Michigan's Whittingham Problem, Ohio State's Struggles and Rivers to Coach NC State

All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes.

I am Pat 40 joined as always by my friend and colleague, Gene Wojakowski.

Many things to get here to today, Gene, we're gonna go back over the latest, uh, playoff rankings.

We're gonna give our sage advice on what various schools should do with their coaches.

We're going to do a little, believe it or not.

Oh yeah, a little, believe it or not, uh, some winners in steak dinners, game picks, boy, you need a rally there, brother.

Hey, I, I think I, I was not below 500 this past week.

Is that right?

That is right.

Yes, Kent says you were 3 and 4.

No, that's wasn't one of the games a push.

I don't know.

Yeah, we might need to look at that.

You have to take this up with Kent.

Kent's the keeper of the record.

Yeah, I think Kent's wrong.

Uh 00, we've got a dispute .

Uh, anyway, uh, before we get to all that, did you see?

Miami, Ohio was was penalized for illegal use of the scoreboard.

In their action game Tuesday night.

As, you know, action always delivers.

You, you, you're, you got nothing to do on a Tuesday night, all of a sudden, you're flipping on some game, and you're seeing, you know, some cold weather affair between a couple of teams you've scantily paid attention to all year, and there's Miami pulling some high jinks.

Uh, throwing up multiple goalposts on their scoreboard behind the actual goalposts.

That they were trying, their opponent was trying to kick at, and they were actually penalized for this.

And the look on Chuck Martin's face, the coach at Miami, Ohio, was tremendous, just like I, Chuck's been around a long time, right?

Longtime assistant at Notre Dame, elsewhere, he's been the head coach there for a long time.

Look on his face is like, I've seen everything now.

This is ridiculous.

What do you think, a fair or unfair penalty?

Well, I, I, I saw where he said afterward.

I, I didn't even know that was a thing.

Like, you could, that you could call a penalty on something like that.

Well, look, uh , it, it wasn't like what, wasn't as clever of what like MIT does, you know, during the Harvard-Yale game or something, you know, where they bury something underneath the field and it emerges during the 3rd quarter.

Uh, and, you know, Oklahoma State is sort of the patron saint of this.

Didn't they do it in like, what was it 2020?

Yeah, I think they did it before people started, stopped, started penalizing you for it.

Yeah, I think they're the reason why there's a penalty.

I, I thought it was brilliant.

I, I loved it.

I thought it was, you know, whoever did it probably doesn't have a job today.

But, but it was clever and funny, and I don't know.

I, I guess the guy missed the kick, right?

Yeah, so the Ohio was the uh opponent, and Miami won 34 to 17.

This is clearly part of the reason they won.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, I, I think it's fine.

I reached out to the school yesterday.

I just wanted to try to get a little more information.

I know this is gonna stun you, Pat, but absolutely nobody.

Uh, responded to the email, so yeah, they just want it to go away.

They do absolutely.

Well that, God bless it.

That's college football.

That's some action for you, you know.

They're, they're gonna find a way to entertain us.

Uh, hopefully we find a way to entertain you all on this podcast.

That's to be determined.

But let's, uh, let's get into the heart of the matter.

The, the second set of CFP rankings, uh, came out Tuesday, um.

I think we're, we're, we're, this is gonna be a fairly opinionated show, I think, in a number of areas, including this one.

I think some of us were more approving of them than others.

Uh, so let's start with you, Gene.

Are you, are you proposing that the, that we, the American public, and perhaps at least one of the members of this podcast owes the committee an apology?

No, I'm not saying that.

I don't, I don't think anybody owes the committee an apology.

The committee got knocked around pretty good after the initial rankings last week.

There were a lot of questions, a lot of criticism, some of it coming from this podcast, some of it coming from the man wearing black across from me on the screen.

And that's fine.

The first, the first few rankings are always going to have fluctuation and, and provide a lot of head scratchers, I think.

And it, and it didn't disappoint last week.

Clearly, the committee loved Alabama last week, put them at 5.

Do we owe the committee an apology because Bama crushed LSU.

No, but it sure made the committee look pretty decent there, right?

Wouldn't you agree?

Uh, it validated them to a degree.

Yes, it, it did validate them to agree, and people were ripping the committee because Notre Dame was ranked number 11 after the first, but The committee chairman said, hey, there's, you know, we have faith in Notre Dame.

They just need to win a game that matters.

What happened?

Notre Dame won a game that mattered, beat number one Miami.

Guess what?

Notre Dame zoomed up the next ranking.

So, that, that doesn't mean we, we owe the committee an apology, but I, I do think that it shows that maybe the committee knows what it's doing a little more than we thought.

The, the one that sort of.

Still I don't wanna say it bothers me , Pat.

Maybe you feel differently.

UCLA at number 4 behind Alabama, now at 3.

Yeah, uh, that one still bugs me.

And, uh, but if you look at how the committee decides these things, in a way, it makes a little bit of sense, again, from their perspective, cause remember, what, what are the two, what's the number one thing that they do when they think the teams are comparable.

What's the first, you know, metric point that they go to, and it's strength of schedule.

And , you know, if you look, Uh, Bama is number 1 in strength and schedule.

UCLA is number 66.

Now, number 2, Utah is 9-0, has a strength of schedule of 67, but it also has wins against number 14 Houston and number 10 BYU.

And I think that's the difference maker.

UCLA has one top 25 win against Oregon.

So, when you go down the list of Bama wins, Crushed Kentucky at Kentucky, LSU at LSU, Mississippi State at Mississippi State, when the Bulldogs were undefeated and Kamario Taylor was playing.

We're gonna talk about that game, yeah, and then crush South Carolina, you know, at Bama, those sort of things clearly and obviously matter to, to the committee, but I would still have UCLAA ahead of Bama.

Yeah, I would too.

And then like the Bama thing again, it's still, it , it, it, it, it confounds me.

Bama certainly backed up the committee's faith by beating LSU handily in Baton Rouge.

Um, no doubt about that.

But, Moving them up from 5 to 3, I like, again, like the, the daylight between them and Tennessee, I don't get why they're ahead of Texas, I don't get why they're ahead of UCLA I don't get.

What it feels like to me, and this is so classic college football, and classic like we're trying to figure this out with this committee.

A huge part of this season is hinging on a game September 12th between the now 13th place team in the SEC and the tied for 9th place team in the Big 10.

Mississippi State and Minnesota.

Mississippi State killed Minnesota in Minneapolis, right?

There, like, OK, there's very, very few data points of SEC versus Big 10.

So, uh, you know, those are the two dominant conferences, obviously.

So that has taken on a life of its own.

That and the fact that Ohio State missed a 45 yard field goal with 4 minutes to play, that could have ended the game against Texas.

Those two things are shaping a lot of what's going on here, and a lot of the reasons why we have, I, that's, I forgot to do this, is to give the top 12 here, but we have Number 1, Georgia, 2, Utah, 3, Alabama, 4, UCLA, 5, Notre Dame, 6, Texas, 7, Miami, 8, Tennessee, 9, Indiana, 10 BYU, 11, Kentucky, and Boise would be the 12th with the automatic G6 bid.

