CFB Job Approval Ratings | Final Spring Thoughts | Brendan Sorsby Scandal | Bold Predictions

0:02 A lot of you have asked,

0:02 "How did stormchasing go the other day?" It brings me no joy to inform you.

0:06 We drove over a thousand miles and saw nothing.

0:11 Nothing so disappointed.

0:12 Press was in tow.

0:14 His first experience was a total bust.

0:16 But that's okay.

0:16 It's the busts that make you appreciate the high points immunity.

0:20 We're jam-packed.

0:21 We're high at top a radiant and slightly cool downtown Nashville,

0:25 Tennessee on this Thursday, April 30th, the year of our Lord 2026.

0:30 We don't have a postspring portal window in this sport anymore.

0:34 And that greatly impacts your LSUs of the world, your Texas Techs of the world.

0:38 So, I'm going to talk about some postspring stuff tonight.

0:42 I'm going to talk about the Brennan Sorsby stuff tonight.

0:44 We got bold predictions.

0:46 We've just got the truth about Curt Signiti, at least according to me.

0:49 The truth in my opinion about Kurt Signetti.

0:52 We got a lot to get to.

0:53 We got a jam-packed show.

0:54 A surprisingly jam-packed show.

0:55 Well, surprising to those who don't frequent the show.

0:58 They're watching us in Jefferson City, Missouri,

1:01 Charleston, South Carolina, Littleton, Colorado, Ocala, Florida.

1:05 Paper Popper for emphasis.

1:07 Please subscribe to the channel if you have not already.

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1:20 Okay, let's move on.

1:22 A lot to get to in the show.

1:24 I had a lot of final thoughts that I noticed we'd accumulated

1:26 about spring football and we hadn't put it all out on tape.

1:29 So, just a couple of thoughts on a several teams here.

1:33 Alabama post spring.

1:35 I know everyone's focused on the quarterback battle.

1:37 I am too, but I'm actually more confident in how

1:41 that quarterback battle will turn out than I am right now.

1:43 how the offensive line situation.

1:46 I'm not going as far as to say I think it's going to be a weakness or anything.

1:48 It's just a bigger question mark to me cuz I

1:50 think both of those quarterbacks are guys they can win with.

1:52 I don't know what to expect from them on offensive line.

1:55 Now, what they are not void of is talent.

1:58 So, they're really, really talented players there.

2:01 There's just lack of experience.

2:03 They're replacing nearly the entire thing.

2:05 They replace their offensive line coach.

2:07 So, you're starting basically from scratch there.

2:11 And then you add in that, oh,

2:12 we're trying to figure out how to run the ball there.

2:14 And then you add in that you're going to have a new quarterback,

2:17 no matter who it is, start for them.

2:19 So that's on the offensive side.

2:21 I also think Ryan Williams, Ryan Coleman Williams now added a name.

2:26 I think he'll have a good year this year.

2:27 I don't have any any question about him mentally, work ethic.

2:31 In fact, that's never been a question with Ryan Williams.

2:33 He just dipped last year, had problems with drops.

2:36 So I think he'll be good this year based

2:38 on everything that I picked up out of spring.

2:40 linebacker is one of the bigger questions on that team.

2:43 Now, if you talk to their staff,

2:44 they thought linebacker would be a question last year,

2:47 but due to injury the previous year,

2:48 a lot of guys came back for 2025 that they didn't expect to have.

2:53 And so, you just kind of deferred the questions a year.

2:56 Caleb Woodson walked in there from Virginia

2:58 Tech and is immediately pencileled in.

3:02 He earned it, but pencled in as a starter.

3:04 And outside of that, got a lot of guys that could be.

3:07 There's a lot of could be there.

3:09 I think probably what was happening there in the spring is you've inevitably

3:13 got some guys in your room that you hope take the next step,

3:18 but in the moment in time, they're not the highest performers.

3:22 At their best, they would be better than anyone in the room,

3:25 but sometimes, you know, your your position group,

3:28 in this case, Bama's linebacker group,

3:30 maybe you got some guys who have lower ceilings who are putting

3:33 better practice tape out there than the guys with the higher ceilings.

3:37 That's what God invented spring for.

3:38 I think they dealt with that a little bit and therefore

3:41 that linebacker group is still kind of a work in progress.

3:44 They got the longest secondary I think in the league.

3:47 One of the best secondaries in the country I think potential-wise this year,

3:50 but certainly lengthwise I don't think there's

3:52 another DB group that looks like Alabama.

3:54 That's where I am on them.

3:56 Move it to Coral Gables.

3:57 Move it to South Florida.

3:59 not the University of Miami coming out of spring has me convinced

4:04 that at their high end this can be a better team than last year.

4:07 Miami's got that 2018s Bama vibe to them.

4:11 Uh Kirby Georgia, Ryan Day Ohio State,

4:14 the kind of vibe where you know they've become an exception to the rule.

4:17 The rule in college football is when you have a really good

4:20 team and then there's a ton of lost production off that team,

4:23 it's going to be a steep climb to recreate what that previous team created.

4:27 But Sabin's Alabama, Kirby's Georgia, Ryan Days Ohio State,

4:32 those are outfits that have just defied

4:34 conventional wisdom and you learn that the guys

4:38 that are waiting in the wings there are

4:40 sometimes better than seasoned veterans on other rosters.

4:44 Miami, at least this year, I think could be in position to be that.

4:48 Not the least of which reasoning is tied to the quarterback position.

4:53 I expect them to upgrade at quarterback.

4:55 I expect Darien Mensah to be an upgrade at the quarterback

4:58 position relative to what Carson Beck gave them last year.

5:01 And I get to tie that to what

5:03 could be an extremely high level wide receiver group,

5:07 they are going to be very good running the ball and offensive line.

5:11 While there's a lot of departing experience really both sides up front,

5:17 they have entered into that territory where it

5:20 may take a few weeks to find its groove,

5:23 but just the question marks could become strengths.

5:26 Miami has question marks that could become strengths.

5:30 I also don't want to overlook that Shannon Dawson and Cory Heatherman

5:33 are one of the best OCDC combos in college football right now.

5:38 And they're both there.

5:39 I don't think they thought Shannon Dawson would be around this long down there.

5:42 I thought they believed he'd already get a at least like a G5

5:46 level head coaching spot and he was in the mix for him last year,

5:49 but he's back another year and truth be told, he has a quarterback that uh

5:55 much more perfectly complements his offensive style.

5:59 Ohio State coming off another playoff appearance.

6:04 Ohio State coming off Ohio State at various points last year

6:08 was thought to be the runaway best team in the country.

6:11 They ended up not winning the Big 10 Championship game.

6:14 They ended up being one and done in the playoffs.

6:16 And it it kind of makes you forget how

6:18 you felt about them as late as mid November.

6:21 As late as mid November, they were looked at as the slam dunk number one

6:24 team in the country and they're going to face Indiana.

6:26 Yeah, we know that game's coming.

6:28 Well, the game did happen and it it was what it was.

6:31 I don't want to make any excuses.

6:33 So, as far as this year, they're going to be right back in the mix.

6:37 They're going to be one of the favorites to win at all.

6:40 I think the biggest question,

6:42 or one of the biggest questions I'd have about them coming out of spring,

6:44 is how good is Julian saying at his best?

6:48 And his best is not going to show up,

6:49 all due respect, against Purdue or Minnesota.

6:52 I need to see him on the road against Texas.

6:54 You know, I need to see him when they play Indiana.

6:57 I need to see him maybe against like an Oregon Big 10 championship

7:01 game or or in a playoff situation against&M or Miami or someone like that.

7:05 And I need to see him be the reason they win a game.

7:08 Now maybe, just maybe, Matt Patricia's defense is good enough or maybe

7:13 their run game is good enough where they can,

7:16 for lack of a better term, hide him in big games.

7:18 That's not realistic in postseason college football.

7:21 That's not realistic.

7:22 So I'm not saying he can't do it.

7:23 That's why it's a question, not a weakness.

7:25 But I I still think there's a leveling up

7:26 to his game that has to happen in those big moments.

7:29 The wide receiver room will be good enough there.

7:31 They got the best in college football.

7:32 Probably the best player in college football, not just wide receiver,

7:35 but even behind them like you got Chris Henry there.

7:38 You you got a lot of players.

7:39 Brandon Inennis is there.

7:40 You got a lot of players.

7:41 The offensive line returns 80% of its starters.

7:46 Translation four out of five.

7:47 So they'll be good.

7:48 Running back will be good.

7:49 Defensive tackle I'd circle as a little bit of a question.

7:52 Maybe an unknown for them.

7:53 So that schedule's rough.

7:54 That schedule's no joke.

7:57 And so you'll find out early on because you

8:00 get to see them at Texas in week two.

