The SEC Fires Back at Will Wade and LSU, CFB 1st Half Awards, Week 7 Picks | Others Receiving Votes

All right.

Welcome to the show.

Others receiving votes, Sports Illustrated.

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

Gonna preview a very big week of football games, uh, and get to a number of other topics here at the midpoint of the season.

But uh Gino, I just wanted to let you and the viewers and listeners know we're taping this Thursday morning.

And as of the time of this taping, the following things have not occurred.

The playoff has not officially expanded to 24 teams, but keep an eye on that.

Ask Sankey alluded to, sooner than later, a resolution there, and it could be very sooner.

Uh, LSU has not been expelled from the SEC.

Keep an eye on that.

I don't think they're getting expelled, but the, uh, what was a Kiffin missile crisis is now the, the Will Wade World War 3 over his roster, same issues, different sport.

And the state of Ohio has not seceded from the SEC to form its own college sports governing body so they can play whoever the heck they want.

Keep an eye on that one though, and don't give Jeff Landry any ideas down in Louisiana, cause he'd like to probably do this too.

But Don't take any of that out of play.

We'll see what happens next.

Stay tuned, Gene.

Are you ready for all of these developments?

Well, I think we've kind of prepared ourselves for the 2014 playoffs.

That seems like a fait accompli, but you were down in Alabama for the, well, for the Bama-Georgia game, and then you stuck around for the SEC media days.

To me, this seems, this, this whole SEC LSU thing.

Almost seems more.

Uh, centered on the basketball.

Program than it, than it does the, the football side of things.

Am I reading that wrong?

No, you're reading that right.

The, the, the football thing was basically put to bed when LSU blinked and did not roster the NFL players.

But one of the reasons that lawsuit that was filed by the SEC in federal court against LSU remains intact is because of the basketball situation.

Which had kind of been simmering all along in the background, and LSU blinked on one player for sure, RJ Lewis, who had gone through the draft, signed two NBA contracts, and they're not going to play him.

Will Wade acknowledged as much in a very touchy Zoom interview he ended up doing, uh, from down there.

Yeah, he was, he was not real happy with me, that's fine, no problem.

But there were other players, there are other players that are still in flux there , and I, that's who I was asking him about.

And the fact is, they played an exhibition game Wednesday night against Central Florida, suited up 3.

Former pros or aspiring pros who would not seemingly be eligible, but didn't play them.

So, uh, is that a blink again?

I don't know.

Wade wouldn't discuss it after the game.

This is part of the reason people keep asking because he's treated his roster as a covert operation.

But, uh, The fact they didn't play may not be definitive, but it was interesting last night.

We'll see as this thing progresses.

But that's the crux of the issue now.

LSU basketball versus the SEC.

So let's take the, the legal part out of it.

Uh, I mean, to me, the SEC is using the legal option as a way to remind LSU we still hold a very big stick if we want to use it.

But if you take that out of the equation, What was the, uh, I'm trying to remember, uh, the vote that was taken by the presidents, uh, back in the day, as, as far as this issue was concerned.

Wasn't it, if it wasn't unanimous, um, what was it?

Did LSU abstain?

Was that the vote?

I believe it was 15-0 with one abstention from Baton Rouge.

So to me, either you want to adhere.

To the rules of the conference that you're in.

And clearly, all the other presidents have spoken to how they feel about this, or you don't.

And if you don't, Then why are you in the conference?

Go someplace else.

It, it, to me, it just, it's not a matter of them getting expelled.

It's a matter of LSU, do you even want to be in this conference?

Because if you're not willing to go with what everyone else wants to do, the rules they want to adhere to, then, then why are you here?

And, and it seems as if Lane Kiffin to some extent, but Will Wade definitely.

is pushing this envelope to, to the farthest reaches, and just seeing what they can sort of get away with.

Yeah, I think, I think, that's a very good read of it.

Uh, they want membership in the club without paying all the dues.

You know , there, there's some golf clubs, country clubs around the, the country where if you stop paying your dues, they'll actually put a shame list out with your name on it, that you have not been keeping up your membership payments.

That's LSU right now, and the shame list is in federal court, basically.

Uh, they, they have chosen this approach.

First of all, hiring Will Wade.

That wasn't popular to begin with, rehiring him, because he wasn't popular in the first place when he was in the league, because he was cheating.

Rules have changed, they bring him back, but still nobody's that happy to see him, and then they've constructed a roster.

That was 80% hoping that they're gonna get around these NCAA, what what was the NCAA eligibility rules, and then the SEC rules.

The SEC made their own policy.

This, that's where the crux of the matter is now in late August.

This NCAA SEC policy that says if you went through the NFL draft or the NBA draft or the WNBA draft did not withdraw, uh, You are subject to ineligibility, and we have discretion to penalize you.

The commissioner has discretion to penalize you.

What exactly those penalties would be, I don't know, but they could be significant.

And so that's where LSU has walked up to the line.

And is standing there ready to stick a toe over but hasn't quite done it yet with these players.

They may do it.

The NCAA may even clear these guys, but the question is, is the SEC gonna say no, that violates our policy.

So that's the, that's the tension that still remains there.

It's, uh, fascinating.

It's an interesting way to run a league.

As you said, why are they still there?

Well, because it's the richest conference they could conceivably join.

And I would say they're at, in terms of value to the SEC they're one of the, they're in the top 3rd.

Um, certainly in the top half, probably in the top 3rd, 5 or 6, I would say.

So the SEC really probably doesn't want to lose them either, but boy, is it, uh, have they succeeded in aggravating the SEC?

Well, uh, you know, we haven't really discussed this.

I haven't really thought of, thought it through.

But if LSU left, I guarantee you there'd be.

I don't know.

How many schools do we think would be standing in line to take their place in the SEC?

So they might be missed in the Big 10, all of them, yeah, so, LSU would be missed, but yeah, I think the, the SEC would survive, uh, for sure, no doubt about it, yeah, and we'll see.

LSU would probably end up like in the Big 12 and not making nearly as much money as they are now.

So, be, be careful, LSU.

All right, uh, let's talk about we do what we do know.

What has happened, uh, that's the first half of the college football season.

Frankly, I, I was feeling like it was a little bit flat until last weekend.

And then we had great stuff all over the map.

Awesome, just great games, drama, theater, upsets, galore.

Um, but so let's go through that.

Let's recap the first half of the season, give out some, some others receiving votes, awards.

I'm sure, uh, producer Gino can, can drum up like a, a t-shirt or a hat or something to send to some of our award winners here.

A koozie.

Or maybe just like a mouse pad, whatever.

Uh, yeah, but , uh, let's, let's make, go ahead and make some declarative judgments, Jane, uh, who is your coach of the first half of the season?

