Are MARCUS FREEMAN, IRISH Good Enough To WIN IT ALL??

All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes.

I'm Pat 40 joined as always by Brian Fisher and Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated SI.

com.

And uh we are wrapping up our series of conference calls.

Uh, this is a Notre Dame slash Group of six combo platter show.

We've previously done Big 10, SEC, Big 12, ACC, and we're gonna try to hit To some degree or another, uh, everyone else in the FBS ranks on this show.

Uh, some of you will be annoyed that Precious Notre Dame gets a special carve-out.

Some of you will be annoyed that the Group of 6 conferences are all lumped together.

Uh, that's what we do in college sports.

We annoy each other with these topics.

So let's lean into the annoyance.

Uh, fellas, we're starting with Notre Dame.

Uh, always interesting times with that school, particularly, I think with some of the tumult that's going on around them and whether they can continue to stay in their golden bubble, so to speak.

But, uh, let's just start with the overall state of the athletic program.

Kevin, trajectory up, trajectory down, staying the same, same, where are the Irish?

I mean, I think overall trajectory up, and it's because with the success they've had on the gridiron of late, and success they seem positioned to have on the gridiron in the next couple of years.

It allows them to sort of maintain that golden bubble, you know, there's, there's lots to, to quibble with, I know we'll we'll talk basketball, their men's basketball program right now is, is not where it wants to be, uh, under Micah Shrewsbury, uh, yeah, you, you, you can poke some holes here and there, but at the end of the day, they, they have one of the best coaches in college football in Marcus Freeman.

Um, they seem to have, uh, captured the, the, the golden alignment, uh, title, and everything's, every, every, everybody's swimming in the same direction at Notre Dame, it seems, on the football side for the first time consistently in quite some time, and I think.

That alone is, is a reason to say that the athletic department's in, in good shape, because at the end of the day, if, for whatever reason, as, as you put it, the, the golden bubble, if that falls, they will be well positioned to, to pick their destination, and maybe it won't look quite the same as it has, but especially with the success that they're having, they, they, they'd obviously be such a prized asset.

Yeah, the only thing I'd add is, uh, I mean, there's, there's a reason, you know, Pete Pavacqua, their athletic director, was invited to, to speak in front of Congress, you know, he, you know, that Notre Dame occupies a special, uh, place in college athletics, and, you know, that has not changed, uh, especially given their, their recent success in, in football, and look, they are, they are spending as an athletic department like one of the big boys, as, as I think befits their status, as befits their alumni base, which is one of the richer ones in the country, and Um, you know, this is, uh, you know, the Irish are not doing anything wrong, um, you know, outside of things like basketball and, and certain other sports.

I mean, even, even in some of their Olympic sports, I mean, they have a, a great women's basketball program, uh, you know, that is a constant threat, um, you know, in, in the NCAA tournament, uh, they, they've, they've been phenomenal in, in a number of other Olympic sports.

So, um, things, things are going well there in South Bend and, uh, it doesn't show any sign of, of, of slowing down, mostly because of the momentum they have in that football program.

Yeah, I think, uh, the, the golden alignment that Kevin alluded to is, is probably more athlete, athletics-friendly than it's ever been at Notre Dame.

They, you know, forever, that has been a place that's been very sensitive to, uh, having the athletic tail wagging the dog, so to speak.

They don't want that perception.

They fought against the reality of it.

Um, I think that's still the case, but, but they're, they've, they've made enough wiggle room, I think, so that they can achieve at the highest level in football.

They wanna play with Alabama, they wanna beat Alabama, they wanna beat Ohio State, they wanna beat all the big teams and win championships.

Nearly did it two years ago in football.

Uh, and I think the change from Brian Kelly to Marcus Freeman.

was really well accepted on the academic side of campus, because Brian Kelly was a pain in the ass to deal with, and Marcus Freeman is not.

Um, doesn't mean he's not asking for stuff, doesn't mean there aren't occasions probably when he's, he's pushing the envelope, but it's a lot better received when it's coming from him than it was when it's coming from Brian Kelly.

Um, so, I think things are, yeah, things are in really good shape there in terms of the football program is outstanding, and I think this year could be a great year for them.

Uh, the other programs, as you said, men's basketball, we'll talk about that in a minute, but women's basketball is excellent.

Fencing, they're like a juggernaut, lacrosse, they're really good, you know, they have plenty of Olympic sports they're really good in.

Um, they still have their, You know, really, I think advantageous friends with benefits relationship with the ACC.

It's there for them when they need it, and it's not there when they don't want it.

And so , it's, uh, that's worked out well for them as well.

The change in athletic director, I think so far has been good.

I think Jack Schwarber is one of the best administrators, uh, of his era .

But I think Pete Bavaqua come, despite coming in from NBC Sports, we're gonna talk about this here more in a minute, some of the The viewpoints there that I find interesting.

But, uh, uh, you know, is, is, when you, when you get somebody who is a, a, a lead executive at NBC Sports to say, I wanna be your AD then you're probably running a pretty attractive operation there in general.

So, all things are good for Notre Dame.

Can they get over a hump and actually win a national championship in football?

To be determined.

We'll see.

But, uh , Kevin, you, you, I'm sorry, Brian, you, you made mention of Bavaqua talking to Congress, and among the position points he's made, not necessarily as much there, but elsewhere, is that He wants Notre Dame to, he wants, he wants the 2014 playoffs.

Why I think this baffles me.

But why does Notre Dame want the 2014 playoff?

I'll offer my two cents and then we'll, we'll get yours, guys.

But, uh, of all the shifts from 12 or 2016 to 224, Notre Dame's perhaps surprised me the most because I don't see them needing it nearly as much as the ACC or the Big 12 needs it.

They, they flat out need the bids, right?

Notre Dame, You're not doing very well if you're scraping in at numbers 20 to 24 to get in the, uh, the playoffs, or 17 to 24.

The expectation is for better, the performance has been better than that recently.

You missed last year at number.

12 or 11, whatever they were, but, you know, because the other two non-power 4 schools that were in it, but, uh, that, that doesn't mean you need 24.

My suspicion here.

Is that Pete Bavaqua is purely thinking about scheduling.

And scheduling has gotten a little more complicated and difficult for them, as we've seen like USC dropping that series.

Maybe it's coming back, maybe it's not.

But USC like, hey, we're playing 9 Big 10 games, that's hard.

We don't want to have this game traveling across the country.

And there's a lot of other schools that may be looking, saying, do we need A, a Notre Dame mountain to climb in our schedule.

You've got the setup with the ACC.

You've got the 5 locked in, then you've got Clemson, which is or isn't part of the 5, and you've got Stanford that is or isn't part of the 5, depending on the year, depending on the phases of the moon, whatever it is.

But, uh The, I think there's clearly concern that we're gonna not have enough teams willing to schedule us.

And I'm still not convinced that going to a 2014 playoff is really gonna magically free people up to schedule hard games, but I think that's Notre Dame's thinking there.

Uh, you guys' thoughts on, on what to me I think is a really odd, uh, position switch from Notre Dame.

I, I, I think that's spot on, Pat.

You know, I think the schedule component, which, let's face it, you know, in the, in the last, especially the last 4 or 5 years, you know, I, I think it's, it's gotten exponentially harder for Notre Dame to not only schedule these games, but, uh, ensure that, uh, things work out on, on both ends in terms of The monetary aspect in terms of the competition aspect, but, uh, you know, it's, it's just becoming more difficult and it's not just the, the move to non-conference games.

