saw with coach. Kelly kind of operates the the consensus. You know, he has got where he does the accent stuff, and hey, he has his own kind of fun, but he operates kind of like a CEO, so to speak, where I feel like Sark he does have that that player relationship. You feel that player all year, and when you talk to anybody about Sark and the coaching world and the playworld, they talk about how much they love Sark, So.

00:13:13
Speaker 2: You're right, like, what has he done?

00:13:15
Speaker 1: But I just feel like if I was, if I was differentiating the two, that's kind of like how I would see it with Sark.

00:13:21
Speaker 2: And I feel like.

00:13:22
Speaker 1: Sark has his guy with the ARCHI, even though he's not proven yet. I feel like they are operating with the.

00:13:27
Speaker 3: That's what scaries one of the most about Texas is all this talk and potential about arch Manning. It's kind of terrifying because he's been a five he's been a five star.

00:13:34
Speaker 2: I think he was the greatest things in slight spread.

00:13:36
Speaker 3: He's got the pedigree, the bloodlines, everything, and now it's like, now we actually get to see.

00:13:40
Speaker 2: Now that's where I pull myself.

00:13:41
Speaker 3: Back a little bit on Texas and the thing just to double down on LSU and the difference between Sark and Kelly is when you look at Sark and you see the Texas logo, something about that gels that's a peanut butter and jelly feeling where you're like, I can understand why that personality of that head coach is with that brand and that logo. Brian Kelly, who's still a great college football coach, who's at Notre Dame forever, he doesn't have this like coach O did with LSU. LSU feels to me like from a culture standpoint, you need a very unique personality to uphold the brand of the LSU Tigers, and Brian Kelly just feels like he's a great he's a great college football coach, but does he fit the mold of the Cajun baton rouge fried lifestyle of the.

00:14:25
Speaker 2: Whole state of Louisiana.

00:14:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, who every single, Saturday wakes up and they're saying go Tigers. They're spelling it a goofy way. They're tailgating from Wednesday all the way until Saturday, and they have that insane electricity atmosphere. It's like, does Brian Kelly feel the same way that LSU feels to the public.

00:14:43
Speaker 2: I don't think.

00:14:44
Speaker 3: I think there's like a little bit of a disconnect there, Sarka. I don't feel that disconnect between Texas, Austin, Texas and sarkid you.

00:14:51
Speaker 5: First off, you said the exact right thing. So if I were to take your side on it, that's exactly my answer to my own question. That's the edge that sark has over Brian Kelly. You're a discre culture. You're describing fit like why a guy would work one place and wouldn't work another. That is not nearly as talked about in the NFL, cause NFL franchises or NFL franchises. There's a difference in Buffalo and the Texans, but it's not nearly the difference in Michigan State and LSU, for example, in college football. I mentioned those two because Saban was at Michigan State at one point and he goes to LSU. He's never lived in the South in his life. He's never coached in the South in his life. However, unlike Bka, when he took the LSU job, Sabin looked and said, everything about Louisiana, I want to like put my throat, I put my hands around the throat of that. I want that infused. And Brian Kelly, I think, kind of said, now we're gonna do it with Brian Kelly. Way Louisiana. This Louisiana that doesn't matter so much. They're kind of paying the cost for that right now, and they're trying to get back to that way. But I think that what you said right I would therefore put Texas in that lead pack. I would put Georgia in that lead pack. I'd put Alabama in that lead pack. I went with Bama to win this conference in a kind of nod to the OC higher they made in Ryan Grubb, who they had for like five minutes last year before he went to Seattle. They would have had him on the staff last year he comes back. I think what I trust with them is at quarterback, ty Simpson will not give them the highest highs that Melroe gave them, but he definitely will keep them from the lowest lows that Melroe gave them. That entire offense last year was so schizophrenic there was no identity, so you had no clue what you were getting week to week. So if you're in oc how in the world do you gain plan Because you could go beat LSU by thirty like they did, and then go get beat by Oklahoma by three touchdowns like they did. There's no consistency in performance. They got the players, They got one of the best wide receiver rooms in the conference easily, I think the best and deepest dB room in the conference. Line of scrimmage talent is good. It's Alabama just like Georgia. They should get back to running the ball this year. But if it comes down to a tiebreaker in my head right now, between Kaylin de Boor and these other dudes, he's six and zero against Sark and Kirby and Dan Lanning, which we all agree with three of the best in the country right now, war in his time at Washington goes six and zero against them. It's just himself with better talent now, So I think year two there would be a lot of concerns that are eased a little bit for folks who think Alabama's just about to fade into the abyss simply called Nick Saban's not there.

00:17:15
Speaker 2: I think that's what people, a lot of people that aren't Alabama.

00:17:17
Speaker 5: Fans kind of want the rest of the country.

00:17:18
Speaker 3: The rest of the country wants because Alabama has ran college football for so long. And I think, as an outsider looking in, my feeling is what does that pressure look like to Debor When everyone's like now whispering about if eight and four happens, how could it im four possibly happen at Alabama? How do you lose to a Michigan team in their ballgame where they can't even throw the ball?

00:17:37
Speaker 2: Like, where is.

00:17:38
Speaker 3: The disconnect between Nick Saban and to Bor because they're completely different coaches. When we were there for the spring practices, they're talking about how there's music playing. Now they're a little looser and the meeting rooms are having more fun. When Nick Saban will run extremely type ship and I think we're so used to just feeling and seeing like one culture in one place for so long that's hard to imagine it any other way. So that's where when I'm looking at it in my dumb brain.

00:18:02
Speaker 2: I'm like, do I go into Alabama? Do I buy an Alabama?

00:18:05
Speaker 3: Or do I kind of ease back a little bit because I'm not sure from a cultural standpoint, which you know, when I look at the sheet, I go a lot by the culture and like what do they do? You can take different pieces and put them in, but the culture are still the same. I don't know what Alabama's culture is, and that's why I get a little weary about them.

00:18:20
Speaker 5: But I'm going to tell you what makes me nervous, because you were just talking about Texas. What makes me nervous is I was out in Austin this spring, Like they've lost players, they got a new quarterback, at least a new starter at quarterback in art so like there's a lot of the questions you would ask about him, But Sark said, we've been building towards this year, right, Like, this is the year we've been building towards. All of these are my guys. The entire building is full of my guys. So even though we may be replacing starters, the guys we're replacing them with. Those are the ones we're banking on. Those are the ones we trust, Those are the ones we have recruited and evaluated and developed. And he said that without blinking, and I just that burns in your mind because then you go and you do something like picking against Texas, and it's like, you know, fractions of inches here and there. And I just don't want to find myself feeling stupid in December, because he gave me the answers to the quiz in spring and I just forgot about him.

00:19:13
Speaker 1: I think it is like fractions and inches with those three teams, Texas, George and Alabama. If you give a nod to Georgia, it'd probably be the coaching staff. You give the nod to Alabama, They're probably the deepest. You give the nod to Texas. I like, I think they are equipped just like those other two teams. But I think their schedule is the most favorable out of those three. They have the easiest schedule out of those three. Bama and Georgia both have tough schedules. And I know it's like Archie isn't proven yet, and I don't know how else to explain the belief in Archie Manning because we've had, you know, fortunate enough, we got to have Peyton sit on the show and talk about the how they kind of handle everything with ar Choice almost how level headed he is, and the belief is just more so I guess latching on it. It's like you know when Apple just makes a product and you don't know, you might not even know what the product is trust, but you know it's going to be a banger. It's like the Manings historic, like all of them, they've all been good. And with Archie, the hype there, the way Sark talks about him, him being at Texas, all of these things about him, it's just it's just a feeling of I just believe it's gonna happen, and I that's why I'm going to go to Texas because again, I think they have the most favorable schedule, granted everybody stays healthy. And if Archie Manning is who everybody's talking about him being being a Heisman contenter, he's the Heisman front runner right now, but being a Heisman contender, and if that offense is operating in sark system, I like them to win the SEC.