Well, I wrote down sort of my nominees, Jake Dicker, Wake Forest, Eric Morris, Oklahoma State, Bob Chesney, UCLA.

This one's gonna surprise you a little bit.

Maybe Luke Fickle, Wisconsin, JaMarcus Shepherd, Washington State Will Stein, Kentucky on him.

Uh, I'm sorry, Oregon State, my apologies.

Uh.

I put Kirby Smart in there because I think so many times we overlook.

Uh, a, a coach at a program that's been successful because we just think, well, they're, They're great.

It, it doesn't really have anything to do with Kirby Smart, but it does.

I think Kirby Smart's a hellacious coach and doesn't get, uh, uh, the accolades that he should.

And then for pure entertainment value, I put Kiffin and Deion Sanders.

Uh, but, uh, for, for bang for your buck, yeah, it's Dickert, Morris, or Shepherd.

I almost picked Kirby.

Uh, I, I, I, I, I didn't because I, I just don't think you could ignore what Stein and Chesney are doing.

And ultimately, I went with Chesney, with the tiebreaker being UCLA being undefeated, as opposed to Kentucky with the one loss.

Uh, I cannot argue with that at all.

I, I, as a matter of fact, Bob Chesney would be my first choice as well, you know, you.

He, he really has, like, almost to an alarming degree, taken the Signetti template and just repeated it, where you go from James Madison to a downtrodden Big 10 school and win immediately.

Yeah, you know, sustainability, we'll see, but it's, it's very, very similar.

He did, he inherited a quarterback instead of bringing in an outside quarterback, but otherwise, there's a lot of JMU guys.

Um, and the way they're doing it is super impressive to me.

UCLA, what is the one thing we've said about their football program for since Terry Donahue left, they're not very tough.

This is a tough team.

Run the ball.

Uh, hang in there when you lose a quarterback, play a guy from Cal Poly, win and Otson, uh, so, all credit to him.

I will, just for diversity's sake, I'll, I'll say Will Stein because, uh, I'm dazzled by what he's done at Kentucky.

The last first-year coach to, to start like this at Kentucky, Bear Bryant, 80 years ago.

Is that right?

Yeah, yeah.

So I think he's doing pretty well, and the way he's done it, winning the last two games, both 35, 34 in overtime when going for two, it's like he understands overtime better than anybody else, when to go for two, make it work , and you're 5 and 1.

Well, he loves 35 to 34 scores.

He does.

He does.

It's working for him .

So, all right, uh, your, your team of the half season.

Well, the easy choice would be to say UCLA or Kentucky, but I'm not, because I, I'm, I'm, I've got to find some, some spot to pat Georgia on the back, and this is it for me.

They're coming off of a Fantastic win, uh, over Bama at Bama.

Look, we can You know, we can discuss the what ifs of the non-pass interference call, but it, it, it was a tremendous game.

You were there in person.

But I, I wanna reward a team that, I mean, it's not necessarily an underdog story, uh, but it, it's just, it's a great team, and it's put together well.

And it has a quarterback who, who is fearless and, and understands how to handle a moment that matters.

And their, their defense is like a, a bunch of mutants running around.

And so, I, I wanna reward a team that, that has done what we thought it might be able to do.

And so, to me, that team is Georgia.

It's my pick too, uh, and partially, I maybe somewhat prisoner of the moment, but for having been there, but that was a very high-level game against Alabama both sides in, you know, a classic Alabama environment where, you know, that is as big time as intense as it gets, and they handled it.

And yes, to follow up on your point.

Georgia, Georgia's payroll isn't what a lot of other schools' payroll is.

It is less, and they get guys to stay and wait their turn to play, because there's 15 guys on that defense that are monsters.

They're not all getting on the field, but eventually they will, and then you're gonna make plays.

And they just, they have different level football players, athletes, they play with an intensity that's different, a violence that's different.

They bring your 3rd string running back in.

Peanut Phillips rushes for 120 yards.

Gunner Stockton very much overlooked, probably by people like me included, uh, played great, you know, stuck around.

Yes, exactly.

They're just a complete team that has a little bit of throwback to them about the way they are, uh, put together.

So, I think they have a lot of throwback.

I think that's a great point by you.

They, they are in this world, they qualify as old school.

They totally do, yeah, yeah.

All right, who's your flop of the half season?

So many candidates, so, so little podcast time for this category.

Uh, Florida State and Clemson, obviously are on that list.

Penn State and Michigan are combined 0 and 5 in the Big 10, 6 and 5 overall.

Did we think that was gonna happen?

Uh, Washington and Maryland certainly are on that list.

Uh, LSU, uh, Texas A&M, uh, huge spending teams, South Carolina, uh, those three teams are combined 3 and 8 in the SEC standings.

But for pure implosion, Uh, entertainment.

I, I think it has to be Texas A&M.

I mean, you have a 3-year head coach, Mike Elko, who is under fire.

You had what we thought was uh an experienced, really talented, dynamic quarterback.

Uh, we had a team that was ranked , a team with great expectations, and none of it's happened.

It's, it's just been, It's been painful to watch.

So, if I'm, if I'm looking at expectations and what I thought might happen versus what has happened, to me, it's A&M.

Uh, that's my team too, exactly.

They're 3-3.

They were ranked, I think, 8th coming into the season.

They're now 3-3.

They've been absolutely pummeled on the road twice.

They have not scored a touchdown in a road game.

Uh, they lost 35 to 6 to LSU.

They lost 27 to 6 to Missouri.

Uh, and then Mike Elko.

Who I, I, he's not in trouble, I don't think that.

But, but to, to go on and trash the, uh, the number one fan website that follows the team with a huge readership slash fan following seemed like a, an, a, an unforced error, if you will, like that, those are your people, man.

Those, those are the people that want you to succeed more than anyone.

They may get mad when you lose, but, but they're behind you, so.

I would perhaps not just like choose to call them a cesspool.

So we, we didn't mention the, the, the money that A&M is spending.

Oh, massive amounts.

So massive.

They're, you know, amongst the top 5 or 6 probably spenders in the, in the, uh, in the country.

Mhm.

Not good, not good, Aggies, uh, your player of the half-season, your mid-season Heisman, if you will.

I mean, look, I'll list a couple of other guys, but I think we both, you know, uh, Messmaker at Oklahoma State, Mensah at Miami, uh, CJ Carr, Notre Dame, who was, I think he was both of our choices preseason, wasn't he?

He was, uh, I threw in Tennessee's, uh, Xavier Gilliam.

Um , I, I, I've, I've heard people that I respect.

Uh, who really know ball, who really study it, who, who think he might be the best defensive player, uh, out there right now.

And, uh, and, uh, Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss, but, you know, how can you not take Jeremiah Smith right now?

Yeah, you have to.

I mean, frankly, he's, he's just so, so obviously better than everybody he's playing against.