I, I think there's, uh, certainly the realization that, uh, this, this program is here to stay under Marcus Freeman.

So you're, you're not only scheduling Notre Dame to, to put the butts in seats, uh, for some potential home games or neutral site games, but Um, you know, it, it's difficult to play the Irish.

And so I think that's, that's the other factor that, uh, they're having to contend with is, um, they're, they're almost getting too good, uh, you know, for their own success.

And, you know, when you are having that, uh, football independent schedule, you know, to where, yes, you can mitigate that somewhat with some of the ACC schedules, the ACC foes that you can get on the schedule, um, you know, it's still difficult, especially those late, you know, September, October, November type of games, um , you know, where, where you need to kind of have the, uh, The, the buy-in from, from other conference offices.

That, that is just getting more difficult and, uh, as much as TV partners would love to start seeing Notre Dame pop up on more SEC teams or, or more uh Big 10 teams, it's just, uh, the, the, the logistics of, of that working out is, is, uh, getting much more difficult for the folks in that, uh, athletic department in terms of scheduling.

So, I, I, I think that's the, the big driving.

Factor.

And then look, I, I'm not gonna discount the, the emotions that went into last year and, uh, getting left out of the playoffs.

Like I, I think that's still, there's still some residual value, uh, out, out of that and, and getting spurned like they are.

And, and, and, you know, to your point, uh, Pat, like, I mean, they get a sweetheart deal as part of this new contract with, with the playoff, you know, if they are in the top.

12, you know, they're, they're going to the playoffs.

Like that's, that's set .

Like there's, there's, they're not getting bumped out at this point.

So, um, you know, for, for the Irish at this point, you know, they have a, a, a great setup with the 12-teamer.

I, I think they would be happy.

They, they would be, they would tolerate more things , you know, if, if, if they remain at 12, like they're, they're, I think they're perfectly fine with that, but I, I think in their own perfect world, they understand.

Uh, it wasn't too long ago where Notre Dame was more of a top 20, top 2 top 25 program.

So they think, all right, well, you know, worst case scenario, we, we can make things a little bit easier for us, um, you know, to reward our fans and getting into the playoffs if it is a 24 teamer and, uh , you know, I, I, I think it's, it's, it's a little bit shortsighted, but, uh, you can kind of understand the thinking around it, uh, from Notre Dame's perspective.

Yeah, look, I think the other thing with the scheduling side of things is just the reality that like, Yes, I'm sure that ESPN and the SEC League office might sit there and say, oh, it'd be great if we had this monster showdown with Notre Dame that can be, you know, prime time television in October or November, but, like, individual schools are like, like, why are we helping a team that's competing with us for a playoff spot, right?

Like, that, that is the balance that you're, you're walking, and I do think That if you're Notre Dame, then you can sit there and say, well, we get to a 24 team environment, that's gonna neutralize that argument pretty quickly, right?

Like, we're, we're gonna consistently be in that playoff at 24, no one's gonna think, oh, by us scheduling, you know, I don't know, Notre Dame is.

Missouri, if we get a Notre Dame, Missouri series, you're not indirectly hurting Alabama or hurting uh another bubble team from the SEC.

Like, Notre Dame, there should be room for everybody.

I think that probably contributes to it as well.

But yeah, it is, it is fascinating, you know, balance, because I think on one hand, yeah, like, Notre Dame should feel really good about the, the twelve-team format, particularly with the deal that they have, the way they're set up, um.

But I, I do think we saw last year that 12 is just tight enough, a format where if things don't go perfectly for Notre Dame in the season, and obviously a lot had to go wrong, um, with, with the way the ACC's, you know, uh, collapse went down and, and everything that came with that, right?

It took a lot for a team of Notre Dame's caliber last year to miss the playoffs, but it was still possible.

And I think if you're Notre Dame, there probably is a level of like, all right, we can solve this problem, and make sure that, you know, we won't get quite as much pushback when we're trying to put good games on the on the calendar moving forward.

Notre Dame, Missouri, uh, last time they played, Missouri had a 39 yard field goal for the win on the last play and came up short.

Maybe the last time a field goal kicker was short from 39, not that I remember, not that I was a sophomore at Missizzoui at the time.

Never mind.

Uh, All right, carrying on with the Irish football, we gotta talk football's strengths and weaknesses, and will the Irish.

Be in the playoff, I think we probably all think so.

Where will they be in the playoffs?

Brian, break it down for us.

I think they got a great shot to, to be the number 1 seed.

Uh, you look at the schedule and you look at the team itself.

Uh, this is a, a season setting up well for the Irish and, and what Marcus Freeman has coming back.

You have a quarterback who is not only a Heisman Trophy candidate, but somebody that, uh, you know, is already getting the, the draft chatter of being a top 10 pick.

You have a always good along both offensive and defensive lines.

They've returned most of their leading tacklers from last year.

They have maybe one of, if not the best secondaries in the country.

So this is a prime team itself, and then you factor in the schedule, you know, like, like you said, not having USC on the docket is, is certainly something to keep into account.

They do have to go to Provo late in the year.

Uh, that's, that's a very good BYU team that is one of the favorites in the Big 12.

But outside of that, a lot of empty calories on that schedule.

And, uh, you can understand why, all right, if they are able to, especially with Miami coming to South Bend this year, they're able to get over that hump, uh, late in the year.

Uh, this is a team that is going to be well positioned to, you know, be 11 and 1, potentially at worst, um, going into the playoffs, and I think that would earn only a top 4 seed, but, uh, potentially be in the, in the conversation to be that number one.

Overall seed, given that, you know, the SEC is going to be a little bit tougher, they're gonna have some extra losses on their plate.

We know how difficult the Big 10 is this year, especially with a lot of those Big 10 teams playing each other, uh, throughout the conference slate.

You know, this is not going to be an Ohio State cakewalk to, you know, 11 and 1 or an undefeated record in the regular season.

So, I think that positions Notre Dame extremely well going into the season.

And look, this is, you know, overall, the, the , the program.

Itself is very healthy.

You know, they're spinning, maybe not top, top of the market, but, but they're right there, you know, with your Texas and Ohio states in terms of roster spin, you know, and the evaluation component that Marcus Freeman has brought to the table is excellent.

They, they, the staff has continuity.

It has, uh, some, some great teachers.

Um, I, I think you look at what they've been able to assemble this year, it, it is all pointing to a big year for Notre Dame football in 2026.

Yeah, that just real quick, uh, they're in the playoffs.

How high you say maybe number one, I, I, I think as, as, as high as the, the number one overall seed.

OK.

All right.

What do you think, Kevin?

Yeah, I mean, I think they have a real path to go undefeated.

Uh, if they're undefeated, they will certainly be in the top 2 or 3.

so, yeah, I certainly think they're a top 4 seed.

Uh, I think they're gonna be awesome.

I think Carr has a chance to be, um, just incredible.

I mean, I, I was so impressed with his growth, you know, throughout last season, and to have a full offseason under his belt as the guy, the unquestioned leader of this football team.

Uh, I, I think that's massive, and, and, and again, you know, he's in a great situation because of , as Brian alluded to, like, the strength they have at the skill positions in the trenches, like, you, you look up and down this roster, it's, it's loaded to win and they have the quarterback.