So we've got a lot of SEC in there, and then a lot more SEC lurking.

The anyway, we, we have, we have placed a lot on Mississippi State here.

Yeah, right?

They were undefeated when Kamario Taylor got hurt, and since then they are winless, fine, great player, and we're gonna talk about him and his re-signing, uh, a little bit later.

The, first of all, these were September games, he's a great player.

I guess too, if we're gonna do that, we better give Indiana more credit for beating Northwestern with Aiden Childs.

Because they beat them in September when Northwestern was undefeated, and now Aiden Childs is hurt and they're in trouble.

They've lost, they, he got hurt during the Oregon game, they lost that game they were ahead.

He didn't play last week, they lost to Iowa.

Should we compare Kamario Taylor, Aiden Childs?

Yes, we should.

Here's why.

They're the same person statistically.

Pass efficiency rating for Childs, 167.

99.

Pass efficiency rating for Kamario Taylor, 172.

79.

Total offense yards per game, Aiden Childs, 271.

5, Kamario Taylor, 267.

8.

Virtually identical players.

Are we going to go through and retrofit and micromanage every quarterback who got hurt, and what they meant to their team when they were playing versus not playing?

Are we gonna do it that way or not?

That's my problem here.

Yeah, well, and once again, Tennessee is, there's a 5-spot difference between Tennessee and Alabama, 3 and 8.

And no, I, I do not understand that.

So, if you disagree with it, how do you solve it?

Are you going to move Bama down?

Yeah, I guess that cause, you know, you're not gonna move Tennessee above any of those teams that are right below uh Bama right now.

If you watch that Tennessee Baa game, I think it was a six-point difference in score right at the end .

It wasn't that close.

By the end of that game, it wasn't that close.

Now, look, you can argue .

The Tennessee's passing offense is still a work in progress.

They just lost one of their best defensive linemen, Wethersby, for the season with a, with an ACL injury.

Did that have something to do with it?

But the second component that the committee is supposed to go to with comparable teams.

I head to head.

Yeah, so if we're gonna go head to head, then it seems like at, at some point in these rankings you could go Texas, right, because they beat Tennessee, then Tennessee in the same stadium, they're both in Neyland Stadium, yeah, Texas, Tennessee, and then Bama.

I wouldn't have an issue with that.

I don't think I, I don't think many people would have an issue with that, including maybe Bama.

Maybe not, maybe not, but that's, that's exactly what I did in my, you know, 40 yard dash, uh, ring.

I had Texas 6.

Um, I think I had Indiana 7, Tennessee 8, Alabama 9.

But I definitely, in my SEC hierarchy, Georgia was certainly number 1.

But then after that, I, I have Texas 22 out of the SEC, uh, Alabama or Tennessee 3, Alabama 4, and for those reasons, for the head to head and Texas has more good wins than the other teams do.

They just do.

So, I, I gotta give them credit for that.

And that's where, so the, the, the, the Alabama thing, fine, I think we've, we've kind of sussed that out.

The other thing that shocked me was a drop by Indiana, down 5 spots.

Without playing, and Miami down 6 spots after what I thought was a, was a very good performance at Notre Dame.

It was a heck of a game.

They're without Malachi Taylor, they come within a really close call in the end zone of tying the game with 3 minutes left, uh, and we see from there, but the, um, You know, the, the Indiana, that's why I bring up uh uh Aiden Childs.

It's like, well, everybody, Indiana played lost.

Yeah, well, OK , let's look at Northwestern, let's look at why they lost, OK?

Uh, there are reasons that, for some reason, Alabama gets the explanation, Indiana doesn't, and Indiana's.

It's a tough call.

I've said this before, they're 1 play away from undefeated, and they're like 5 plays away from being 5 and 4.

So, it's, it has been that kind of season for them.

But I, I still don't understand dropping 5 spots without playing.

Can you make it make sense for me?

Well, I don't know if, if I can make it make sense, and I don't know if you're gonna agree with it or even.

Be in the neighborhood of a green.

I just, uh, the rankings aren't a static thing.

I mean, they, they, they're going to change because each week, the games have You know, these, these games are four-act plays, and, and weird things happen and our perceptions change, and the metrics change.

And the rankings change with them.

So, I do not, I honestly do not think the committee was penalizing Indiana.

Um, uh, they didn't play.

So, I think they were rewarding those teams that did those things, uh, that happened this past Saturday.

I mean, you know, let's go down the list.

Uh, it's, you, you got Notre Dame beating Miami, UCLA winning at Minnesota convincingly, Texas winning at Mizzoui, Tennessee, overpowering Kentucky.

Uh, Bama and that big win at LSU.

So, I, I just, I just feel like the committee was saying, OK, they did these great things.

And we're going to reward them.

And, and it just so happened that Indiana fell because of that.

And guess what?

If Indiana beats USC, This Saturday, Indiana is gonna move up again.

I, I, I just think this thing is, it's just a fluid living thing.

It is, well, it is fluid.

We'll see, we will see what happens.

I, I'm taking nothing for granted as far as what, what, what will happen, what, what next week's rankings will show, because I just, I don't see the logic in a lot of what we've seen this far.

Uh, to that point, you know, UCLA two-touchdown road win with some injuries.

I, I, I fail to see why they're behind Alabama, they're undefeated.

Um.

You know, Pat, that I, I, I think I read this is the first time.

I could be wrong, but, uh, uh, I think this is the first time in CFP ranking history that every team was different this year.

That nobody stayed in the same spot, uh, uh, spot this, this week.

Everybody either went up or down, which I thought, which I thought was really interesting, uh.

Of the 4 biggest jumps .

Uh, UCLA, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Oregon, two of them were Big 10 teams.

Of the 6 biggest falls, Miami, IU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Ohio State, and LSU, 3 of those were SEC teams.

Uh, so, you know, I, I don't think anybody's ever going to be happy with the rankings.

And I, I, I just think there are different factions now.

There's a faction that says an undefeated team should always be ahead of a one-loss or, or two-loss team.

That a 2, 2-loss team should never be ahead of a one-loss team.

There's an anti-SEC faction.

There's an anti-ESPN faction.

There's an anti-Big 10 faction.

I mean, there, uh, it's splintered so much.

Everybody has their own agendas, that there's never gonna be a happy place for everybody in these rankings.

That is a fair point.

First, I'm in none of those factions, and your point is well taken, which is another reason I don't think the show does anybody any good.

I really don't.

I think the show and then the explanations are after the show or after the rankings are revealed, I think undermines the credibility of the committee.

Uh, we've talked about this before, and I know you like the open, openness, you want the transparency.

Um, and it would, I guess, be too much of a trapdoor surprise if you just reveal it at the end.

But I, the every week thing, I really think it, it's nice for ESPN to have for, for, uh, for a property, but I don't think it helps the committee's cause.

Well, it certainly wouldn't help this podcast pause, cause because we'd lose 12 minutes of content.