Uh, I don't know if you saw the, the great quote from Ryan Day, I might even said it last week.

I forgive me if I'm repeating myself, but If he's single covered, he's open.

If he's double covered, he's kind of open.

If he's triple covered, throw to somebody else, right?

It was a great quote.

Yeah, pretty good philosophy there.

Yes, uh, just a supreme talent, and I think head and shoulders is the best right now.

I will say from a Heisman standpoint and the way this thing works.

Mensah versus Carr, November 7th, Michigan uh Miami against Notre Dame.

If they're both undefeated, the winner is gonna come out of that with a lot of juice.

It's like, if they play well, if it's not 9-7, but if one of those quarterbacks really performs well and their team is still undefeated coming out of that, I think then, then Jeremiah Smith gets some competition.

Absolutely.

We'll see.

Uh, it's, I asked Smith about, he, I, I talked to him, I sat down with him in July, June, maybe even, and He went through his goals for the year or whatever, and he didn't mention the Heisman.

I said, what about the Heisman?

He goes, that's a quarterback award.

They're biased.

So I think he's, he, and I'm not saying he's wrong, but I think that was, uh, that's his outlook on that.

But he did say, he did say recently, I'm the best player in the country.

Well, it ain't bragging if you're back, if you can back it up.

He's backing it up.

All right.

Most memorable moment of the half season for you.

Uh Man, there's been some, I, you know, I kind of disagree with you, and it's been kind of a blahy first half.

I actually think there's, there's been some Some incredible moments, but I will go with um September 5th.

Uh, a football date that will live in Western Michigan history.

Infamy, infamy, yes.

So, yeah, that, that game, that moment, the, uh, the, the mystery one second that was, uh, the, the clock that, that we didn't know existed, the extra second, Michigan takes advantage, I mean, Michigan took advantage of it, uh, completed the Hail Mary and beat Western Michigan.

And inexplicably, Michigan fans stormed the field.

Uh, so, yeah, that was the moment to me, uh, that, that, as it turns out, you know, remember, we thought, well, the, the CFP committee, if they're looking at Michigan later, well, that's not gonna be an issue.

But still, it was an incredible moment, and partly , it was an incredible moment, I thought, because of the way that Western Michigan handled the entire situation in the aftermath of it.

It did.

Um, I'm gonna counterpoint you in a minute on that, but, uh, my most memorable moment was just the scene in Oxford, September 19th, really September 18th and 19th.

I was down there for LSU Mississippi.

And that's the differentiation between The NFL and college football was that scene, the the, the amount of emotion, the amount of people that just showed up in that college town without tickets to be there, and then the incredible emotional intensity before the game , during the game, and then the cathartic release afterwards when Mississippi won.

Yeah, that whole thing, that was for me, and that part of that is, OK, yeah, you, you maybe you had to be there, but, but that's college football.

That is where, you know, the, the passion that just can't be replicated.

Even great fan bases in the, in the NFL, they, they don't have moments like that.

So we may be losing some of those moments, by the way, as we head toward the 2014 playoff, but let's go to thank God we had that one.

Why not?

Why not that too.

Uh, all right, most forgettable moment of the half season.

Oh, I think it has to be that Clemson LSU game.

Uh, I mean, you know, we thought, I mean, we hoped that it would be.

Uh, memorable, and it was entirely forgettable, uh, almost as forgettable as my weekly locks of the week picks.

Uh, and then I would also throw in the, um, uh, the incident, uh, at during the Tennessee, Texas game.

That is a moment with, uh, Colin Simmons that I would like to forget.

Yeah, OK.

I would bet Colin Simmons would like to forget that now too.

Uh, so here's, here, here's my counterpoint to you .

I think the most forgettable moment was the Bail Mary in the big house.

We remember the play, but what did it mean, as you, you, you kind of alluded to, didn't mean anything.

At the time, we're like, oh my gosh, this could, this could have ramifications, long-lasting, uh, effects on the playoffs.

No, Michigan's not good enough.

Western Michigan's probably not gonna be in the picture.

So, it was incredible sound and fury and an unbelievable play, to Michigan's credit, the 47 yard bomb, um.

And, in, in just a firestorm of controversy, but then it was over, and then, uh, the game doesn't really affect the rest of the season, so that's my point there.

OK.

All right, uh, game of the half season.

Well, I'm gonna go back to what you, you know, I don't have to add much to it, but the Ole Miss uh game, LSU.

Uh, you said, you know, maybe you had to be there.

No, I mean, you were there.

I was watching it on TV and, and I could feel it, just watching it on TV.

You could feel the The tension, the excitement, the, uh, uh, the drama, the football hatred, uh, that was being spewed toward, toward Kiffin.

I mean, all of it, the backstory, uh, it was, it, it was the very best of college football in a way.

And, uh, and, and I loved it.

So I, I thought that I'm not even sure there's a second place, uh, after that.

Well, I'll, I'll give you a second place at least.

Maybe, maybe 1, arguably 1st, Texas 24, Ohio State 23.

Great game, dramatic.

Texas down 20 or down 17 , yeah, they were down 20, came back, scored 3 touchdowns to win the game.

I understand, but come on.

Come on.

Yeah, yeah, OK, but it was 2nd, sorry, it wasn't, it wasn't better than, than that.

I'm not even sure I can articulate what, what, what that LSU Ole Miss thing felt like, you know, I, I mean, Texas, Ohio State, early, early in the season, I don't know.

It just doesn't have the same power.

I'm diversifying my list here, man.

I've, I've already talked about that with me once in a while, can't you?

Uh, Arch Manning, that might have been the high point of his college career to that point right there was that comeback.

We'll see where it goes from here, OK, giving up on anybody.

All right, God awful failed prediction of the half season .

I'm pretty sure I know what you're gonna go with here.

Well, I, I'm gonna wear this.

Uh, uh, uh, like a, uh, on a, like a baby bib.

What's on a baby bib.

I've got Gerber's.

I've got crushed Cheerios on it.

Um, I'm the guy who, who picked Oregon to win the national championship.

OK, I don't think that's gonna happen, right?

And then you asked, uh, who is this year's Indiana, and I said Clemson.

Yes, that's what I, what I should have said is, uh, it was Indiana from 2019.

Uh, so, I, I, I deserve all the mocking you wanna give me.

In my defense, we had another category in our, in our, uh, season prediction show, and it was something like, what, what are you gonna be apologizing for by the end of the season?

And I said, I think I'll be apologizing to Miami for the Clemson pick.

So, I did try to hedge my bet a little bit, but, but yeah, the Clemson thing did not work out.

What I'm trying to remember what, maybe you probably didn't have anything wrong.

My picks have been so good.

I mean, What do you even, how, how do you even find something that went wrong?

No, I, I, I will say though, I also pre-mocked you on Clemson.