But I think big picture, like, the biggest strength is that Marcus Freeman is the type of dynamic personality, um, that has helped kind of bring Notre Dame to a, a, a more modern era, or an era that resonates, I think, with the elite of the elite in, in, in recruiting.

I, I, I think.

Brian Kelly, look, Brian Kelly left Notre Dame because he didn't feel he could recruit at the level he needed to recruit to win a national championship at Notre Dame, and I think that was a feeling that that was a question for whoever got the job, was like, would, could you consistently compete in recruiting with Ohio State, with LSU, with Alabama.

I think Marcus Freeman has proven unequivocally, yes, like he , you can at Notre Dame, and this is a place people want, want to play, and a coach people want to play for, and You know, he's he he's clearly a very good coach on the field, player development, everything that comes with it, but I think the biggest reason for optimism is that they're getting a caliber of player more consistently than they've gotten it in the past, that gives you a chance to not just pull an upset or two in the playoffs, but like, be right on the same playing field, you know, 1 through 80 on the roster, and that to me is the most impressive thing.

Yeah, Notre Dame is cooler than it's been to young athletes.

In like 50 years.

I mean, they are, uh, they have some more just natural appeal.

I think Marcus Freeman has much to do with that.

Um, but they, they have everything to offer financially, uh, NFL preparation.

And I think it's cool to say, I, I'm going to Notre Dame now, which hadn't for a long time was not the case.

So, I think they've got all those things going for him.

Keeping Marcus Freeman was huge.

You know, you, the NFL, there were, there were a lot of talks with NFL teams, a lot of people were looking at him.

I think they probably will come back again next year, and the year after, and the year after, or however many years Marcus Freeman's at Notre Dame and say, hey, you wanna go pro coach in the NFL?

But he's there still, and I think that's a huge win for them.

Uh, you guys enumerated some of the strengths there.

I think their defense is going to be flat out nasty.

They're good everywhere.

Secondary is elite.

They rush the passer.

The linebackers are good.

Uh, offense, the thing that's amazing is we're saying this, and Notre Dame might have the two most instant impact running backs in the NFL, rookie running backs in the NFL next year, Jeremiah Love and Jadarian Price.

But they still, Uh, should be good offensively.

The receivers are better.

Uh, CJ Carr is gonna take another step forward.

Aeneas Williams, the running back, I think was really good.

He was just buried behind those two guys and couldn't get enough reps.

But he's a playmaker.

He averaged 9 yards of carry last year.

So, uh, all signs, I think, are, are good for Notre Dame, and yes, I'm with you guys that I would be surprised if they're not a top .

5 team and, you know, could be as high as 1.

I, I agree.

The one thing I still want to see, especially from the coaching staff, can you get yourself through the first part of the season without screwing up?

They have made some amazing blunders early in the season.

The losses to Marshall in Northern Illinois, uh, having 10 men on the field for 2 plays against Ohio State at a crucial point.

Not giving Jeremiah the love, the ball in the first game of the year last year at Miami.

They, they've, they've just beaten themselves on occasion.

So, they've still got to get that right and show that they know how to coach their way through, uh, the September, at least.

Uh, all right, basketball, Kevin.

Some of us can remember when Notre Dame actually went to a Final Four in the 1970s.

They haven't been since then.

Kelly Trapua, where are you?

Orlando Woolridge, where are you?

Where are the, where is the Irish's basketball program, Kevin?

It's, it's in a difficult spot, uh, at the moment.

You know, they made a pretty substantial investment in Micah Shrewsbury.

On paper, it was like a great hire.

This is a guy that took Penn State to the NCAA tournament, that's a dead-end job.

Uh, he had worked for Brad Stevens and Matt Painter, he was tied to the state.

I mean, I mean, replacing Mike Bray, that was seen as like, as good a hire as they could have possibly made.

It has not worked.

At all so far.

They've been consistently bad.

Shrewsbury has not, um, it has seemingly landed a pretty poor approval rating with the fans.

There have been some, some incidents, he chased the refs down the tunnel at Cal, uh, he was in barking matches with other coaching staffs during games, there was a, a, a press conference where he said, like, basically, like, nobody come back.

When we're good, which is never the thing to say.

Lots of people have tried it.

It's never worked.

Advice to everybody, never say that.

Never, never tell people that they shouldn't come back when the team starts winning.

It it does not go over well.

So, all that to say, it's, it's been difficult.

I do think the problems go well beyond Shrewsbury, right?

We've, we've talked about the football alignment.

Uh, I don't think that totally exists with.

Basketball.

They've had real problems getting transfers into school.

Um, they're very limited outside of guys that are only 1 year into college and grad transfers.

The grad transfer market is much less than it used to be when the COVID year guys were all, you know, buoying that up.

We'll see if the 5 to play 5 stuff or the age-based eligibility, excuse me, uh, if that helps, uh, a little bit, uh, there, but their pool of players.

Somewhat limited.

They had a very small rev share budget.

I mean, a massive portion was going to the football program, obviously.

Women's basketball gets a good chunk.

They had a, I, I, I wanna say one of the lower rev share numbers, uh, in, in the country in terms of power conference schools.

Their overall roster budget is better than their revha number, obviously, but it's still not fantastic by any means.

So, um, You know, it's, I think it's, it's a weird kind of chicken and egg situation where there doesn't seem to be full belief in Shrewsbury, he's struggling, but they also don't really have the players, and they've been unlucky with some injuries when they've had good ones the last couple of years.

So, uh, he's under some pressure, and, you know, the buyouts substantial, if they wanna get rid of him after this year, um, but I don't think it's off the table that he enters the year sort of on a warmer seat, and, uh, if they, if they struggle again.

Uh, things could get interesting.

So, uh, I do think basketball needs sort of a full scale reset, uh, and I'm curious, again, what the appetite is and what the investment is to making Notre Dame basketball really strong, because, look, I, I've been to some games there the last couple of years, like, the, the atmosphere is very lacking, uh, there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest.

As we've said, they're invested in other things than just football, right?

Like, people care about women's basketball there, they care about some other sports, like, Is this a place that is sort of OK, toiling in mediocrity in men's basketball, or do they want to push their chips in and say, why not, why not go win at everything?

That, that, that to me is sort of the interesting question and when they could be faced with as soon as, you know, this coming spring, uh, if, if Shrewsbury struggles again and you're staring down a bigger buyout versus just kind of rocking with the coach that, you know, clearly has not lived up to the hype so far.

And it's especially notable in the ACC, right, where you're competing against, obviously, you have Duke and North Carolina in terms of what they're spending, in terms of the investment in those two programs.

You have NC State, uh, you know, kind of rebooting themselves, but also wanting to play and, and invest at a high level, you know, like Syracuse is, is going through that reboot too.

Like, you know, it, it's just a difficult league for them.

If you're gonna be mediocre, you know, you end up being bad and that's what Notre Dame has been.

Last couple of years.

They've not been entertaining, um, you know, like the, you know , just the, the, the competition level against, especially some of those top tier teams, like they're, they're not picking anybody off, you know, when, when they come into South Bend.

It's, it's been a blowout city and I think that that that is kind of filtered into the fan base where they've been, um, apathetic in terms of support, certainly, but also, you know, in terms of writing those checks for some of those boosters.