No, Pat, look, I, I don't think anyone was done any favors this past week with that show because it was an abbreviated show, right.

Uh, it was between two basketball games, uh, it was the rankings and then a, a few, uh, questions to your check , and then they're out.

Yeah, that's tough, you know, so, yes, he did a teleconference afterward and had a chance to be asked questions and explain himself, but it still was tough because most people watched the show.

But I, I, I will still err on the side of whatever transparency I can get versus, hey, it's, it's the end of the season, and here are your 12 teams.

Fair enough.

Later.

All right, so that's, there's no easy answer to any of it.

Yeah, that in basketball, they do a 1, they do a 1 reveal a month ahead of the top 16, and then the committee chair will do a teleconference like during championship week to answer some questions.

And then they drop it, and then they do a post, you know, I just feel like maybe a little less would, would serve them better.

I just, every time I see Hunter Uricek sitting there with that kind of nervous look on his face, like, oh boy, I sure hope I get this explanation right.

I, I lose faith in uh the process.

Well, he, he had a little, uh, Albert Brooks broadcast news sweat going, and that could have just been the lights, I'm sure it was, but Whoa, I, I felt bad for him, man.

I know.

I was thinking the exact same thing, yeah.

All right.

Well, the, the good news is, um, we're not yet dealing with a 2014 atrocity.

If we were, here's what we would have.

This was, uh, my column I wrote this week.

If, if, if these rankings were a 2014 playoff, 00, what a lovely kettle we would have here.

We would have 9 SEC teams in the field, 9.

People are up in arms about 5, now, wait till you get 9.6 from the Big 10, 5 from the Big 12, just 2 from the ACC.

Be careful what you wish for ACC going ahead and backing this uh 2014 thing.

Of course, Notre Dame, which is gonna be in the tournament forever now, like this is, they don't even they barely have to get out of bed to play, and they're gonna make the field.

Every year in perpetuity and of course just one from the G6.

all this spin, oh, we're gonna have 3G, we're gonna have no more access, yeah, yeah, more access for the, for the top 67, 68 schools, um, anyway, so like.

The thing about this that stuck out to me is you have fan bases that almost actively hate their teams right now that are gonna have their teams in the tournament.

How excited is LSU or Ohio State at this point, especially Ohio State.

They're like, this is a disaster.

Just get us out of here.

When can we start firing people?

And they actually have.

They fired their offense, or their special teams coordinator, right?

LSU melting down after the loss to.

Alabama.

They've got 3 losses, they've beaten nobody.

They're furious, and those teams are gonna be in the field.

What are we doing here?

That's my question, is, is, you look at this, and it is going to be.

A just a field day of mediocre teams playing in games that I, I guess they'll be excited, because if you win, you get to keep going, it's kind of like the NCAA tournament, but It's not, you are, uh, once again, we are by no means rewarding schools for good seasons when this comes to pass.

Uh, your thoughts on, on what 24 would look like?

Well, I don't know if anybody's gonna get the reference.

Uh, you have to be an REM fan.

I, I'm not gonna go full, you know, it's the end of the world as we know it.

Uh, that's me.

I'm doing that.

No, you make some great points, Pat, and I couldn't help but note, you know, correct me again if I'm wrong.

CFP put out like some sort of graphic saying if this was a 24, 25 season, well, that was convenient.

Yeah, you know, they didn't do last season.

They put the season before because it fit their argument better.

And then my all-time favorite, and I'll, I'll give them credit, is, is it Rich Clark, the Yes, yes, who I like, but he's in a tough job, and I give him a lot of credit, you know, I think he was asked something to the effect, you know, the fans have made it very clear they're not interested in a 2014 playoff.

And And he came right out and said it.

Yeah, we have heard the fans.

Uh, uh, we appreciate their comments.

We understand that they're not, um, You know, they're not totally invested in this idea, but we're gonna go ahead and do it anyway.

So, you guys can just all go pound sand.

And I just thought that is.

Respectfully, that is the arrogance of this decision.

It's, you know, hey, We know you hate the idea, but we're gonna do it, and you're just gonna have to live with it, and that drives me out of my mind.

So, um.

We have, we have said it till we're blue in the face here in this podcast, all the reasons why this is a dumb idea.

Um, you are diluting the, the regular season, the one thing that makes college football really special.

You are bringing into, into play the possibility of players sitting out late regular season games.

Uh, nobody has asked the players how they feel about this, not that they ever would, but they haven't.

They asked, uh, you know, people ask the fans, and the fans said, no, I hate the idea, but they went ahead with it anyway.

The money isn't a huge difference.

It's not a difference maker to anybody.

And so, it, it's just, why?

What was the rush, and how does this make college football better?

And nobody has answered those two questions for me.

Not satisfactorily, that's for sure.

Uh, the, so, some credit we're due to the athletic for some good reporting.

Ralph Russo and Chris Vanini had a story this week, uh, where there was an internal Nielsen Nielsen poll by the CFP got no public, uh, attention.

I don't think they, they publicized it, where the, the fan response amongst hardcore football or avid college football fans, 63% did not.

Want this size playoff, and 70something%.

Of casual fans did not want it.

Clear, clear, strong majorities.

The question that it sounded like they was they're out on this, was, will you stop watching because of that?

And most of the respondents said no, and that's all they needed to hear.

Are we still gonna get ratings?

OK, fine.

Let's go.

So let's see what those ratings are in the first round.

I agree.

Let's see what the attendance is.

Let's see what the ratings is, or, um, I, I, again, I, you, you are dressing up the Music City Bowl and the Rely Quest Bowl as something bigger than it is and saying it's a playoff game, um.

But, yeah, the sheer arrogance, the sheer greed of, we're gonna do it anyway.

And the explanation I've gotten for why this has been driven is, we have to keep the fan bases engaged, we have to keep the boosters engaged, because we're gonna keep spending as much as we can to make this thing work.

We are invested for $40.

50 dollars, $60 maybe $70 million in the future on rosters.

And the only way we can justify that spending is if we trick people into continuing to give us money by telling them we're a playoff team.

Or we're close to being a playoff team.

OK, again , if you lose the first round game in a 2014 playoff, you're gonna feel good about that that $50 million investment all of a sudden.

That's the question, and I, I people are not that dumb.

They're not that dumb.

If you're LSU and you're a number 21 seed and you go on the road to play.

Um, Wake Forest, and you lose.

You're gonna come out of there, fire the coach, you're gonna go in, fire the coach, you're gonna come out, absolutely fire the coach, so.

Yeah, it, you know, look, we fought the good fight, Pat.

We've done our best, but, uh, so, hey, look, I, I hope it works.

I really do.

I hope it works now, if they're gonna do it.

I'm, I'm, I'm really saddened by it.

I, I, 16, I guess I could have lived with.

But the 24 just.

Just don't get it.

But anyway, yeah, I agree.

I, I, I agree completely.

I, I am, I'm sad and I'm outraged.

You're better at being sad.

I'm better at being outraged.