I didn't wait till now.

I pre-mocked you at the time.

I was like, no way.

So, OK, but my, my sleeper pick in the ACC was California.

That hasn't worked out terribly well, uh.

They, the, the new staff has not meshed with Gron Keawe Sagauateella, the quarterback.

Uh, he's also been injured.

The team's been disappointing.

They, they did pull out a, uh, a close victory at home against Virginia Tech, but they've lost to UNLV.

They lost to Clemson by 2 touchdowns at home.

Uh, they got thumped in the opener by UCLA, so there hasn't been much there, there yet.

So, I will, uh, I will acknowledge that was a bad pick.

That's a pathetic effort.

I mean, Cal, that nothing's gonna match the Clemson thing that no, no, the Clemson was an absolute like a, a flaming dive bomb.

Yes, that was, that was impressive.

So I'm glad you know what, you, you gotta take some flyers in these things, man, because there's, there is, and I, I didn't do it just to do it.

I, every year.

There's a team that we just don't see.

Coming.

And, and, you know, I thought it might be Clemson, now it might be UCLA or Kentucky, we'll see how it all shakes out.

But that is the eternal truth of college football.

There's always somebody that comes out of nowhere.

Absolutely, risers and fallers that you, you, you, you can't really see on paper in August, and then all of a sudden it starts happening, like, oh, all right.

Uh, overreaction of the half-season.

Oh gosh.

Uh, I'm not gonna blame us for this one, cause I don't think we fell for it.

But after Florida started 4 and 0, I kind of fell for it.

Oh, did you?

OK, you know, they're, they're the greatest team of all time.

Um, let's start building the statue of John Searle.

It, it, it hasn't happened, and, and if we really think about it, it probably wasn't, but they did play really well.

They, they looked like there's something there.

I think that was an overreaction.

And then I, I think And I, I'd like to think I didn't fall for this either, but Look at Penn State's schedule.

They don't play, what, uh, they don't play Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, or Iowa.

They could make the playoffs.

No, no.

So, I think those were the two, in the Lincoln Riley thing, let's fire him, and that was an overreaction.

Yes, for sure.

Uh, I will, I will own overenthusiasm on Florida.

I ended up, uh, Writing a, uh, like 2400 words on, on John Summerall.

Fortunately, we chose to run that before the Missouri game, ran it early the day before, uh, still, it's an all right story , and I think he's gonna be fine there, but, uh, yeah, there might have been a little overenthusiasm there.

Jaden Ball, Heisman candidate.

We didn't say what year.

No, we didn't.

Um, yeah, like.

They're like, they're sitting there at 4 and 2 now, which is probably about where they should be, frankly, you know, beating Mississippi might have been one better than you thought they would do, and then losing to South Carolina at home badly, one worse.

So, I don't think it's like a disaster or a disappointment, but the, the early optimism has, uh, has been replaced by reality .

All right, one more for you, with your surprise of the half season.

Well, you're gonna say UCLA or or Kentucky or that would be the, that would be the easy pick.

I, I am accustomed to Penn State and Michigan followers.

You know, shrieking into the night whenever there's any sort of problems at their, at their program.

But I am, I am not only surprised, I'm amazed that, that we're really having these discussions, uh , about, you know, Matt Campbell's in trouble.

Uh, Kyle Whittingham, he's, he's a horrible fit.

He might not last a year.

Uh it's like, please, just stop.

Uh, uh, just let, can they coach a season first?

Especially Matt Campbell.

I mean, anybody who thought Penn State was, was gonna be a, a legitimate playoff contender, they fell for the schedule, uh, a game again.

Uh, this was a, this is a program that needs to be fixed, and Matt Campbell's a, a fixer, and he'll, he'll be just fine.

The Whittingham hysterics.

Uh, I, I, I think that's premature too.

So, that's a surprise to me that there are people who actually think that that's a possibility.

Well, uh, similar theme, I guess, for me, but I'm, I'm taking the, the, the, which coaches are failing.

Nobody's been fired, is my point.

That surprised me.

That is unusual at this point.

We're sitting here, October 15th, and we've had a couple of coordinators get whacked, but we have not had a head coach be terminated yet, which Uh, it runs counter to recent years, like last year at this point, I think we had like 5 or maybe within this next week.

And, uh, that I think that goes to the new economic reality of the sport, which is We can't just necessarily burn a gazillion dollars on a buyout when we gotta pay the players this much money.

And I think there's also some, some choices being made of All right, we're gonna spend 20 million or 50 million to buy out this coach.

We gotta spend that much or whatever we gotta spend an inordinate amount to bring in the next group, would we be better off spending the money, not just on players, but, but the whole sports staff, you know, general managers, personnel, all that sort of thing.

That's what Wisconsin chose.

Wisconsin chose that, and right now, it's paying off.

We'll see in the next 3 weeks for them, but, uh, I think so, there's, there's just kind of, I think, a different calculus being done, different math on, on whether it's worth it to fire your coach mid-season.

And, and I think that's why neither one of us said, uh, I mean, Mike Norvell, well, I, I mean, I don't think it's a surprise that he's still coaching at Florida State for all the reasons that you just mentioned, because you're not just firing him, you're firing, firing a staff, and in FSU's case, uh, they have some financial distress.

And so these are, to your point, these are the realities of, of, uh, coaches' contracts these days and schools having to really I don't wanna say be financially responsible because I don't think they are.

They're not doing that, but, but they are having to really look at those numbers and say , uh, maybe we can look at them for the rest of the season, we'll see.

Yeah, yeah, I'm with you.

All right, uh, next category here, we've got some believe it or don't believe it, that, uh, this is, uh, you're gonna ask me these questions, right, Gino?

I am, and then I'll just chime in with a quick, uh, observation afterward.

Believe or not believe.

Purdue is respectable.

Oh, I believe it.

I, I very much believe it.

I , I'm really impressed.

Barry Odom is a good coach.

Took a year of getting his teeth kicked in, but that was cause that program was decimated.

They were down, down, down.

Won two straight Big 10 games, dominated Minnesota, and Minnesota had been hot.

And if you look at the rest of the schedule now, we weren't sure at the time, but Wake Forest, their overtime against Wake Forest, Wake Forest is a ranked team.

They go at UCLA and lose a shootout, 52-38.

UCLA is a top 15 team.

They got crushed by Notre Dame, but that might just be that Notre Dame's that good.

So, I'm super impressed by what Barry Odom's done.

They have , they have found an offense, uh, which has been a chronic problem.

Uh, the defense is way better as well.

And I'll try not to play the scheduled game, but there are more wins to come for the boilermakers.

Well, yeah, they're not an easy out anymore, right?

So that's always the first step.

And then I love this number.