8:03 But the beauty of that is you got a trip

8:05 to Texas in week two and then they'll be

8:07 off the radar for a week and then they'll

8:10 play Illinois at home and then they'll go to Iowa.

8:12 But eventually you've got this team playing Indiana,

8:15 you got this team playing USC,

8:17 you got this team playing Oregon at Nebraska, Michigan.

8:21 Not an easy draw.

8:22 All right.

8:22 What about Georgia?

8:23 We're going to hear from Kirby Smart later in the show.

8:26 He's not joining the show, at least not this week,

8:29 but we will hear sound from him later in the show.

8:32 Kirby Smart and Georgia entering 2026.

8:36 Same kinds of questions that I feel like I've

8:39 had about him for a few years at wide receiver.

8:41 How dynamic can that position group be at its best?

8:44 I don't need it to be top five in the country.

8:47 That's unrealistic.

8:48 But I do need gamechanging, game breaking potential.

8:52 That's what these teams that end up making it deep in the playoffs have.

8:56 I don't know that they have that.

8:58 I don't know.

8:59 Maybe that the dominant pass rusher is there on this team.

9:03 Um maybe it will be, maybe it won't be.

9:05 Those are questions I have coming out of spring.

9:07 Now, the defense overall will be legit.

9:09 Defensively, overall, this will be one of the best outfits in the country.

9:12 KJ Balden maybe the best safety in the country.

9:15 But the quarterback position here is a known commodity.

9:19 Gunner Stockton is a known commodity.

9:21 But remember, we were talking to Pollock the other day about this very

9:25 thing because his opinion was for Georgia to win a national championship,

9:29 Gunner Stockton has to be better than he's been.

9:31 They can't win a national championship with him

9:33 merely performing at the level he did last year.

9:35 All right, so let's say that's true.

9:37 Let's say that argument is true.

9:38 I think a lot of people would agree with that.

9:40 How much better does he need to be?

9:42 A.

9:43 And then B, how realistic is it

9:46 to expect significant improvement in Gunnar Stockton's game?

9:50 Cuz I'm telling you how he strikes me.

9:52 He strikes me as a player who's very good, but kind of a known commodity.

9:57 Now, it's weird because normally it's like your third

10:00 year starting when people are talking about you like that.

10:02 Well, Gunnar Stockton's not a three-year starter.

10:05 Last year was his first year starting.

10:07 So, I've kind of got this internal battle just in my own

10:09 mind of do I leave room in my expectation bucket at least?

10:14 Do I leave room for this significant scaling up

10:17 of output or do I want to choose to be pleasantly

10:21 surprised if that happens and make my expectation for him

10:25 just a little bit more of what we had last year?

10:28 And by the way, what we had last year wasn't bad.

10:30 It was very good.

10:30 It was good enough for him to win the SEC championship.

10:33 So, we're talking about the difference here.

10:36 splitting hairs a little bit.

10:38 The difference in what kind of upgrade they would need

10:40 to win the whole thing to compete to win the whole thing.

10:43 Flip the paper over.

10:46 Texas University of some more questions here.

10:51 Coming out of spring football, Texas.

10:54 I would say my impression of them coming out

10:56 of spring is that team has the highest ceiling of any

11:00 team in college football this upcoming year with a great

11:03 big asterisk on that and it's tied to the offensive line.

11:07 Offensive line holds the key.

11:09 It always does in this sport.

11:11 It does, especially at Texas because outside

11:13 of that, there aren't a ton of major questions.

11:17 There are no weaknesses.

11:19 There are very few like major questions

11:22 relative to the rest of college football.

11:24 So Cam Coleman coming in there, I expect an all-American caliber year from him.

11:29 In the words of Steve Sarkeesian, Ryan Wingo still here,

11:33 which is a really really good just noteworthy point about Texas football.

11:37 But outside of that, the the overhaul they did

11:40 to that running back room with Relique Brown, Hollywood Smothers,

11:44 also Rashe Biles coming in there at linebacker,

11:47 just like an immediate captain type player defensively for them.

11:52 They're they're good to great pretty much

11:54 everywhere from a from a potential standpoint.

11:57 The offensive line holds the key because you

11:59 can visualize just as easily as I could.

12:03 Arch having a really good year,

12:04 tailback's having a really good year, wide receivers making some wow plays,

12:09 but then they go up against a Miami or the equivalent of last

12:14 year's Miami if there is that this year and they just get

12:17 caved or they just go up against Georgia again and they finish second

12:22 best physically on the field against

12:23 Georgia and you're looking and you're saying, "Man, all those portal moves,

12:28 all that hype and the balloon gets popped in our face again by the same

12:33 meat and potatoes approach that has beat us it seems like for a long time.

12:38 Those are the questions because if

12:40 those questions are answered in the affirmative,

12:42 Texas will win the national championship.

12:44 That's pretty cut and dry to me.

12:46 LSU Lane Keifin, I don't know if you've heard Lane

12:50 Kein entering his first year as head coach at LSU.

12:53 So, Trade Green is going to be a monster for them physically

12:57 and literally and could very well be their leading pass catcher this year.

13:02 In fact, I look, I don't know if we necessarily want to go

13:04 down the prop bet odds road on that, but I'd bet on it.

13:08 But outside of him, lot of questions on this team.

13:11 Same deal with LSU.

13:12 Question doesn't mean weakness.

13:14 Question means question.

13:15 So Sam Levit, the injury kept him out most of spring.

13:18 I think right at the end he he got some reps.

13:21 But that plus an entire offensive overhaul to me means even if I'm Lane Keifin,

13:27 even if I'm Charlie Weiss Jr., I'm coming out of spring and there's no way even

13:32 I have a firm grip on who we're going to be.

13:35 So there's certainly no way some guy was

13:37 sitting behind a microphone in Nashville could know that.

13:40 I was listening to Kein talk the other day.

13:42 He was like, "Yeah, I mean we we've had a quarterback out most of spring.

13:46 We got a bunch of new pieces.

13:48 We've barely tackled.

13:49 How in the world can you know what kind of football team you have?" You can't.

13:53 Uh but since it's impossible to have a great feel, that's not a bad thing.

13:58 It makes it fun because there's this whole range of outcomes here.

14:02 Now, my younger self would base my expectations on their high-end potential,

14:09 which means 10 and two, 11 and one.

14:11 I'm feeling it.

14:12 The um not older, but the more seasoned version of me, yeah,

14:17 I'm going to say, all right, let's let's go into summer thinking eight and four.

14:22 Let's see if we can talk ourselves up to nine and three.

14:26 maybe post media days when fall camp's starting,

14:28 maybe we get crazy like we did with Nebraska last year and we

14:32 roll a 10 and two out there and the world burns down.

14:35 Uh so I was looking at Shay Dixon's work and Sheay Dixon tends to believe Jesse

14:43 they're going to start a couple of true

14:44 freshmen on the interior of the defensive line.

14:47 Now these are not normal true freshmen.

14:50 Uh Gerald's and Anderson, the latter of whom is one of the biggest names

14:57 to come out of high school in Louisiana in a long time.

14:59 They're both top 10 defensive linemen from this past year's class.

15:03 But both of them, are they starting

15:06 on the interior of the defensive line for LSU?

15:08 And does that make it a weakness or does it just make it a fun note?

15:12 Let's keep an eye on that.

15:13 Oregon coming out of spring, my lasting thoughts on Oregon.

15:19 This team has excellent high-end talent.

15:22 This team is poised to make a run at a national championship.

15:24 They may very well have the best quarterback in the country.

15:27 They may have the best and certainly deepest defensive line in the country.

15:32 You could make the argument that they could challenge

15:34 for having the number one wide receiver room in the country.

15:37 I think conservatively it's a top five secondary potentially.

15:42 And don't believe the lack of hype around

15:44 special teams coming out of the spring game.

15:46 They'll be okay there, too.

15:47 They did not go to the portal on offensive line.

15:51 Notice that is something we pointed out going into spring

15:54 and something I feel needs to be restated coming out of spring.

15:57 They're replacing three of five on the offensive line.

16:01 And if Oregon wanted to, Oregon could have gone to the portal to backfill there.

16:05 They didn't.

16:07 Why is that?

16:08 It's not because they're broke.

16:09 It's because obviously they trust their pieces internally.

16:13 Now, that's no guarantee that they're right,

16:15 but it is a guarantee that's how they feel.

16:18 New offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator there.

16:20 Just keep that in mind.

16:21 Not new to the building, but new in those roles.

16:24 So, just keep that in mind.

16:26 Bradley, you got their schedule?

16:27 Yeah, there you go.

16:27 No, those are the odds.

16:28 My bad.

16:29 Oh, it was so close.