I think that, that generally the way our personalities skew anyway.

Well, but what's next?

I mean, again, what's next?

Are they gonna go to 32 in a year?

If they think there's more money to be made from it, or if some group of some conference needs more bids or some ADs are under pressure, sure, sure.

Sure, we do have a 70-16 team basketball tournament coming.

Can't wait.

OK, I'll be quiet now.

That's all right.

No, it's good.

Um , OK.

Uh, a lot of coaching stuff, either drama and unrest happening or some actual decisions being made, who's being fired, who's not being fired, who's being hired.

Let's go through a couple of these, uh, actually, you're gonna lead on this.

Here I am, I'm, I'm once again reading the rundown, uh, as we go, even though I already typed it.

So you're gonna ask me about this, and I'm gonna give answers.

Go ahead.

So we try, we try every week, we, we type it out for Pat.

We send it to him.

We say , please read this.

Here are your instructions, you know, he's the guy who showed up at his SATs with the number 3 pencil.

OK, so this is, this is what we're dealing with.

All right.

If you asked Michigan fans, yeah, all right, you're a college administrator, you're the AD, you're the president, you're chancellor, you're the, you're the person making the decision.

If you were the AD or university president at Michigan, What would you do with this Kyle Whittingham situation?

I would go back and fire Ward Manuel again.

Um, no, I like, I, I, you gotta move on .

I'm sorry, and I, look, I am not a one-year knee-jerk, gotta change guy, but this has been so bad, so, so bad.

They've already, they fired the offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, he's the first guy overboard.

Whittingham is 66 years old.

It's not like, hey, you know, give him a couple of years to get his legs under him, he'll he'll figure it out.

I just think bad fit, um, maybe a guy who had been To stuck in his ways, maybe they were, it was already getting stale at Utah.

Clearly, they've benefited from being coached by Morgan Scally there.

They have, they are hemorrhaging money like you cannot even believe it, Michigan.

But this is one where I think I would try to bite the bullet and say, let's, let's hemorrhage some more.

You know, you have, they, they have spent plenty of money on their roster, they spent a lot of money to get rid of Ward Manuel.

They have spent millions in damage control with internal investigations, with NCAA legal representation.

They're the billable hours king of college football right now.

But I look at this and I just don't think it's tenable.

I, I don't think it's salvageable.

I would find a way to move on.

If you ask Michigan fans right now who they'd rather have as their head coach .

Kyle Whittingham Or Jason Beck Or Connor Stallions or Urban Meyer.

OK.

Where, where do you think Whittingham would end up in that election?

I mean, it's.

No, nobody expected.

I don't think anybody truly expected Michigan to win the Big 10 this season, right, but nobody expected this.

I mean, this, this is a Uh, uh, you know, people want to put Whittingham on the ice floe and, and, and send them off, um.

Uh, I'm like you.

I, I'm usually not a 11 year and you're out kind of thing, but this, this just doesn't seem fixable right now .

And then you have You know, I don't know if you saw it, uh, Dan Lanning and Whittingham kind of trading.

Barbs about um Uh, you know, budgets that they had.

Did you see that, those comments at all?

I did.

I did, yeah, and you know, Lanning.

He didn't hold back.

He, he was.

Uh, you know, he jabbed at, at Whittingham about having to fire Jason Beck, who's the highest paid assistant in the country, isn't that correct?

Yeah, and, uh, and, you know, maybe if you spent more money on players rather than your coaches, you know, so when, when you're.

10 coaches are taking swings at you, you got a problem.

Yeah, there's a lot of problems there that I just don't, I'm not sure that's, uh, that's fixable.

All right.

So, so let's go on to our next school.

One thing that Michigan and Ohio State have in common.

That they have the most impatient fan base on the planet.

Ryan Day, as Ryan Day has had to do more than a few times in Columbus, is taking heat again.

What do you do with that situation?

Back into the hilt.

He's 88 and 15.

His record's unbelievable.

He won a national championship two years ago.

He was in the playoffs last year.

I, I'm trying, were they a number 2 seed?

What were they?

I mean, yeah, I, I, I, no, it's ridiculous.

It's uh like, I get the anger.

Ohio State fans, I think, are worse than Michigan fans in terms of impatience.

I really do.

I think that they, they absolutely cannot tolerate this.

I was at the USC Ohio State game, right, in the Coliseum.

And you know how this goes.

You leave the press box with like 6 minutes to go to make your way down to the field, and the Coliseum, you gotta kind of walk outside and around.

Ohio State fans leaving in droves.

It's a 2-score game with like 6 minutes to go.

They'd had enough.

They were done.

And if you saw the stands against Oregon, they couldn't wait to get out of there.

There's some Ohio State football and Kentucky basketball have some similarities where the tolerance for losing is zero.

But, come on now, look, this guy has proven himself an excellent recruiter, excellent program builder, I, I think a very good coach.

There are games when I do wonder where they, he, his teams or him meltdown, no question about that.

But, I, I looked this up.

This is the first time they've had back to back regular season losses by double digits since 2004.

That team went 8-4.

That coach was Jim Tressel.

It was two years after he won a national title.

Anybody wanna fire him?

No, they kept him and they went and played for another national title in 2006 and 202007.

Don't give up on Ryan Day.

Yeah, we wouldn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Nobody would.

If, uh, the events of October 17th with , uh, saying being injured against Indiana had happened, if he were healthy, this would be a completely different situation.

So, I don't know how you can even contemplate a change.

Uh, based on an injury.

So, I'm, I'm with you.

All right.

Moving on to another Big 10 team, Nebraska and Matt Rhule.

They win their 1st 5 games, they've lost their last 4.

Many of them in excruciating fashion.

What happens there?

You're the, you're the decision maker.

Yeah, uh, I need a money, I need a, a money genie to arrive and get me out of this, because they, they, but this is all Nebraska's own fault.

That's a mismanaged program.

They extended him when they shouldn't have, and they bumped up the buyout to where it's untenable.

But clearly, look, they brought in coordinators, they've had to fire the coordinators, they put everything on Dylan Rayola, Dylan Rayola left.

They backed up rule, they shouldn't have backed up rule.

They're incapable of winning close games, they're incapable of winning big games.

If I were a Nebraska fan, I would really be furious because I don't see a way out of it.

I don't, you know, from a fiscal sanity standpoint, I think you gotta bite the bullet.

And ride this out for at least another year, unless you can find somebody who's just going to say, here's 50 million, make it go away.

Uh, Matt Rhule is not the answer.

He can't do it.

He's had plenty of chances there.

Cannot do it.

I would definitely get rid of him if it were financially feasible.

I don't think it is.

I'm with you.

I don't think they're gonna make a change based on, on the money.

So, uh, they're just gonna have to suck it up and hope for the best next year.

We had a conversation early in the season where you were talking about.

Some coaches who might be in distress entering the season.

And I mentioned uh Deion Sanders at at Colorado.

And uh you did it very politely, and I understood why you said it at the time, but you were like, uh, Dion, what he's done for this program, there's no way.

