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- [00:00]
Bud Elliott
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Matt Duck
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Bud Elliott
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- [01:23]
Matt Duck
Indiana can can sort of cement itself as we are no longer this team that's going to be fighting for six wins anymore. It's Malachi Toney.
- [01:29]
Bud Elliott
Is he going to be ready?
- [01:30]
Matt Duck
Dante Moore, he showed improvement. Better command.
- [01:40]
Bud Elliott
What's going on y'?
- [01:41]
Matt Duck
All?
- [01:41]
Bud Elliott
Bud Elliot here of the COVID 3 college football podcast. Summer school is back in session. That's my man Matt Duck territory again. Always crushing it for us. And man, speaking of crushing, Oregon dude continuing to Crush as well. 13 wins last year, you know, made a run in the college ball playoff. Vibes are pretty high around there, right?
- [02:00]
Matt Duck
Oh yeah, vibes are really high. You know, you get Dante Moore to come back to school, which was a really big win for for Oregon. I mean Nils changed the game for all schools and this is an example of it, of a guy basically saying no to top three draft pick money and coming back to school and being totally content and understanding. They still got a lot to work on. But Oregon goes in with QB1, QB2, QB3 at worst in college Football that that's a huge win in and of itself. And then they're also able to to get all four of their NFL draft picks along the defensive line to come back. And, and again, thank you Nil. If you're a college athlete, you know that that doesn't happen and that's vibes are very high. The expectations are as high as they've been in the Landing era and if as high as they've been in a long time at Oregon for what this team can actually do and should accomplish on the football field.
- [02:57]
Bud Elliott
So you mentioned Dante Moore. We'll get him to him in a second. But really some of the only losses on this team were at the coordinator position. So Will Stein leaves for Kentucky to be the head coach. Obviously nobody would grudge him to head coaching job. Right. At a major program in house. Replacement for him, Drew Meringer. What, what do you think Lanning saw in Marringer that made like because Oregon kind of had their pick of the litter. Right. Like people like working for Dan and obviously Oregon's gonna have a loaded roster with you know, the recruiting and their spend. What did he see in Marriagers said? Yeah, like this is the guy.
- [03:28]
Matt Duck
Yeah. So the manager's been the, the co OC since his arrival and he's been the eyes in the sky for Will Stein the last three years where Stein was the unconventional OC that liked to, to be on the field, like to call the game, be right there visible. And Marringer was the eyes on up in the box to hey, we're doing this and we keep seeing this. We need to make this change that that sign couldn't see. And Dan Lanning talks a lot about how it's a collaborative process with the entire program from a coaching standpoint. And offensively Stein talked a lot about the comfort level and the trust that he had with Maringer. And then you know, Maringers. Maring has been here for a while. He knows the operation, he knows what, what they like he's, he's been involved in the game planning. They do these really cool like behind the scenes videos of wins. It's called Ducks versus Them. And the last couple years they've really started to tap into like the, the, the headset communications and they, they, the last three or four years they frequently have highlighted Maringer just straight up calling a a a this is what's going to happen. Kenyon Sig is going to be wide open for a touchdown like very clearly seeing something. And so there's a lot of optimism. He's A very well liked guy within the locker room. He's a guy that has recruited well for, for the Ducks at this position. He's been involved in the game planning process. It's kind of his turn to, to elevate up and move in. And I think it also helps tremendously that we didn't know this until spring ball, but Dan Lanning said that last year, last fall they kind of elevated Will Stein to a more hands on approach of running the entire offense and wasn't involved as much with the quarterbacks. And Koa Kai who was an assistant quarterbacks coach was kind of running the room, was doing a lot of the meetings except for like the, the really big one, you know, right before game day or breaking down film with of their opponent, was doing a lot of the scouting work, was doing a lot of the practice film work, was doing a lot of the hands on teaching. So Stein could bounce around during practice to a lot of the positions and, and work there and have big picture thoughts. I think that played a factor in it too because Dan Landing said that he went and kept Dante Moore involved in the process. He was aware what the decisions making they were going to do and they elevated the QB assistant coach just full time QB Drew Marringer gets elevated and there's a lot of confidence in both those guys that eventually, you know, I, I think in two or three years we'll probably be talking about Drew Maringer getting a head coaching job and we'll probably be talking about Koakai being promoted to, to OC at Oregon in a couple years.
