LSU vs. SEC Drama Continues, Week 1 Preview

All right.

Welcome back to the show.

Others receiving votes.

I'm Pat 40 joined by my sidekick, Gene Wojcikowski.

Oh, Gene, we're gonna tell people how the sausage actually gets made here in the podcast Factory.

Today, we, uh, we have a, a show lined up with content previewing week one.

Uh, talking about all the games, people we can't wait to see play.

But we are also, as of right now, Thursday, September 3rd, 3:17 p.m. Eastern, 2:17, Chicagoland time where Gene is being held hostage by trial events in Louisiana.

And so, we want to get this information out to you, our preview information.

But we're also running the risk of having some massive legal uh development happen during the show or after the show.

If it happens during, we'll get to it.

If it happens after, we tried.

Um, but Gino, uh, this is where we are.

Uh, Greg Sankey was on the stand earlier this afternoon.

We know that in a Baton Rouge courtroom.

As a, uh, the, uh, LSU specifically tries to get players in uniform, on the roster in uniform and in action who had been on NFL rosters.

The SEC is resisting it.

The other plot twist, the SEC today sued LSU over this issue in federal court in Alabama.

Which could end up vetoing anything that happens in Louisiana, but we'll see.

There's many steps to go.

Uh, Gene, what, I mean, broad strokes here.

What do you make of this utter fiasco on the eve of week one of college football?

I never thought.

That in many ways, the most interesting matchup of the week would be LSU versus SEC in a Baton Rouge courtroom, but it really is.

And I, I, I actually was thinking, what, if we were putting odds on this game that's going on right now between LSU and the SEC, who would be favored?

Great question.

Home court advant home field advantage certainly to LSU, uh.

I think there's two different games being played.

I would make LSU a 2.5 point favorite in Baton Rouge.

I would make the SEC a 6-point favorite in federal court in Birmingham.

I'm also not a legal scholar, but that's how I see this thing.

The problem is, how long does it take for things to play out in Birmingham?

Could we have a ruling today in Louisiana that puts these players in position to be on the field for LSU Saturday when they do, by the way, play a pretty big game against Clemson.

But then we have the SEC come back and win a ruling in federal court that says no, get them out of there in 1 week or 2 weeks or however long it may take.

I don't know.

What are your odds?

Where are you landing?

Well, At this point, who knows what is going to happen?

And as I've demonstrated through the, uh, through the 1.5 or 1 year plus that I've been doing this podcast with you, I'm the worst predictor there's ever been.

But I simply can't see.

How a court is going to side with LSU on this.

In Baton Rouge or any other city.

Uh, I, I understand the home-field advantage argument, but, but the legal argument seems to be totally on the SEC side in this case.

So, I, I would be shocked if, if this Baton Rouge court rules in favor of LSU.

Then again, at this point, does anything shock you with it?

But I think ultimately, uh, these players are not going to be able to join a, a, a college roster.

The, the bizarre part about it, as you just mentioned, is here we are hours away from kickoff.

Of week one, and we don't know who's gonna be on a roster, who or who isn't.

And it's just, it, it's just mind-boggling that, that this is where we are.

But then when you start mentioning, it's Lane Kiffin, it's LSU, it's the SEC, I guess anything is possible.

It is, uh, it is, to me, to me, it, it's infuriating, it's exhausting, it's bewildering, and it's insulting, I think, to the fans too.

It's like, this is not how a sport should be run, and this is not what we should be talking about.

And a lot of people can point fingers a lot of different ways.

But on Thursday, September 3rd, where games are starting this evening, We should be talking about football and watching football instead of this ongoing circus that all relates back to the horrific leadership in this sport, the absolute inability for people to come together over a set of rules and say that's what we're going to do, and then go do it.

Instead, this is where we are.

You know, if, if you get in the pro sports leagues, and you want to break the rules, you end up with what the Clippers got, which was absolute nuclear disaster, where the NBA came in and smoked them into rubble.

I mean, taking away 5 first-round draft picks is monstrous.

So, the, the fact that college sports can't do that, I think is, is a huge weakness, and it allows people to play to their base instincts, and that's where we get to LSU and Lane Kiffin, and to the governor of Louisiana, and his appointed Toty president, and the Toy president's appointed Toty athletic director, and that's where we are.

You know, the, the thing that just amazes me.

LSU.

And look, you've been to a bunch of games there.

I've been there, it's great fun.

The people are fun, the, the, the, but they, they act like they're Texas Tech, like they're some, you know, rogue little guy trying to punch their way up by any means necessary.

You're LSU, you win national championships, you put 100,000 people in the stadium.

You have one of the biggest budgets in the country.

You don't have to act like a rogue scofflaw.

And still they do it.

I just, can you possibly explain to me the mentality that that has gone into making that.

University the way it is.

It's astounding that this is the hill that you want to possibly die on over, over these players.

Uh, The NFL and college football are alike in many ways.

I mean, now they are.

I mean, you have players in college football, the, the best and the better players making millions of dollars.

They are playing in palaces that are equal, if not better than what we see in the NFL.

We, we have free agency in college football.

We have agents, uh, we have constant movement.

Uh, it, it's, it, it mirrors the NFL in so many ways.

But there's a separation point.

And I think we've reached the point where finally, people are saying, OK, this is a bridge too far.

And to me, the separation point is Not just when they hand you a diploma on your graduation day, but when you hear your name announced on NFL draft day, when you sign your name on an NFL contract, when you sign your name on a free agent contract, when you sign your name on a tryout for an NFL team, you are no longer a college player.