00:20:35
Speaker 2: I think I think all of us.

00:20:36
Speaker 3: I didn't take this team, but I think LSU is a team that we're kind of all sleeping on a little bit.

00:20:40
Speaker 2: They got one against Clemson. Clemson.

00:20:42
Speaker 3: I think JP drop this little NuGet to me yesterday. Clemson hasn't won a home opener versus the big teams. It's like twenty nineteen. It's a good opportunity.

00:20:49
Speaker 1: Was that has won.

00:20:54
Speaker 3: Okay, So that is the opposite of the opinion I was going to have because I think two years ago LSU's defense was abysmal. Last year they got better. I think they take another step this year. They have the most quarterback ready for the NFL and Garrett Nussmeyer. It's like, can they take those step? If not, we might be looking at a situation where you're halfway through the season you're like, is Brian Kelly really your guy? Those whispers started happening last year. My pick, and it's a cultural pick.

00:21:21
Speaker 2: It's Georgia.

00:21:22
Speaker 3: Before the show, we started talking about the wide receiver room being the alpha in Georgia, which has never even heard of the young guy. Like you have a guy like Gunner Stockton who is waited, sitted back and kind of just waited his turn. But I think you see a guy like Carson Beck who kind of fits the mold to Miami a little bit more a little more flashy. Any guy who's gonna leave a program, a big program like Georgia because of his girlfriend can't buy stalking that. I don't want to be around that. Gunnar Stockton's the guy that's going to be able to get it.

00:21:47
Speaker 1: They and when he'd go in the game last year, whenever a Carson would get injured or someone so, I feel like the team would like rally like, yeah, they would.

00:21:54
Speaker 2: Be juiced for behause.

00:21:55
Speaker 3: I think there was some talk of like kind of way Quinn Ewers and arch Manning in a much lower sense. Anytime Quinn Eures didn't do something great, everyone's like, well, where's arts we should put archin. I feel like it was a similar feel. Yeah, Carson Beck and Gunnar Stockton.

00:22:08
Speaker 5: Remember this, they played Texas in the SEC championship game. Beck gets hurt. Georgia is trailing when Bet gets hurt, so Gunner Stockton comes in and with him at the helm, they come from behind to beat Texas for a conference title. It's not like they had a three touchdown lead and they held on. That's the same thing with the Boat Pribulla kid, who's the quarterback at Missouri this year. Penn State was on the ropes on the road against Wisconsin. Aller goes down, they have to come from behind with their backup and win. So like whether it's Stockton, whether it's Pabula, these guys aren't totally unproven commodities. They haven't had the QB one tag for a whole year. But like, you're right, And also he's a homegrown kid, he's from Georgia. Locker room loves him, so they'll go to war for him. They'll like facing the fan for him, over the cliff for him. However, it all comes down to their ow line. For me, like to circle back and I'm gonna give you the state age back. But if you tell me they've got a Georgia offensive line, I have no problem trusting that kid.

00:23:06
Speaker 3: Yeah, I see. I have lean so much more on the on the wide receivers in the ability. Like Mike Bobo the OC, he is a guy that he's got a little bit of criticism for it, but playing more loudly than he is vertically. So if you run into that Georgia offensive line in the locker room, huge day. This thing was throwing up up there. But Mike Bobo as the OC he has gotten the criticism you got if you're if you're a Georgia Bulldogs fantas. He attacks too much east and west, not so much north and south. So as much as you hate the screens and the bubbles and all those different things, they get a lot of haye because they have aliens in the wide receiver position. So I don't necessarily worry too much about Georgia when it comes to their offensive line. They're gonna have their five star guys. They're all gonna come from, like you know, down South or corn fed boys, They're gonna get after it. But if they have you know, Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas, So Zachari came from USC and no A Thomas came from those guys step up and they gel. It's not about Georgia playing great in September other than other than Tennessee. It's about them playing great in November and December and getting traction similar the way Ohio State did at the end of the year last year.

00:24:11
Speaker 5: That wide receiver room. Just those names you're mentioning, they may just be names to people watching Georgia fans know them, but they may just be names to people so you think wide receiver, there's just like this six to one and eighty pound kid.

00:24:22
Speaker 2: In your head.

00:24:23
Speaker 5: They've got that, but they've got some six four to twenty in that room. Like they've got a variety of personnel in the wide receiver room. And you were just saying what we were talking about earlier. I don't want it to just kind of get glossed over that you said the wide receiver room could be the alpha room at Georgia. At Georgia, think about how crazy that statement is. With the running back rooms you've seen come through their defensive linebacker every year. You wouldn't go like six or seven rooms deep before you ever mentioned receiver. And yet they were so focused because they led the league in drops by a mile last year. Position led them down horribly. So I think Carson Beck has a decent chance to surprise people Miami this year if guys just catch.

00:25:01
Speaker 2: The ball for him and if he's healthy.

00:25:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's like like this side note, But if Georgia they've got wide receivers that play.

00:25:08
Speaker 2: Like that, you haven't seen that with them. We haven't seen it, so we don't even know how the team profiles.

00:25:13
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then also Kirby Smart like you talk about we bring up Nick Saban all the time. He was essentially Lord Voldemort of college football for the longest time. How you killed Baltimore, you got to kill all his horse cruxes. That horror crux is Kirby Smart Like he is just a living, breathing version of Nick Saban, possibly the best head coach all of college football right now. So it's like, how do you bet against a guy like that who's proven it time and time again.

00:25:36
Speaker 5: I'mlet me tell you the one thing that I have in my mind, so Georgia would have been my pick. This is the one thing that talked me off of them. Barely their start, and they got a lot of first or second year guys in they're too deep, more so than Kirby's had to deal with, which you know, you don't feel bad for him. It's just something I don't think they simplify how complex that defense is, just because they got younger guys, all right, So it.

00:25:56
Speaker 2: Doesn't happen until it gets the middle of the year and becomes a problem.

00:25:59
Speaker 5: I think what happens in the middle of the year is they get Texas and Ole Miss and Alabama. Rollery Athens. Okay, so home fields definitely on their side. That block g's on their side the way I see those games going, if you had to, like you know, give one percent edge either way, if you're trying to pick the conferences, George is not gonna be a bad team. There's no world where that happens. There is a world where they're a really high level team, but you've got like one or two busts per game or you can't quite get home and you know, against against Kentucky that may not matter. But against Steve Sarkisian's team and Kaitlin de Bori's team and Lane Kiffin's team, you got some of the best play callers in the world there, and Ryan Grubb calling plays for Alabama. Like, against those guys, the difference in that game is.

00:26:41
Speaker 2: One or two blown assignments.

00:26:43
Speaker 5: Those are the best in the world at exploiting young guys that you're having to start on defense. So if the league swings either way, That's what talked to me off Georgia. But I'm just standing over here. I'm not out of the room. I'm just over here saying, yeah, they.

00:26:55
Speaker 2: Could still do it.

00:26:56
Speaker 3: They could still do absolutely, So where are you going, I'm going Georgia. Okay, yeah, yeah, I've talked about Georgia for the last ten minutes. I figured that's clear, But I'm going to Georgia.

00:27:05
Speaker 2: Tell you went on a rate about LASH. I think in Alabama.