16:30 So close.

16:32 They open with Boise.

16:33 They go to Oklahoma State, Portland State.

16:35 So, the first time I would guess the first time

16:38 the world will be watching them is week four at USC.

16:44 Okay.

16:44 And they don't play someone that you would consider their physical equal

16:48 until the first week of November when they go to Columbus, Ohio.

16:52 And they got Michigan the very next week.

16:53 That's a nice little one-two punch.

16:55 I didn't remember that.

16:55 They got Ohio State and Michigan back toback.

16:57 No bye-week there.

16:59 So, I think Oregon win the national title this year.

17:03 However, that is sort of a backloaded schedule there, which is good news,

17:07 especially when it comes to things like the offensive

17:10 line because you can get your act together.

17:12 Texas A&M just lost Oh, sorry, Bradley.

17:14 I'll give you time to change the assets there.

17:16 Texas A&M just lost 10 players to the draft,

17:20 which would mean in the modern age of college football,

17:23 boy, you're going to have to take a step back this year.

17:25 And look, I need to see Marcel Reed's floor rise a little bit.

17:30 Meaning him at his worst needs to be way

17:33 more consistent than it than it was last year.

17:36 But if I get that, they don't have to take a step back at all.

17:38 Texas A&M does not have to take a step back.

17:41 I'm going to give you an example.

17:42 I think that offensive line situation is

17:45 a perfect sort of microcosm for the team.

17:50 So the offensive line loses four or five.

17:52 Conventional wisdom in college football tells us, "Boy,

17:55 you lose four or five on your offensive line, you're in trouble.

17:59 They may be better than they were last year there.

18:02 They may be they have the potential to be that because while

18:06 there may be a bunch of question marks on the offensive line,

18:09 you don't have a bunch of weaknesses.

18:11 You're not with a lack of option.

18:13 In fact, they probably got eight or nine guys

18:15 that they could throw out there and play right now.

18:18 It's just that it's unsettled and it may still be

18:22 a little bit unsettled in the latter portion of fall camp.

18:24 Do the schedule thing again, Bradley.

18:26 It may be that it takes a few weeks,

18:29 but I think once they settle into their rhythm this year, once they go to LSU,

18:34 let's say in week four,

18:35 there's a chance that you're looking at offensive line at Texas A&M going,

18:38 "Dude, they replace four or five on the offensive line.

18:41 This doesn't look like a weakness on a team.

18:44 This kind of looks like a strength of a team."

18:47 It it obviously all comes back to quarterback,

18:50 but offensive line's going to be fun to watch

18:52 with them because I kind of think of it

18:53 as this microcosm of Mike Elco's Texas A&M

18:57 as a whole where they're going to pump out draft picks.

19:00 This is not an anomaly this last year them having 10 deep in the draft.

19:04 That's not an anomaly.

19:05 That'll continue happening.

19:06 Maybe not quite at that clip every year, but it'll continue happening.

19:09 But then what you'll also condition yourself to be

19:12 ready to do is watch them put a bunch

19:14 of guys in the draft and then go ahead and look over at spring football and say,

19:19 "Wow, they're going to be good again this year, aren't they?" Yeah, that's them.

19:22 That as long as they're acquiring talent like they are and developing it,

19:25 that's them for the foreseeable future.

19:28 We move on.

19:29 Lot to get to.

19:30 Thank you guys so much for watching or listening.

19:33 We do not discriminate against the podcast only crowd.

19:36 In fact, if you didn't exist, Mitch wouldn't have a job.

19:39 So, we certainly don't discriminate against you.

19:42 I just always say watch instead of listen.

19:45 It doesn't come first alphabetically.

19:46 There's really no explanation for we make more money off YouTube than podcast.

19:50 That's why that's probably what it is except for the past 48 hours.

19:55 Oh, it's the algorithm has been haywire over the last 48 hours.

19:59 It's no one's fault.

20:00 Not even our fault.

20:02 All right.

20:02 The Brendan Sorsby Texas Tech stuff has broken

20:05 since the last time we had a show.

20:06 So, to get everyone up to speed, which you probably already are,

20:09 there is an NCAA investigation underway

20:12 into gambling related matters with Brendan Sorsby.

20:15 Brendan Sorsby was the starting quarterback at Cincinnati last year.

20:19 He transferred to Texas Tech.

20:21 Huge NIL deal, several million dollars.

20:25 And now, this is from Pete Nikos over at onre.com.

20:29 And you can I'll read it.

20:31 You know what?

20:31 I'll read part of it.

20:32 With the NCAA investigation underway,

20:34 sources told on three that Sorsby is expected to write

20:36 a letter to the NCAA in the near future explaining this situation.

20:41 NCAA rules state that if a player bets on their own sport at another school,

20:45 the player could lose 50% of one season of eligibility.

20:48 The player also may receive education

20:51 on sports wagering and rules and prevention.

20:52 In that case, it goes on to basically talk about what he did.

20:57 And allegedly what he did was when he was in Indiana way back in the day 2022

21:04 he was on the team and bet on Indiana

21:07 games at least in one instance if not more.

21:09 I haven't seen his account information personally.

21:11 Also I question how that happens but I digress.

21:15 So if that's happening obviously it's going to be a big problem.

21:19 My feel on this and I have no

21:22 information above and beyond what Pete's talked about here.

21:24 I've listened to talk about it.

21:26 that I've listened to, you know, a couple of people who cover this stuff

21:29 and who cover NCAA related matters pretty closely.

21:33 Their feel is that he's unlikely to play this year.

21:38 I'm going to agree with them.

21:39 My feel is that he's unlikely to play this year.

21:42 Now, I'm going to take a very pessimistic

21:44 approach on that and kind of hope I'm wrong.

21:47 Uh but my feel is I'm getting ready to watch Texas

21:51 Tech without Brendan Sorsby this year and then what does he do?

21:55 Does he go in the supplemental draft?

21:57 Does he sit out a year and then get ready for next year's draft,

22:00 which is loaded at the quarterback position?

22:02 But that's down the road.

22:04 Okay, so there are really two matters in play here.

22:07 Let me address the less serious matter first,

22:09 and that's the on the- field part for Texas Tech this year.

22:14 There is no backup option here.

22:16 There's a literal backup.

22:18 His name is Will Hammond, who has started before, who is not a bad player.

22:22 They had to use him last year.

22:24 He was pressed into duty last year.

22:26 He's 6'3.

22:27 He's 205.

22:28 He's a red shirt sophomore.

22:29 He was a top 200 prospect in a couple of cycles ago in recruiting.

22:34 So, he's not a bad player.

22:36 It's just that I think most people's feel on Texas Tech's top

22:40 end potential with Will Hammond is

22:42 beneath that of winning a national championship.

22:44 Now, they may very well still be the best team in the Big 12.

22:48 If I had to pick the Big 12 today,

22:51 like I would still probably pick Texas Tech to win it,

22:54 even if Will Hammond has to be my wire-to-wire quarterback.

22:57 It's bigger than that, though.

22:59 You I think the number six million or so, Jesse.

23:02 I mean, you invested about $6 million into Brennan

23:06 Sorsby being the guy that could take you further.

23:09 And then you went last year.

23:10 And where you went last year is in a you

23:13 drove into a brick wall basically in the playoffs

23:16 because Baron Morton and what you had offensively last

23:19 year was not good enough to get past an Oregon.

23:21 Good enough to win the Big 12, not good enough to do anything beyond that.

23:24 And they knew that and they thought they had addressed it.

23:27 They had addressed it at quarterback and then this pops up.

23:30 Okay, there's no spring portal window now.

23:33 There is no get done with spring ball

23:35 and then this kind of story pops up and okay, we can go bail ourselves out.

23:40 we can go offer like Austin Mack at Alabama.

23:43 We can go offer a backup somewhere or maybe

23:45 like a G5 level starter to bail us out.

23:48 There is none of that.

23:50 So unless people are wrong and the ghost portal

23:53 theory is in play and that's the thing where you

23:56 get a guy to just unenroll somewhere and enroll

23:58 on your campus and dare the NCAA to enforce their rules.

24:02 Short of that happening and short of us being wrong about Brennan

24:06 Sorsby here and he's just cleared short of one of those things happening,

24:10 it's Will Hammond this year, which makes Texas Tech still a good team,

24:14 but probably beneath that of a national championship contender.

24:18 So, we'll await more word on that.

24:20 Then there's the other part.

24:22 This is the more serious part.

24:24 I've noticed people trying to create a lot of gray area here.

24:27 You know, people talking about, well, is it really that bad?

24:30 Well, you know, a lot of times out there,

24:32 I'm watching a college football game and they're

24:34 gambling related advertising all over the place

24:37 and these leagues are making money off

24:39 of gambling related deals with these sports books.