- [06:20]
Bud Elliott
Yeah man, the pipeline keeps going there. No uncertainty at quarterback. Dante Moore decides to wear a shade of green. It's not the New York jets, but decides to wear the Oregon Duck screen again. I mean you're getting back a quarterback with like serious production. 92 PFF grade like completed like 72% of his balls. This, this doesn't happen often. Like this is not a normal type situation here. I think whether you believed he was going too overall like that guy was gone in the top 40 picks regardless pretty much. And like getting him to come back. Where's the unlock here? Like is there another area that either he or Dan or anybody have talked about? Okay, we want him to get better at this. Like this is the level we can get from him. We didn't even get last year because there's, there's not many flaws there.
- [07:05]
Matt Duck
There was a lot of talk about command and of leadership and Dante's a very well spoken guy. He's, he's loved by everybody within the locker room and the coaches. But he's also, he also can be kind of quieter. You know, he. And, and so Dan, Dan's been talking a lot about, hey, like you know, everything, you know, Dan came out and said that he's just as, as far, if not further along in understanding of the offense and command of the offense that Bo Nix was going into that second year for Oregon going into the 2023 football season. It's getting him to be, I think probably like higher expectations for, for your peers and calling guys out and being. Being comfortable in terms of really challenging guys. And he's talked about, you know, need to continue to grow, being more of a challenger. I think from an on field perspective too, every once in a while. I, I think Indiana was the one school that really kind of showed. This is when he gets a little bit of pressure and there's a little bit of confusion. He gets a little bit of happy feet and sometimes he throws some quick balls or some errant throws some, some. Some balls that put the ball in jeopardy. That's probably an area of focus. But at the same time, you don't want to make it too big of a deal because it only happened to one team in two games and that team destroyed everybody that they played and won the national championship. And so there's a level of you need to get better here, but you also need to understand that everybody struggled with that against this team.
- [08:47]
Bud Elliott
So receiver wise, I mean, who he's throwing to you, you do lose Siddiqa tight end. But I mean, if Evan Stewart is back, like to what we think he can be and can stay healthy, Decorian takes another step who was, you know, awesome as a freshman, like exactly what they paid for. You lose Benson, who I mean, I think Oregon's credit, they finally unlocked. Like I was very skeptical that Benson, I mean just having watched him at BAM in Florida State is like, he's fast but like the receiver part of it wasn't there. Like he had some huge catches for them down the stretch. I mean, Matt, like they're in that conversation with like Ohio State and Texas for like the best receiver in the country. If Stewart is, you know, can be like the guy and with the coriander.
- [09:31]
Matt Duck
Yeah, Evan Stewart changes the game. He's healthy. He participated in the spring game, had it over 100 yards receiving, scored a touchdown. Dylan Rayola layered a really sweet pass for like a 76 yard touchdown catch. If, if he's healthy, which he says he is, he's all the Way back now Oregon's three headed monster at receiver. Jeremiah McClellan would be the third guy and he also came on strong second half of the season. They've got three guys that are all NFL receivers. Evan Stewart was a borderline first second round draft pick during the 2024 season before he got hurt at the end of the year before the Rose bowl and then you know, missed all of last season with a second injury that happened during training camp. Decor Moore is obviously a five star. He's going to be, he's got the NFL trades. They're really high on JMac. Jeremiah McClun, he actually, you brought up Ohio State. He was actually committed there and flipped to the Ducks. And then I think the, the name to know though is Jamari Johnson. Drew Maringer told me ahead of the Orange bowl that he felt like Kenyon Siddiq was tight end one and he was very adamant. Jamar Johnson will be tight end one next year. We, we are very confident this guy is going to be the best tight end in the country again. And obviously you know there's, there's a little bit of coach speak, you know, protecting your guy and hyping him up. You know that that's always going to happen. But it's real. He's already being projected as a first round draft pick from multiple mocks that have come up. I think Cooper Patagna of, of our, of our outlet has has him mocked as a first round draft pick. He's a bigger body. He's more of a traditional tight end. He's 66, like 265. He's really fluid. He's a really good pass catcher. His catch radius is really high. They're really high on, on that guy being the next first round draft pick at tight end. And then you know they, they've added Iverson Hooks who was a very productive guy at UAB the last couple seasons. Jalen Lots a five star receiver that, that, that's going to be a freshman this year. Gatlin Bear is back from his religious mission. He was a five star receiver a couple years ago. Talent as, as we've ever seen at that position.