00:27:09
Speaker 3: You sit there and you're talking about Texas, Georgia, Alabama, It's like those are the three teams. It's like there's three, but that fourth one is like three B Like it's right there. And I think Brian Kelly could be a guy has talked about no matter what, but whether it's him losing a job or him playing for national championship, like that's Those are the two different lsus we're looking at this year.

00:27:27
Speaker 5: And one thing I was asking you, the one thing that I just wanted to have on camera on record for when people watch this in December, is there is a thought out there. You would see it in the fan duel odds if you went and looked it up right now, which is just implying what the market thinks it is. Alabama, Texas, Georgia LSU like that's a solid front betting for and then there's a little bit of a drop off, and then there are like five or six other teams. You got Florida, you got South Carolina, a TENNISSE season there, And I just think that we're in a new world where there's a lot of compacted nature at the top of the league. And I don't think people have recalibrated their minds yet. I still think people think in terms of a lead pack, and it could just be a lot of ten and two, nine to three and we're deciding it.

00:28:06
Speaker 2: Based on tie breakers in December, and you look.

00:28:08
Speaker 3: At all the professionals that talk about college football, I feel like every good team is ten and two this year, Like we're gonna have like sixteen teams.

00:28:15
Speaker 5: No one's predicting eleven in one for anyone, no aside from their own fans, ever, because no one wants to be on the hook for that. No one wants to be in December saying how could you have ever predicted anyone to go eleven wins in this chaos? Yeah, I just think you're gonna have some eight and fours that were really good. South Carolina just randomly to pick a team. South Carolina could have the best offensive end defensive player in the league. Sellers on offense, quarterback, and Stewart on defense. At edge could be the best players in the league. You say that with Ohio State, with Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs, you could say that. In the SEC about South Carolina, we haven't even mentioned them. In the league race, we haven't even mentioned them. And I just think that if you're looking at this like a ladder match, it used to be you had a bunch of teams on rung three of the ladder. Well, you can extend fully, you can't reach the belt. I think a lot of teams are on like the fifth rung where it's still tough, but like if they fully extend, they're within reach of the belt. There may be a team or two ahead of them on the ladder. That's where you just gotta take a knee cap out. But I just think the leagues a lot more competitive this.

00:29:11
Speaker 2: Year, and I've seen it. We got to get to another conference. Before we get we get.

00:29:19
Speaker 1: The show is already running extremely We're already doing what we thought we'd do.

00:29:22
Speaker 2: Big twelve, this this is Josh Bate's favorite conference. Yeah, a boy, he loves sher Young twelve. I was talking with Josh.

00:29:35
Speaker 1: Before we got on the show, and the Big Twelve it like That's where I've spent the most time because I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to go, like I have my pick, And as a matter of fact, I'm sitting here talking about I have my pick. I forgot what pick I even delivered into the show because I've went back and forth on so many different teams. Because I was asking Josh, I'm like, what concept is going to rise to the top with Kansas State. It's like you are not with Can't State with the Big twelve. My pick is Kansas State. It's like, I know the floor of Kansas State. I'm familiar with climbing, got to go out there when he was at North Dakota State, and he's a massive culture guy. We know what we're gonna get with Kansasate. Can they tap into a new ceiling with Avery Johnson taking a step and making a league because he had some iffy moments last year. They go out in the portal, they round out some guys in their wide receiver room, they plug some holes on the offensive line. Defensively, they're kind of you know, they can be good, but is their culture going to get them over the hump this year?

00:30:34
Speaker 2: Is it going to be Texas Tech.

00:30:36
Speaker 1: With McGuire, where they go out and acquire all of these guys, build new facilities, have all the theatrics talking about I know Josh should get into it with their two and three deep what they have on defense. But is that acquisition? Is that going to be it? Because they're the most talented. Is it gonna be your boy? Up in Utah? The Old Dog was a witting Kyle Winningham.

00:30:58
Speaker 5: The motor only big twelve coach that the motorcycle to.

00:31:00
Speaker 1: Work and they grab the the OC quarterback duo. Is that philosophy going to win? Baylor Arizona State? Both of those teams return a lot of their guys that they had last year. So it's I have no clue where there's gonna go. I want to say FanDuel has about what two or three teams A plus five fifty two or three teams A plus six hundred, Like there's like six to eight teams that are all right there around the same odds, and I have I have no clue. I'm going Kansas State because I kind of have a soft spot with climbing. I do with Dillingham too, but I kind of I've I've always enjoyed watching climb and operate from a culture standpoint, and I feel like Avery Johnson's really good. I feel like they have the talent, they have some big boys up front, they have the the trenches kind of built. So I'm gonna lean on them and just hope they raise the ceiling this year. But I could see, I could see Baylor, I could see we can get in Arizona State, and I could say, I don't. I'm not in love with Arizona State. Like everybody else has talked about. I think Scatabo is gonna be a huge loss. And I could also see Texas Tech.

00:32:03
Speaker 2: So I don't know.

00:32:04
Speaker 3: So you you the defending Big Twelve champs ASU, You think the reason why they don't do the same thing they did last year is because they lost Scatibo.

00:32:12
Speaker 1: So ASU is a team that returns a lot of their production from the year before.

00:32:17
Speaker 2: And I do I think.

00:32:19
Speaker 1: I think teams have you know, teams have continued to get better in the Big Twelve, like we're just mentioned, and Baylor's return a lot of guys. Texas Tech went out to get a lot of guys. You got the culture of the climbing. You know, he's going to be a three to four lost team at least. Uh So you're gonna have those And that's not even talking about Utah. That's not talking about you know. I know you can be high on on Kansas Iowa stayed with Campbell like they don't.

00:32:39
Speaker 2: They have a pretty favorable schedule.

00:32:41
Speaker 1: So my thought on Arizona State is I think Scatabo is going to be a bigger loss than people think about because they were in a lot of fourth quarter games last year to where they have scat plays. They have playbooks for Scatabo to where you would have to lean on Scataboe, Scatabo would have to make a play. I think Sam Levitt is awesome. I just I don't see them as like a clear year this is going They're gonna be in the front of this Big twelve conference because I think everybody else is kind of calling up to them, and everybody else will be able to compete with.

00:33:06
Speaker 3: I don't disagree with some of the things you said. I think my pick is going to be as U. I think Kenny Dillingham Obviously I went to high school with Dillingham. I got Charlie Vibes guy. Kenny Dillingham and I mean this is a compliment. Reminds me of like when you're all sitting with your friends watching football game and you got the one guy that's like, hey, he should have caught that, he should have done this. If you took that guy and made him a head coach, that's Kenny Dillingham, but with with more football sat like he's in press conference that we suck right now, like someone's gonna go three and nine, why don't we go? He is a guy that allows his dudes to be who they want to be. You got scatter Bow and Levitt before the college football playoffs talking all this ship in the world. Scatabo is talking about how he's the best running back, not Ashton Gent. They're gonna approve a whole things in a lot of ways. They should have beat Texas. I think the big thing about Kenny Dillingham, the big thing that changes ASU's culture, is that Kenny Dillingham has publicly said and we all publicly believe he's not going to go anywhere. And ASU for the longest time, as long as you can remember, since like nineteen seventy six when they won a Pac ten championship, every coach has gone there has used a stepping zone to get somewhere else. Now you have a place Tempi Arizona, fun spot to be at. You got this blue Mountain state vibe of Asu sam Levitz probably wighing up a little bit hungover right now in a nice apartment in old town Scott Sale with three blonds around him. He's getting three point one million dollars at nil. He can sling that thing all over the yard, and then everyone's saying, Statabo, scatabo, scatabo.