They would much rather give, you know, another million dollars to Marcus Freeman to get a backup left.

Tackle at this point and , uh, finding a power forward.

And I think that's something that Micah Shrewsbury, his, his comments do not help on that end, but, um, you know, at some point, you know, there does kind of need to be, uh, all right, what are we going to do with this program?

And I don't know if we're, they're, they're quite there yet in South Bend in terms of, uh, reaching that and trying to see things, but, um, you know, you can just look across, you know, at, at what the women's basketball program has done and, and how, how good they've been.

Uh, in terms of finding stars, keeping them, you know, retention has been big for that program as well.

Finding people out of the transfer portal, um, you know, there's, there's been some real success stories on the women's side, you know, that just has not, uh, filtered over to the, to the men's side.

So there's proof positive on campus that you can be good at basketball in Notre Dame.

But, uh, it's gonna take certainly some greater investment than what they have been, and, um, you know, it's, it's, it's gonna be an interesting story to follow because it's kind of one of those big stories I think that, uh, does get overlooked in terms of broader college athletics.

We're seeing this at places like Ohio State and others where they're saying, You know what, as big as, as we are in football, we, we have a chance to win there.

We have a chance to win some of these other Olympic sports like lacrosse, uh, you know, they, they just made it to the national game.

We wanna just keep going down that road and, and, you know what, in a, in a 76 team in tournament environment, making the tournament every 2 or 3 years, you know what, that, that is just fine for us.

So I think it's gonna be interesting to see what is Notre Dame, the administration kind of view the, the men's basketball program as moving forward and what is their fan base, you know, kind of see, uh, the Irish as, as well.

Yeah, the, there was a time when that was a very hard place to play in a really rabid, like, student body, and that doesn't seem to be the case.

From what I've seen on TV and what I've seen in person there, that, it's, it's, it's, it's pretty uh apathetic when it comes to basketball.

So, they've got to start there.

And yeah, so free PR advice for Mike Shuba and every other coach out there.

When you're bad, say, you know what , thanks for coming.

We're gonna try really hard to get better, and we hope you're there then too, but don't go the other way.

Don't say, don't show up when we're good, you know, no, no, just, just, just be happy for anybody, especially you're Notre Dame basketball, be happy for everyone that comes through the door and is there to see you.

I think that's the, the strategy moving forward.

Um, all right.

Uh, Brian, this I thought was interesting, as you mentioned, Baka spoke before the Senate in his testimony, he kind of, I thought, kind of weirdly talked about a potential Super League.

At one point, it almost seemed like he was advocating for it and then said he was not advocating for it.

What, what was he talking about?

Why did he bring it up?

Well, you know, I, I, I think it's important to keep in mind that, uh, you know, he, he used to run NBC Sports and, uh, you know, Pete is, he, number one, he's, he is a Notre Dame alum.

He, he loves the program.

Like even when he was at Notre Dame, you know, at NBC, you know, like he was always going to South Bend for games, uh, big, big prominent supporter of, of the program, and, and that certainly carried over.

During his time as athletic director, and I think you just kind of saw the old Pete Vivaqua kind of slipping out there, you know, in terms of, all right, well, look, if, if I'm paying a bunch of money, I'm, I, I want Notre Dame to play Alabama and Penn State and Ohio State and, and whatnot.

And I think I just kind of, kind of came out, uh, you know, in, in, in the spur of the moment, but he's not wrong.

Like, I mean, this is, this is the thing that I think, uh, got lost a little bit in, in the testimony is, um, you know, the, the bigger issue in terms of college athletics is not.

Necessarily the, the Big 10 and the SEC.

It's, you know, the, the, the likes of their biggest programs breaking away.

It's, it's not some sort of Super League between the Big 10 and the SEC.

It's, it's a Super League of everybody leading some of those leagues, uh, and, and, uh, bringing, you know, schools like Notre Dame with them.

And I think that was, um, certainly more, one of the more eye-opening things as, as part of that testimony, which I'm sure we can get into, uh, you know, and drill down into later if we want to, to, to, to cover 3 hours of a congressional hearing.

Um, but, uh, you know, Pete, Pete, uh, was, was, was, you know, he's certainly well spoken.

He's, he's definitely one of the power players in, in college athletics, uh, you know, given his position as Notre Dame athletic or kind of a pseudo commissioner, if you will.

So, uh, you know, it was definitely, um, Something that, uh, I'm sure maybe, maybe he would have toned that part down, you know, if, if, if you had to give him a do-over, but, um, it'll be, uh, certainly brought up, uh, in, in, in the future in terms of some of those comments about the Super League, if it, if anything, and, and those rumors start to, to circulate again.

Yeah, I, I just found it funny that he kept being like, yeah, you know, this, this massive college football conglomerate where we could have every week, Alabama, Georgia, you know, Notre Dame versus Penn State, Ohio State versus LSU.

I don't support that at all, but if, if we had that, man, like it would, we, we'd make so much money.

This would be a massive enterprise.

Things could be really great.

Everybody would be well fed.

I, I, I, I don't support that though.

Don't, don't, do not confuse me with being in support of this massive thing that would make my athletic department much richer.

Do never confuse me for, for being a supporter of such a thing.

It was interesting.

It really was.

Like, yeah, maybe that was just some spur of the moment and then maybe Brene Brown was alluding to that was the NBC exec coming out like, think of the ratings.

I also would like to think of Georgia being 4 and 8 and how that would go over because somebody would be 4 and 8 in that situation.

Um, all right.

Last thing on Notre Dame as we have ended with all the conferences .

In 5 years, Notre Dame will be blank, and I'm gonna go first here, and I'm gonna say Notre Dame is gonna continue to be Notre Dame.

It will still be independent as a football entity.

It will still have the sweetheart deal with the ACC.

It's non-revenue sports will continue to thrive.

We'll see about basketball.

Football should still be really good because everything's in place there, even if Marcus Marcus Freeman leaves, which I think would be a significant blow.

Because I do think he can win a national championship there or multiple national championships, and maybe he does it this year and then leaves.

But do you have somebody in mind who can do that level of a job replacing him?

Cause I would not be shocked.

If Marcus Freeman is not the coach there in 5 years, if he's wearing an NFL headset and we're watching him on Sundays instead of Saturdays.

But otherwise, I think mostly what we see out of Notre Dame, the bones of Notre Dame will still be the same in 5 years.

What do you guys think?

I think they'll be celebrated, they'll have celebrated at least one championship in football.

That's my, my prediction.

I think they, I think they get over the hump finally, I think it's headed that way.

I think last year's team was good enough, uh, to, to win the national championship.

I know we talked like, oh, does anyone ever miss out on the playoffs, that could have won it.

I think Notre Dame is a rare example last year where they could have, and I think they could be just as good, if not better, um, with a much more manageable schedule this year.

Uh, again, maybe Freeman leaves, I do think if they won a national championship, it would probably Uh, clean his conscience to leave.

You feel that you see that a lot, and obviously in, in basketball as well, where, all right, if I can climb that mountain, if I've done everything there is to do, then I can more seriously look at these NFL opportunities.

It's hard to turn it down regardless, but I do think winning a national championship could precipitate his eventual college exit, but, um , yeah, I, I, I do think they get over the hump here in the coming years.

Yeah, I'll, I'll say they're, they'll continue to be the belle of the ball, you know, in, in all of college athletics, you know, and, and, uh, this success is only gonna increase that.