You know, he's bought himself all sorts of, of equity.

He's gonna, he's good.

And now here we are, and see you is not good.

So the question is, is Deion Sanders good enough to make it through this?

You're the guy making the decision.

I think once again, the question is, is Colorado rich enough?

Not whether he's good enough.

Is Colorado rich enough?

And usually, uh, the answer to Colorado is no, not rich enough.

And I think that's probably the case here.

They are, they've hit that territory where most places you don't get out of it.

2nd straight, not just losing season, but bad losing season.

And 3 out of 4.

They had the one very good year.

Travis Hunter won the Heisman.

They finished in the top 25.

They won 9 regular season games.

They were 7 and 2 in the Big 12.

It was a really good year.

Since then, 6-15, 2-11 in Big 12 play.

Their offense is horrible.

They run through players, they run through staff, there's no plan.

I would move on, but again, can, can you afford it?

That's the whole question, and CU is not a place with a ton of money.

So, I think it, it is very much a, an accounting slash financial question, not a question, do I think Deion Sanders is going to win again at Colorado.

I think the numbers I saw in an ESPN.

com story was he's making Uh, $10 million dollar base salary and around there would be around a $25.

5 million dollar buyout.

Yeah, does that sound like something CU would do?

No, no, no, so.

Um, all right, let's go to the Big 12, TCU and Sonny Dykes.

I remember a time when I was spending a, uh, a lot of days in Fort Worth on that campus, following their, their, their run toward a national championship.

And just thought, what a, a, a great campus.

Uh, uh, they love football here.

Sonny Dykes is, they love him.

He has it cooking.

Um, this is a program that isn't going anywhere.

And now all of a sudden, well, not all of a sudden, but now there's sort of this anti uh Dykes movement.

Where do you stand on it?

I'm perplexed.

I don't get it.

I, I mean, look, it's been a bad season.

I don't think there's any doubt about that.

They're 4 and 5, but since going 13 and 2 and playing for the national championship, which doesn't happen every, oh, you know, 70 or 80 years at TCU.

Since then, 5 and 7, bad backslide, then 9 and 49 and 44 and 5.

Back to back 9 and 4 seasons, and now everybody wants to fire him this year?

I, I, I don't understand.

I don't understand, and If the way these things, this would drive me crazy if I was a coach.

My, my coaching livelihood depends on whether an upback on a kickoff return catches a pooch kickoff over his shoulder.

He drops it, Arizona recovers it, Arizona beats him.

Arizona's 7 and 2, and everybody's excited.

TCU is 4 and 5, and they wanna fire the coach.

I, I, I think it's premature.

I, I, I, he can be a little bit prickly, a little bit difficult.

I mean, I, cause, you know, maybe wears out the welcome a little bit.

I like him personally, but I, I think that's, you know, that's kind of what I've heard.

But I would not get rid of Sonny Dykes, no.

Yeah, I, I'm with you.

You go, you look at their season, they, they haven't been blown out in any game.

No, they've, I mean, now look, they've lost some close games and, and maybe that's worse than getting blown out on occasion.

But have lost a number of close games.

Maybe you combine that with Whatever uh I don't know.

What, whatever his personality, how it maybe doesn't connect all the time with all people there.

But, again, I think there's some financial considerations at TCU that would make it a little more difficult .

And I, and I think he's a good coach.

I'd keep him too.

I'm with you.

So I think we've exhausted.

The, the number of coaches you as the grand, grand decider.

So, you, we, we, you actually kept a lot of these coaches.

Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm really not a, I, I, I try to keep the finances in mind, at least, you know, where Uh, because I think that one of the reasons college sports is in the state it is in is a complete lack of financial restraint.

So that's involved.

And to that point, Gene, Rutgers has decided to keep Greg Schiano.

The math on this, and it's interesting, the Rutgers president himself weighed in on Twitter in responses to like this debate going on about whether or not to keep him.

And somebody said that if all told, the cost to fire Greg Schiano, the cost to fire his staff, the cost to fund a roster, and the cost to bring in a new staff would be close to $83 million at Rutgers.

The president basically said, Yeah, that's why we're not doing that.

So what do you think?

Good call, bad call, keeping Schiano.

What, what's the term fiduciary duty?

Yeah, respon I mean, I think, yeah, yeah, I think that's what they've done at Rutgers, and so they, they believed in him when they hired him.

And I guess they really don't have any choice but to believe him, in him right now.

So, it, it's certainly not a great situation, but uh I And I don't think Rutgers is alone in this, Pat, right?

There's no, not at all programs that might want to make a change, but simply can't afford to because they've dug these holes for themselves.

And so this is.

You know, pull up the rosary and, and say a prayer for Greg Schiano next year, cause that's, that's what they've got.

Yeah, no, the, uh, The, the Uh, that's been the, uh, the new math on this is, can we afford to do it, or are we better off keeping somebody for another year and putting more resources in.

It's worked pretty well at Wisconsin, keeping Luke Fickle.

It didn't work at Florida State with Mike Norvell.

We'll see about Schiano, but I, if I were Rutgers, tough decision, but I would keep him too.

It's hard to keep somebody after losing to UMass, but they're doing it, and I don't blame them.

Uh, one other coaching thing, North Carolina State is hiring Philip Rivers by many reports.

Board of trustees expected to, uh, approve that Friday.

Good call, bad call, like it, love it, hate it.

I would have liked to have seen who the other candidates.

Could have been But I, I think rivers.

He is the kind of guy who can bring NC State donors and fans together, at least initially.

I think he can get some excite excitement building there.

Um, uh, you know, I don't know if his son is gonna end up playing there for him, but he's committed.

Yeah, OK, well, there you go.

Uh, so.

I think there are a lot of positives.

Can he coach?

Yeah, I think he can.

People go, well, he just coached high school, but, like, Philip Rivers played a long time in the NFL and he didn't do it on physical ability.

You know, he did it because he understands the game.

And he played a position where he was basically a coach in many ways.

And he's a leader, and he's, he's a , he's a legend, an icon at NC State.

So, I understand what I think are many good reasons for taking a flyer on him.

Yeah, I mean, I, I understand the reasons.

I, I'm skeptical whether or not it's going to work.

I get it, and you're right, it's not like you're hiring Jerry Faust.

This is a guy who has not just played football but fought football at the very highest level and succeeded incredibly well as a player.

Well, but if you're telling me they made a run at Nick Saban and he was gonna come, but they decided to take Rivers, then yeah, I'm, I'm like, wait, what?

I don't know who the other, who the other finalists were.

Yeah, I'm not sure there were other finalists.

they were.

I think they had their sights set on this, and that we'll see.

I hope it works out better for them than hiring Will Wade.

Anyway, moving on, uh, let's do a little believe it or not, Gene.

You're gonna ask me some questions, what I believe or don't believe.

I will give you answers, and then you will tell me where I am wrong.

OK.

This just, uh, this was reported by on 3.

Mississippi State's Mario Taylor is set to sign a, and this is this.

I, I'm not slurring my words.