You are an NFL player now, and you just can't come back.

And as silly, and maybe as quaint as it might sound, I, I, I do think that there's a difference, and, and that difference between college football and the NFL is that it feels different.

I know it's a professional game now.

I know for all intents and purposes, it is professional, but there still is a part of college football that just feels different than the NFL.

And this is the line that I think if you're the SEC or any other conference, and you don't, uh, you don't draw your line in cement right now, You'll set a precedent, and you'll never be able to go back.

So, I applaud the SEC for, for drawing that line and standing firm.

And those chancellors and presidents coming out and saying, we'll, we'll use a hammer, we'll use a sledgehammer, we'll use a jackhammer, we'll use, as you said , the nuclear option if we have to.

But I think this is the point.

This is, this is a defining moment in college athletics.

I'm with you.

I agree.

Uh, that's well said, that, that this is one of those lines where it's no longer college athletics if this gets crossed.

If we regularly have And the players who can't make an NFL team, but tried, was, were, were hired to play professional football in some capacity.

And they said, well, no, it wasn't good enough.

I'm going back.

Then, then we have fundamentally broken kind of the contract that, that college sports has with its fans and with its very construct.

And, and the , the, the, the things are tenuous enough between college sports and the fans, right?

We have pushed it and pushed it and pushed it and pushed it.

And I think this is one where a whole lot of fans are like, no.

No.

And that's where I think the people on campuses, other than LSU and maybe a few other spots, it's not, this is not a 100% an LSU thing, but they are the ones actively fomenting this right now.

But that, You become a professional athlete, you go do that, then you, you leave behind this over here.

And you got your, now you get 5 years to play.

It's not a terrible deal.

You get 5 years and you get a chance to make a lot of money if you're good.

When that time is over, you go on.

You are done.

You get on with your life.

It's not a terrible deal.

And to, to have Schools try to weasel their way back into having these players, to me, it, it just runs counter to everything that has made college sports part of what it is.

It , it, there is still an educational, university-based underpinning here.

They play the games on campuses, they play them, um, in front of the student body.

There.

It's not Lucas Oil Stadium, it's not Soi, maybe bigger, but still, it is, it is not, it's not professional football.

And you, you erode that further, and I think you keep, just keep eroding everything there.

Um, I, I am, I'm, we talked, we, we were discussing this via text, uh, yesterday, today.

I, I, I was wondering whether the SEC was posturing, um, saber rattling with the, you know, the presidents of Tennessee and Georgia coming out and saying we support SEC action against LSU with the Attorney General of Georgia, the Attorney General of South Carolina.

I thought they were just trying to get LSU to fold before they went in the courtroom.

That didn't happen, and now we've got a suit filed.

So, I, uh, I was a little bit, I maybe underestimated the seriousness of this.

Let me ask you.

Again , if you're LSU, do you want to risk expulsion from the SEC to play guys that I don't even think are gonna be starters?

I mean, it's certainly not week one, but like, is it really worth it to go down this line for a backup tight end and a backup defensive end, and probably a backup defensive back?

Well, the answer, of course, is no.

But when Lane Kiffin is involved in the equation, 2 + 2 does not always equal 4.

But you, you predicted this, uh, last week in a way, Pat.

I mean, you, you referenced, uh, the, the Big 12 and Texas Tech and that lawsuit that was filed, and you mentioned that, you know, are we headed towards something similar?

Well, we got our answer today.

Yeah, we are.

And, and maybe there was a concerted effort, uh, a coordinated effort by those presidents and chancellors of the SEC and those AGs.

Um, not saber rattling, but, but sort of.

I don't know.

Giving LSU, uh, a fair warning.

And, and LSU, here, here's what could happen.

I mean, we're serious and LSU.

Probably thought about it, but went ahead anyway.

So, I, I think maybe there was some expectation that LSU would back down, but obviously, that didn't happen.

And, and maybe they still will.

Maybe they still will.

But you, you, they've definitely, the SEC definitely elevated uh the stakes here.

And this is sort of played out legally as, as an assortment of, of legal experts in the sports business have predicted.

Tom Mars, uh, for one.

Uh, that it would get to this point that there would be the SEC would, would file a lawsuit in federal court.

So, um, this is not a shocker from a legal, uh, aspect, but I guess it's shocking just to see where we are at this point, hours away from a kickoff, and, and we're still messing with this.

Yeah, and the So the, the, there's a couple of deadlines for people in case they, they haven't been, you know, tracking all the minutia of this.

Your roster for the season has to be input via software, probably conference and the NCAA 24 hours before your first game, and that's your roster.

And so, LSU plays Saturday night.

They have got, this is Thursday afternoon, they've got another roughly 16 hours or so to decide who they're gonna put on the roster.

I do wonder.

If the timing of the SEC suit was after that hearing started in Baton Rouge, I wonder if they waited to see, OK, is LSU gonna go through with this?

And then they went, when they went to court and they banged the gavel and started that hearing, and said, OK, we're walking down the street in Birmingham and we're filing here.

And so now we've got the suits going on.

Uh, so we'll see how LSU handles the next 27 or so hours, uh, between now and, and Pat, look, if, if they don't like the SEC, leave.

Yeah, I, I, I mean, they, they don't have to be in the, in the SEC, but what are the alternatives?

Are you gonna become an independent, join UConn and Notre Dame?

You're, you're the number 3 independent.