- [11:53]
Bud Elliott
Man, I, I, yeah, I have a, I have a really hard time thinking there's many if any like quarterback receiver combos better than his team. If, if Stewart, you know is, is healthy and can return to that 20, 24 form. Less confidence from an outsider. That's why we bring the insiders on in the offensive line group and they lose some pretty key pieces here. Am I right to be worried or is it more just like a question?
- [12:18]
Matt Duck
It's a question. I, I think there is probably a little bit of, of let's be cautious, let's not be overly optimistic because they are bringing back the best center in college football. Ipani Laloux goes back to Poncho. He's a three year starter. He started a couple games as a freshman too when Jackson Powers Johnson wasn't available to play. They've got a couple stud freshmen they love. Tommy Tofi, a four star who's top 50 prospect as a guard. Emmanuel Ianacho has not arrived yet which probably is going to stall his, his progression a little bit. Not going through all of spring ball and all, all of camp. He's going to arrive in the, in June but he's the most decorated offensive tackle that they've signed and there's a, there's a chance that he could push his way in on the right side. They did bring in Michael Bennett, a transfer from Yale. He's the one portal guy that, that they, they took at the position this past year and a big reason for that. You know we've asked Dan Lanning, we asked Elite Terry, the offensive line coach and he said the last couple years that they've recruited the position as well as any other position on this team. But a lot of those guys were still freshmen, redshirt freshmen or sophomores and their development just needed a little bit more seasoning and they felt like middle of the year last season things kind of clicked for the younger guys and when their names were called they executed and it was time to kind of give the younger guys a chance. The name to know is Fox Crater. He's going to be a red shirt sophomore. He's going to man probably the left tackle position. Former four star recruit from the Vancouver area up in Portland, Oregon, Washington area across the river. He played and started against USC in a mid November game. Everything on the line, it was really his basically his, his true first snaps of his college career as a red shirt freshman and he dominated. I think that probably says a little bit about USC's defensive line. It also probably says a little bit about his talent. But he was every bit as good as you would hope he would be in that moment and they've really banked on that get translating to next season. But the big reason why I don't think it's a big worry yet is you look at the track record and Elite Terry with the offensive lines at Oregon. He's been here for this is gonna be his fourth year all Three years they have been a Joe Moore award finalist. That's the best offensive line in the country. The history says he'll figure things out. He'll get the five best guys on the field and they will be one of the better units in the country. But that being said, this is going to be the least experienced group of those four units that, that he's going to be coaching. So there'll probably be some learning curves in the month of September for this team for sure.
- [15:13]
Bud Elliott
I like looking at this dude, Ian Honcho. Have you seen him in person?
- [15:17]
Matt Duck
He is the, he is a human being.
- [15:20]
Bud Elliott
Yeah.
- [15:20]
Matt Duck
And what, what's really impressive is they have two of those guys because Tommy Tofi is the exact same and you. I didn't realize how big Tofi was until I saw him during practice and it was like, oh dear Lord, this guy is just as big as Ianacho. They've got two of them coming in. And you know why you don't want to have two, two freshmen playing along the offensive line. Especially when you got a quarterback like Dante Moore. It's, it's hard to, to surpass, you know, the size and the physicality of these guys. As one coach told me, mass beats kicks ass all the time and they've got a lot of mass up front.