Set to sign a $7.5 million dollar NIL deal for 2027.

Do you believe that number?

Sounds mostly believable.

I think the quarterback market.

You know, it's gone, gone from 5 to 6 to this is the next step.

Although, you know, there, there might be some contracts with incentives that were more than that, more than 7.5%. I would do it if I were Mississippi State for this reason.

You're Mississippi State and you have a superstar, a potential first-round pick, a guy who wants to be there, a guy who can rally around, probably bring in other good transfers to help.

So, if, you may be overpaying, I would overpay for Kamario Taylor if I were Mississippi State in that situation.

Yeah, it's, uh, it's apple zucchini, but it's like UCLA.

Are, are they gonna overpay for Bob Chesney if they decide to, uh, sure, do something with his contract?

Yes, sometimes you have to overpay because just like did Indiana overpay for Signetti?

It looks like a pretty good deal these days, doesn't it?

So maybe Mario Taylor is the same thing now, you know, he got hurt this year, and so to make this worth its while, he, he cannot get hurt next year.

But the athletic had a really interesting comparison.

It said he would, uh, Taylor would out earn the, the number 11 pick in the 2026 draft, which was Caleb Downs from Ohio State who's now playing for the Cowboys.

Wow, Taylor is gonna make more money than the number 11 pick in the 2026 NFL draft, which is just mind-boggling, right?

That's some wild math, but that's the territory we're in, and that's also why a lot of people want a salary cap.

All right.

Our next, believe it or not believe it, Jeremiah Smith, you know, gifted Ohio State wide receiver.

Can be the best player in the country, but not win the Heisman.

I believe that, uh, I may still vote for him.

I haven't decided yet.

I feel bad for his situation.

Uh, they're still getting him the ball.

I mean , he's over 200 yards receiving in the two games since Julian Sa got hurt, but they have to get him the ball.

Is the offense the same?

Probably not.

Is Luke Fahey as good as Julian saying?

No.

Is it gonna hurt Smith?

Is, are the losses, I think probably even a bigger factor whether they should be or not.

I did something in the dash.

Uh, can you name the last player, if this, right, so they've lost 3 games, right?

They're 6 and 3.

They're on the historical cut line of whether a player can win or lose the Heisman.

Can you name the last player from a team with 4 regular season losses or 4 losses at the time the voting was done to win the Heisman?

I'll tell you it's so long ago that you made Horning win the Heisman, but he did, but it's not quite that long ago.

OK, who was it?

It's not 1956.

It was Steve Owens of Oklahoma in 1969.

So, it's been a long time.

A lot of guys with on 3 loss teams that ended up winning, but not many with 4.

So, you know, again, I, it's tricky.

It's, uh, to me, it should be a bit of a team award because it's such a team game, but at the same time, to just penalize Jeremiah Smith, if you obviously think he's the best player, it's, it's tough.

I'm, I'm still waffling, but I'm gonna say he will not win.

Well, his last four games, 93 yards, 68 yards, 83, 133, but he's had 5 TDs.

And, you know, look, the guy gets double team, triple team, the, the clarinet section of the opposing band covers him.

I mean, it, it's , he, he, I don't blame him for, I've seen him get really frustrated, his body language, uh, you know, what he's saying.

It's not a great look, but He's not in a great situation right now, and I can, I can see where he would get frustrated.

So I certainly don't hold that against him.

It's not unprecedented.

For the best player to not necessarily win the Heisman and, uh, you know, Vince Young, Randy Moss back in the day, Tommy Frazier, Domagan Suo.

Um, you know, Manning in there, um, you know, this, this would not be entirely unusual, right, if, if the guy that you think is the very best player in the country doesn't win it.

Yeah, all right.

Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr is now the Heisman front runner.

I believe that, yes, I think that he had a great performance in a big game that people wanted to see.

His stats are really good, the team is good.

If he plays well the next 3 weeks.

Uh, I would not be shocked if he's Notre Dame's first quarterback to win the Heisman since John Heart in 1964.

The one thing is, He will not have a conference championship game, so last impressions could go to somebody like Darian Mensah at Miami, if they're in the ACC title game, but right now, I would say CJ Carr is the favorite.

I think we both had him as our preseason.

We did Heisman favorite, right?

Yeah, he's not.

I, I'm sorry, go ahead, Pat.

No, I have nothing else to add.

Uh, he's not gonna knock you over with his numbers.

I think this was his 1st 300+ passing game of the season of this year, yes, yeah, uh, so, uh, you know, he's not a numbers guy.

But he just looks the part and he plays the part, and Bobby Bowden, the great FSU coach, said a long time ago, you, you win Heisman's, uh, by playing on, on, in big games on national television and having great games, and he did that against Miami.

Uh, if they can somehow, you know, which I can't imagine how, how they would not run the table now.

But if they can avoid some sort of bizarre disastrous loss here down the stretch, I, I, I think he's a guy along with Mensa, you know, I don't know .

Does Messmaker make your, make your shortlist right now?

Dampier at the moment, not at the moment.

Having a great season, great numbers, but Mm.

Yeah, so Dampier at Utah, Gunner Stockton at Georgia, I think they're still in play, but you can certainly make the, the argument that he's the front runner right now.

All right.

Texas is back.

Kinda.

Can I kind of believe it?

Can I have 1 ft in, 1 ft out?

It's kind of the way I've been on Texas all year.

I, I, that's what they've given us.

The resume continues to, to be good.

The, the losses were bad.

They were back to back to teams that aren't very good, to Oklahoma and to Florida, and neither of them were true road games, which is pretty shocking.

But winning at Tennessee is big.

The way they won against Ohio State when Ohio State was at full strength was big.

Um, winning at Missoui, winning at Missouri when they were pretty injured, was impressive.

Some weird officiating, but that's fine.

They, they, they won by 2 touchdowns, they got it done.

So, Like I, I said, I would, I would have them, I think, 6th in the playoff race right now.

I, I don't think, unless they win the SEC championship, I don't think they get up to the top 4 and get a 1st-round bye.

But I could see Texas hosting a uh 1st-round game, winning that, and going on into the quarterfinals is, is a pretty prominent team.

Yeah, I, I'd say, can we chat after this LSU game?

Yeah, fair.

You know, in a few minutes.

The, the team that we're saying Texas is back, I believe they're 4 point dogs in that game.

Yeah, well, for some reason LSU is favored against everybody, but anyway, we'll, we'll get to that.

I, I'm with you.

I would not wanna play Texas.

Yeah, I, I just think they're, they're really formidable.

And when, when Arch Manning is, is playing like he can.

And then with the talent on that roster and that defense, they're, they're, they're tough to beat, man.

Um, all right, let me run through the Miami's national title aspirations are in trouble.

Well, title aspirations.

I believe that to be true, but if Malachi Tony comes back, they, they've got as good a shot as anybody.

And again, I was very impressed with them without Tony.

I thought they played really well.

Um, against, uh, against Notre Dame, given the circumstances, so I'm, I'm, they're in, they're in trouble, but they're still on the list of teams that could win it for me.