Would you go to the Big 12, you know, a conference that Might welcome them and, and their sensibilities might fit what LSU's sensibilities are at this moment, but I, I just can't see that happening.

So it would be.

Yeah, no, I mean, I think it would be absolutely suicidal.

First of all, you can go independent.

You will go independent with this much stink on you right now.

Good luck scheduling anybody.

Big 12, I agree, that would be the kind of thing like, and we're just, this is obviously all Armageddon scenario that LSU actually walks away or is expelled either way from the SEC, but Big 12, sure.

The, the difference in annual payout , which drives everything in your media rights deals would be, you'd be cutting it, like, probably about in half.

And doing that, you might as well, then you're, you are just committing financial suicide and additionally competitive suicide, esteem, uh, damage, etc.

Uh, it, it would just, it would, it would make no, there would be no rational.

Reason to do any of those things.

But they're obviously not operating very rationally.

That's the fascinating thing here is again, like we have a got a, the whole thing seems to be being run by a shoot from the hip governor down there.

And yes, you bring in Lane Kiffin, and then you bring back Will Wade, they're kind of naturally wired to like, we're just gonna do things the weasel way and we'll see how it works out.

And they may have finally run up against something here.

Uh, I Wanna ask you while we're talking, while we're discussing Kiffin.

Um, who has just become this, he was already this main lightning rod character in this season, well before we got to the NFL part of the thing.

He's got, you know, he has made mortal enemies in Mississippi.

He goes down, takes over LSU, remakes the roster, should have a good team.

Uh But then there was a release of a book this week, Lane Being Lane by John Talty, good reporter, CBS Sports, for that, AL.

com, and Alabama knows a lot of people in the SEC.

And, uh, it is not a glow up of Lane Kiffin.

It is not an authorized biography, let's say.

Gets into all kinds of stuff off the court with him, off the field, I'm sorry, um, from his time at Alabama, uh, time at Oxford, got some people by name trashing him, got some people unnamed trashing him.

Uh, I'm wondering your general thoughts on Lane Kiffin.

Is he worth the trouble?

Well, full disclosure, uh, I think last December.

I, I reached out to Kiffin.

About the possibility of Sort of embedding myself with the LSU program this season and writing a book about it.

Interesting.

And um It, it never went anywhere.

We traded some texts, but there was never a definitive answer.

So, obviously, that didn't happen.

Lane is the most polarizing.

And yet the most compelling figure, I think, in college athletics, at least college football, sure, college athletics, period.

He is compellingly flawed.

And every time we think he's headed toward being unflawed, He somehow veers back into this.

It, it's just who he is.

He has left a breadcrumb trail of mistaken choices, astounding choices, astonishing choices throughout his career and life.

I read those excerpts.

Nothing in there surprised me, right?

Uh, uh, Dabo Sweeney recently sort of framed his thinking about Lane in this situation, and nothing that Dabo said surprised me.

This is who he is and what you get.

But I'll tell you one thing, Pat, I will not be surprised if more comes out.

I, I, I reached out to somebody, uh Involved, uh, in, in the Alabama program back in the day, and this person simply said, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yeah, so, you know, more to come.

But, but this is Lane Kiffin.

This, this is, this is what, what you get, in all its glory and in all of its, uh, uh, uh craziness.

Yeah, uh, he really may have landed in the, the most natural place for him, where they, like, they'll put up with a lot of stuff.

They really don't even mind, again, some of the mayhem as long as you win.

The winning part, we'll see.

For all, that's the, the other amazing thing, he's now making $13 million.

The one championship I think he's won is Conference USA at Florida Atlantic.

He's never won a championship anywhere else.

Now, you could say , all right, you're, you know, you did, did about as well as you could possibly do at Ole Miss.

That's probably true.

But in LSU he will have a chance to, but you also have to do it.

And at LSU they'll turn on you.

Here's the other thing.

Clemson coming in, while I may be down on them.

Gene is not.

Gene's high on Clemson.

You better walk in correct into Tiger Stadium Saturday night, and I wonder where everyone's head is.

The players probably don't give a damn what's going on about this, although they'd sure like to know who's gonna line up in the two deep.

Well, the leadership committee voted for the, uh, to support the.

That was one of the best.

That was a classic lane there.

The leadership committee unanimously wants these players on the, on the roster.

We still haven't heard from, I believe it's JC Anderson, the backup tight end, about how he feels about having a Cleveland Brown come in, and he's not on the leadership committee.

No, he's not.

No, no, no, no.

So he's on the 3rd team committee if this goes through.

Yeah, you know, all of the coaches love nothing more.

Than to talk about focus and minimizing distractions, and, you know, keeping your mind just lasered in on the game and what has been happening at LSU all week?

Total circus.

Does it affect them?

I don't know.

We, but they better show up and be ready against Clemson.

They lose that one, look out.

But Kiffin sort of.

I think he embraces the craziness and the chaos.

Sure, he does, you know, so now, will his team do the same?

Guess we'll find out.

We will, we will, and yes, he does, he, I mean, clearly, and that's another thing, you read that book, he has operated most of his life amid self-induced chaos, and he's, he's been rather successful for the most part, so.

Uh, the game in, uh, Baton Rouge gets more and more fascinating the closer we get to it.

We will pick that in the other games at the end here.

No, no, really?

Oh yeah.

Oh yeah, we'll apologize for last week's picks.

We'll apologize preemptively for this week's picks.

OK, we'll try to do better.

But at this point, all right, it's now, it's 3:39.