24:42 And is it so wrong for a player to bet on the Gibs?

24:46 Absolutely it is.

24:46 There's no gray area here at all.

24:49 It's very, very cut and dry.

24:51 It's black and white.

24:52 There not shades of gray here.

24:53 There's shades of gray in other areas I'll talk about in a second.

24:56 But if you bet on the sport you're playing,

24:58 specifically if you bet on games that you are playing in, you're done.

25:04 That's it.

25:04 Case closed on that.

25:06 It's not hypocritical one iota for the league you play

25:10 in or even the team you play for to be accepting advertising dollars,

25:15 but especially if your games are being broadcast on ESPN

25:19 or Fox and they're accepting money in advertising dollars from sports books.

25:26 But yet you're being asked not to bet on the games.

25:29 No, it's not hypocritical.

25:30 That's fortune cookie logic.

25:32 Does it create a bad vibe?

25:34 Do you not love the optics of it?

25:36 That's fine.

25:37 That's fine.

25:38 I'll agree with you there.

25:39 The stuff's plastered all over the place in games

25:42 and yet at the first whiff of any impropriy,

25:45 you want to toss a kid on the scrap heap.

25:47 I could word it just as unfavorably as you can.

25:51 So, yeah, the optics don't feel great,

25:53 but I'm not really about the optics or feelings.

25:56 I'm about the, you know, the reality of the matter.

25:58 The reality of the matter is, no, you can't do this stuff.

26:02 And if you do it, you're done.

26:03 You're ineligible.

26:04 You should be ineligible.

26:06 You can't mess around with that stuff.

26:08 Now, for the broader conversation that for some

26:10 reason people thought I'd shy away from.

26:12 I couldn't care less about talking about this.

26:14 FanDuel is the presenting odds partner of this show.

26:18 We infuse FanDuel all throughout this show.

26:21 I've left it out of this segment for obvious reasons,

26:24 but I want to be fully fully transparent here.

26:27 Uh we have a significant partnership with FanDuel.

26:30 They are a significant partner of this show.

26:33 So the broader conversation happening out there is

26:36 around sports betting as a whole, as an entity.

26:40 You've got a very extreme group that would say,

26:43 "Well, we just think sports betting should be illegal." Okay.

26:46 Well, obviously it's not.

26:48 Then you've got another group that says, "We know sports betting exists.

26:54 We just wish that it wasn't so synonymous

26:57 with the coverage and the games." In other words,

27:00 that's the kind of person who says, "I wish I could watch games without having

27:04 it constantly thrown in my face." Totally fair take.

27:07 Totally fair.

27:08 That's that's your preference now.

27:10 So, just let's acknowledge there's a big difference in one's

27:14 preference versus what you feel should be legal or illegal.

27:19 Like, I'm not the biggest fan of hip-hop.

27:21 I'm not going to call for it to be illegal, you know?

27:23 So, my preference versus what I think should and shouldn't be allowed,

27:27 two different things.

27:28 Okay, so here was what was going to happen.

27:32 When sports betting was legalized across the country,

27:35 a lot of people said, "Boy,

27:36 it's an inevitability that eventually someone's going to get

27:39 caught up in a scandal." And you know what?

27:41 They were right.

27:42 And then you know what my followup is?

27:45 Okay.

27:46 Okay.

27:47 Uh freedom of choice, freedom in general, it's just not going to be clean.

27:52 Doesn't mean something should be outlawed.

27:54 U now if you want to take a personal stance on things, that's fine.

27:58 You'll notice as an example, we practice that around here.

28:02 There has never been a dime of alcohol-based advertising accepted on this show.

28:08 We leave millions of dollars on the table per year from alcohol companies,

28:13 beer companies, because I don't want it on our show.

28:16 It's not the lifestyle I live.

28:18 It's personal preference.

28:19 I don't I don't hop up on a high horse and talk about it.

28:22 In fact, I don't think I've ever talked about it on air until right now.

28:25 And that's merely to make a point.

28:26 That's my personal preference.

28:28 I'm not going to take the added step of shaming

28:31 anyone else if they do accept alcohol-related advertising dollars

28:36 and I'm not going to say that alcohol-related advertising

28:39 should be outlawed even though I personally don't like it.

28:42 And so when it comes to sports betting,

28:45 I understand that there is a little different tone there

28:48 because what you're talking about is subject matter and advertising

28:51 dollars tied to something that's directly related to the play

28:55 on the field and therefore it could compromise integrity of game.

29:01 Well, here's what you do.

29:02 Here's what you do.

29:03 It's very simple.

29:04 You go overboard in educating participants, both coaches, players,

29:10 and staffers in that world about the consequences

29:14 of sacrificing the integrity of the game.

29:17 And then you punish them if they do it.

29:18 And you leave no gray area.

29:21 You do not mince words.

29:23 You speak really, really in a threatening tone because it is that.

29:27 And you let them know there is zero tolerance for this.

29:30 This is the trade-off to be a college athlete.

29:33 This is the trade-off to be a pro alete.

29:35 This is the trade-off to be a coach here.

29:37 This is the trade-off if you want to work

29:39 in the recruiting staff or the marketing staff.

29:42 If you have access to this program,

29:44 there's going to be a zero tolerance policy on betting on this stuff.

29:49 You cannot do it.

29:50 If that's a problem for you, then move along.

29:53 There's no place for you here.

29:55 That's it.

29:55 And that's all.

29:57 Was it an inevitability that a player was

30:00 eventually going to get caught up in this?

30:02 Yes, just law of mathematics.

30:04 Yes, that was always going to be part of the territory.

30:10 That was always going to come with the territory of legalizing sports betting.

30:14 That doesn't mean it was wrong to do it is my point.

30:17 That doesn't mean it's wrong for it to exist.

30:19 Even as you and I can have differences of opinions in how

30:22 much it should be proliferated throughout the industry of game broadcasts,

30:27 throughout the industry of commentary, including mine,

30:29 FanDuel is a partner of mine.

30:31 They've been a wonderful partner of mine.

30:34 I don't apologize for any of that.

30:37 And at the same time, I'm fully capable of looking at the situation and saying,

30:42 "All right, so he did something allegedly he shouldn't have done.

30:46 He's going to be punished for it.

30:47 If the allegations are true, he should be punished for it.

30:50 I don't feel great about it.

30:52 I do feel it's the right decision.

30:54 I also don't feel that it's caused to take the edge

30:59 of sketch button and wipe the entire slate clean because someone did

31:04 something that they weren't supposed to do that they knew they

31:06 weren't supposed to do then we should upturn the entire ecosystem here.

31:10 No.

31:11 No.

31:11 I don't think that's the answer.

31:13 I don't think that's the road we should go down.

31:18 Next up, take that.

31:20 Um, you know what?

31:22 Never mind.

31:22 Let's let let's let's talk about something a lot more fun.

31:25 Children, babies, everyone's having them this time of year.

31:29 Great time to have children.

31:31 We highly highly advocate,

31:33 we are very pro-child and pro- wedding, especially in the spring.

31:40 It's not that we're anti-child in the fall.

31:43 It's we kind of are anti-wedding in the fall.

31:46 I understand, you know, sometimes things happen.

31:48 Okay?

31:49 So, I am not anti-child in the fall,

31:51 but I am very, very pro-child in the spring.

31:54 And just a related note here, so is paintstatematerial.com.

31:59 All of our little freightates gear is, it's not actually marked down.

32:02 It's the same price it always is.

32:04 But, you know what?

32:04 It's not that expensive to begin with.

32:06 So, there's the onesie.

32:07 This is where you really miss out if you're listening on podcast.

32:10 Those This is where Mitch's people miss out a little

32:12 bit because you don't get to see the proof of concept.

32:16 You don't get to see the product up there.

32:18 Those things move.

32:20 Those things move to the point where I'm not going to go as far

32:24 as to say that the existence of Pstate

32:28 Lil Frights merchandise has motivated couples to have children.

32:32 I'm not the one saying that.

32:35 I'm saying people have said it to me.

32:38 And I'm also saying that, you know, for instance,

32:41 right after, you know, you do your business, there's the stick.

32:44 Oh my goodness, two lines instead of one.

32:47 We got to call mom.

32:48 We got to call dad.

32:50 And then I got to DM Pate and let him know we're

32:53 going to have a kid and we're going to buy Little Frights merchandise.

32:55 That's normally the order of things.

32:57 So if you want to be a part of that, it's a wonderful thing.

33:00 It's a great feeling and we welcome it and we'll be here waiting.

33:04 Call the parents first, but then after that we'll be here waiting.

33:07 Let's move along.

33:09 What a variety of shows so far tonight.

33:12 We've been doing job approval ratings for SEC coaches.