Yeah, it, it would be nice to know when Tony's gonna come back.

Yeah, could they tell us, please?

Right, so if he comes back.

Uh, before the beginning of the playoffs, or maybe they missed one game of the playoffs, um, They're gonna be a problem for a lot of teams.

So I'm, I'm with you on that.

Notre Dame can afford a 2nd loss and still make the CFP.

That's an interesting one.

It's a little dicey.

Um, I do think you beat the number one team.

And if Miami continues to roll through the season, yes, I think you could still get in at 10 and 2, but the saying for that team this year was leave no doubt, that would leave doubt.

So don't do it.

I would not want to test that theory, no, right, uh.

That would mean they would have had to have lost to either Boston College, SMU or at Syracuse.

None of those teams are ranked.

And both BC and Syracuse are below 500 right now.

SMU is dangerous.

They are.

They are.

OK.

The ACC will be the most interesting league in the country, the final 3 weeks.

All right, this was my submission, and the reason why is partly Because of uh SMU.

So they've just got some really interesting games left on the schedule.

That I think could significantly impact.

The playoff race.

Starting this weekend, Duke, which has been a problem, catches Miami in a hangover game.

Keep an eye on that one.

Wake Forest SMU to me, is a really good game, which we're gonna pick.

Wake is on fire.

SMU dangerous team.

Then the next week, SMU plays Notre Dame.

They can completely upset the apple cart there , the Notre Dame apple cart, and, and throw the rankings into tumult.

Um, on November 21st in South Bend, uh, then the last weekend, The twenty-eighth.

Let's see , I'm, I'm calling it up here feverishly.

Come on, computer.

Um, we have some more big games there.

We've got, um, We got Duke Wake Forest.

Same thing.

I, I think Wake Forest deserves to be in the bracket right now.

The fact that they're not, but they're playing another big game against, they've got, Wake Forest has 2 big games remaining, Miami has a big game remaining, Duke has big games remaining, SMU has big games remaining.

All those things, I think could definitely impact the season, and the ACC has proven to be highly unpredictable.

OK.

I mean, I, I don't disagree with any of that.

I would I would say the Big 10 is really intriguing too down the stretch, simply because what happens with UCLA, Indiana, Iowa, USC, and Oregon, right?

That, that's gonna be really fun to see how, how it unfolds for those 5 teams and how many teams the Big 10 ends up with.

Yeah, uh, and finally, the CFP ESPN contract extension is a good thing.

Um, I am certainly not one of those people that really cares who broadcast things, like, just, uh, and I think most fans are just like, just tell me what channel stuff is on, and I'll watch it.

Um, I think the, I think the 2014 playoff was largely championed by Fox, even if they didn't get it, because they want to Pump up the importance of their November schedule of sometimes mangy Big 10 games.

So I think that was partly to play here.

I'm fine with ESPN keeping the thing.

It's easier, you know, they, they'll, they'll subcontract out some games to TNT or whatever, but it's kind of easier to follow.

Uh, it has been the Home of the playoffs throughout, it's kind of been the spiritual home of college football for a long, long time.

There are elements of it that we both worked there, that drive me crazy, that drove me crazy when I worked there and drive me crazy now that I don't, but I'm fine with ESPN having it.

It seems like where it should be.

Well, Pat, if you read my Twitter feed earlier this week.

Man, there are a lot of angry people out there.

There's a lot of people need therapy.

Well, it's just, again, we, I, I mentioned earlier in the podcast, these factions, and there is definitely an anti-ESPN faction, a faction that believes that ESPN controls.

The committee and controls how they select teams, and controls this, and controls that.

And, and I don't deny that ESPN has great influence uh on all things college football, but they certainly don't uh control what, who the committee picks.

And I, I don't have a problem with it either.

Uh, they took advantage, the, the network took advantage of that exclusive negotiating window, and they got a deal put together.

Had it gone to the market, then it would have been interesting to see what Fox might have done, or maybe one of the streaming services.

And yes, you're absolutely right.

I believe the number is ESPN can sub-license.

Uh, 6 of those games, those new games.

And, but it has to be to one.

Uh, one entity.

So, we'll see who, uh, who or if, uh, those games are sub-licensed or if they end up on TNT.

But, uh, look, neither one of us work at ESPN anymore.

But having, having been part of their college football effort, uh, for 13 years, I believe, uh, you know, it lives and breathes college football, and there are a lot of people there who really care about college football, so, I don't have an issue with it either.

I'm not saying Fox wouldn't have done a remarkable job.

It, it certainly could have, but, uh, uh, I'm with you.

I think , um, I don't think it's a bad thing for college football.

I think you're actually shortchanging your investment in ESPN and covering college football.

I know you're talking about game day and being on that, but magazine.

com, I mean, you were there when I got there in 2004.

So, well, we all, we all love college football, man.

I, I, I mean, it's the best sport in the world.

So when we're sitting here, you know.

Just sort of in the fetal position over some of the changes that have happened in, in college football.

It's not because we, we want to complain.

It's because we, we love the game, and I, and I do think ESPN as a network loves college football, but it also loves the business aspect of it too, and what it can provide.

They're in the business of making money.

Uh, uh, yes, they are, and they've made a lot of it.

Uh, all right, let's get to winners of steak dinners here.

We, we love the college football so much that we are way over time here, so we are rambling on.

We'll try to roll through these pretty quickly.

A good slate of games, very interesting slate of games.

Uh, Kent has stuck in the results from last week.

He's, he's standing by me being 4 and 3 and you being 3 and 4.

You, you guys can take that up after the show.

I'm going to.

We're taking that to court.

I'm out of it.

All I know is I'm up 6 games on you.

Thank you.

All right, let's pick them.

USC getting 9.5 at Indiana.

This line has been really interesting.

It was like 7, and then it blew up yesterday to 10.

Some people were attributing that to a podcast by a guy named Rufus, who was apparently a really sharp picker, and he gave Indiana as his pick.

And whether that's why the line blew up or not, I don't know.

But Indiana is now favored by a whopping 9.5 against the Trojans in Bloomington.

I will be there.

What do you think?

Well, jeez, now that you mentioned Rufus.

I, I know, I saw that.

I saw that, uh, IU has not named a starting quarterback yet, right?

Signnetti is gonna just hang on to the last minute on that.

Yeah.

And I know Lincoln Riley is not good against ranked teams, and certainly not good against them on the road.

And IU is a tough place, but.

Do I turn down 9.5 points?

I, I, I just don't think I can.

So, sorry, Rufus, I'm gonna take SC in the 9.5. Um, reluctantly, I'm going to do the same.

Again, picking with you tends to not go well for me, but for that very reason, it's Indiana plays close games.

All their games are close.

A week off should help them a lot.

But we don't know who the starting quarterback is.

We don't know whether Josh Hoover's hurt, we don't know whether his confidence is broken.

We don't know whether they're gonna play Grant Wilson.

Indiana may come out after the week off with a reset and look like 2025 Indiana, but 2026 Indiana plays cliffhangers.