We still have no news from Baton Rouge, so we're gonna power through.

We're moving on and we're gonna talk about the actual week one slate, which we're very excited to do.

This is what we want to do.

We came here to talk football.

Let's talk some football, Gene.

I'm gonna ask you three questions.

You give me 3 answers, I'll give you mine.

Let's start with this one.

Who is the player you are most interested in watching this weekend?

Well, it's a player for LSU.

How about that?

Uh, quarterback Sam Levitt.

He played what, 77 games last year.

Hasn't played since late October, uh, because of a foot injury, uh, ended up at LSU though it took a while.

He led, uh, Arizona State to, uh, to a playoff spot.

Uh, I mean, the guy has the bona fides.

And he seems like the kind of player who would Who would thrive with someone like Kiffin.

So, I'm really interested to see how that transition is going to go.

And, and if it meshes, if those two guys mesh, it, it's gonna be something to behold.

He's gonna put up huge numbers, and LSU will be a force.

Yeah, that was gonna be my pick as well.

Uh, yeah, but I agree, we can agree, I'll diversify a little bit.

Um, I'm, I'm gonna go Bloomington, Indiana noon Saturday against.

It gets even better, Gene.

Not only have I talked a lot about Indiana, I'm going to the game.

They're playing North Texas at 120 Saturday.

I'm going to that one, then I'm driving south on I-65 and going to Nashville for Sunday night game, Louisville, Mississippi.

So, uh, but I, I wanna see Josh Hoover, the, the transfer quarterback from TCU.

Signetti's history with transfer quarterbacks is unbelievable.

But the thing that, that differentiated what made Indiana go from really good to 160 national champions was, was when Mendoza became a superstar.

And can Hoover replicate that at all?

I'm not expecting him to win the Heisman, be the number one pick, that sort of thing.

But, but can you be that super efficient quarterback that Signetti tends to have?

And can you power, uh, You know, 3.0 Indiana miracle down there.

Can you, can you, can he be the guy?

So that's, that's the person I'm looking at most there.

All right.

Head coach, you're most interested in seeing this weekend.

It's a bit of a toss-up between, uh, uh, your guy Bram in Louisville and my guy, Dabo at Clemson.

And I guess I'll, I'll do a lean toward Dabo, partly because of the importance of this game, partly of, because of where Clemson was last year, partly because Dabo hasn't been afraid to speak his mind this past week or so.

And, and so I, I think we have this huge game.

At, against the Tigers in Death Valley.

I mean, it's like, you know, this bizarre mirroring of each other.

And I think Dabo likes to be the underdog.

And I think he kind of likes the position that his team is in right now.

And I also think it's a pretty good team.

And so, I think he's embracing what is going on in a different sort of way.

And so I, I, I'm really interested to see.

What Dabo has done with this team mentally, because I think in many ways, it was fragile last year, and it didn't know how to handle that situation.

And I'm not sure Dabo did.

But now he's had the experience of it all, new season, gets to go on the road, gets to play the, the role of the underdog.

And so I'm, I'm just really intrigued and fascinated by how he's gonna approach this game.

Yeah, the, the dynamics now surrounding this, I agree, make this fascinating.

Um, Dabo is a fighter, and I think loves being in a position of, of, uh, Being doubted, criticized , that sort of thing.

Yeah.

Um, he, and also, you know, God love him.

He will speak his mind, he will speak a lot, but he will speak his mind, and he said, this is embarrassing, was the word he used multiple times regarding the NFL to college, uh, dynamic.

And so, I mean, he's walking in there.

Like, he's not gonna walk in there and try to play nice with Lane Kiffin.

He doesn't like where things have gone, and there was nothing he would love more than to win that game.

If he does, you know how their press conferences are.

This game's gonna be over at like midnight or you know maybe earlier than that, maybe 11:30 or whatever that that nobody will hear from Dabo 1 12:15 a.m. and then he will talk till sun up like dawn, he will still be talking, I think.

So he'll catch a Delta flight back to South Carolina.

Yeah, he will, yeah, he'll be on the 6:00 a.m. out of Baton Rouge through Atlanta.

Um, all right, and the other thing too is starting new quarterback Chris Vizina.

We'll see how that goes for him.

Um, for me, the coach I'm, I'm very much interested in seeing is Kyle Whittingham in Maize and Blue.

Oh, that's a good one.

Gonna be a, a jarring look to a degree, guy you've seen in Utah red for 20 years in a new, uh, very high profile place taking over, and I think could add some real gravitas and credibility to the Wolverines there.

That's just the way they run things.

And I think, sneaky, sneaky good opponent here.

I don't think they'll have trouble with Western Michigan, but Western Michigan is probably the best team in the MAC.

And so they're gonna have to be ready.

But I'm looking forward to seeing what the, uh, the Wolverines look like in game one under Kyle Whittingham.

All right, coordinator, you're most interested in this weekend.

Will Muschamp at Texas.

Good call, defensive coordinator.

Uh, you know, all we've heard during the offseason is, you know, wow, he's bringing the intensity.

He's, he's bringing, uh, uh, he's elevated, uh, uh, the way that they're going to approach his season on the defensive side.

Uh, he, he's a difference maker.

Well, now you play Texas State, and I understand Texas State isn't OU or A&M, but they, they have a pretty nifty little offense, and they've got a good quarterback and some good wide receivers, and they can score points.

And so, it'll be interesting if all this talk.

trickles down to performance.