33:15 I did four of them the other day.

33:16 We'll just back it down to three tonight.

33:18 One of them is the easiest one in the world,

33:20 but it's not the one I'm going to start with.

33:22 The one I'm going to start with is a man by the name of Brent Venibals.

33:26 He is entering his fifth year at the University of Oklahoma,

33:30 and he has gone six and seven, 10 and three, six and seven, 10 and three.

33:36 Some would say a pattern is emerging.

33:39 I'm going to have to see a six and seven this year as evidence.

33:42 They are hoping for something way better than six and seven.

33:44 Obviously, they made the college football playoff last year.

33:48 That's awesome.

33:49 I think that gets Brent Venibals a B.

33:53 I leaned B+ somewhere between B and B+.

33:57 That's where I am.

33:58 That's where I think Oklahoma fans are on Brent Venibals.

34:01 Now, it's not because they made the playoff last year.

34:03 That's that's amazing.

34:04 That's awesome.

34:04 They hosted a home playoff game.

34:06 They also gave up a 170 lead,

34:08 which just goes to show you no lead safe in the playoff, as Mimo always said.

34:13 Where was the run game is the question.

34:16 You would think there are two things you

34:17 could take for granted when you hire Brent Venibles.

34:19 One of them it turns out you can.

34:20 Defense is going to be good.

34:23 Normally right there along with that arm in-armm with a good

34:27 defense is normally a good solid dependable ground game at least.

34:31 Doesn't have to be top 10 but man they

34:33 were outside the top 115 or 110 last year.

34:37 113th exactly in rush yards per game last year.

34:41 Abysmal.

34:42 And as a result, they couldn't control games and they got beat by a team

34:46 that also couldn't run the ball and then

34:47 they themselves got splattered in the next round.

34:50 But you're thinking a 17-point lead at home at night in the playoffs.

34:54 It just leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

34:56 And so, yes, defense has gone from being

35:00 non-existent there under Lincoln to being a strength.

35:04 And that's great.

35:05 And that that's a welcome return of one of the bedrock

35:08 pillars of the identity of Oklahoma football over the years.

35:12 Now, can they put a string of seasons together?

35:14 Last year's a good start.

35:16 Very good start.

35:16 10- win season's great.

35:18 Can you win nine or 10 again this year?

35:20 Does it have to dip back down?

35:23 Doesn't have to.

35:24 It's a tough schedule.

35:25 Really tough schedule.

35:26 There there are several scenarios this year where

35:28 Oklahoma is one of the 12 best teams in the country and they go eight

35:32 and four because they just lose some close games.

35:35 That really could happen.

35:37 So, I think Brent Venibals is sitting at a B right now.

35:40 Now, that team they played in the playoffs last year was Alabama.

35:43 That's next up, Kaylin Dbor.

35:45 Kaylin Debor, Alabama,

35:47 I would say would grade out right at a B in the job approval market right now.

35:53 And I think that there is something happening that would

35:57 make some of the public think that he's lower than that.

35:59 That's not real.

36:01 So, you have a fringe minority, a vocal minority, if you will, in any fan base.

36:06 The Alabama fan base is a little different.

36:09 Not because they're actually different, although they are.

36:12 I'll grant you that.

36:13 That's been a fan base that's been through

36:15 a unique run and it's got a unique history.

36:18 It's a one of one.

36:19 It's the best history in all of college football.

36:21 So, yes, they view the world a little bit differently,

36:23 but I'm not even talking about that.

36:25 I'm talking about the way the Alabama fan base is covered.

36:28 The way Alabama fans are covered is the national media was

36:33 really excited when Sabin left to illustrate that these people are insane.

36:38 nothing that the next guy does will ever be good enough.

36:42 Okay, maybe even some of you believed that.

36:45 Then Kaylin Dbor comes in there and there was

36:47 a lot of excitement after he missed the playoff

36:50 in year one and even he made the playoff

36:53 last year but still they couldn't run the ball.

36:56 They got smoked by Indiana.

36:58 There's a lot of excitement to reinforce the theory a lot of people

37:03 had that Nick Sabin's predecessor was not going to be good enough.

37:08 And so what it looks like is there's not actually

37:11 a chorus of doubt amongst the Alabama fan base about that guy.

37:17 There is a fringe minority of doubters

37:19 and every national microphone in this country is

37:22 put in front of their face to amplify that to make it appear as if

37:28 there's this huge chunk of the Alabama fan base that's ready to run Kaylin

37:31 Dbor out of town despite the fact that they went to the playoff last year.

37:34 That's not real.

37:36 It can be real down the road if he doesn't win enough,

37:39 but that's not real right now.

37:42 That's that's more, you know, like that that's more the work version of college

37:47 football than the shoot version to use wrestling terminology.

37:50 The shoot version is they're actually relieved

37:54 that the program didn't fall off a cliff post Sabin.

37:57 They're relieved that recruiting has still been very good.

38:01 They are especially relieved that quarterback position now

38:06 and in the future looks really, really bright.

38:10 They're relieved that they made the playoff last year,

38:13 two years removed from Nick Sabin.

38:15 Those things are good.

38:16 Not being able to run the ball sucks and it's

38:18 inexcusable at any point if you're the head coach at Alabama,

38:23 especially several years in now as the head coach at Alabama.

38:26 So, that's got to improve.

38:27 But that doesn't mean he grades out at a C.

38:29 That grades out at a B.

38:31 You cannot lose emphatically in any situation

38:36 like you did against Indiana last year,

38:38 even if it is in the playoffs in the second round.

38:40 That can't be allowed to happen.

38:43 And for those reasons, not running the ball and just getting splattered,

38:46 getting body bagged at the end of the year,

38:48 I'd say it draws his grade down to a B, but it's no lower than that.

38:51 It may even be B+.

38:53 It's no lower than that.

38:55 And you know what else?

38:56 It's fully his team coming into this year.

38:58 It's been his team the first two years.

39:00 What I mean is this is the first year

39:02 you'll watch and there aren't any Sabbin players there.

39:04 Like Bray Hubard, I guess, would be one of the only ones that had been there,

39:10 but I I don't really think of him as a Sabbin player.

39:12 I mean, I think of him as one of Kaylin Dbor's players.

39:15 So, I mean, pretty much everyone in the building, everyone on the staff,

39:18 everyone on the roster, it's all Kalin Dbor guys now.

39:21 So, year three and beyond,

39:22 there's no lingering like residual Sabin effect on that team is my point.

39:28 Be fun to watch.

39:28 I'd put him at a B right now.

39:30 Here's the easiest one in the entire league.

39:33 Clark Lee.

39:36 Clark Lee at Vanderbilt.

39:37 If I could give an A++, but we can't.

39:40 But if I could, he would get an A++.

39:43 Vanderbilt went from being the break in everyone's schedule to begging to play

39:49 a 13th game last year because they were beaten on the door of the playoff.

39:52 They were 10-2 last year.

39:54 They just embarrassed Tennessee in Neland Stadium and um they're sitting

40:01 there now having had a Heisman finalist at quarterback and he

40:06 leaves and oh man things are going to fall off

40:08 the cliff right know they got one of if not the top

40:11 quarterbacks in the country this cycle may have to start

40:14 as a true freshman that's the way it is sometimes in the words

40:16 of Bruce Hornsby Clark Lee at Vanderbilt I mean like

40:21 what a revelation and it wasn't his first year last year.

40:24 It's not like Curt Signetti who comes in and just

40:26 out of nowhere turns a perennial loser upside down.

40:30 No, it took a couple of years and they felt their way through

40:34 it and now they are 10 and3 last year with the bowl loss.

40:38 10-2 regular season doing things

40:42 the program's quite literally never done before.

40:44 Last year was the best season in the history of the program.

40:49 That was a program that had had only one, two, three,

40:53 only four nine- win seasons since the turn of the previous century,

40:58 like 1900, not 2000.

41:00 And now they're a double- digit game winner.

41:04 And we get to see sort of what the follow-up act is here from Diego Pavia.

41:08 But A+ I don't even What would Clark Lee

41:12 had to have done after last year to lower himself?

41:15 Like he could cut a promo,

41:17 a heel promo on the city of Nashville and it'd still be A+.

41:22 They cheer heels all the time and they would cheer Clark Lee.

41:25 Not a heel though.

41:26 They're watching us in Atlanta, Georgia.

41:28 Uh Reno, Nevada is tuned in, as is beautiful Spartanberg, South Carolina.

41:36 Bold prediction season rolls on on the show here.

41:39 These are allegedly the things that you

41:42 guys say you believe enough that theoretically

41:45 you would bet your own money on and not have a problem with.

41:48 And sometimes I'm skeptical and sometimes I'm not.