00:34:32
Speaker 2: I made a couple of calls.

00:34:34
Speaker 3: I looked around. I called some coaches. This guy named Kyson Brown, they call him sip guy. Averages four point three yards per carry. He's a fast guy. We're talking about a ten to six type of dude. In the hundred when he was in high school. Kanye Udo came from Army. All right, salute the troops. Right after the Army Navy gave he was the first guy to go into the portal. This guy had eleven hundred yards, ten touchdowns, one hundred and seventy nine carries. This guy is a zone gap scheme type of type of guy that's going to get downhill. He's gonna get those dirty three and a half four yards for you. And there's one more canny.

00:35:06
Speaker 2: Let me take a little peaks Ky Relieve Brown trans from USC.

00:35:09
Speaker 3: He was at a SU last year he got injured in I believe it was camp rumor is from the coaching staff. Guys healthy. He's a take the top off type of cat. He's a dude that Sam lev is gonna be able to wheel and deal. Throw it out of the backfield, to put him out in the slot a little bit, give him some screens and.

00:35:25
Speaker 2: He's going to be able to have the home run ability. All three of those guys.

00:35:29
Speaker 3: Just because you have a running back room by community doesn't make it a bad thing.

00:35:33
Speaker 2: You need.

00:35:34
Speaker 3: You got these three guys to take over for that one guy, Camp Scoutabo. You've got the attitude, You've got the ability to instill a culture and it has to happen this year in the Big twelve. By taking over and doing it two times in a row, they should have beat Texas.

00:35:47
Speaker 1: Listen, I'm not saying think you're disrespecting.

00:35:51
Speaker 3: I think like, if you are who you say you are, this is when you put you cement. It is right now everyone's looking to ask you and being like pitchforks everybody. You know, it's plastic surgery and booze out in Asus.

00:36:06
Speaker 2: That's what they do there.

00:36:08
Speaker 3: Now you're able to turn to a football culture, and Kenny Dillingham's that cat.

00:36:12
Speaker 5: I'm gonna tell you something no one told you in Kansas City last night. I'm really proud of you.

00:36:16
Speaker 2: Thank you.

00:36:17
Speaker 5: You just you just rolled. I'm picking Arizona State. I got nothing to add. I'm almost gonna be tempted to mention other teams I didn't pick because you so thoroughly broke down the Sun Devils. Kenny Dillingham could have watched this and learned something about his team. That's how proud I you.

00:36:32
Speaker 2: You. You let everyone.

00:36:34
Speaker 5: Else cook knowing I'm sitting on Arizona State over here. When we get to Arizona State, I'm rolling.

00:36:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're rolling.

00:36:40
Speaker 5: I do want to say this. You mentioned this team one time, you said Kansas No one cares about Kansas. No, they're just not in the middle of nowhere, and prediction wise, they're out in the middle of nowhere. No one's predicting them, no one's picking them. Uh. Jalen Daniels has been chronically injured his whole career. He came back middle of last year. Down the stretch last year, I thought they were the best in the Big twelve. They were playing at the highest level, but they were terrible at the beginning of the year, so it didn't matter in the standings. But I took a mental note, and then I checked back in in spring. Hey, Daniels looks good. Check back in early fall camps. So far fingers crossed, so good. That's the team. If you're looking for someone to come like steing from the rafters just out of nowhere, it's probably Kansas. Utah makes me the most nervous because, like you said, they did the Oklahoma thing. They went and got a quarterback and an offensive coordinator from the same team. Now in their case it was New Mexico. No one's paying attention to that. Whittingham. All he was doing was win the nine or ten games a year. They had one bad year, and everyone wants to write them off again because they're Utah, so they don't naturally get talked about. But the thing with Arizona State that I'll go back to, while everyone's talking about returning starters, and they do have a lot of them, is can you believe that they won like they did last year and no coach left. You don't think there was a market for Arizona State staff, I promise you, because I know the market, I know the players. There were big, big market dollars. There were big raises to be had for a lot of Kenny's coaches to leave, and so Kenny did what he had to do to keep him there.

00:38:09
Speaker 2: But I'm going to tell you even then, it wasn't matching.

00:38:11
Speaker 5: Dollar for dollar. It's guys who were all in on Arizona State, so not just the head coach there. But if you really want to talk about the impact of a culture, it's how much does the program reflect the fingerprint of the head coach? And top down everyone thinks like him there, everyone acts like him there, at least as much as they naturally can. So that's why they peaked at the right time. Last year. I thought I was State was going to beat him in the Big twelve title game. They just drug him. And so if they get in the mix, I trust them to peak at the right time because I know they can't. I haven't seen anyone else do that, so I think they're going to be in the mix. I trust Arizona State to be there at the end, I'm going to take them.

00:38:45
Speaker 3: There's so much money in the state of Arizona, especially in that Maricopa County Tempe Scottsdale area. If you're able to replicate what you did last year, Arizona, I've been on record sating this it's the most fair weather fan state of all the states. Like when your team's great, everyone's all of a sudden completely bought in. You see it with the Cardinals in like two thousand and seven.

00:39:04
Speaker 2: Two and eight.

00:39:05
Speaker 3: If they're able to do it, then they're going to have the money they need to get the high end players, not the five stars who commit to the Michigan's or Hot States Georgia's, but the ones that and then and then transfer over to a su they're gonna be able to get them right out of high school. Yeah, right, right right out of community college, those types of things. So this is this is a big year for the next not just for this year, but for the next ten years of ASU.

00:39:30
Speaker 1: Anything, anything, any insight on the Texas Tech that you have that being in the weeds of the Big Twelve Conference.

00:39:37
Speaker 5: That's the experiment. That's the experiment of college football this year. Everyone else in the Big Twelve's pretty much built the same way to varying degrees. Texas Tech is a totally different animal. Texas Tech realized we got a window here we can go spend. They did, and I just want people like, if you know the Big Twelve, you watched it last year, you will turn on a Texas Tech game this year and you'll we'll see guys who started for them on the D line last year that sometimes are not even rotating in with their two's. Some of them are bumped down to threes. They're not bad kids, they're not character guys. They're not hurt. They just got recruited over or in this case, portaled over. And there's gonna be a lot to talk about offensive weapons. Their D line may end up being the best in the conference. And because they went to the SEC and Big Tenant got all the guys, you're gonna look at the body type I was in there building in the spring, Like, if you looked at them, you would say, this could pass for like Florida State, it could pass for Arkansas or something like that, just where you would expect bigger bodies, and yet they're out there in Lubbock, Texas, because that's where they went to get them all. So then the only question I had, I was telling you, the only question I had is, all right, you just went and got a bunch of individuals. Is it really as simple as tossing them in a blender, pressing the button, pouring it out, voila, we have a team. I'm skeptical of that, only be cause history has told me to be skeptical of that. But then history also says, hey, man, you've never even seen anyone try this. So I've talked to people in that building as much as I can. They swear the vibe is as good as they've ever been around. They swear it's not just a bunch of mercenaries. Like, we've got a team here, We got a unit here. Ask our quarterback he's been here for a while. Ask him what his best group of guys he's been around is. So it's August. People are talking like that in August, live bullets flying. A couple of weeks, fast forward a month. If they're still talking like that, that team's only gonna get better, Like it's only going to gel. But if it gets wobbly early in the season, that's my question, Like, if they get cut early in the season, what kind of team were you looking at?

00:41:33
Speaker 2: Yeah?

00:41:34
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00:42:17
Speaker 5: Yeah, I had one caveat.