And, and so we'll see if the intensity translates against a much lesser opponent.

And so, I, I'm, I'm really, again, intrigued by what could happen with this guy who, who, uh, Sark has made, uh, no qualms about.

He has said, I hired this guy to be a difference maker, and now we see if it happens.

Yeah, I love that call.

Um.

I, I talked to Colt McCoy last week, uh, uh, who, who was at Texas when Muschamp was defensive coordinator then, and he raved about him.

He thinks this is gonna be a big improvement for the Texas defense.

Said that Muschamp, just a super sharp mind who even in practice really made Colt McCoy better with what he threw at him.

Interesting, yeah.

Um, I'm gonna go with John David Baker, offensive coordinator at Ole Miss.

Came aboard from East Carolina, and East Carolina had a good attack the last couple of years.

But you're replacing Charlie Weiss Junior, who went to LSU and, uh, Charlie was very highly thought of, and you're taking over now Trinidad Chambliss, Kawan Lacey.

A lot of people would love to call plays for that unit, but you gotta get it done.

Gotta show you can do it as well.

As Weiss did last year, and you're doing it against the Louisville team that you mentioned Bram.

I mean, that dude is upset special.

He has pulled a ton of them and will come in as a significant underdog, neutral field, and LSU is gonna have to be ready for that game and we'll see if the, you know, Trindad Chambliss, look, they, and Lacey, actually, the Ole Miss just spent a fortune on starting a Heisman campaign.

That included like taking over the sphere in Las Vegas and, and like projecting on that for the for these guys for cool though yeah, oh, it was very cool, absolutely.

I mean, go big or go home it's hard to go bigger than the sphere in terms of advertising your guys.

So, uh, a lot of expectations, but a lot of kind of a bull's eye on them at the end of the season.

All right, Gene, uh, another topic here, I, I one that I, I, I guess I, this is kind of like the, the LSU court situation where like, I can't believe we're here.

I can't believe we're discussing this, but we are.

Uh, Penn State.

Uh, went ahead and announced that they are opening the paternal Family Football Experience at Bieber Stadium.

The paternal Family Football Experience.

In your opinion, your considerable estimable opinion, good idea, bad idea, worst idea ever.

I, I could have sat here and listed 10,000 things.

That I thought would happen in college football and the, the paternal family experience, whatever it's called, uh, the paternal family football experience, that would not have been one of the 10,000 options, uh.

First of all, I don't even know what that means, the paternal family football experience .

I, I, I do know this.

I'm sure there is a faction of Penn State fans who are absolutely applauding this and saying it's about time and, and we need to honor, uh, the football memory of, of Joe Paterno.

And I'll be the first to, to agree that you can't tell the history of Penn State football without the history of Joe Paterno.

But you also can't tell the history of Joe Paterno at Penn State without also including all of the details involving his inglorious end there.

And so, they, they're gonna have his desk and, and shoes and, and artifacts in there, and they say they're going to have a curated timeline of Paterno's career there.

I have not seen that timeline.

But if you're going to do an accurate depiction of his uh professional career there, then it better include details that they might not necessarily want to acknowledge, but you would be disingenuous if you don't.

Yeah, that's the thing.

You you cannot whitewash the history of all of it.

Um.

You know, decades of, of glorious times and, and, you know, great success, but then an ending that's just the ugliest thing we've probably ever seen in college sports.

So, uh, I, I cringe, frankly, at this, uh, I, I, I don't know how you handle it properly, in which case I would not handle it.

I would not do this if I were Penn State.

I just think you are, you're inviting, you're, you're, you're ripping open some old wounds in an attempt to, To honor somebody whose legacy is permanently complicated, to say the least, so.

OK, uh, moving on, uh, you pointed this out.

This is great.

This week, week one, it's actually the 3rd, so we're 19 years and 2 days after the 19th anniversary basically of App State shocking Michigan, season opener 2007.

Uh, indelible moment in the 21st century telling of college football.

Where were you when it happened?

What was your reaction?

And I really wanna know if you think something like that could ever happen again.

Pat, I believe I was at game one of the World Series.

Dodgers.

Yeah, we're, we're trusting your memory again here.

Risky, risky.

I looked it up.

It was, it was September 1st, 2007, and I actually looked up the schedules of games that day, and there was nothing that was overly compelling.

So I very well could have just been home, watching it or watching, you know, the cut in to it.

Uh, I'm sure I was like everybody else.

This, this can't be happening.

How is it happening?

But, but it did happen, and, and it was extraordinary, and it was a reminder of, uh, one of the many reasons why we love college football.

Uh, that was Lloyd Carr's, uh, last season at, at Michigan, and they, they lost that game.

I think they lost the next week at Oregon.

Yeah, and then I think they, they won 8 games in a row, something like that , um.

So, it, it was, it was beautiful.

It was, it was everything you want.

And can it happen again?

Of course.

In fact, uh, what, what, uh, two years ago, 2024, it happened against Northern Illinois with Notre Dame.

So, uh, uh, that's what makes it so great.

It, it can happen.

And, you know, we've been, we'll make fun of the week one schedule.

There, there are some good games, but there are a lot of You know, teams favored by 40+ or 30+ .

Maybe, possibly, probably somebody is going to get a scare, and maybe one of those scares turned into an upset, but I definitely think it can happen again.

I, but we'll see if an FCS team can beat a ranked up with that, uh, well, it maybe it will happen.

I just feel like we've created a widening gulf between.

The top of the sport and the FCS level.