41:51 The rule is anyone whose bold prediction rates 9.5 or higher and it

41:56 hits at the end of the year gets a chalice of supremacy.

41:59 Let's dive in.

42:00 First up, out of Mason, Ohio,

42:03 John Sumroll and Florida win 10 games and make the national championship.

42:08 So, let's say at least 10 games because I'm

42:11 not going to dock you if they win 11 games.

42:14 So, they won more than 10.

42:15 Okay, so Summerall wins 10 and they

42:17 make the College Football Playoff title game.

42:21 How crazy would this be?

42:22 Just to give you an idea, their overunder win total at FanDuel,

42:25 seven and a half to start the year.

42:27 They're plus 360 odds to just make the playoff plus 4500 to win it all.

42:33 So, yes, this would be a significant upset in the odds market.

42:37 Do we believe in Aaron Pho or Trel Jones that much?

42:42 Not just to have a good solid nine- win year,

42:44 but to win double digit games and make the college football playoff title game.

42:48 Now, their roster is not bad.

42:50 Roster's not bad at all.

42:52 Is the line of scrimmage play there?

42:54 That's the second question after the quarterback question.

42:57 And can they get to the playoff and win at least two,

43:02 if not three playoff games?

43:04 I'm skeptical.

43:05 So, I will put a 9.75 boldness rating on this one.

43:10 It qualifies for a chalice if it hits.

43:12 Next up, this one's interesting.

43:16 Trent from Birmingham, Alabama.

43:18 The Big 10 wins a fourth straight national championship.

43:22 Wait for it.

43:22 Wait for it.

43:24 The Big 10 wins a fourth straight national title with a fourth different school.

43:29 So, Ohio State is out.

43:31 Michigan's out.

43:32 Indiana is out.

43:33 Big 10's got to win it.

43:34 And it's got to be Oregon, USC, Penn State, Washington.

43:40 This is presumably the pool of teams, Michigan.

43:43 Uh Oregon's got the fourth best odds to win the whole thing.

43:46 You would think if a team out of that group

43:49 is going to win the national title, it would be Oregon.

43:53 Oregon's primed now.

43:54 Quarterback primed, defensive line prime, wide receiver primed.

43:58 We already talked about them earlier in the show.

44:00 They're primed.

44:00 And so there is a very, very easy path here.

44:02 That's why I'm only going to make it a nine.

44:04 Now, to me, it has to be Oregon.

44:06 All due respect to USC, I think they're a fringe playoff team this year.

44:10 I don't think USC's winning the national title.

44:13 Penn State, mainly schedulebased,

44:16 but I think they could be a fringe playoff team this year.

44:18 Their ceiling is beneath that of a national title this year.

44:21 Ditto for Washington.

44:23 Oregon could win at all.

44:24 But that's the thing.

44:26 We're essentially predicting Oregon wins the national title here.

44:28 That's really what we're having to do.

44:30 And even though they do have top five odds,

44:33 for it to be them specifically, that still gets a nine.

44:37 Next up, my favorite prediction out of bold prediction season so far.

44:42 Granted, it's early.

44:44 Brady from Nashville, Tennessee, Drew Mesa will be a Heisman finalist and lead

44:50 Oklahoma State to a Big 12 title game appearance.

44:55 This is a veteran of bold prediction season.

44:59 This is not a firsttime submission guy.

45:02 He's been around the block.

45:04 He has watched bold predictions.

45:06 He understands how the game's played.

45:08 Notice the subtleties here.

45:09 He didn't say memaker wins the Heisman.

45:12 He just said he's going to be a finalist.

45:14 Notice also he didn't say Oklahoma State wins the Big 12.

45:19 He said they make the Big 12 championship game.

45:22 much more doable on both fronts and they're very

45:26 heavily correlated because if Maaker makes a Heisman run,

45:30 if he's going to New York City,

45:33 very very obviously Oklahoma State has pulled the nose

45:36 up from a 1 and 11 campaign last year.

45:38 Very obviously the new coaching staff and the infusion

45:42 of a chunk of that roster from North Texas has paid off.

45:45 Also very very clearly a guy in Drew Mesmaker who had 4,300

45:50 passing yards last year 64 215 very clearly he has translated his game

45:58 to the power four level and if all that happens they don't have

46:02 to go win the conference they just have to be in the title game.

46:07 I'm giving this a 9.5.

46:11 I I actually in a very very twisted way kind of want to endorse the prediction,

46:17 but that's not what this is about.

46:19 This is about boldness.

46:20 This is a 9.5.

46:21 I would be so happy to ship a chalice of supremacy.

46:24 Plus, we could just have press drive it.

46:26 We don't even have to ship it.

46:27 The guy's from Nashville, so we don't have to ship it.

46:29 So, I'm really really pulling for this to happen.

46:33 Next up, Joe from Frederick'sburg, Virginia.

46:39 Notre Dame fan.

46:40 Don't know why it was relevant.

46:41 Oh, wait.

46:41 I do.

46:42 Listen to the prediction.

46:43 Joe predicts neither the SEC nor the Big 10 make the national title game.

46:50 I struggled with this.

46:52 I struggled with it because there is a path.

46:54 There is a very clear path.

46:56 If we just think about our favorites to win the national title.

46:59 If you look at FanDuel odds to win the national title,

47:02 Notre Dame has among the best odds to win it all.

47:06 They have the second best odds to win it all.

47:08 Miami has the seventh best odds to win it all.

47:11 If we get Miami versus Notre Dame in the national championship,

47:15 then this prediction hits.

47:17 Here's the problem potentially.

47:19 Outside of those two teams,

47:21 do I see any other team that I think that can make the national title game?

47:25 If Brennan Sorsby is not playing for Texas Tech,

47:27 I don't think they're making the national title game.

47:29 And respectfully, I don't think there's anyone else

47:31 on that list that can make the national title game.

47:33 So, I think it has to be Notre Dame Miami.

47:37 Those are number two and number seven in the FanDuel odds to win it all.

47:42 But because that has to be the exact matchup, so much has to go right.

47:46 It's tough to nail an exact matchup.

47:47 Also, the bracket has to fall right.

47:50 Like theoretically, they can end up really, really well set to make a run,

47:55 but they're just on the same side of the bracket,

47:57 which means they eventually play each other before the title game.

48:00 and it and it ends up mathematically there's no way to have

48:04 a nonseC and non-BI big 10 matchup in the national title game.

48:08 So, I'm going to make that a 9.5 on the boldness scale.

48:12 And if you're keeping track at home,

48:14 three out of four there qualify if they hit for Chalai of Supremacy.

48:18 Chalai, of course, for those who are new to the show,

48:21 is the plural of the word chalice.

48:24 Don't look it up.

48:27 Next up, those were opinions.

48:29 Those were predictions.

48:30 This is truth.

48:32 The truth teller series continues on the show

48:34 and I would like to talk about Curt Signetti, head coach of your Indiana Hooers.

48:39 The truth about Curt Signetti is I think he is

48:42 the face of the most improbable story of my college football life.

48:47 I've been around the college football block a few times.

48:49 I've watched it since I was old enough to say football.

48:54 And I don't know that anything has been more improbable

48:57 as a big story than Curt Signetti winning the national championship at Indiana.

49:03 Just the wildest thing I've ever seen.

49:05 To give you kids some context, because I know someone out there's 14 years

49:08 old and you cannot appreciate how insane this is.

49:12 From the year 1995 to 2018,

49:17 how many winning seasons do you think Indiana football had?

49:22 That is 23 years.

49:23 Jesse, 23, 24 years.

49:25 How many winning seasons?

49:27 How many times did they find a way to win seven games?

49:30 How many times did it happen?

49:33 Zero.

49:34 You can't appreciate how bad Indiana sucked and for how long they sucked.

49:40 Over two decades, not a single winning season.

49:43 They were three and nine the year before he got there.

49:47 and he's walked in and all he's done is gone 27 and two,

49:51 two playoff appearances, a Big 10 championship, a national championship.

49:56 They added a Heisman Trophy winner for good measure.

50:00 And it's not even a new concept.

50:02 That's the other truth about it.

50:03 It's not a new concept.

50:04 Oh, it is in Indiana.

50:06 It's a new concept for Indiana to be a winner.

50:08 It's not a new concept for Curt Signetti to be a winner.

50:11 Everyone laughed when he dropped the Google Me line

50:15 and then people started googling him and they found out,

50:18 wow, well, come to find out IUP, he won.

50:23 You Googled Elon, you found out they had

50:24 a football team and you found out he won there.

50:27 And then you remembered, oh wait,

50:29 he was the guy at James Madison and he won there.

50:34 And yet still when he started to win in Indiana,

50:37 everybody kept overlooking the explanation.