00:42:19
Speaker 2: Okay, are you like you're you? Is Georgia Tech? Well, Georgia Tech.

00:42:24
Speaker 5: But I believe if they meet him again in the ACC title game, like I would pick Clemson. Georgia Tech's my sleeper in the conference. Love the identity of the program, Love the senior leadership at quarterback, good player haines kiing. I think if they did nothing more than one the Georgia game last year, which was like a nine overtime game, everyone to be talking about him right now, which wouldn't change what quality of team they are, whether they wanted to lost that game last year relative to this year. But I am looking at Miami and they were so terrible defensively last year. They wasted cam Ward, just like LSU wasted Jaden Daniels, just like USC wasted Caleb Williams. You had that happened at Miami, all right. So I'm talking to someone from down there the other day on the staff, and they said, not trying to create hype. I'm trying to be really responsible with what I'm about to say. But he said, you need to understand what we did at dB, Like, yeah, we went hired a new defensive coordinator in Heatherman from Minnesota, but you need to understand we got one kid that's left over from that defensive backfield. We flushed the entire thing. OJ Frederick's the one that's left. He was the lone bright spot there. Last year. We portled in a whole new secondary that will end up being a strength on this team. If that person is right, then Miami's gonna be a real real player in this because Miami's got better line of scrimmage talent and Clemson does. They are probably a little deeper in talent than Clemson is. Clemson's frontline guys are great, you get past that front line. If Clemson encounters any injuries this year, I get really concerned about him because they get you cut into the bark a little bits really green, really quick. But if they can stay healthy, I trust him. I trust him more than a lot of the question trusts that I have with Miami. So that's why I went Clemson. But Miami's got to be in this mix. They gotta at least find a way to be in this mix they should have been in last year.

00:44:06
Speaker 3: Are you concerned at all with Beck's injury that he is sustained in the seas Championship.

00:44:10
Speaker 5: I am not concerned with the injury. I am concerned about them having to replace their top half dozen pass catchers. I am concerned about that, But I am The reason I go to the dB room is cam Ward rolls into the stadium every year last year knowing, yeah, I gotta hang forty today. That's what I have to do for us to win.

00:44:28
Speaker 2: Saying, and just Miami too, they just they randomly shit the bed. Yes, that's called inconsistency.

00:44:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, because you can't play defense, so you gotta score every possession.

00:44:37
Speaker 2: Right, even against like Cow.

00:44:39
Speaker 1: And you go back a couple of years ago, it's like coaching staff mistakes during situational football. It's even if they do have all the things that you're saying, like if they have this, if they have that, it's still like when those moments happen, are they going to get over that hump and actually be a real contender or are they gonna shit the bed again?

00:44:57
Speaker 5: I think those are fair enough questions for me to go CLEMEMB because I believe in Miami this year. I don't think they're going to fall off. But Clemson's approven commodity, Miami's not yet.

00:45:06
Speaker 3: Can I ask you about Bill Belichick In North Carolina, Joe Ford, they feel like there's just going to be all of a sudden the major shift or is just so different in your mind that the NFL coach going to college.

00:45:17
Speaker 2: Is going to be able to shift the culture that quickly.

00:45:19
Speaker 5: Well, let me answer your question with a question. Do you think it's as stupid as I do? That people say college football is just like the NFL? Now? Oh yeah, okay, So if you think that's stupid, then you probably agree with me. Well, I don't know if you agree with me, But if you think it's dumb for people to say that, then you understand how different a world.

00:45:37
Speaker 2: Bill Belichick's walking into.

00:45:38
Speaker 5: If you don't understand that, and if you're fifty thousand feet above college football and you see, ooh they got nil they pay the players, it must be like college football now, then you ignorantly think Bill Belichick's going to come in and teach college football a lesson. I happen to be on the other side of the fence. I happen to think that almost nothing about this sport is like the NFL up to an including the talent acquisition mechanism, where people have to choose you, even if you got money to offer, they have to choose you. So by my estimation, they're paying him ten million a year. And I don't think anyone in college football gets paid ten million a year to go seven and five or eight and four. But that's North Carolina football. Historically, they're a seven and a half win per caliber or year caliber program. If you're asking me if he can do that, my answer is yes, emphatically, he can be what North Carolina has been. That's not what people are expecting. People are thinking he's gonna be above and beyond what North Carolina's been. So at that point, you've got to bring something to the table above and beyond. So at that point you would sell me on oh Man, the Belichick way and the culture that he's gonna end still and all this and that, and I'm gonna ask you where are the player's gonna come from? And you may sell me on, well, he doesn't need to recruit like Georgia or Ohio State because he's gonna develop. He's gonna get hateful three stars. He's gonna develop them. And I'm gonna ask develop them into what? And you're gonna say, oh, they're gonna be good football players. Okay, good enough to do what?

00:46:55
Speaker 2: Though?

00:46:56
Speaker 5: Because remember you didn't hire him to just be what North Carolina's been, just cut through it. You hired him to contend for a playoff spot. That means you've got to compete against other teams that are gunning for a playoff spot. And what you find out at the highest level of college football is it's not an either or. Like at Georgia, they can go get talent and develop it. Like they're good at recruiting and exes and those bam is good at recruiting and x'es and those Clemson ditdo Miami like, those guys are going to have players that are more talented than yours. And they can out scheme you, or they can make scheme irrelevant because they just out Jimmy you, out Joe you. So I am so not sold on them coming in there and revolutionizing North Carolina football. And you know, Saban coached into his seventies and retired, but he had been in the sport a lifetime. Belichick is coming into the sport for the first time in his seventies, so it makes him older than any three of his players combined, which is just a wild stat to think about. And ironically, this.

00:47:55
Speaker 2: Is the easiest schedule they'll have. This year's the easiest schedule they'll have.

00:47:58
Speaker 5: Yeah, they may have the lightest schedule and the AC I just they play TCU week one, which is a team we never mentioned in the Big twe right, which actually, yeah, they're probably Shark Finn and win by thirty week one. I don't buy it.

00:48:09
Speaker 2: You're out.

00:48:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm out.

00:48:12
Speaker 2: For those reasons. I'm out for those reasons. I am also, well, let's.

00:48:15
Speaker 1: Move to the Big ten, primetime conference, the conference that holds the last two national titles.

00:48:21
Speaker 3: How do we feel. Go ahead, I'm gonna take Oregon. And the reason why I'm taking Oregon is simple. It's culture. It's Dan Lanning. It's a guy like Dante Moore who is not He's been there for two springs in two falls, and he got to sit behind it, sit and watch Bo Nicks, watch Dylan Gabriel.

00:48:40
Speaker 2: And now he is taking the helmet.

00:48:42
Speaker 3: Every person, including yourself, who has gone to Oregon and watched him practice, say he is not going to be the issue this year. You look at the culture in the northwest of what Dan Lanning has been able to achieve. October twelfth, they play Ohio State. They win that game thirty two to thirty one. Last second quarterback for a hot State takes a slide time runs out the whole the stands, they pile into the stadium, they rush the field.

00:49:03
Speaker 2: Everyone's feeling it. What an opportunity it is for.

00:49:06
Speaker 3: Eighteen to twenty one year old kids to drop The next week week against Purdue.

00:49:10
Speaker 2: Instead, they put thirty five on Pue Perdue. It's zero.

00:49:13
Speaker 3: The week after that they play Illinois thirty eight to my eyes are bad.

00:49:17
Speaker 2: Nine.