Well, Northern Illinois obviously isn't FCS, so, but that, no , but that's a good, that's a good comparison because that one was also like incomprehensible, you know.

So I was that day, we were both working for ESPN.

I was embedded with Western Kentucky for their first ever FBS game at Florida, defending national champion Florida.

And this is, you know, these assignments are great because the school is so happy to have you and you can do anything you want.

Sure.

So I'm like everywhere with them.

And David Elson, who's the coach then and great guy, has me in the locker room beforehand.

And , you know, they are, they are talking it up and screaming it up, and They're gonna say it's hot in the swamp.

There's nothing compared to Jimmy Fike's Field and Bowling Green, you know, and, and, and the whole thing.

And then he brings up a sledgehammer, which had been an artifact of the program since Jack Harbaugh had one when they won the FCS championship, and he smashes a Florida Gator helmet.

Destroys the thing and holds it up in the locker room is going insane.

They run out on the field for their warm-ups and everything.

They come back in, their last thing, getting ready.

They've been on the field now.

They've seen Cam Newton, Tim Tebow in uniform.

Elson, much more subdued.

We're gonna have to hit, uh, Tebow with multiple bodies.

Gonna have to, you know, like, oh my God, how was this a night game, by the way?

No, no, day game.

OK, day game.

So this is all going down.

I'm covering this and I'm like, I got a great story.

This is all the sledgehammer is absolutely the lead, blah, blah, blah, blah blah.

And your friend of mine, David Duffy, is, is reaching me during the game, like, um, Appalachian State is beating Michigan, you have to drop everything and write this.

I was like, 00, I guess I better.

And so I went back to the hotel and wrote some column, you know, completely out of my, you know what, on Appalachian State winning.

Poor Western, did, did Western Kentucky get any?

Anything at all from you?

Uh, oh yeah, I wrote the story.

They, they lost like 40, they were down 47 to 7 or something, and then we had a lightning delay, and then they just called it because, seriously, and, uh, and I ended up writing the story for like Monday or Tuesday, but it, it was, it was literally preempted by the, by the happenings in the big house.

Do you remember the names of the quarterbacks for Michigan and App State?

Oh boy, um.

Was it, it wasn't, no, Tate Forcier was later, right, for Michigan.

So no, I don't .

What do you got?

I think it's, uh, Chad Henne.

Oh, there you go.

And then, oh, is it like Antoine Edwards or something?

I think it was like Armante.

Arman, yeah, Armante Edwards.

That was it, yeah, yeah, really good FCS quarterback.

Chad Henne, long NFL career.

Yeah , good call.

It's cool just to go back and, and just think about it.

Oh yeah.

And that was, wasn't that the first game on Big 10 Network?

Talk about getting them, giving them a, uh, a great, uh, launching pad.

I think I might be wrong there.

Anyway, all right, Gene, uh, along those lines, OK.

Can you put one ranked team on upset alert this weekend against an unranked opponent?

It may not quite be App State versus uh Michigan, but give me, give me one major upset.

You're not calling it, but it could happen.

Well, you saw the, uh, uh, the Missouri State, uh, team captain.

Did you see what he said?

No, he said they're, they're gonna know about, they're gonna know where Springfield, Missouri is after Texas A&M is gonna know where it is after this game, which, uh, you know, a guy has some stones when you're 40.5 point dogs in a game, but Uh, uh, I mean, does Clemson count?

They're unranked.

Yeah, sure, sure, OK, uh, I, I will say Clemson.

I, you know, it, it's, they're at the edge.

They're, they're the, the next team.

They're twenty-sixth, basically in the ranking counts, so it, it barely counts.

Uh, if you're not gonna let me include that one, then I guess I would, and, and there aren't a lot that, that we can.

We can, uh, use from, uh, with these games this week, then I guess I'd have to go with FSU, uh, putting SMU on upset alert.

There you go.

It's, it's a weird week.

Oh, it is.

I mean, yeah, they, it's not a good week.

I got another thing college sports can't quite get right.

It's just having a good opening week of the season, but everybody wants a soft entry.

I'm gonna say, I look, I think Oregon's loaded, but Boise State, as always, very good program, had good player retention, got a good quarterback back.

I, I would, I don't think they're gonna win in Otson, but I think they will go in and give the Ducks a battle, uh, for the most of the day at the very least there.

So, well, and I just want to just mention this, you don't have to go anywhere with it, but, you know, we've seen the news.

Today about um Uh, Greg Sankey saying, We might be interested in expanding the playoff, if we can get a commitment from the Big 10.

Uh , to play 10 4 teams in their schedule.

Yes, so that, that could change the dynamics of a, of a week one.

True, true, we might get some more good games then.

Absolutely, yeah, that was, that's another bit of news that dropped here today.

Sankey saying , yes, if, if y'all play 10, we'll consider it.

And then Petitti apparently came back today, Big 10 commissioner Tony Pettitti, and said, yeah, you know, if that's what it'll take for 24, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, I I don't want a 2014 playoff.

I don't either.

I weep at the thought of it, but it looks like we're headed that way.

Uh, again, can anybody just do something the fans actually want?

We don't want losses.

We don't want to be in court on the Thursday of, of week one.

We don't want a 2014 team playoff.

We don't want NFL players on the field.

Anything else?

I mean, can we just put, just listen to Pat, will you, for God's sakes, just listen to him.

We'll put out a small like fans bill of rights here.

There, there's a bigger bill in Congress.

That's a whole other thing.