I think they're gonna win, but I'm not, I'm not laying 9.5. I will take the 9.5. Yeah, both teams are coming off bias.

Yeah, right.

Um, all right, Texas.

Uh, is, again, another interesting to me, mystifying line.

Texas is getting 4 at LSU.

Alabama was getting like 5.5 last week and crushed LSU in Tiger Stadium.

I don't get it.

Tell me what you think here.

Well, this is LSU season, right?

I, I mean, if they have any, any hopes of making the playoffs, they have to win this game, and they have to keep winning.

I, I'm taking, I'm taking Texas.

I, I just.

I, I believe in Texas more than I believe in, in LSU at this point.

This is a problem because I'm taking Texas too.

I haven't seen enough from LSU that impresses me.

And they, they lose to good teams, they beat less good teams.

Texas is a good team.

Texas is getting healthier, according to the injury report.

They should be, should have a few more important guys, uh.

Back, so I'm, I'm going with the horns and taking the points there.

Arch, no, no interceptions in the last two games, and a 73.7% completion percentage on the road this season.

And somehow a fumble that went forward, they recovered for a first down, even though it should have been an incomplete pass.

Anyway, moving on.

Utah at Arizona, a very big, Big 12 game.

We talked about the Wildcats earlier, the Utes are undefeated, they're #2.

They're favored by 2.5 in Tucson, Pretty small line.

What do you think?

I'm, well, in the interest of time, I'm just, I'm gonna take, uh, take Utah, give the 2.5. Uh, Dampier is, he did have a little bit of a blip, I believe in the 2nd quarter of that BYU game, but boy, once he got going again, he, he's, he's special.

fita special too, but, but I'll take Utah.

Yeah, Dampier's kind of a game dominator, cause he can run and throw.

I mean, he'll go like 12 straight plays where the ball is in his hands.

That said, I've watched the Hangovers this year.

That was Utah's biggest game of the year, that was the holy war.

They're going on the road.

They're playing a good team that has to have it.

I'm taking the home dog, Arizona there, and I'm picking against Gene.

That makes me happy.

You're going trap game theory.

Got it.

I sure am.

OK.

All right.

Wake Forest, 1.5 point road dog at SMU.

I'd laid it out.

This is a really big ACC game.

Your thoughts?

Well, after watching that Merrimack game, I don't know how anybody can pick against.

This is a sneaky great quarterback matchup, isn't it?

It is, uh, with Lopez and Jennings.

Uh, I'm, I'm gonna take Wake.

I'll take the 1.5 and, and, and Wake.

Yeah, I'm taking Wake as well.

SMU is talented and sometimes really good.

They also have a tendency to self-destruct, and Wake Forest does not.

Like, Wake Forest doesn't just win, they're killing people.

So, I, I'm rolling with uh the Demon Deacons on that one.

I have no reservations, especially getting a little bit of points.

Texas Tech getting 3.5 at Oklahoma State, an interesting line there, a very big, Big 12 game.

What are you going?

Can you guess what the over-under is in this game?

1000?

It should be.

The over-under is 72.5, which seems way low.

Cowboys are #3 in passing offense and scoring offense.

Texas Tech defense is 65 in scoring defense.

Of course, Oklahoma State is number 94 in scoring defense.

I think Oklahoma State just figures out a way to outscore them by more than 3.5. So I'll take the Cowboys.

It was a tough one.

Since you're taking the Cowboys, I'm taking the Red Raiders.

That is purely my logic there.

Um.

Yeah, they've gone to Tommy Castellano, so the offense is different.

Unfortunately, Oklahoma State's now had a chance to prepare for a Castellano's offense as opposed to being at all surprised by it.

But, uh, the number ninety-something defense, as you said, is not stopping the Red Raiders.

Give me, give me Texas Tech and the points.

All right, you have a lock of the week.

Of course I do, Pat, even though Kent doesn't give me credit for them.

So, What's the best thing to do?

After you've lost to Michigan State.

After you've lost 4 of your last 6, part of your fan base wants to put you out.

You just fired your offensive coordinator, you're ranked 132 out of 138 teams in total offense.

What's the great thing you should do?

Well, you should get on a plane.

And fly across the country to Oregon.

And play the suddenly surging and relevant ducks.

After you've annoyed their head coach, and then go walk into Otson and say, you're gonna win this game.

I'm taking Oregon, and I'm giving the 11.5 points.

Big number, but I do not blame you.

I think your reasoning is uh fully sound there.

Uh, I am going to.

Word, I, I've lost my game now.

This is a, a momentary crisis.

Uh, where'd it go?

Hang on.

Hold please.

We got plenty of time.

Yeah, we do.

We've just been burning clock, as they say.

Uh, I am taking Syracuse and giving 3 at NC State.

Syracuse has figured it out.

They've gotten it back together.

NC State, hodgepodge season all over the place.

Players might be sitting there trying to figure out, do I want to play for Philip Rivers or not?

Am I in?

Am I out?

Uh, I think the timing of that announcement could possibly work against them.

I'm gonna take the orange is a road favorite, which really, just when I say it out loud, doesn't sound like a very good idea, but that's what I'm doing, so.

All right.

Last story before we get out of here.

Uh, this is alarming.

Disturbing gross, I guess I would say, as in gross point.

Michigan Uh, Grosse Pointe South High School.

Uh, November 6th, won a, uh, a high school playoff game over Bedford, yeah, beat, beat beat Bedford 42-0 in the game.

2nd round Division 2 playoffs.

Walked into the.

School and uh somebody left something in the hallway.

On purpose, uh, dropped a deuce.

Dropped the pants and went 2 in the hallway from, they , they said a parent of a Bedford player or a Bedford fan, went into the school and uh did this.

I, I'm gonna guess, Gene, that occasionally, in your past, you're, you're, you're a, you're a, a very well-grounded man now, but you might have been a little bit, maybe irrationally angry after a loss of some kind.

Would you have ever done anything like that, and what should we do with this Bedford parent?

I, I was gonna go have breakfast after we recorded this podcast.

No longer.

No longer.

I, I don't know if I'll eat for days.

Just again, where do you get this stuff?

That's just like the Detroit News, man.

Well, uh, come on, I mean, just, you're telling me you've never done any such thing.

The look on your face.

Would you, have you beat your wife?

I mean, what kind of question is that?

No, I've never done anything like, have you, Pat?

No, I have not.

I have not.

All right, I mean, like, you were so thrilled about meeting space that you couldn't.

You know, hold on and you I don't, I, I don't know what kind of world do we live in where somebody does that.

I, I, that kind of world apparently, I guess.

OK, well, now I'm not eating breakfast, so thank you again, Pat.

Sure.

Well, everybody else in the Michigan High School, uh, playoffs, please keep your pants on, and if you lose, lose with some level of dignity, please.

That's the show .

Thanks for watching.

Thanks for listening.

Uh, we will be back next week, plenty more down the stretch of college football.

We'll talk to you all later.

Have a great weekend.