- [15:59]
Bud Elliott
You know, if you kind of really dive into the data like five star offensive linemen, like it's not sexy but like they're actually like tremendous bets. Like they, they, the guys actually get like that true five star stamp, you know, by the end of the process. Like, and they generally play early, you know, like the, the percentage of those guys who start by their sophomore year and play well, like they're pretty much being paid on a scale like, hey, you're going to be, you know, first or second team, all conference type guy by year two. And it, it actually hits a lot. Like those are, are people are like, oh, you pay a million and a half or two and a half million for an off to tackle or you know, you kind of give them like, you know, 18 and 25 first two years. Like, yeah, like think about what that would cost you in the Portal, you know, if you had to go out there and get that and there's just so few of them, which is why the price in the portal is so high. And that, that stinks. He's not there for spring, but like when we had him down here in Orlando for the Under Armour game, like he looked so big and I was like, is this guy? But it wasn't like sloppy big. You know, it was just kind of like just a ton of mass. Like you said mountain and I wasn't sure how he would move right and like, honestly, he just dominated. It was like just locked down on all the fellow five stars. Okay, this is kind of like when we had shoot oh Tunzel. You know, like I was like, okay, it was just like this is not a normal freshman thing now. Tunzel was more wiry and quicker but like when, you know, got his hands on you, it was, it was game over. I, man, I'd be shocked if he's not in the starting lineup at some point this year. You know, honestly, like, like if he's not, then Oregon's really, really good up front.
- [17:35]
Matt Duck
That's the thing is that they don't have guys outside of Tofi that are going to have that size of mass. Maybe Dimitri Manning, another guard type guy. So you're right. Like especially on a tackle side though, if Ianacho shows up and can pick up the offense and can adjust to the speed and the physicality of the game pretty quickly, he's got the physical traits and the skill sets for it to translate right away. And again, you can't beat like almost 6 foot 8, 350 pounds like that. That's really hard to beat.
- [18:09]
Bud Elliott
Absolutely. All right, Matt, let's hit a little break here and we'll go a little defensive schedule and get more rundown on the Ducks.
- [18:17]
Matt Duck
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- [18:48]
Bud Elliott
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- [20:50]
Matt Duck
Yeah, it, they are, they are as loaded up front in the first unit. I keep saying that and it sounds like I'm, I'm just drunk on Kool Aid of this team. But again, Dan Lanning is recruited at a high level. Multiple recruiting classes, best class in school, school history and it beats it. And we're starting to see the fruition of that come true where they were able to convince these guys to stay. And you know I think Amari Washington's got first riding talent. He needs to show the consistency of being a first rounder sometimes and he's, he's admitted it. Like sometimes he just doesn't have the conditioning or didn't have the consistency to put of production every single down. So showing that Tatum Tuiodi is kind of a, a guy that, that's a cool story to watch. Showed up as a three star. He's the son of Oregon's defensive line coach and you know, while, while he never acted this way there was always just that, you know, unfair perception of OH3 star kid at Oregon dad, that's why he's here. But played as a true freshman, was really good as a sophomore this past season, led the team in sacks and every year he's just gotten better. He's improved his body. He's, he's turned himself into a guy that, I don't want to say he's going to be a first round pick, but he should get picked second or third round after his senior season and, and who knows, you know, the way his career has continued to just skyrocket and take big chunks every single year, maybe he can work himself into that first round discussion. Mateo Youngalay certainly got the body, certainly he's got the athleticism, certainly had the production. As a sophomore when he was one of the Big Ten's leaders in sacks and tackles for loss, he took a dip last season. I think some of that was a, a lot of attention was thrown to him and so he was getting double teamed quite a bit. And I think a lot of opponents for Oregon just said this pass rush is so good. We, we can't afford to, to hold on to the ball for longer than three seconds. We got to get quick pass plays. We gotta, you know, screens and all that. And, and so I think the opportunity probably also went down but nonetheless he needs to get better at getting sex. He needs to get back to what he did as a sophomore. He's talked about it and then Barry Alexander, you know, we talked about Malik Benson and Oregon finding it a way to get him to click and work. That's the same thing with Barry Alexander. Kind of wasn't really there as a Georgia, USC up and down and then he, you know, four games any red shirted to preserve his eligibility to transfer. And then last year he didn't start the first couple games and, but he came on strong and turned into another guy that will hear his name called at some point in the draft and they got all four of them back. Now it did come at a cost. You know, they had to, they, they had to commit a lot of resources from an nil standpoint to keep those guys and then every single one of their backups hit the portal because, and then look, I think Dan Lanning completely, if you gave him true serm, he like yeah, I get it. Like I totally understand, I'd love to have them, but I totally understand. They want to play, they want to be starters and they weren't going to be and they were, a lot of them were going to be juniors or, or soft redshirt sophomores next season and the places that they landed at Notre Dame, Alabama, forgetting where Blake Purchase landed. But they were all sec, Big ten, playoff, ACC playoff caliber programs that these guys landed at. And it was very evident. Like when Terence Green went to Alabama it was oh wow, you don't really see that. You usually see Oregon going and getting the second string Bama guy to get the start at Oregon. And on the flip side that tells you just how good this defense from a depth perspective was. And they went out into the portal, they got Deontre Robinson starting defensive tackle for North Carolina. They're really banking on the fact that Aiden Breland, the former five star, Matt Johnson, another former four star recruit, are going to be ready to go for big, big roles. And both those guys look the part. Matt Johnson played in every playoff game after red shirting the 2025 season. So they obviously saw something there where once the, the restrictions were lifted on playing, he, he saw snaps and all their playoff games and then they got like Elijah rushing a four star guy, a five star recruit they got this year, Wyatt who was a terror off the edge this past season as a true freshman. They got another five star guy in the in Tank Jones who, who was the best player in the state of Alabama this past high school season. And even like a blue dancer, a guy that was just like a, it felt like a late AD from Morgan State out of the portal, didn't really do much this past season. He had like three sacks in, in the spring game. And so they, they feel like even though the experience behind the top four is, is gone, the talent there is still going to be equivalent to what it was previously.