That's a whole other thing that we probably don't even need to get into, but they're still trying with that bill.

Doesn't look good.

House is, uh, cutting their time in DC short by 2 weeks, so.

Uh, good luck exhausted, Pat.

They are, they're exhausted.

They, you know, they need the extra 2 weeks.

They're, well, they're looking at the, they're looking at that college sports bill saying we don't wanna deal with that.

Forget it.

If we're not there, we can't deal with it.

Classic, classic dodge.

If you're not in the office, then things pile up on your desk.

So I didn't, I didn't know.

So, all right, Gene, it's time to pick some games.

Let's do it.

Yeah, let's winners in steak dinners segment here.

Uh, let's go ahead and get the full cost of counting out for last week, OK.

You were 0 and 4.

I was 1 and 3.

Uh-huh.

Pitiful, disastrous, awful job on week 0.

Do you have an excuse for going 0 and 4, Gino?

I, I'm totally comfortable with that, how that turned out.

It was week 0.

And I won 0 So I felt like I fulfilled.

You know, uh, what I should do that week, and, um, no, I, I, I was horrific.

Uh, you and I were texting each other.

We're like, you were at one point going, I'm sweating out Eastern Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Sacramento State.

That's all I got right.

It's pitiful.

I've never been so proud of that team on the gray field.

We're pacing ourselves, Pat.

That's it.

We can only go up from here.

So let's start trying to go up, please.

And let's start with the game we've been discussing.

Clemson at LSU Tigers of the upstate of South Carolina getting 10 against the Tigers of the Bayou.

Which side are you on?

Well, I mean, I've made it pretty clear, uh, I, I'm.

I'm, ride or die with Clemson, at least for now.

If you could tell me how it's gonna play out in the quarterback situation for Clemson and, and Dabo has said he might play two quarterbacks in this game, uh, I'd feel a little better about it, but I, I've, I've said Clemson from the start.

I'll stick with him.

I'll, I'll take those 10 points and, you know, hope.

Yeah.

Uh, I'm taking the 10 as well.

It's, that's a pretty big number.

And again, I just think the, the tumult here has been enough that I, I just, Again, Lane operates well in tumult, but still, this is, this is a lot of tumult, and I'm still not convinced that no matter what he says, that the locker room's completely copacetic with guys who had no part of the program sailing in in the last week of August and taking playing time.

So you realize you're agreeing with me though.

I, I do, and I did last week, which is what got me into this situation.

You kept picking games.

I kept going, yeah, that makes sense.

I'm an, I'm an idiot, but I'll, I'll go with Clemson.

I will say, the other thing, one other thing with LSU that again, Like the, the annoyance of them trying to pull this last-minute gimmick with these NFL guys.

They might have the most expensive roster in the country.

They spent reportedly up to like $50 million on this roster.

Is that more than the Saints?

Might not be more than the Saints, but it might be more than every other college team.

And if you did that and you still are out scuffling around for guys, what did you, how much money did you potentially waste?

What are you doing?

When, when, when is enough?

The biggest question.

That exists in college football to me, when is enough for on a myriad of topics.

OK.

Sunday night, Nashville, Titans stadium, uh, the new one's almost built, it's gonna be spectacular, although it's an indoor stadium, and those can only be so good.

But, uh, good game though.

Louisville against Mississippi.

Cardinals getting 6.5. Uh, Lincoln Kienholtz debuting as their starting quarterback had been backing up Julian Sayan at Ohio State.

Kind of more of a dual-threat guy.

Jeff Brumm really hasn't had a dual-threat quarterback at Louisville.

And really, I'm not sure whether he had one at Purdue either.

So this could be a little bit of a change up there.

Uh, Mississippi rolling in with all that momentum off of, uh, Last year, 6.5 is the number.

Rebels favored by 6.5 .

I am going to jump in with the Cardinals here.

Again, Jeff Bromm, upset master.

And I just think this sets up well for them.

See if the defense is up to a huge challenge, obviously taking care of Chambliss and Lacey, but I, I'm gonna say Louisville hangs around, hangs around, maybe even leads and, and gets nipped at the wire, but I'm gonna take the Cardinals in 6.5. 0 boy, we got problems, buddy.

Oh no.

Yeah, I'm sorry .

I've got a man crush on Bram too.

And you can go and look up the number of uh upsets that he's pulled.

And this seems to me to set up just perfectly.

And it feels like it's gonna be kind of a high, high-ish scoring game.

And if that's the case, I think Louisville can score points, and I think they can stay within that 6.5 points.

So now we're both 0 and 2 for the week.

Yeah, we're going down together again.

All right, same night, same playing at the same time.

Again, what are we doing in college football?

Why?

Why?

Two of the three most compelling games of the opening weekend are at the exact same time, Wisconsin against Notre Dame in Lambeau.

Pretty awesome.

Should be a lot of fun.

They had played a couple of years ago in Soldier Field.

I went to that.

That was a great atmosphere.

This one should be as well.

Wisconsin is not what it has been.

But they're getting 20.5. Uh, really kind of, I think Luke Fickle must show something here early, maybe not win, but you gotta, you gotta play well, I think, against the Irish if you're going to maintain hope going forward.

But, uh, what, which side are you landing on here?

Notre Dame giving the 20.5 or Wisconsin getting it.

I've been to a game.

Didn't Wisconsin play LSU at Lambeau?

They did a number of years ago, yeah, I was at that game, not the Dodgers A's game.

And Lambeau's as close to a college experience.