They have 2 more victories in the combined 2 more Big 10 victories than, than the combined totals of Penn State, Michigan, Washington, Rutgers, Maryland, and Michigan State.

So, so good for them.

All right.

Believe or not believe, Oregon is toast.

Not yet.

I don't believe that yet.

Uh, they, I mean, they're in bad shape, especially the, the longer the, uh, Dante Moore is out, the, the greater the concern is there.

And he's out this week.

He's out this week, uh, against Nebraska, who's shown some certain respectability there.

And so what are you doing?

Like Dylan Raola was so bad they benched him.

Yeah.

Do you bring him back, or you go uh with Brock Thomas, the former walk-on who was OK, uh, in emergency, emergency relief in the loss to UCLA.

There's too much talent there to give up on him completely.

Their losses are both to ranked teams.

They have victories over ranked teams, both Boise and USC.

The Oklahoma State loss is obviously non-conference, which could potentially help them if they turn this thing around here.

So I am, I am not giving up on Oregon yet.

I'm profoundly disappointed in the way they've played, but I'm not giving up on them.

Well, two things.

So let's say, so they still have the game, uh, that game's at Ohio State, right?

November 7th.

Let's assume, uh, just for discussion's sake, they lose that game.

Are they the litmus test for a 3 loss?

Team, yes, in the playoff scenario.

Yeah, that, then, then we've got a great argument right there, I think, at 9 and 3, is that good enough?

Uh, last year we, was Oklahoma 9 and 3 coming in?

I'm trying to remember, but, uh, I thought we had one or was it, was it Alabama.

I, I, I need to look this up.

Um, but I don't think 9 and 3 is disqualifying cause they're gonna have some good wins as long as, uh, Boise and USC stay respectable.

So, have you, have you seen any of these, uh, Dan Lanning weekly pressers at Oregon where he's sitting at like this massive desk and behind him is like, you know, the huge, Oregon, Oh, have you seen this at all?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been in that room.

OK, so, uh, it, it just so when you see it on, on just the image of it, it, it looks like a James Bond movie and like he's, he's the, the leader of Spector.

You know, it's just, it's a bizarre background for a, I don't know, I don't know why it struck me that way, but, well, I mean, it's Oregon, so, you know, we're gonna do everything like super.

Extravagant, ornate, futuristic, whatever.

It is an odd room.

It's interesting.

By the way, Alabama had 3 losses, got in with 3 losses last year, just to clarify.

OK.

All right, uh, believe or not believe, Nebraska is sort of back.

I kind of believe it.

The, the, the problem is they're back but still doing the same thing , which is finding ways to lose big games.

But, I mean, for the most part, they took it to Indiana.

They largely controlled the line of scrimmage.

They had a quarterback make big plays.

Their defense was good.

Uh, but again, you gotta be able to close a game, you gotta be able to finish a big game, and that's at home, rabid atmosphere, and the two teams did, you know, historically, it's, this is a completely nonsensical statement.

But the two programs did what they do.

Indiana finds ways to win games.

Nebraska finds ways to lose games.

So, I'm saying, I think they are better.

For 55 minutes or 50 minutes than they have been in quite a while, they've got to show they're better in the last 5 or 10.

Well, they had that grotesque, gruesome bust.

Oh, on the, uh, touchdown play just because everybody was open, Gene, by 20 yards, it's not that bad.

Yeah, that was, that was bad.

I, I agree with you.

They obviously are, are improved, and now they play Oregon, yeah, a vulnerable Oregon team, I think.

And now this is your time to prove it, Nebraska, OK.

You showed us something against Indiana.

Now do it against Oregon.

So let's see what, let's see what happens.

Um, all right.

Believe or not believe, UCLA will run the table.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, I do not believe that.

That ain't happening.

Again, love the UCLA story, love the team, love everything they are doing, but they They've got a quarterback injury that may be season-ending for Niko Iamalava, and if that's the case, nothing against Ty Diefenbach, the, uh, Cal Poly transfer who appears to be the guy.

And here's the, here's the, the interesting side note.

Paula Bovin, former sportswriter, Arizona State, uh, professor, former college football playoff selection committee member, it's her nephew.

Yeah, that's a great note.

Yeah, so we always like it when the Hacks win.

Um, but no, they're not going undefeated.

The schedule looks tantalizing, and again, we can do this, and you're, you're smart, you don't do that, you don't play the scheduling game.

There's no ranked opponents between now and USC at the end, but There's, I would say, certainly 3 losable games, given the quarterback uncertainty.

Wisconsin at Minnesota, Michigan, and then, of course, the rivalry game against USC.

So I, I'm with you.

Um, maybe they can pull it off.

I, I don't see it.

All right.

Believe or not believe, the Heisman race is over.

No, don't believe, as we talked about earlier, and again, I think it's, there's a clear front runner and he might be 12 lengths ahead heading into the, the back half of the race here, but I will wait and see what happens coming out of South Bend, November 7th, and potentially elsewhere.

But I just think you got two great quarterbacks on very good teams.

Heisman, the formula, undefeated team with a good quarterback, hey, that guy's gonna get a lot of votes.

And, and the other thing, you know how the media works.

You get, you start fixating on one guy for like two months, it's like, oh, who else can we talk about?

We need, we need another name.

Who can we talk about?

And so you start finding other people, and I think there, there are other people to be found and you start trying to find flaws.

Oh yeah, sure.

And, and Bobby Bowden, the, the legendary, uh, coach at Florida State, always used to say Heisman's are one on TV.

And his point was the games that everybody's watching.

That's when it's determined.

And there still are some huge games, as you said, that are, are, are gonna be there for other players.

And um I think I mentioned this earlier in the season.

Uh, CJ Carr right now is not the front runner, but Notre Dame has some opportunities where he can certainly make it interesting with Jeremiah Smith.

I don't think either one of us are disputing that, that Jeremiah Smith is, is the most talented player, college player on the planet right now.

But as far as the Heisman, it's such a subjective process.

And there's such, there are so many big games left that are gonna be on national television for everyone to see.

That I think that could still influence things.

Yeah, in terms of the Heisman we winning on TV, it's a great saying.

I think it's true, and I think this is the first player I ever remember striking the Heisman pose was Desmond Howard during that unbelievable game against Ohio State on national TV.

And then Charles Woodson was great on national TV against Ohio State.

I think those games helped them win the Heisman, uh, for sure.

So, TBD, absolutely.

All right, Kentucky is the SEC's version of UCLA.

I I, I wasn't quite sure how to answer this.

I don't have a binary, yes, I believe it, no, I don't believe it for you.

So I'm gonna say, I don't quite believe it because I, I think it's just tougher sledding for Kentucky, uh, going forward than it is for UCLA.

Uh, and again, love that story, love everything Will Stein is doing there.

Kenny Miny has been one of the great portal pickups in the country.