I mean, you know, you, the thing that, you know, and we talk about Pete being a a TV executive, I mean, you look at things like the Duke Amazon deal, right?

Right?

Notre Dame is well positioned just because of their, by virtue of their football independence to do something along those lines whenever their NBC contract does.

And what happens if they're, all right, diverting $10 million of that deal to, to their athletes and they have an even greater advantage.

It's gonna draw certainly some, uh, everybody else, uh, you know, in the envy of the rest of college athletics, but that's just the nature of Notre Dame.

That's how it's been.

Um, you know, for, for decades at this point, uh, you know, just given their, their unique vantage point in the ecosystem, they, they, they draw praise and they draw, uh, ire from, from just about every corner, um, you know, the, of the country, and that's, uh, that's gonna continue to be the case, I, I think, especially given the alignment that we've talked about in terms of the administration.

It has never been better, I think, in, in, in, in Notre Dame's history, really.

Um, you look at from the president and, and the athletic director to the The coaches themselves, like I, I mean, I, I, I would struggle to find a time where there wasn't greater, uh, you know, alignment between those, those parties and you throw in the booster base that they, they already are able to tap into.

Certainly the advantages of, of their current ACC deal, which is a bit of a sweetheart one with what they've got going on with NBC in terms of football.

I mean, there's, there's no reason to see this slowing down, you know, at all in terms of what Notre Dame has been able to accomplish and what they can accomplish moving forward.

Last thing I'll say is, uh, yeah, Notre Dame, people get really mad at Notre Dame being independent.

To them, I say, well, you go, you go do it.

You're, at your school, go ahead, go ahead, see how it goes.

There's a couple of them that could.

I think Texas could, I think Michigan could, I think Ohio State could, maybe a couple others, but not many.

And if you can do it, why not do it?

So, if you got it, flaunt it.

All right , the rest of FBS, the group of six conferences, there's been a lot of changes there.

A lot of stuff going on.

I'm gonna briefly just run through what the landscape looks like, and then we'll get to actually discussing this.

But, uh, the Pac-12 is back from the dead, Kinda.

It's, you know, lowercase p Pac-12.

But, but, but it is a Pac-12.

It does exist.

Uh, survivors, Washington State and Oregon State have, uh, raided the Mountain West.

We've got Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State, and Utah State joining there.

Texas State comes over from the Sun Belt, and significantly, Gonzaga joins in basketball.

We have a stripped down and remodeled Mountain West that includes holdovers Air Force, Hawaii, UNLV, New Mexico, San Jose State, and Wyoming.

Plus they went and got North Dakota State, that kind of eternal striver from the FCS ranks.

They got Northern Illinois, rather weirdly, from the MAC, and they got UTEP, a once and future member of that sort of cabal.

Sun Belt added Louisiana Tech, but lost UTEP.

The MAC hilariously has added Sacramento State, after losing Northern Illinois, makes all the sense in the world.

Uh, the American, crucially, has stood pat with 14 members, but not with all their coaches.

Some some significant brain drain there.

Um, Eric Morris from North Texas to Oklahoma State, Alex Golis from South Florida to Auburn, Ryan Silverfield from Memphis to Arkansas, John Summerall from Tulane to Florida.

So, the league kept its members despite a lot of them being wooed in the last couple of years, but does have some short-term work to do with some of the coaching staffs here.

Uh, Brian, what I want you to do, Rank the conferences, the group of 6 conferences from a football perspective, uh, from the group of 6.

Go ahead.

Oh, that's, uh, that's a difficult task.

Uh, I , I would kind of say, I could, I kind of put the American and the Pac-12 kind of by themselves, you know, I think those two are, are clearly kind of the, uh, uh, separate separation between everybody else in, in the group of 6, just in terms of roster spending, in terms of what the actual football programs are spending in generally in terms of coaching , in terms of, uh, staff salaries, that sort of thing.

So I would kind of put those two, separate from everybody else and, and kind of have a little bit of a gap between them and everybody else.

I'm not, I'm not saying.

That there's, you know, uh, you know, your, your Toledo's at some point that can make a run, somebody out of the Sun Belt that can make a run, but just in terms of, you know, general football, uh, you know, emphasis, I, I, I kind of put those two off to the side and put them at 1 and 2.

Maybe the Pac-12 at this point, uh , at number 1, just in terms of the, the depth of the league.

I, I think from, you know, kind of 1 to 1 to 9, I mean, it's, it's gonna be basically, uh, uh, you know, those those schedules and those, those standings are gonna be packed, um, you know, in terms of, uh, There's not much separation between kind of the, the first team and the last team.

It's, it's gonna come down to, you know, a lot of those close calls in terms of those games.

So, maybe slightly above the American, probably another factor is just, um, I, I don't expect in terms of the Navy, uh, I mean, they, they've been so good these last couple of years.

Can they keep that going?

Can, can Army get back to, uh, where they were a couple of years ago?

Can, can some of those other programs in the American survive some of the coaching changes that they've had?

You, you definitely think, uh, you know, you look at Memphis, maybe that's a coaching upgrade, you know, in terms of what they brought in.

Um, you know, so I think it's , it's gonna be between the American and the Pac-12 in terms of who gets that group of 6 bid to the playoffs.

I, I think there's, there's strong cases for each league.

I've kind of put them 1 and 1A.

Uh, if you want, you can flip the order however you want, uh, especially given the, the disparity in size, uh, that you kind of got to factor in, maybe put the Sun Belt right after them.

Um, this is a league.

Geographically, it makes sense.

A lot of good rivalries.

Uh, you know, I think they do take their, their football seriously, um, with a lot of these programs, a lot of changes there too as well.

Um, you know, some new faces, some old faces around the league.

So I, I've kind of put the Sun Belt there at number 3, and then, uh, you know, you got, uh, certainly the, the MAC and Conference USA right behind them, and, uh, that's, that's gonna come down to.

You know, what, what, you know, what, what program is able to keep their coach, what, what program is able to maybe spend just a little bit more in terms of, uh, keeping a quarterback or, you know, landing a key transfer.

I think it's, it's gonna be kind of one of those leagues where things are new, uh, but in terms of where they are in the pecking order in in college sports, I'd probably put the Mac and then, uh, Conference USA bringing up the rear.

Yeah, those, those midweek conference USA games, there was some, some rough ball being played, some really entertaining football, I will say, like very, very entertaining, um, but yeah, I mean, it's like, oh good, Delaware and Jacksonville State, the natural rivals that they, that they are, uh, fighting it to the death, although Delaware did keep, uh, keep their quarterback who's who's very good.

The Delaware deal.

The hens are good, they're a feisty bunch, uh, state too, you know, shout out, shout out to them.

Yeah.

But I would think, I mean, there's a few individual programs that you're, you're, pretty excited about outside of the American and the Pac-12, you know, I think it seems like UNLV has real resources, New Mexico with Jason Eckerber's excited about, James Madison, James Madison, I think they'll roll, continue to in the Sun Belt, but, yeah, I, I would tend to agree.

I think it's, it's the Pac-12 and the American, probably most likely to have the, the consistent depth, and, again, the thing that could derail them from the playoff berth is just does everybody kind of clump up and go 9 and 3, and somebody else surges to 12-0 or something like that.