00:49:17
Speaker 3: Then they go to ann Arbor, Michigan, my beloved Wolverines, And that felt a little personal because I know Dan Landing watches the show. They cover the spread all right, and they go thirty eight seventeen. So the culture that Oregon has is incredible. I think they're going to they're going to continue that step. They won the Big Ten last year. But it really comes down to the offensive line as well. Three of your five guys, your starters are transfer guys. You need them to gel. You got a guy in Isaiah world too. We're able to see it at the spring practice. Guy six a three fifteen, small ankles, small small hips, wives, white shoulder looks, the part plays a part. The guys a dancing bear. The offensive line coach, I don't want to fuck this up, but alak Terry.

00:49:58
Speaker 2: I believe it is.

00:50:00
Speaker 3: Got to sit in his team meeting room, tell the guys he loved them, talked about winning the Joe Moore Award. These guys are having conversations, being treated like an adult in a cultural atmosphere that I've personally never seen before in my entire life. Their bought in their stadiums, bought in the cultures, bought in Dan Lanny, He's not going anywhere.

00:50:19
Speaker 2: I love Oregon.

00:50:20
Speaker 3: I love Oregon, and I'm more confused about Penn State and Ohio State, which are your next two top dogs. And that's why I lean. I fall back on your foundation, which is always culture. I know Ohio State, we give them the benefit of doubt. They're always going to be good, They're always going to be contenders, and you know they're going to win at least ten games every single year. Penn State is a little bit of the opposite. You look at Penn State and you're like, they have so many returning starters. They lose their tight end, they lose Abdual Carter, who are both top fifteen picks. They bring a bunch of wide receivers in. But it's like when we first met and spoke about Penn State. You'd give the reference of three fifteen. So you're trying to max out and you get to hear some guys can do this, and some guys do this. This is not an indictment on them, but unfortunately, statistically, it just shows that Penn State, when it gets down to the nitty gritty of top fives, they can't they can't get that last little lockout in that three fifteen. So I have to give them. I have to essentially like you. But the Apple reference, Apple comes out, you buy the Apple. To me, Penn State is my Samsung right now.

00:51:24
Speaker 2: I see it.

00:51:25
Speaker 3: It's probably a great quality product. I don't know how to use it. I don't know how to look at it, so I essentially stay away from it.

00:51:31
Speaker 2: So I got a organ Joshua.

00:51:35
Speaker 5: Twelve hours ago, I was up at Penn State Washington practice. I first thing that stood out to me is Tyler Warren gone. I think they have two really quality tight ends there that America will come to learn this year. But still Penn State's had tight ends before. They haven't done what you're talking about, So that alone doesn't sell me. Really good looking offensive line sixty five three twenty five across the board. But they've had that before, so that's not to sell me. Good defensive players all three levels, a bunch of them play in the league. They've had that before, so drew Aller's back like they've had all that. The one thing they didn't have is a threat out wide, or multiple threats out wide. That is what has separated them from the big boys. No one scared a Penn State beating them throwing the ball. And I'm confident enough that that changed with the kids they brought in in the Portland watching the practice last night that I am going to actually pick them to win the league this year. I'll get to schedule in a second, but I'm watching them practice. They got a kid named Trevor Panna out of Syracuse, and they had to fight to get him. He makes two contested catches in indie stuff last night, probably better than plays I saw Penn State make all year at the receiver position. Remember this is a team that did not have a wide receiver reception against Notre Dame. That's a semi final playoff game. A wide receiver doesn't have a catch the whole game, like you'd have to try to do get on video games and try to be that bad. So I think they rectified that and then elsewhere. There's not much else that had to change because you said it. This is not a team that's a long way away. It's a team that needed to find the one percent. How do you lock out, Well, you go either get stronger or in this case, you go to the portal and you find the players that you needed. So outside of that, Oregon comes to them early. Penn State needs to win that game. That's week four, week five, something like that. They don't play any quality competition really before that. That's the white out game. They're not putting it at noon. It's the seven thirty kickoff, so they get the white out. I mean they've been like bloodthirsty for that for a while. They finally get it. Organ's taking a new quarterback, new starter at quarterback on the road, a lot of new guys. I'm the thing about Oregon went and watched them practice last week too, is I got no doubt about Dante Moore, Like you said, Decorean Moore, top wide receiver in the country. I believe he's a stud. He checks out, he checks all the boxes. Got no doubt about him. The wide receiver room downstream of Decorean Moore is not a weakness, but it is a question. And that early in the season, that's like that their baptism on the road. That's that offensive baptism on the road. And I think Penn State should win that game. And if they do, think about what that sets them up for the rest of the year. Like even if they go and lose to Ohio State, they're probably still in Indianapolis. Penn State is one of the surest playoff teams this year, but they've already been that. We're looking to get them over the hump in the conference. I just, man, there's so much solid, like dependable assets about that team. The one variable they answered enough at wide receiver to where I'm doing it. I'm buying them.

00:54:32
Speaker 2: I think you laid it out perfectly.

00:54:34
Speaker 1: I think it's those two teams because you're completely right about Oregon, the culture, everything going on, the talent that they have on the roster, and you brought it up the wide receiver room.

00:54:43
Speaker 2: They go, I get the cat from what was it, Syracuse, Troy USCUSC.

00:54:48
Speaker 1: They went and got a starting backer from North Carolina to plug on defense. They're returning a lot of they're all big ten guys on defense. They return. He talked about the size of the offensive line. Four out of five return. They got an All American backfield. You mentioned the tight ends. They have every piece. To me, it's not like to me, it comes down to James Franklin. Is he a fraud with a roster like this. I feel like this is the year he goes out. He's a coordinator, merchant. He goes out against Jim Knowles from Ohio State, arguably what's talked about him being one of the best game planners on the defensive side in college football. You go out and get Jim Knowles. You have all these guys returning on defense, you have all of it on offense. And I do think Drew Aler also makes a jump, not in the sense of he's going to be just this better all around player. He's gotten better with his arm, he's gotten better with his feet and everything else. I just think the year that you can have if Drew Rowler is a guy that's in the film room, and it seems like he is, but you make a jump from going you're working with an oc in year one, now they're in year two together.

00:55:50
Speaker 2: You go to front. You go from photogenetic memory pattern matching.

00:55:54
Speaker 1: To you feel prepared all season going to play to now you have another year in the system, more watching film, seeing what the defense is trying to do to you, to where you are better at anticipating the game versus I need to get prepared for this game and having the roll decks of calls that the coach has given me. I think this is the year for Penn State because again they filled those holes at the wide receiver spot. You said you saw them in person yesterday, So I trust that this.

00:56:17
Speaker 2: Is the year they win the Big ten. I also know I know exactly where you're going to take a moment.

00:56:25
Speaker 1: If the national championship is gonna stay in the Big ten, I think it is with Penn State.

00:56:30
Speaker 5: That's what I want you understand. Just let it be known.

00:56:34
Speaker 1: Because this not only not only it's like I'm buying all the Penn State stock, but I when you see all of this shit on paper, this is the put up or shut up year for James Franklin.

00:56:46
Speaker 2: Being surrounded by all of these goons.

00:56:48
Speaker 1: He's orchestrated an incredible roster from top to bottom. This is the year to where you know, Penn State fans are out there right now just being like, we're gonna be a two loss, We're gonna be a three loss team, and Havasus every year, Havasus. This is the year where if it happened again, if they're a two or three lost team again in a bad fashion, he's got to absolutely be on the hot seat.

00:57:08
Speaker 3: In my opinion, this might be a dumb question, but at what point is it too much too much for Franklin being one in fifteen versus top fifteen teams, being two in whatever ten versus top ten teams where he's got the roster. Now he has literally set himself up in such a big way where it's like, if you don't do this, you are not the coach for Penn State.