And they've just put it together, and then the way they're winning and the, the excitement, look, I live in the state.

People are very, very excited about Kentucky football at a time when they usually are losing interest in starting to talk about Kentucky basketball.

So, I'm all the way down on that, but at Oklahoma this weekend, you win that one , look out.

But they're also, they're at Tennessee, they're at Missouri.

The rivalry game at the end with Louisville could really, really be good.

That could be something.

So, I , I'm loving what they're doing, but I'm not sure I'd put them quite on the same path as UCLA.

I'm with you.

I think there are similarities, but I'm not sure they're, they're equals right now.

But they sure are interesting.

They sure have been a lot of fun to watch.

All right.

Uh, believe or not believe, Arch should come back for another season.

It's a great question.

I, I love this question.

I like the discussion.

No, no, no, no.

I'm not saying he's ready to go be a star in the NFL, but I'm saying the cake has baked to the point of almost being burnt at Texas.

I just think it's, it's, hey, this season could still end really well.

They could be fine.

They can go to the playoffs, they can win the national championship.

But This much time, I look, I like when people stay in college in one place, but this has been And a, a hothouse for him, and I feel like It will be time to see if you are ready to be an NFL quarterback after this.

I don't, I don't transfer, just go pro.

Just go pro.

All right, I'm gonna throw this out to you then.

Yeah, you mentioned the T word transfer.

Yep.

Maybe Texas just isn't the right place for him .

Maybe it's not.

Can you imagine Arch Manning at Indiana?

I hadn't even considered that.

Just think about it.

Just think about it.

Nothing against Texas.

Nothing against what Sarkisian has done.

Just sometimes it just I'm not saying it hasn't worked out, but could it work out better someplace else?

And is that someplace else, given what Kurt Signnetti has shown?

Is it Indiana?

Should he consider a place like Indiana?

All right, you just completely changed my mind.

I love that idea now.

I mean, can, again, well, let's not throw out the baby, the bathwater, and everything else for the second half of the season, but if it goes as it, as it has gone, and Arch is average, and Texas is not quite what it could be.

And the NFL says, you know what, we're not really quite ready for you yet, which I don't think they'll say.

I think, I think they wanna draft him.

I still, I'm not 100% sure why, but I think so.

But, he's exactly what Josh Hoover is.

Josh Hoover was pretty much this exact guy at TCU.

He was good, but he wasn't where he could have been.

And Fernando Mendoza was that guy.

And I, you know, you look at like the pass efficiency rating for Mendoza at Cal and then what he was at IU, that's Arch, Arch had almost an identical pass efficiency rating last year, and so far, he's about on the same plane.

If you wanna look and say, where's the one place I can go and just take a one-year rocket ride, I like your thinking.

Uh, you know, again, you make the perfect point.

We, this is just of the half season, all right.

There's, we got the whole second half season, but I just, it just struck me, maybe for whatever reason.

If he did, and he's one of the very few guys who could say, you know what, I really like college.

I'm not there yet.

I don't feel comfortable leaving yet.

I want to improve.

I want to put myself in the best position to succeed at the next level.

I'm gonna stay another year.

Indiana seems like one of those places that he might consider.

All right, so let's, let's go to the next one.

Believe or not believe, Sark is right.

Arch Manning gets micro-criticism because of his last name.

Um, I believe that's right.

I also think he gets macro praise because of his last name.

I think he gets both.

I think he gets all outsized reactions.

So, I don't necessarily feel bad for Arch.

I don't feel like, oh, he's been unfairly treated.

I think he gets what comes with the territory of being Arch Manning at the University of Texas.

So, You know, I, I.

Sark can say that, but, but he, a lot of good things have happened by being Arch Manning at the University of Texas.

Every time I turn on a TV and see a game, there's an Arch Manning commercial.

So, I, I, it's fine, you know what , this is what you get when you're Arch Manning.

I, I, I'm with you.

I, I would say I don't believe this, uh, for two reasons.

One, it's, it's Texas.

Who'sever the quarterback there, there is, there, there are huge expectations and, uh, huge scrutiny.

And if you change the name on his back to, to Smith or Jones, we would still be saying the same things about his performances that he's, He, he has the physical tools.

He's a great teammate.

He seems like a, a, a great person.

Um, uh, he has the pedigree, uh, but he, and he makes these, you know, slap your forehead, uh, plays where you go, oh my gosh, he's one of 3 people in the, in college football who can make that throw.

But then he'll, he'll do what he did against Oklahoma, and he'll force the ball or he'll, he doesn't make the right read.

He's so inconsistent at times, and I don't think that has anything to do with his last name.

I think it has to do with this play.

So that's fair.

I mean, that's where I have my dispute or my, my respectful disagreement with Sarkisian on that one.

That's fair.

I mean, guys with last name Applewhite, Sims, Ewers, Gilbert, they took a lot of criticism.

Absolutely.

It comes with, with that place.

All right, uh, believe or not believe, and I think you answered this earlier in the pod, uh, Mike Elko is in legitimate trouble.

No, he is not.

He is not in legitimate trouble.

Uh, I think they probably still remember very well firing a a football coach for $76 million.

They're in no rush to fire Mike Elko.

He was really good the first two years.

Sometimes, they, I'll say, Brett Bielema put this, uh, a few weeks ago when Illinois wasn't playing very well.

It's like, sometimes it really kind of just doesn't work out with the team, you know, it's like, in this day and age when you're pulling together pieces and they pulled together an offensive line out of the portal.

I, I don't think you legitimately can say, after 2 good years, 1 bad year, no, you gotta go.

All right, I'm with you on all of that.

Believe or not believe, Michigan made the right choice by sticking with Underwood and Beck.

Yeah, for sure.

I, I believe that.

I, I, first of all, again, mid-season, it's hard to, hard to throw out a quarterback and an offensive coordinator and start from scratch.

You had an off week, great.

Fix what you've got with the people you've got .

And the answer to these things, whenever the question is, you gotta get rid of the court, well, who's the next one?

Is he any good?

Who's gonna call the plays?

Are they any good?

Stick with what you've got, get better in that open date, we'll see what they come back with.

It's been a massive disappointment.

It may not get better, but I don't think there's any cure sitting there on the, on the bench or, or in the staff room.

Carr took some first team reps .

They are saying that uh Beck has said that's not unusual.

They want to get him some time there.

I, I'm with you on all of this, Pat, but if it doesn't go well this week, I mean, at some point, and Whittingham has alluded to this, at some point, Uh, you know, the definition of insanity is doing the, the, the same thing over and over again.

If there is an improvement, then I, I do think you have to at least look at your options and maybe, maybe make a change.

I, I get it.

And Tommy Carr, obviously, magic name there and well, highly recruited and everything.

He's thrown two passes in college.

Yeah.