And, and don't discount, you know, like the, the settlement between the Pac-12 and the Mountain West, you know, now that's finally out of the way, um, you know, I think that's gonna have an impact on, on some of those programs.

I mean, UNLV was promised, you know, quite, quite a few number of, of, of millions in terms of to, to remain in the Mountain West, you know, how, how does that settlement impact, um, you know, their status moving forward?

How, how does that impact what they're able to spend?

Uh, on their roster.

I think it's just, uh, you know, it is kind of fascinating in terms of the group of six.

I'm like there's, there's, there's not much separation, and I think that's, that's gonna lead to some entertaining seasons, certainly, but in terms of, all right, can you kind of get over that hump?

Can you have one of those special seasons where maybe you're threatening to actually pull off an upset in the playoffs?

I think there's still, everybody's kind of a long ways away from that.

Yeah, so here's how I got those 6 ranked.

I've got number 1, the American, which I think is a, last year was a very good league.

Um, see how much it carries over this league.

I, I mentioned all those good coaches.

That's, I didn't even bring up the service academies, both of which are, are really good, and I think Jeff Monken is an elite.

Coach.

He is one of the best coaches in college football.

Um, so I got the American 1, Pac-122, Sun Belt 3, Midwest Mountain West 4, it's close, 5 Conference USA go Blue Hens, 6, the MAC.

Uh, the, the MAC .

God love him.

You know, it's, it's a struggle there just to come up with the money.

Um, it, it, Toledo's coach left to go to UConn.

It's tough.

Mike Jacobs comes in, might do, might do well there, but, uh, but we'll see.

Um, anyway , uh, so the question then becomes, who gets that 12th bid in the playoffs, right?

There is a group of 6 champion that gets an automatic bid.

Doesn't have to be a champion anymore.

Well, that's true.

No, you're right, does not have to be a champion, but if it's not.

But you'd be surprised if it wasn't.

Yeah.

What are we doing?

That would, you know, again, let's just further undermine the, the regular season as much as humanly possible.

Uh, who's getting it?

Which league, which team?

Brian, Oh, you know, throw a dart out there at this point, you know, I, I think, um, you know, if, if, if maybe, um, you know, I, I, I'm just, you know, it's always difficult to, to predict the service academies from year to year just given the, the turnover they have, and, you know, you never know, in terms of recruiting, like I, I mean, they, they do such a good job in terms of development that uh you, you can go from Uh, awful one year or too, too great the next.

And, um, so I, I would definitely put a pin in terms of Navy Army, that's, that's always a possibility of the American, which, which would certainly be interesting given, uh, where they would play their, their final game this year.

Um, I, I, I throw Boise State out there, um, certainly having Maddox, Maddox, Maddox, Maddox Matson, uh, uh, you know, coming back, um, you know, at quarterback, I, I think that would be, uh, big, big for the, for the Broncos, and, uh, I think in terms of spending, in terms of where they are development-wise, uh, with the number of guys that they've been able to, to get, uh, these last couple of years, uh, they're, they're always going to be a threat.

Uh, they're out of the new, newfound Pac-12.

Um, you, you could definitely throw out, uh, I, I, I'd throw out New Mexico as a possibility out of the Mountain West, um, you know.

They, uh, did a terrific job under Jason Eck last year, and I think with what they have coming back with the development of that program is going on, maybe even a softer schedule than they had a year ago, um, you know, when, when, uh, they , they did so well, probably one of the best seasons in school history there, um, for, for the Lobos.

So I, I, I would throw out New Mexico as a possibility as well, um, not just as, as the Mountain West champion, but, uh, you know, potentially as only a, a, you know, one or two loss team as well.

So, um, you know, it, it's, it's gonna be a toss-up, and, uh, I think that it is going to add.

Uh, a little bit of emphasis in terms of the playoff race.

Yes, we, we wanna talk about, um, you know, the, the likes of, uh, the Notre Dame's and the Ohio State's in the world, and, and yes, that is, is great, especially at the top end, but I, I think if you're a fan of the Group of six program this year, I think it's gonna be a phenomenal, uh, check.

You know, trying, trying to, you know, read into anything that the committee chair is gonna have to say on the group six because let's face it, there's just not much separation between some of those top teams that are gonna contend for that, uh, that playoff bid and, uh, you know, what, what we're gonna see on the field this year.

Yeah, I, I, I was gonna shout out UNLV as a potential, you know, dangerous one.

I, I, I'm not necessarily the most optimistic about the, the Jackson Arnold experience, we've been burned before, but, I mean, if there's a situation where he could succeed, it's probably a place like UNLV where Dan Mullen has used quarterbacks like him well in the past, uh, he'll be just an athletic talent, unlike the guys they see, and then you look at the schedule, I mean, You get Memphis at home, that's a game that can move the needle a little bit in the in the conversation.

You get Cal at home, another game that, like, man, like, a great opportunity, a Cal team, I think that will be feisty, um, you get, you, you go to New Mexico, that'll be tricky, but otherwise you get a lot of these bigger games in in conference play on, on your home field.

I, I like the odds for UNLV to potentially steal that bid, and if they can get to 11 and 1 and win the league.

Yeah, the, uh, the, the UNLV thing, I think is interesting.

They have a chance to, to potentially kind of enhance their foothold that they already have.

As you said, they, they, they've got more money coming in, they've got a very good coach in Dan Mullen.

Uh, we're gonna see what they can put together underneath him.

Um, but I, I like their positioning going forward.

I, I really like Memphis.

If I gotta pick somebody, I'm taking Memphis with Charles Huff, who is an elite recruiter, and is bringing a lot with him as he, he went from Marshall to Southern Miss to Memphis.

He's got players coming with him who can play.

Uh, I think that, uh, Memphis is gonna be the team that sneaks in there as your #12 seed.

Uh, Kevin, real quick on basketball, can you rank the the G6 conferences there and tell us, uh, who the big dog is?

Yeah, I think the Pac-12 is gonna be really good.

I mean, I don't know, there's been a lot of people that have tried to knock off the Big East, but I do think the Pac-12 has a chance to be knocking on the door of that because you get a lot of the great Mountain West programs, you know, Boise's been in the tournament pretty much every year, Car.

States put out NBA players, you know, pretty consistently here of late.

San Diego State's a phenomenal program, Utah State's a phenomenal program, and then you add on, obviously, Gonzaga, who's, you know, one of the best programs in the country.

The thing that the Mountain West never had when you were talking about, OK, uh, how is it compared to the Big East?

Is it the West Coast, Big East, is, look, they didn't have the elite teams.

They didn't have the UConn, the Villanova.

Now they have that with the Gonzaga plus all these kind of bubble teams.

I think that's gonna be a phenomenal basketball conference.

Uh, I'll miss the mountain, the true Mountain West, New Mexico, uh, Nevada, they'll be, they'll be good still, uh, but I would have the American just above them.

So, Pac-12, American, Memphis has to get better.

That's the biggest thing for the Americans.

They have to get more out of Memphis.

It's their Bell Cow program.

Uh, Mountain West 3, and then really 31 bid leagues to, to round out the group of 6.

Conference USA, it's gonna be hard.

Uh, Liberty's been very good.

Uh, the Mid-American, a 2-bid league this past year, thanks to Miami , Ohio.

Um, given what it took to get to 2 bids, I, I think that will be.