00:57:30
Speaker 5: I had him on the show last night. I asked him this to his face. I said, for a long time, they said Kirby couldn't win the big one, then he won one, he won two. Then they said Ryan Day couldn't win the big one. Then Ryan just won one last year. Now they're saying about you. He's just I'm just sitting there talking to him like I'm talking to you, and said, so that's pressure. Is it fair? Is it unfair? Like? How do you feel about it? And he said, well, first off, I can't listen to it, but like I took the job for that. I coach here for that, so I welcome the pressure. He said, you don't put one hundred and ten thousand people in a building because they're all normal insane. So if I'm gonna get paid what I get paid, I'm gonna have the job I have. That's gonna come with it. He said the same thing about Drew. You're gonna give you the quarterback at Penn State. It's not good enough to just win nine, win ten games. So the Franklin conversation has always been really funny to me because there are people out there who get mad that he doesn't win those few big games and they call him overrated, which I don't believe in because no one's ever rated him above Ryan Day, no one's ever rated him above Kirby Smart, no one's ever rated him above Saban when Saban was still around. They rate him like fifth or sixth or seventh. That's about where people would rate James Franklin, which is about where he is. He beats everyone he's supposed to beat the only ones he runs into that's an l is Ohio State or you got an Oregon last year. So he's like ninety fifth percentile in a world where we're trying to get into the ninety ninth percentile. And the other thing you just said is if you could handpick like the year for Penn State to have their best squad, this is it. Yeah, I mean Ohio State. I don't know how much they come back to earth, but that team lost two games last year with that full squad, So now you got a lot of newness. That's the year you want to have your squad. You got to go in their building. But they don't know what they are yet. Now what we do know blindly is they're gonna have a ton of talent, but you don't know how it comes together yet.

00:59:14
Speaker 2: So this is that's the pressure new DC.

00:59:16
Speaker 5: There's so much pressure on them this year because it's totally fair.

00:59:19
Speaker 2: Like everything you've.

00:59:20
Speaker 5: Asked for, you've been given. You've got resources, you've got great facilities, like, you've got a good roster. Now it's time for you to deliver. That's the most fair thing in competition. The unfair thing would be if he was at Minnesota, Like if it was PJ. Fleck and they were all of a sudden saying, Hey, Ohio State's down, so you need to win the Big Ten this year.

00:59:37
Speaker 2: PJ.

00:59:38
Speaker 5: Fleck could rightfully say, but I haven't been given the resources to win the Big Ten.

00:59:42
Speaker 2: James Franklin has all that. Do you think Minister's a little sneaky this year? Yes? I do. Yes, I've been on the show. I thought about the go first.

00:59:50
Speaker 5: Yeah, I thought they were last year.

00:59:52
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:59:52
Speaker 3: I just I love everything you're saying about Franklin. I love it. I can understand why we believe it. I'm just like you. The reference of Georgia. I'm in the room. I'm standing off to the side right now because he has like coach nine to nine point nine percentile roster, Like where is that four percent? Like is he going to be able to himself? His coaches make that four percent happen. And that's a beautiful thing about sports.

01:00:18
Speaker 5: You got to wait a little while because they played nobody first three weeks, four weeks, but then Oregon comes in.

01:00:22
Speaker 2: That's the big test.

01:00:23
Speaker 5: That's it. It's basically like their season opener for the country. Those outside of Penn State fans. No one will see Penn State until that whiteout game when.

01:00:30
Speaker 2: Organ comes in and there they got Nebraska later in the year.

01:00:33
Speaker 5: They sure do a team that none of the three of us mentioned.

01:00:35
Speaker 1: That's the Dark Race. You know, it's our first show. We got Josh payd On. I'm trying to not grab at that, like the things that you know in love, like obsessed with Dan Lanning.

01:00:46
Speaker 2: I think he's just that.

01:00:47
Speaker 1: I'm sure he's going to be tuned into this show wondering why I'm picking Penn State again. Try doing my best to keep my homerism of Nebraska down. They're obviously my dark course, and I do have them winning the Big Ten in my own personal fan sportsbook.

01:01:00
Speaker 2: Arilen Join.

01:01:01
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01:01:17
Speaker 2: Let's get back to this episode. But who's your national champion?

01:01:21
Speaker 5: My national champions Alabama because if they get there, I think they're gonna win it. If they get there, that means the offense was balanced enough. If they get there, that Ty Simpson was a plenty good enough quarterback.

01:01:32
Speaker 2: Yeah.

01:01:32
Speaker 5: And then I mean when I went and watched them scrimmage the other day, they think that stood out to the media the most is their scrimmage. It was so physical, But their d b room is so deep. They got They got a six four true freshman. Just to give you an idea, his name is Dejon Lee's five star kid. One of the top rated corners in the country, comes from southern California. What has been a chronic issue for USC five star talent leaving the state of California to go to the South, and that happened again. That dude just ran with the ones the other day. Now, Demani Jackson not their southern cow kid playing in Alabama, probably their starter at one corner. But they they just throw Dejon Lee into the fire because they know they're gonna need him this year.

01:02:10
Speaker 2: Uh, stud unbelievable.

01:02:13
Speaker 5: And he's not six y four. He's not covering porous receivers either. Yes, So this kid's six'. Four he looks like a complete. Alias it looks like he's in the wrong position. Room he's just that, tall but doesn't move like a giraffe. Like he moves very. Fluidly Ivan taylor is a true freshman at. Safety kid will not start this year because they Got sad back. There they got the other kid back, there bat and balls, away getting in the wide receiver coach's face yelling at, him come at me, again come at me. Again THEIR dB room's. UNBELIEVABLE i love the depth they. Have the linebackers should have been a weakness for, them but Because lawson got hurt last year and he comes back and some of these other guys have just panned out for, him it's low key like a strength of their. Team so my point in saying all that, IS i believe in the teams that can beat you many different. Ways AND i could See alabama winning a game nineteen. THIRTEEN i could see him winning a game thirty eight to thirty, one and that's kind of VERSATILITY i. NEED i Think i'm gonna get that From texas, Too BUT i believe In alabama more if they get to the finish, line if if they win THE. SEC i got him winning the whole thing BECAUSE i Trust kaylen de boor BECAUSE i think he may end up having the best staff in THE. SEC i Think georgia's staff is the, best but if this were to, happen it may be because his staffs right there With georgia's.

01:03:21
Speaker 1: Right georgia's most. Proven but, yeah this all works out this. Year you see to hear about THE dB, Room, yeah hear about you watching. Practice I'M i Had Penn, state BUT i Think i'm gonna flip at The texas BECAUSE i think even If Penn state takes care of, Everything i'm sorry for doing walking away from The Big, ten not walking, Away but if all of these things go, HOW i think they should go with The Big, ten Or Penn state went in and taking care of The Big ten and then getting all the way to the national title game against a team Like texas or against a team Like alabama or another dark horse out. THERE i think it's a moment to Where Penn state just happened.

01:04:01
Speaker 2: And they just. Don't so you Think Penn state wins The Big. Ten but.

01:04:06
Speaker 1: And it's it's, Uh i'm telling you that he's, LIKE i believe in.

01:04:13
Speaker 3: Him they've got the, roster THE zi gets the monkey office back and tell this Is.

01:04:17
Speaker 1: I'm saying this the put up or shut up him getting to the national title would be massive From Penn. State but if they're going against one of these teams that were sitting here, listening or he's visiting practice and it's A bama or it's His texas, team and If texas Or alabama is hot and they have this momentum going to the national title, GAME i think that would Beat Penn.