As you'll get in the NFL, I mean, it's just, it's, it's a great place to see a ballgame.

And it feels like a college stadium in a way.

Uh, I, I think Wisconsin's gonna be better.

I just don't think they're gonna be Notre Dame better.

And I know 20.5 is a lot, but I could see Notre Dame winning this by 21.

I mean, it, it wouldn't surprise me at all, so I'll, I'll take Notre Dame and lay the points.

Just for the, for the sake of self-preservation and lack of repetition.

I'll take Wisconsin.

I was, you were gonna take Notre Dame, but you're switching because I took Notre Dame.

Correct?

You are an absolute heck burger.

I am not following you again, so I'm like radioactive.

You are.

You go, I see you going one way, I run the other.

Gotcha.

OK.

So that's, uh, that's why I'm, I'm, I'm taking the badgers to at least keep it close.

All right.

All right, last one before the lock of the week.

Really, uh, uh, an interesting game in, on, on the West Coast, UCLA at Cal.

Now, UCLA just fired its athletic director, Martin Jarmond.

Part of the reason why they're running a big old deficit.

Part of the reason they are running a big old deficit is they've got to pay alimony.

Every year to Cal for ditching them in the implosion of the Pac-12.

UCLA runs off to the Big 10.

Cal is left adrift and jumps in with Stanford to go to the ACC.

So UCLA is eventually gonna make more money in the Big 10, but for now they're losing money, and part of the reason is because they're giving it to the Golden Bears.

This is an old, old rivalry goes back a million years.

Uh, 2 UC state, uh, UC system state schools, very good schools .

Not necessarily good football programs, but both new coaches, Bob Chesney at UCLA, Tosh LaPoy at Cal, uh, the Bruins are laying 1.5. Where are you landing on this one?

Well, it's a classic Big 10 ACC matchup, Pat.

Yeah, it is.

What, what are we doing?

Uh, it, but it is a classic matchup if you just ignore the, the conference affiliations in a way.

Uh You know, poor Bob Chesney, he's probably worried that UCLA Chancellor is gonna ask him to work pro bono also as a new ideas.

Uh, I don't think there's any way UCLA goes 3 and 9, this season.

I think they'll be improved.

I think Chesney is a hell of a coach.

Uh, as you mentioned, they got, there's two good quarterbacks in this game.

It's gonna be a fun game to watch.

Uh, but I, I'm, I'll take UCLA in this one, and, uh, I don't have a problem with that 1.5 points at all.

It's good to hear it because I'm taking the Golden Bears, uh, kind of like the mojo.

I'm not sure you're gonna get rabid atmosphere in Berkeley, but whatever atmosphere they can conjure, they'll have some, and I think, Geron Kiowe Segapoelle, if I got that right, apologies if not.

The Cal quarterback is really good, very dynamic.

Can't wait to see him.

I think he's one of those guys that could have a, take a big jump forward this season, and, uh, I'm gonna take the Golden Bears, not just cover, obviously if it's that small spread, but to win the thing.

And get started on could be a very interesting season there.

Could be your lock of the week too, maybe.

I don't know.

We'll see here in a moment.

No, no, not mine.

Not mine.

What do you got?

Let's hear it.

Lock of the week.

Oh, I don't know, Pat, for God's sakes.

Uh, I'm gonna take Oklahoma State.

And, uh, they're, they're giving 13.5 points to Tulsa at Tulsa.

Tulsa beat Oklahoma State last year.

Oklahoma State, of course, as we all know, was just gruesomely awful, 1 and 11.

But, um, uh, you know, Eric Morris coming in there, a mess to maker, a quarterback, other guys from that program coming in.

I, I think Oklahoma State's gonna be much improved this season.

Tulsa is a solid team, solid program.

It's nothing against them .

I'm just gonna, I just, I believe in Oklahoma State this season, at least in this game, and so, I'll give the points.

Yeah, I mean, Oklahoma State's gonna be fascinating to see, they're, they're kind of trying to pull a Cignetti here.

You know, you bring that guy and you, you bring as many of his players as you can, and, and these are all high-profile position guys.

Like you said, quarterback, running back, receiver, uh, from a high-octane offense.

So, I, I like that.

I also like Trey Lamb and what he's doing at Tulsa.

So, uh , I think that's gonna be a, a, a sneaky good game.

Um, my luck, I'm, I'm going action, baby .

It worked last week with Eastern Michigan.

I'm gonna take Miami, Ohio to cover 18.5. I'm sorry, wait, it's 16.5. Yeah, let's get that right.

I liked 18.5 better, but 16.5 at Pittsburgh.

Uh, I know Kent, our producer, Pittsburgh guy, he's probably outraged at this call, but.

I, Miami has gotten some money, and they're putting it into their basketball and football programs, and so they've got decent roster.

Pitt is what it is, they were putting tarps on the upper deck to get ready for the season opener because nobody goes.

So, I think Miami goes in and at least keeps it competitive, and loses by 16 or less on Saturday.

All right.

Good luck to you.

Yeah , good luck to you.

We'll, we'll text in our wallowing in misery and embarrassment again, uh.

Uh, throughout the weekend.

So, all right, everybody, that's our show.

It's 4:13.

Still no rulings out of Louisiana, so you're gonna have to get that news elsewhere.

But we'll be prepared to react to it next week and also to preview a wild week too.

Should be a great week too, Texas, Ohio State, and a bunch more next Thursday.

Thanks for listening and watching, and we'll talk to you all later.