50:40 They kept on overlooking the the how because he kept

50:45 telling you and it just it didn't pass the smell

50:48 test to most people because what Kurt Signetti talked about

50:51 as the keys to their success were boring to most people.

50:55 Processoriented, overresoriented,

50:58 uh treat every play as if it has a history in life of its own.

51:02 Focus on doing your job.

51:04 Define everyone's role and then focus on that role.

51:08 These this is boring.

51:10 This is to most people it's boring.

51:12 Now in reality these are key tenants.

51:14 These are principles of success.

51:15 He he has worked under the best.

51:18 So all all he really did was he pared the core

51:22 principles of the best organizations that he had been a part of.

51:26 He added some of his own flavor.

51:28 Voila.

51:30 It turns out it really works.

51:32 You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

51:35 And it wasn't good enough for people.

51:36 And so then I've noticed some folks trying to explain it away.

51:41 And I just think people should stop attempting trying to explain

51:45 away how Curt Signetti's done what he's done in Indiana.

51:49 He's done what he's done because his process works.

51:52 Well, Josh, you know, all that can be true,

51:55 but you know, the portals played a big role here.

51:58 Yeah, it has.

52:00 Go on.

52:01 Because I've been challenged with this several times.

52:04 I'm singing the praises of Curt Signiti and they're like,

52:06 "Oh yeah, it's a good story, but this isn't the same as him doing it 15

52:10 years ago in Indiana because now Indiana's got the portal.

52:14 Indiana's got NIL." And I'm like,

52:17 "Is that exclusively available to Indiana?" Jesse,

52:19 does Ohio State get to use the portal?

52:21 They They do.

52:22 They can pay the players, too.

52:23 Yeah, they Alabama.

52:25 They're They're allowed.

52:26 Miami can.

52:28 Okay.

52:29 So, you're telling me that every one of these programs

52:32 that have had a significant leg up on Indiana for oh,

52:36 I don't know, the entire history of this sport have

52:38 access to the same mechanisms that Indiana has access to.

52:42 But all of a sudden, it was this disproportionate advantage to Indiana.

52:46 No, no, you call BS on that because that is faulty explanation.

52:51 The real explanation is they're just better than you.

52:54 That's been the real explanation.

52:55 Now, we get to have the fun together of seeing whether they're

52:58 going to rattle off a string of this for half a decade.

53:02 Was it a two-year flash in the pan?

53:04 I highly doubt that, but we'll have fun with that together.

53:07 But I'm not talking about predicting the future right now.

53:09 I'm talking about the truth in the here and now.

53:11 The truth is Curt Signnitti has become in many ways the face of the sport.

53:16 I would I don't wouldn't know this.

53:18 It's not necessarily my wheelhouse,

53:20 but you know how sometimes like you guys will be watching the show,

53:24 maybe you'll be listening to the show

53:25 or maybe you're watching college football related

53:28 programming and your wife or your girlfriend or your sister or mom or whoever,

53:33 they know nothing about college football, but they know who Arch Manning is.

53:39 Those same people kind of know who Kurt Signi is.

53:42 They know he's the Indiana coach who does the weird mannerisms on the sideline

53:47 and he's the one who took the perennial

53:49 loser and turned it into a national champ.

53:52 He he transcended college football last year.

53:54 You don't realize this when you're in the bubble.

53:56 Okay?

53:56 He's going to be front page news for me and you no matter what.

54:00 He transcended the sport last year.

54:02 Indiana transcended the sport last year

54:04 in a way that hardcore fans, me included,

54:07 sometimes have trouble wrapping our minds around because

54:11 we're never on the outside of the bubble.

54:13 But he's a different cat.

54:14 And the other thing that I immensely

54:17 appreciate is when they started winning, what happened?

54:21 Other jobs started opening up.

54:24 Penn State famously opens up and before they can even like let the ink

54:28 dry and get an offer put in front of him, what does he do?

54:31 He re-ups with Indiana and shuts it all down

54:34 and slams the door in everyone's face and says, "I'm where I want to be.

54:37 I'm good.

54:38 I'm fine.

54:39 You guys can move on." Crazy.

54:42 Just a different guy.

54:43 Glad we got him.

54:44 Glad we got him.

54:46 Don't want the NFL rumors anytime soon.

54:48 Glad we got him.

54:49 Uh Jesse, you're you're big in the horses.

54:51 You play the horses, right?

54:53 No, you didn't even come to the Royals award with me.

54:55 It's a great day.

54:57 Great.

54:57 Oh.

54:57 Oh, you wanted to and didn't get invited.

54:59 Is that what you said?

55:00 I can't read sign language, Jesse.

55:01 Here's what I can read.

55:02 The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday.

55:06 Uh not not that I specifically have a good feel for it, but maybe you do.

55:11 And our friends at FanDuel, just want to remind you,

55:14 new users, especially if you go through fanduel.com/jhpate.

55:19 New signups over there, bet $5,

55:21 get $25 in racing bonus bets whether you win or lose.

55:26 It's a beautiful thing.

55:26 I I did a deep dive.

55:28 Woken did an article on yahoo.com earlier today.

55:32 Yahooports.com earlier today.

55:34 You can put it down, Bradley.

55:36 This has nothing to do with FanDuel.

55:38 I for those of you who are into horse racing, this is not going to be a segment.

55:42 I got I got something to talk about here with Kirby Smart,

55:44 but I was doing some reading on the the computer

55:47 assisted wagering syndicates that are out there.

55:50 Fascinating, fascinating piece.

55:53 Walen wrote it.

55:53 It's over on Yahoo Sports right now.

55:55 I learned a lot.

55:57 And you you know Jesse former management that we used

55:59 to work with management's heavily into horse racing whole family

56:04 and management's dad especially will enlighten you as the day

56:09 is long about horse racing and this sort of thing.

56:12 So I was kind of given a peak

56:13 into this world before but I didn't understand what you

56:16 guys were up against as the average horse better

56:20 when it comes to the computer assisted syndicates out there.

56:22 It's wild stuff.

56:24 Wild stuff.

56:25 So, yeah, I'd spent the I spent the first 30 minutes of my waking

56:29 moments this morning reading that screen time as soon as you wake up.

56:33 That's the key.

56:33 That's the key to health.

56:35 All right, last question here and then we'll get out for the uh for the evening.

56:40 Patrick's in Sacramento.

56:41 He said, "Was Kirby Smart excuse making when he was talking about

56:44 the Big 10 success or are you buying his theories?" True story.

56:50 I was on Next Round Live this morning,

56:53 which emanates out of Birmingham, Alabama, good friends of the program there,

56:56 hosting that program,

56:58 and I was doing a pres-scheduled live hit with him, and they said,

57:01 "What are your thoughts on what Kirby said

57:02 on this show earlier today?" And I said, "What did he say?" So,

57:07 I was in the unenviable position of reacting to sound bites in real time.

57:12 You may be wondering, "Okay, well, what did he say?" Good news for you.

57:15 We have gotten access to the footage because I told them on the show,

57:19 we're going to play it later tonight on my show.

57:21 So, Kirby is being asked by Jim Dunaway

57:25 and Ryan Brown there at a golf tournament,

57:27 I think, in Birmingham about the Big 10 and how it surpassed the SEC.

57:31 And everybody's got a theory.

57:33 Everybody's got an explanation.

57:35 Is it just one thing?

57:36 Is it a bunch of different things?

57:38 So, Kirby said two different things that I thought were really interesting.

57:41 And the thing about Kirby is when you get him in these settings,

57:44 and he we've done it with him several times.

57:47 When you get Kirby Smart in these settings,

57:49 in these long form interviews, he is brutally honest.

57:52 He's got nothing to lose.

57:54 He is he is very forthright in opinion.

57:57 It's always well thought out.

57:59 You can tell that he's not really thinking on the fly,

58:03 which makes this unique because it was

58:05 almost like a stream of consciousness for him.

58:08 It was almost like someone had presented a question or a topic and you

58:11 got to watch him thinking stuff through just the way a normal person would.

58:16 All right, so this is from Next Round Live earlier this morning.

58:19 The first bit is when he was asked about

58:22 the Big 10 and how they've done what they've done.

58:25 Roll it, Bradley.

58:26 I can't figure out what it is.

58:27 I I just think they have a more competitive uh conference.

58:31 Like the top of their conference, there's more good teams.

58:33 It used to be h Ohio State was good.

58:35 Yeah.

58:35 You know, like Michigan was really good when Har they had a great team.

58:38 Indiana's good.

58:39 Like now they got Oregon.

58:40 They got a draw.

58:41 They they they have an ability to attract good players coming.

58:44 Now NIL has a factor too for sure.

58:47 But but so does Miami.

58:48 I mean so does Florida.

58:49 I mean people have money.