01:04:35
Speaker 5: State what you gotta figure is you gotta, figure all, right let's just Say Penn state's. There let's say we play him in the national title. Game that's. Fun, Okay you got to figure whether It's, texas whether It's, bama whether It's. Oregon whoever gets, there they got there because they're doing What Ohio state did last. Year they got. Hot whoever gets there cutting through the weeds got there because they got. Hot your concern is whoever gets there is, hot and maybe with a better talent roster Than Penn. State that's your. Concern yea in this Fair.

01:05:01
Speaker 3: Yeah i'm staying in The Big, Ten stay with my. Roots Kirby smart took him six years to win a national. Championship Ryan day six, Years davos twenty nine, Years Nick saban, Ten Jim harball is. Sixteen so a lot of times it takes guys a long time to get to that national. Championship it also took a long time for somebody to realize that a four minute mile was, possible and then once it, happened it just started fucking. ROLLING i Think Dan lanning's that. MAN i Think oregon takes. IT i Think oregon learned a massive lesson last. YEAR i think they end up winning the national championship if Oo Ohio state Beats. Michigan Ohio state does not wake up as a program un until they lose a, game being twenty point, favorites all of a sudden haircutt on, fire the town of their, roster all of a sudden, jails and they just there was no stopping. It every couple of years there's like This alabama team could have beat the thirty second best team in THE. Nfl Ohio state's one of those. Teams look that last year when they're playing the, playoffs be, like, fuck they might have been beat The. Giants they might have did it because they were all across what their defense was, Incredible their. Offense they were thrown all over the. YARD i Think oregon got. HUMBLED i think their culture, resets. RELOADS i think they win The Big ten and they put their foot on the fucking gas when the time is right in the middle Of december Into, january and they finally get over the. Hump Dan, lennings that's the expectation of when coaches and win national.

01:06:21
Speaker 5: Championship if you're, Right if you're, right that means they may look vulnerable during the, season and not to bail on, them because that Was Ohio state last. Year, yeah like anyone who's going to peak In December, january you don't just get to rev the engine for four. Months you got to rev the engine when it's time to rev the, engine which means you may suffer a. Loss Ohio state suffered two of. Them so if Bean Penn state may go Into, oregon may go Into Penn state lose twenty one to, nine would not be surprised like ugly game and it's like start over. Scratch, no it's they're still in.

01:06:49
Speaker 2: It. True, hey who's your True Classic heisman?

01:06:51
Speaker 3: Winner my True Classic heisman winner is going to Be Jeremiah. Love he's got the logo of The Notre dame on them for the first time. Ever they have a hard. Schedule they played In miami And, arkansas Usc all Before. Halloween if he's able to once again score twelve touchdowns in twelve, games he's already Got he's already got the. NAME i think if he gets the point where he's putting up the numbers where he could be looked at as A, heisman you have the people coming out of the of the bushes being like when we're last, year Maybe ashton gent should have won The Heisman trophy instead Of Travis, hunter and you have like the pro running back. Guys maybe he gets a little boost in a lyft in the twenty twenty four. Season this to me is a fun. ONE i think a lot of guys go The Clemson. Cat you can go, back you can Go Arch. Manning but for, Me Jeremiah love is like a, fun like awesome running back to watch day in and day. Out he wears the logo Of Notre dame and it's, LIKE i get excited about the idea of him hoisting that trophy at the end of the.

01:07:43
Speaker 2: YEAR i think it sounds.

01:07:44
Speaker 1: NICE i think it would be really tough for a running back to be the.

01:07:48
Speaker 2: Tab aslo go. Ahead don't disagree at. ALL i think it's a fun.

01:07:52
Speaker 1: Heisman, YEAH i think it's a fun. HEISMAN i Think Cade Club nick sounds. Fun BUT i Think clemson is gonna Be clemson when the stakes get big and the. STAKES i do think that they have a good, team BUT i think we're gonna be in one of those situations late in the year where social media and everybody's arguing back and forth on people arguing for, kid people arguing For Archie. MANNING i Like Lenora. SELLERS i think it's Arch manning OR i think It's Lenora's. Sellers we GOT jp standing on the table right. NOW i THINK i Like Leonora. Sayers Leonora. SELLERS i think it's either him or Arch manning because they're gonna have enough primetime. MOMENTS i think the storyline people are catching on to Who lenora's seller is a. LOT i think he's, fun, exciting he can, run he can do all of the things as a young, cat and potentially one of the best players in college.

01:08:34
Speaker 2: Football my pick Is Leonora.

01:08:36
Speaker 5: Sellers rumor on the street is wide receiver ROOM a little deeper At South carolina than people like me thought it. Was so that works in your. Favor So i'm going ultimate boom er Bust john Matteridt oklahoma is my heisman. PICK a lot of people worried about the release. Point i'm not a lot of people worried about the equality of competition increasing for, Him i'm. NOT i think he has the kind of talent that cuts. Through they attack the port lid receiver Kindent Penn state, did and so they got. Guys he can throw it. Too the only thing that concerns me with them is they may start a freshman, tackle so that's not. Fun but we'll learn about them Against michigan in week. TWO i Think matier is going to be a STUD i think he's gonna be the story of THE sec this. Year if he's not your guy actually.

01:09:14
Speaker 1: Is but if if let me ask you this, though For John matier to win The, heisman he's obviously he's playing. Electric that Means oklahoma nine and three is a. Contender yeah in THE, sec that's. Correct, yeah because if they're losing some of these big, games that's going to kind of be the shot against. Them BECAUSE i guess it's Like Lenora. SELLERS i feel like he'll be in a similar, situation BUT i feel Like Lenora sellers is more known and he feels more exciting to.

01:09:39
Speaker 2: Everybody here's what Helps John, miteer because you'll be putting everybody On.

01:09:42
Speaker 5: John here's what helps. Me people are already talking about how tough their schedule, is so that will be like in the main frame conversation the whole. Year he doesn't need to win eleven or. Ten if they can go nine to, three maybe tie breaker leaves them out of the playoff picture or selection committee leaves him. Out but like he was on the, fringe he had him in the conversation because people take into account their strength of schedule THAT i think will be enough to get him over the.

01:10:05
Speaker 2: Hump it could be the same With.

01:10:06
Speaker 5: Lagway florida could just miss out ON sec championship or. Playoffs Florida lagway balled. Out, yeah but they both. Do but that works to my favor because if they're just good, enough if they're in the, hunt they could be, eight, four nine and. Three tebow won The heisman with four. LOSSES i believe one Year tibo had the entire world bind he, did So i'm gonna that's a different brand OF i got some work to do With.

01:10:26
Speaker 2: John he got a lot of.

01:10:28
Speaker 5: Work Tim.

01:10:28
Speaker 1: TEBOW i remember being in high school and him coming out his little documentary being in high school and getting off his recruiting letters like he had the, name he had all of it going.

01:10:36
Speaker 5: In he was doing that next.

01:10:37
Speaker 2: Week, yeah back in oh. Five.

01:10:39
Speaker 3: Yeah anybody who was in high school the same Time will AND i. Were Tim tebow Was, yeah he Was america's sweetheart for the longest.

01:10:46
Speaker 1: Time all, Right, hey that concludes their first. Show we were On oklahoma. Again you got him going nine to. Three do you haven't Beaten michigan in week? Two, yes we will see you next, week six Pm, Wednesday The Locker room With Josh, Bate big, hugs tiny, kids scuses

01:11:10
Speaker 5: H