Uh, the last time in a while, uh, and then the Sun Belt, uh, a, a nice basketball conference, very competitive.

I think last year I looked at, like, the final weekend of the standings and there was, like, one game separating 1st and 7th, uh, so that's always, uh, always fun, but not a lot of great , uh, basketball wise in the Sun Belt.

And they had that, they have that great tournament set up where it's like the stairway to 7, yes, the 7 round tournament where, you know, if you get the buys, you're golden, except that like the, the, the team that won, I think was like the 7th seed or something.

Yeah, they, they, they had to cover some ground and Georgia Southern, I think, either made the title game or made it to the, they had to play like 6 games in a row , yeah, I mean.

It's just, uh, I'd love to know what the, like, off the record feelings inside the league are about the, the stairway to 7.

Yeah, it's, uh, it's beautiful, the, the flock of, uh, flock of Canadian geese bracket, if you look at it, there is giant V.

It's, it's a beautiful thing.

All right, last thing on this, and then we're gonna get to back to back to the Senate.

Uh, in 5 years, the G6 as a whole will be.

Blank, I'm going to say the G6 will be having its own playoff, and that they will feel marginalized enough and ostracized enough that they're just gonna say, look, we're just gonna go contest this amongst ourselves.

You guys don't want us, you don't want us in your playoff.

We're gonna go do our own thing.

I think it'll be a shame.

I think it'll be bad for college sports.

I'm not sure I would blame them for doing it though.

So I think that you will see those six schools.

Not break away per se, but play their own little tournament.

Um, and I think it'll still be good and people will watch, but , uh, I, I, I say that, I don't say it with joy or relish, but that's what I think's gonna happen.

Your thoughts.

I, I won't, I won't disagree, you know, in terms of, I think that, that talk, and it's not just Tim Pernetti, uh, the American commissioner who is, who is saying it now, I think in the, in the group of six in terms of, hey, we, we gotta do something different.

And, um, And whether that's just kind of uh reimagined bowl season, uh, you know, with, with some better matchups, uh, amongst the G6, maybe that, maybe that's just all it is, but, um, you're right, that the gap between what they are and even the low-level, you know, Power Five programs at this point, um, it, it's stark and it's growing starker.

I mean, you're, you're talking about like, um, in terms of roster spending, you know, One player at Ohio State is probably making more than than entire teams.

And, um, and there's some acknowledgement, acknowledgement, uh, certainly from, from a lot of, uh, folks that, uh, that is the case.

And they, they aren't trying to necessarily compete, uh, you know, on that front.

So, uh, the, the gap is, is growing, is, is only going to grow bigger, uh.

Over the coming years, uh, especially if, you know, say the actual revenue sharing cap keeps going up, um, you know, these, these programs just do not have that kind of money to spend on their football and basketball programs.

So, uh, something's gonna change, and I think the, you know, you're, you're gonna see, maybe it's not quite as stark as here's, you know, 1 A and 1 AA, but, uh, you know, we're kind of moving in that direction.

What I wish we could pull off would be to kind of revamp the non-conference schedules for the group of six, almost eliminate them.

And then create essentially make, make November a group of 5, or group of 6, excuse me, playoffs that feeds its champion into the college football playoffs, right?

Could you, particularly in a world where we're going to more and more conference games, more and more guaranteed power conference games, right?

Like, the by-game opportunities are vanishing.

Regardless for, for these programs, like, they, they don't exist.

And so, my, again, I, I don't know how you actually logistically pull it off from the standpoint of, uh, how do you get every's schedules aligned, how do you wipe things off the books, etc.

but, like, if maybe around this next wave of realignment, you found a way to say, hey, like, we're gonna play essentially 8.

Conference, 8 or 9 conference games in, you know, September and October that get us to November, and then the best of the group of 6 play against each other over the next 3 weeks for one spot in the college football playoffs, or, you know, however, however you're gonna shake it out, and then everybody else plays kind of round robin, essentially like bracket buster type games throughout November.

I mean, it probably loses a little bit of interest in November football for those leagues, but it keeps them invested for the bottom, but it keeps them invested in the playoff conversation.

And then the other thing with that is, look, at the end of the day, you know, for some of these places, it's, it's just miserable to go to football games in November anyway, right?

The Mac has basically created just a TV gambling product anyway, because of the tacit reality that, hey, going to, you know, Eastern Michigan on November 15th isn't fun, whether it's a Tuesday or a Saturday.

It's just, like, like, it's, it's not the best.

It it's a place to play, it's not a fun place to play, the weather's terrible.

So, again, it's, it's, it's probably a little pie in the sky, but it's not so unrealistic that I felt I couldn't bring it up on the podcast.

So, that's my, that's my pitch from as an outsider.

That is excellent podcast material there.

So let's just create a, a November G6 playoff to reach the playoffs, so to speak.

I, I, I wholeheartedly endorse at least thinking and talking about it and watching people lose their minds about it.

That that has, that has a pre-taped July 4th podcast written all over it.

Like we just come to the table with whatever our, our, our playoff dive into the whole, you know, what the theoretical bracket would be.

There you go.

Uh, I also look, I, I, I will, uh, speak up on behalf of the Eastern Michigan Tuesday night, snow on the ground, gray turf, 3700 people, maybe, 42 of which are students, all of whom are hammered.

Uh, two of which have their shirts off for no good reason.

It's a beautiful thing if they're, if they're playing that game against, I don't know, Marshall instead of against, uh, Buffalo.

Is that the, is that the biggest crime in the world?

It's not, it's not more, more chance of people watching.

And then, you know what, we get back to the, the quintessential argument.

Cody, you boys from the South, come up here and play in the winter .

We get Troy up there, you know, in Western Michigan or.

Uh, yeah, Louisiana Lafayette at Buffalo, bring it on, bring it on.

Why not?

Um, all right, last thing, as I said, Congress.

Cruz Cantwell Protect College Sports Act.

was unveiled last week, led to a Senate hearing.

Uh, that was actually the week before it led to a Senate hearing last week, uh, and there are some things to like about it.

There are some things to dislike.

But in most practical terms, does this thing have any chance?

And specifically, can a bill pass that the SEC and Big 10 are publicly standing against?

Brian, you were watching the hearing.

What the hell's happening?

Yes, unfortunately, I spent 3 hours of a nice, nice Wednesday, uh, watching everybody get their 2.

Since then on this bill , um, look, I think there is a lot to like, and I think the, the speed of this process, the fact that it is bipartisan has given a lot of people a lot of hope.

But I, I, I just keep coming back to, can, can we expect anything out of this Congress in particular?

Like actually, the, the machinations of politics right now, or is that going to prevent this?

We've already seen several Republicans come out, uh, you know, in the wake of that hearing, kind of opposing this bill, uh.

And there's been more support, um, you know, on that side of the aisle in terms of passing the score act out of the house, that's also still percolating in the, in the background right, right now.

Um, you know, I think there's, there's more optimism around this than there has been at at any point in the last, say, 7 years of actually getting something over the finish line.

But I, I, I again, I, I just think, you know, given where we are in the calendar, you know, there's, there's essentially going to be A probably 2 to 3 week uh kind of window, uh, to actually get this over the line, get this passed, and whether that, uh, exists in terms of the Big 10 and the SEC coming around in support of, you know, maybe there are some of the revenue sharing provisions taken out or maybe there's some of the pooling of rights, um, you know, language is tweaked that that does get them on board with things.