58:50 More people have money.

58:51 So I think that the talent is spread out thin

58:54 where before in the SEC it was a magnet to talent.

58:58 Okay.

58:58 So the thing he's pointing out there is what everyone goes to.

59:01 Pretty much everyone goes to NIL.

59:03 Pretty much everyone's working theory always centers around it used to be

59:07 that just the SEC paid a bunch of money under the table for players.

59:10 Now that it's legal for everyone to pay it.

59:12 There is an area like the Big 10 which probably

59:16 has more cashrich institutions than the SEC does on average.

59:20 So now the games the sports in their wheelhouse.

59:23 Okay.

59:23 So just in theory from 50,000 ft,

59:26 it makes perfect sense that NIL and the Portal were going

59:30 to disproportionately affect the most talentrich

59:33 conference and that was the SEC.

59:36 It really still is the SEC top to bottom,

59:38 just not nearly as much as it used to be.

59:41 He was talking, I'm not going to play it for you,

59:42 but he was talking about like the Alabama teams he was on as a coordinator,

59:46 the Georgia teams that he had just five years ago,

59:49 and how they would completely,

59:52 you know, like they would be able to practice totally differently.

59:55 They'd be able to live total different lives

59:58 from a from a depth standpoint than they can now.

1:00:00 So, yeah, I I don't question that at all.

1:00:04 I'm fine with what Kirby what Kirby said.

1:00:06 There's reality.

1:00:07 NIO in the portal has impacted the depth situation in the SEC.

1:00:11 It's spread out the talent more.

1:00:12 It's spread out talent around the SEC,

1:00:15 not just taking talent from the SEC because

1:00:17 as many players as are being taken from the SEC,

1:00:20 they're robbing the G5 ranks blind.

1:00:22 So the SEC is doing it too.

1:00:24 It's not just being done to them.

1:00:26 My question when everyone talks about the redistribution of talent is,

1:00:30 is that all is that the only thing?

1:00:34 Is that the only edge that the Big 10 has?

1:00:37 Because my opinion has been no.

1:00:39 I've shared this with you for a while now.

1:00:42 For a long time, the landscape of the SEC

1:00:44 was that they did have talented and deeper rosters.

1:00:49 And what that allowed them to do, for lack of a better term, is hire lazily.

1:00:54 It's not that they weren't working hard, but they hired lazily.

1:00:57 They hired with a significant slant towards value

1:01:01 and talent acquisition above above and beyond X's and O's.

1:01:04 And it was also really incestuous, as it still is in some cases to this day.

1:01:09 And what I mean is not so much you getting hired based on merit,

1:01:12 but you getting hired at various places

1:01:14 around this league based on who represents you.

1:01:17 I'm not talking about head coaches.

1:01:19 I'm talking about the hiring practices of head coaches because

1:01:23 I think you guys would be surprised and in many

1:01:25 cases extremely disappointed at how your tight end's coach got

1:01:29 hired at how uh your staff is being filled out.

1:01:33 And you like to think there are

1:01:35 these true nationwide searches going on, blind resumes,

1:01:38 and we're pitting one candidate against the other.

1:01:41 And it's a pure meritocracy.

1:01:43 And it should be that way.

1:01:44 And in the Big 10, it largely is that way.

1:01:47 And in the SEC, it has not been that way.

1:01:50 And it sounds like a really stupid approach.

1:01:52 It is, but it never got exposed

1:01:56 in the previous generation because the rosters were so deep.

1:01:59 It didn't matter.

1:02:00 you you had better coaching staffs maybe elsewhere

1:02:04 and the SEC running laps around them anyway because

1:02:06 the players ultimately when you have that many

1:02:09 of them erase a lot of inefficiency in your hiring.

1:02:13 So that's the first thing that I think should be added on.

1:02:16 And then the second thing to go back to what Kirby said,

1:02:19 this is a really really good sound bite.

1:02:21 The whole interview is available if you want to go listen to it.

1:02:24 They kept pressing him and he didn't have

1:02:27 to be pressed because he had a lot to say.

1:02:28 Here is something else he said that I want to touch on on the other side.

1:02:32 Now, the other theory is, and this one nobody likes to hear,

1:02:34 is it's a lot of SEC coaches say this in my meetings.

1:02:37 They say they don't have the grind we do.

1:02:40 There's no way they play three of their nine games are hard.

1:02:43 Their bottom four games are not our bottom four games.

1:02:47 I'm going to play at Starkville and Vanderbilts

1:02:49 in my bottom four and I'm holding on to my butt.

1:02:52 Yeah.

1:02:52 To be able to play at noon on on Saturday at Starkville and playing

1:02:55 a good team who beat Arizona State who goes and plays these other teams.

1:02:59 So I I there is a theory that we're beating each

1:03:02 other up and it's like the intensity and it wears you down.

1:03:06 There's a lot of validity to that.

1:03:07 There's zero question there's validity to that.

1:03:09 The schedules are harder in the SEC.

1:03:11 The average SEC schedule is significantly

1:03:14 harder than the average Big 10 schedule.

1:03:16 just to me it's a fact.

1:03:18 Um, and if you want to argue that that's okay.

1:03:20 I'm not really even going there.

1:03:22 Here's really the question there.

1:03:23 Let's even if you disagree with that, let's just accept

1:03:26 it as truth for a second for sake of argument.

1:03:29 The followup there and really the only key question is,

1:03:33 is the cumulative effect of playing a harder schedule shaving

1:03:39 off the top end of your potential as a team?

1:03:42 Georgia, for example, is the schedule they play relative to maybe

1:03:46 like the schedule an Oregon would play, is it really beating down the top end

1:03:51 of your potential via injury and, you know,

1:03:53 just overall wear and tear to the point where you're not able to perform

1:03:58 at as high a level in December as you otherwise would have been able to.

1:04:01 The answer may be yes.

1:04:03 The answer may very well be yes.

1:04:05 What I'm saying is that's all that matters.

1:04:08 Otherwise, you're just really good teams instead of great teams

1:04:13 and you're using your strength of schedule as a copout.

1:04:17 So, if the former is a reality and the latter is

1:04:22 just something a lot of haters say, well, so be it.

1:04:25 But it's hard to quantify it.

1:04:26 You know, it's hard to know how Texas would perform

1:04:30 with Purdue's schedule versus how Texas will perform with Texas's schedule.

1:04:35 It's always been the great unknown in college football, in college athletics,

1:04:39 but especially college football because for some

1:04:42 reason true strength of schedule metrics,

1:04:46 people fight incorporating them into the playoff selection process.

1:04:49 So, the thing about Georgia and Kirby Smart,

1:04:53 regardless of where you stand on all that, you have to acknowledge

1:04:57 the landscape has shifted right under their feet and they're still right there.

1:05:02 It's a testament to that program

1:05:04 that the perception around them around the country is,

1:05:07 oh, they've fallen off a bit.

1:05:08 They've won the SEC back-to-back years.

1:05:11 They got put out two years ago with their backup quarterback in a playoff game,

1:05:15 which has been totally whitewashed from history.

1:05:17 It's like people don't even acknowledge it.

1:05:19 It's just, oh, you lost to Notre Dame.

1:05:22 Yes, they did with their backup quarterback.

1:05:24 Uh, not that Notre Dame couldn't have beat him with Carson Beck.

1:05:27 I just want it noted they did have to play their backup QB there.

1:05:30 That was really his like first start.

1:05:33 And then last year they ran into Trinidad Shamblas,

1:05:36 played a classic against him down in New Orleans.

1:05:38 Really the biggest takeaway and the only thing Kirby needs to be

1:05:41 focused on is how do I avoid New Orleans for a playoff game.

1:05:44 If they can just do that this year, you know,

1:05:48 maybe figure out wide receiver and just do that.

1:05:50 They'll be fine.

1:05:51 They'll be okay.

1:05:52 We need to go see him.

1:05:53 Jesse, make some calls.

1:05:55 We need to go see Kirby.

1:05:57 Let's do it next week.

1:05:58 You do?

1:05:58 Yeah, let's just do it next week.

1:06:00 We'll go visit him next week.

1:06:01 We'll go knock on the door.

1:06:03 If they open, they open.

1:06:05 And uh we'll ask him what he thinks about that.

1:06:07 All right, that's our show.

1:06:09 We appreciate it so much.

1:06:10 We'll be back Sunday night.

1:06:12 There's no draft this weekend.

1:06:15 So, let's just let's just have fun.

1:06:17 Let's be responsible.

1:06:18 We'll reconvene here because we do have Sunday night classes at Pate State.

1:06:22 Until then, for Director Bradley, producer Jesse, I'm Josh Pate.

1:06:26 We'll see you Sunday.

1:06:27 God bless.