So, I, I, I'm just not ready to say, oh, look out, he was 2 for 2 against UTEP.

That ain't cutting it to me as far as like, we should bench a $3 million quarterback for him.

All right.

Believe or not , believe, no choice Michigan makes is going to make a difference.

I believe that.

That's why I've basically said.

I, I, again, you can, you can mix it up, but I'm just not sure, uh, you're going to improve what you got.

I would hope they spent the open day finding some ways to diversify an offense that is basically just 5 guys.

It is Underwood, 2 running backs, and 2 receivers.

They don't throw to anybody other than 2 guys.

That, that school's been a tight end factory.

They need to get those guys more involved, they need to be more creative in the running game.

But I, other than that, I don't think there's anything that you're gonna do that's gonna wave a magic wand with this team.

They're ranked 100th in rushing offense, so maybe start there.

Uh, all right.

Believe or not believe Matt Campbell is in legitimate trouble at Penn State.

No, OK, we can move on then, unless you have something else you'd like to add to that.

Nope, that's fine.

OK.

Believe or not believe, Oklahoma State is going to win the Big 12.

Nope, I don't believe that.

Uh, like the, the way they've bounced back clearly from the Tulsa debacle.

They are good.

They are explosive.

They're exactly what everybody thought they were gonna be since then.

But I think, I think Utah, BYU, and maybe Texas Tech are all bringing more to the table.

Now.

They don't play Utah or BYU, so there is a means to get to the Big 12 championship game.

Big, big game this weekend at Houston.

See how they come out of that.

But right now, uh, no, uh, they're not the team I'm looking at to win that league.

If they beat Houston, I mean, like, I want to believe.

But I wanna see what they do against Houston.

Yeah, uh, but, but they've been fun to watch.

Yeah, they've been fun to watch, and, and that turnaround is, is for real.

I'm just not sure this is the year.

So I will, I will hand the, uh, the podcast back to you, my friend.

All right, thank you.

Excellent job teeing me up, I guess.

I hope we'll see.

We'll see what the readers say or listeners say.

Sorry.

Um, all right, winners of steak dinner it's time for our picks, Gene, and let's get an update on the standings.

Let's not.

I continue to soar above you, 21 and 17 plus the Bear pick, puts me 4 plus a tiebreaker ahead of you at 17 and 21.

I was 3 and 3 last week, you were 2 and 4.

Uh, we're verging on respectability.

Uh, we'll see if we can actually get there.

This is a good, really good week of games, some tough games to pick, I thought.

Uh, but let's go through them.

Let's start one game I will be at in Bloomington, Indiana, Ohio State at Indiana.

It's either the first or second biggest home game in Indiana history.

When they beat Purdue for the oaken bucket in 1967 to go to their first Rose Bowl, that might qualify, but this one's awfully big.

Ohio State is giving 3.5 on the road.

Where do you land?

Well, first of all, you're gloating.

Now makes it very clear to me why Will Wade lashed out at you.

OK, I think Will was entirely within his purview to do that.

Yeah.

Well, look, we've said, uh, Ohio State has the best player on the planet in college football.

Uh, IU was sort of, I don't want to say exposed, but clearly their secondary has, has some issues.

They weren't able to run the ball last week against Nebraska.

But I'm going to take IU and the points, partly because they are facing a different kind of quarterback than they did last week.

Uh, saying he isn't a, uh, uh, a, a running type of quarterback, which Nebraska had, which I think presented some problems for IU.

And I also think that I you have some pretty good wide receivers too, and, and I, I imagine that they've just about had it listening about how great Jeremiah Smith is and I, I just think Indiana, uh, is gonna have a bit of a bounce back performance.

And so, I'm not saying Indiana is gonna win the game, but I, I'll, I'll take those 3.5 points.

I'll say Indiana is gonna win the game.

Uh, I, I, I'm disappointed.

I was hoping you were gonna pick the Buckeyes, but I, this is a tough game.

I may just be a little bit over-reliant on being dazzled by everything Indiana's done.

No, no, don't, no, that's not true, Pat.

That's not true.

They've backed it up pretty well now.

I'm, I'm with you.

You turned me around.

Big 10 championship game last year.

Brian Haynes' defense, when they, when it gets down to the red zone, they condensed the field and they kept Ohio State out.

Now Ohio State screwed some things up, but I think.

If other than the, the obvious mismatch with Jeremiah Smith, who, look, he, he hit Indiana for 144 yards last year in the Big 10 championship game, they still only scored 10 points.

Indiana beat him.

So red zone defense, make the plays with your wideouts, get the running game going a little bit better.

Ohio State has a starting offensive lineman out.

I'm going with the Hoosiers.

OK.

All right.

The other to win, to win outright.

Uh, other huge one here, the last big non-conference game, I think, really, oh well, Notre Dame, Miami.

This is Notre Dame BYU in Provo.

The other one where it's like, is this or is this not the biggest home game in BYU history?

Probably is.

Uh, Notre Dame laying 10 in Provo.

What do you think?

Well, those wins against uh Purdue, Wisconsin, North Carolina look a little better for Notre Dame these days.

So, uh I mean, I don't know what that really means relative to this pick, but they, they could get, uh, Leonard Moore back this week.

Uh, he's been out with a concussion, so there's, he was listed as questionable, uh, earlier in the week.

So we'll see if he ends up playing.

That would be a huge plus.

I picked BYU to, to win the Big 12, and their defense has been, has been stout.

Uh, but, I, I have a hard time picking against Notre Dame, even giving up the 10 points.

Notre Dame is +13 in turnover margin.

Uh, their running game has, has, has started to show real signs of life.

CJ Carr, we know what he can do.

I will take, uh, the Irish and give the 10.

I will too.

Notre Dame doesn't just tend to win, they tend to win pretty authoritatively, and I think they have the best defense in the country.

They're number one in total defense, and they are really good at every level, even like really good.

Everything you want a defense to do.

So I love that.

Uh, I love the boost in the running game that the freshman, Jonas Walton has given them.

Um, so I think they're more explosive, and I think they can cover that 1016 consecutive wins by double digits, yeah, they don't mess around the stat that I saw.

They do not mess around ever since they messed around too much against Texas A&M and Miami to start last year.

All right, game we talked about briefly.

Ohio State, I'm sorry, Oklahoma State getting 4.5 at Houston.

What do you think?

I'm taking Oklahoma State.

I just I'm just a huge fan of Messmaker.

I think that , that defense, while not elite, is serviceable.

So, again, I, I, I know it's on the road, and I have great respect for Houston, but I'll, I'll, I'll take the 4.5 in Oklahoma State.

I'm really torn on this because I think Connor Wegman's been very good in underweight at Houston.

He's done really well.

They play, they, their only loss was to Texas Tech by about 6 inches at the goal line.