Maybe that can kind of help things, uh, as well, but I, I just see too many political.

Headwinds, um, to actually get this over the line.

I mean, you know, Congress spent 18 hours trying to get a bill passed the other day, um, and, and they just barely got it over the line.

Uh, more important, a little more important, yes, so, uh, like this is, uh, you know, I think everybody kind of says this is nice to have.

I, I, I don't think in terms of some of the senators that everybody's been meeting with on, on, on Capitol Hill and saying, all right, this is absolutely gonna get, get over the line.

Um, so we'll see.

Uh, I, I would put this firmly in very nebulous territory, um, for, for college athletics, and frankly, maybe this is kind of the, the push to eventually get over the line down the road after, after midterms, um, maybe this is something they can revisit then, uh, in a lame duck Congress where they don't have to worry in terms of Uh, so much politically, uh, going on .

Um, maybe this is something that gets revisited then, but I, I just think it, it's gonna be too difficult in terms of, you almost have to get it done, you know, before the summer recess, um, in, in August, because we all know what happens after that.

Everybody's gonna go be campaigning during a pretty, uh, let's say nasty, uh, mid, midterm season.

Uh, I, I just think it's gonna be, uh, politically, that's, that's the more of the issue than in terms of what's actually in these 110 pages.

I just like, I couldn't roll my eyes harder at the SEC and the Big 10, after every statement for years, being, if only Congress would come help us, if only we could get people to the table.

Oh, we finally got 7 years, we have, we have a bipartisan bill that people, people seem to like.

It has its faults, believe me, I'm not, I'm not the biggest supporter of the Protect College Sports Act, but like, all you did was ask for Congress to do something.

They did something like.

It, it, it doesn't quite do it for me.

It does, it doesn't quite get like.

I, I, I, I, it was so frustrating to me, and again, it, it, it, it, it reemphasizes to me that the real answer is asking for, um, an ultra skinny bill, right?

Like, we need two or three critical protections that essentially keep the sport alive, uh, prevents a massive attack on it either in the legal system or or otherwise.

And then we force the college sports leaders to actually solve some problems themselves, right?

Like, Congress needs to come back and say, this is what we can actually do for you, and then you guys gotta solve the rest.

Because the, the, the, this bill, and, and, and my biggest problem with this bill is it tries to solve everybody's problem.

And that's why It's why the going to Congress was always going to be a difficult task, because, like, there are so many constituents and so many people who have their two cents about, oh well, if we can include this, it helps this person and this person maybe comes over the line with this, like, I'm not convinced that everything in this bill makes college sports better or more stable.

I think it solves like a couple of problems and probably creates some others, and so.

Yeah, I, I, I, I'm, I'm frustrated that the Big 10 and the SEC can't get behind it.

I understand why they don't want to necessarily, but I, I just think at the end of the day, like, do you want congressional help or not, right?

This is what they're doing.

This is what it, this is what it took years to get to.

Like, we can't just say, hey, you know, this was really nice, but Why don't you try again?

Like, you, you're not, you're not the president.

Like, who do you, who do you guys think you are?

So that , that, that was the eye roll to me more than anything.

It is.

Particularly obnoxious, for as you said, to the, the amount of begging, beseeching, crying, moaning for congressional intervention.

This is, you're, you're, you are sitting out, you're starving.

Please feed us.

Please feed us, please feed us.

They bring you a bunch of hamburgers.

Uh, we'd like chicken, please.

We don't want, we don't want hamburgers.

You know what, beggars cannot be choosers in this instance, and they are choosing.

And yes, there are way too many cooks in the kitchen, and that's why this recipe ain't getting made, right?

Not in this form, not in this fashion.

But it is, it's astounding to me, just again, it just reinforces the level of self-interest here, of like, we need intervention, but it's gotta be advantage, advantageous to us to have the intervention.

And that's why college sports.

is in the position it's in.

Please get us to some games so we don't have to talk about these idiots and their self-interest, uh, anymore.

We, we still got a couple of months to go.

We're gonna try to persevere through that, but boy, oh boy, it is annoying.

Uh, last thing, let's, let's not end on an annoying note.

I want you guys to be creative with me here.

Uh, our man, Ren Baker, the athletic director at West Virginia, great American, great thinker here.

They've got a lyric little bandbox of a baseball park that is sold out for the Super Regional against Cal Poly for the weekend.

His solution, they can't get everybody in, was to tell everybody to go pack this hill that overlooks the stadium, and we'll bring you 1000 pepperoni rolls for free.

You get free pepperoni rolls if you come sit on the hill and cheer on the mountaineers.

If you guys are in charge of a stadium that's sold out and you're trying to get everybody to sit on a hill to watch a game, what are you serving?

What's the food you are using to bribe them with?

There's so many good options there in Morgantown.

I mean, you could go with those like Tudor biscuits, you know, like if you had like a just a buffet line of that, that, that might end up packing the hill, uh, but obviously it's Salt Lake or it's Texas where you're from.

What, what are you serving?

What's the, what is the Brian Fisher?

Meal or or maybe not in Salt Lake, but, uh, the, the, the go to is obviously some, some alcohol and some beer like that, that, that'll get, you know, the $1 beers, you know, like the, the $1 beer night whenever they had that uh in, in baseball like that, that's easily the, the easiest way, uh, to, to get people to come out and Um, get them rowdy and get them loud and get them cheering and, um, you know, like I, I, I don't, you know, like Tightwad Hill, you know, they're, they're at Cal, like I, I don't think they're serving pepperoni rolls, you know, like in people might want to be eating pepperoni rolls after they're serving what they're serving up there, yeah, yeah, so, um, you know, like the, the, there's, there's only one answer, uh, to, to this question.

Um, I, I get why it might be a little bit of a touchy.

Subject around colleges and college students, uh, to get this done, but, you know, shout, shout out to Wren and shout out to the fine folks at West Virginia because that atmosphere there, uh, at the stadium in particular, uh, you know, I don't know if you've seen the, when they're, they're seeing the country roads at the end, like awesome, awesome games, uh, there the last couple of years.

So, um, I, I can understand why they're trying to, to amp up that atmosphere even more here for the super regionals.

I have grave concerns about the, um , presumably porta potty situation after 1000 pepperoni rolls are consumed.

That is, that is my big risk.

So I, I do think wherever you are, you, you gotta stick with the basics, like we gotta, you, you just gotta go pizza.

That's, it's tried and true.

The coaches can coaches can come around, players can come around in early in the afternoon and bring out boxes and hand them out to people and say thanks for coming.

I, I worry the pepperoni roll could spell disaster come like the 6th or 7th inning.

Well, that's a valid concern, a very valid concern.

Uh, my thought was, was, was actually Brian's thought too.

It's like you just, you just wheel up the beer carts, you know, there are, I mean , you're gonna cart everybody.

I don't know how you're gonna quite work all that out.

It's West Virginia.

I think we'll be all right thinking like the, the beer snake, you know, just extending all the way up the hill.

Exactly.

You know what, light a couch on fire over here .

Put the beer cart over there.

Everybody's happy.

Go Mountaineers.

So, all right, that's the show.

Uh, we will be back again next week, mid-June.

We're still rolling , man.

We're going through the summer.

Don't give up on us.

We're not giving up on the sport.

Thanks for listening, and we will talk to you later.