But I love what, like everything you said about Oklahoma State.

I'm with, and so I'm, I'm gonna ride the hot hand with the Cowboys there and take the points and see what happens.

Uh, that crowd could, could be a lot of Oklahoma State orange in that crowd too.

Houston, Houston doesn't draw, do they?

They don't.

All right, uh, former rivalry game.

The carcass of Florida State getting 21 at Miami.

Uh, Mike Norvell has alluded to, still has his job for economic reasons, not for performance reasons.

Where are you going here?

I, I mean, I, I can't believe, you know, this used to be one of the, the absolute greatest rivalries in college football.

I, I think the Norvelle Agony Tour continues.

Uh, I don't think Miami will show any mercy whatsoever.

Uh, FSU is ranked 121st in total defense.

I, I mean, there, that, that defense is so bad it would qualify for federal disaster funding.

I, I just don't, I don't know how, how they beat Miami.

And 21 points normally would seem like a lot, but it just doesn't feel like a lot in this one.

I agree.

Um, I think Miami's gonna absolutely lay the lumber on them, and what, if, if one play can decide the, the trajectory of a season and a whole tenure, it was his decision.

They were boat racing Louisville up 14-0, 4th and goal inside the five, they go for it, they throw a swing pass, they don't get it.

Louisville goes 97 yards on the next play, and it was over.

Like they crumbled.

That team crumbled.

So I don't like their chances to be resilient against a super explosive Miami team that I agree will, uh, be looking to not just win, but to really dominate that game.

Yeah.

All right, uh, let's see.

I've suddenly lost the rundown.

Here we go.

Uh, last one, Missouri getting 6 at Mississippi.

Um, big SEC game.

There's a lot on the line here as we try to sort out that second tier of the SEC.

What do you think?

There's a lot on your head there too.

There is that Mizzou hat.

The fighting Pat forties.

What year did you graduate there?

Do I have to disclose that information?

No, you don't have to.

1931.

No, where's the statue located?

It's, it's still under and it's being worked on.

OK.

What happened the last time Mizzou went into the state of Mississippi?

They lost.

OK.

I don't think that's gonna matter this time.

Uh, I, I, I know it's Chambliss.

I know it's at Ole Miss.

Is Ole Miss sneaking a tiny peek ahead to that game at Texas next week?

They better not.

Mizzou has really impressed me recently, and I , I think they've kind of got the mojo.

And, and they, they're just a, they're a well-built team.

They know who they are, and, um, and as talented as Ole Miss is, especially offensively, I, I just don't see it.

I'll, I'll take Mizzou in this one.

All right, uh, I'm, I'm gonna take Mizzou with the points as well.

Austin Simmons, big return game for him.

He was the starting quarterback for the Rebels until He got injured and was also pretty ineffective at Kentucky, and they put in this kid, Trinidad Chambliss, and that changed the trajectory of many things.

Austin Simmons to the portal.

He ended up at Missouri.

He's played better and better.

Their receivers are excellent.

Jamal Roberts has been great at running back.

They are healthier on the defensive line, so I like Missouri's chances certainly to cover, possibly to win.

Can I give you the, the absolute, your worst nightmare right now?

Sure.

I think you've agreed with every pick I've made.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Yeah, I'm looking actually.

Gino's been filling these in, the other Gino, uh, and yeah, that's a disaster.

You're doomed.

This is not good, so doomed.

Fortunately we have a lock of the week .

So, uh, if you got one, lay it on me.

Well, I, I don't think, I think I've gotten one lock of the week this entire season.

So I've just decided uh this week, I, I'm not gonna put any effort into it.

Maybe go to the reverse psychology thing.

Somebody has to win the, the Rutgers, Maryland game, right?

Uh, somebody does.

Somebody has to.

Maryland is -4.5, I believe.

Uh, I'm going to take Maryland for no other reason.

Then, uh, uh, my nephew and niece, Buddy Lee and Zoey went there.

My friends, Tim Kurkjian, Scott Van Pelt are Maryland grads.

So, uh, just in, in homage of, of them getting those Maryland diplomas, and the fact that uh, Maryland can't be this bad, can they?

I'm taking Maryland and I'll give the points.

Wow, I, if you're picking Maryland to do anything, that's bold.

Now, of course, it's against Rutgers, so I understand, but, oh, OK, well, what, what's your, your genius wisdom pick this week, lock of the week.

Uh, Fitzgerald Bowl in East Lansing, Northwestern visiting the Spartans.

I'm gonna go ahead and lay the 7.5 and say Northwestern wins and covers.

North Michigan State is decimated by injury, and also bad.

And Northwestern is good, played at a very high level the last few weeks.

I, I think they've got a very potent offense.

Chip Kelly's making it happen.

A Child's running game, playing wing team football out there.

I don't think Michigan State has the juice to, uh, to slow them down.

All right.

Didn't Michigan State play pretty well last week?

They lost.

OK, but I, all right, OK.

All right.

Well, hey, look, I can't say a word.

You're like 600 games ahead of me in the standings.

Uh, you're the genius.

I'm just a guy, you know, with a bad pullover, so.

Well, let me leave you with this , Jane.

Um, just some, just some advice on how to handle if you get a solicitor to the door, maybe in this case, a, a Jehovah's Witness, so this, this is great.

Go ahead.

Coming to your door to, you know, try to talk religion with you.

Uh-huh.

This is a great response, but it may also get you arrested, so or charged at least with a misdemeanor, which it did Bentonville, Arkansas, where else?

Yeah, right.

Police report 30 two-year-old.

I, I won't say the name.

Why should I?

Answered the door in a robe, argued with the visitors about religion, then opened it to expose her nude body.

And to let them taste her forbidden fruit, which that's maybe taking it a little bit far.

Hallelujah.

Yeah, uh, she said she wanted, she was tired of people coming to the door uninvited and wanted to shock them, cited for indecent exposure to disorderly conduct.

Uh, that's one way to handle the Jehovah's Witnesses.

You have a better way.

You got, you got any ideas on, on a better method for handling this?

Uh, you know what, I'm not gonna comment on any of that.

OK.

But I, um, I, I did see the, um, uh, the, the photo of her.

And I don't know if you have, uh, but, um, yeah, I, all I'll say is the, the Jehovah Witnesses, uh, uh, folks, uh, we're, we're in for a surprise.

We're in the future, I think my, my advice would be, don't open the door, you know, just, just don't get to that point.

But wow, that is fighting fire with fire, I guess you would say.

It, it's like Halloween.

You just turn off the front porch light.

That's it.

Take the blow out the light on the pumpkin or just, yeah, just pretend you're not, yeah.

All right, that's the show.

Clearly, that's enough.

A little bit long today, but thank you for watching and listening, and uh we will be back next week.

Enjoy the games this weekend.

Should be awesome.