- [25:44]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, I, I mean look, it's clearly a group that has to stay healthy, but if it does then you know, we talked about it, you know, I know you kind of thought we talked about too much. You know what like somebody has to face this group for 70 snaps in a game does not think you're gonna have to talk about it too much. These guys stay healthy because it's going to matter on every single defensive snap. Like, like this is kind of the front runner for the best defensive line in the country, you know. So I agree. Like, like that's, I talked to a lot of GMs out there and they're like D line is kind of the one position you cannot moneyball, right. Like you just got to spend up and pay it. Right. I mean obviously you got to evaluate, right. But like you know, there's not a lot of like sleeper ways to Cobble together a defensive line. If you need to play it like the highest level, you know, you can do the, the Iowa State 335 or, you know, three, two, six thing with, you know, but like at the highest level, you, you need the guys who are going to be, you know, hearing their names called high in the NFL draft. It's pretty proven. All right, so linebacker wise, we kind of probably a little quicker through this one if we need to, but like, they lose Bryce, I think they're okay here.
- [26:46]
Matt Duck
Yeah, Jerry Mixon's gonna be the next linebacker. Like the green dot. He'll be the leader. He had a breakout year last season. Devin Jackson has been one of the best athletes, one of the fastest guys on the team. He's just always been hurt and that's going to be the linchpin here. He's healthy now, went through his first spring football in a couple years. Oregon staff is very high on him and they're banking on him finally being healthy and being able to contribute at full strength for an entire season. If that happens, then, yeah, they've got two of the best linebacker cores in the Big Ten and then they've just recruited the position really well the last two or three years and they're just banking on the fact that a Braden Platt or Dylan Williams or Gavin Nix, all four star linebackers, you know, one of those guys or two of those guys will step up and be ready to go. And. And they added two more high level linebackers in the high school ranks this past off season. Would they play a ton? Probably not. But this is one where they're, they're feeling. Let's trust the guys that are, that we have the two veterans. And let's just bank on our, our track record of recruiting and evaluating and developing that one or two of those guys will rise to the cream of the crop.
- [28:00]
Bud Elliott
So secondary, I mean, obviously you, you get the stud freshman back, you get, you get the brand coy purse, you lose thienaman, you lose a couple other pieces that were like, you know, good college players that they will play in the NFL. But like, I, I don't know that things worse, it might be better.
- [28:19]
Matt Duck
Yeah, I mean, Brandon Finney is going to be one of the best cornerbacks in the country.
- [28:23]
Bud Elliott
Yeah,
- [28:27]
Matt Duck
they've got iffy Obadigwu who, if it wasn't for Brandon Finney being an all American last season, everyone would be hyping this guy up as like the next rising star, you know, DB at Oregon, he just got overshadowed by an even better freshman. Was Was honorable, mentioned Big Ten, had opportunities, was, was solid in his first year at Oregon. He's back. Aaron Flowers is a redshirt sophomore. He played and started last season as a red shirt freshman. So they've got three sophomores that are all talented and they'll have things to work on, no doubt. I mean Flowers was picked on and he, that was his own admission too. Right after the, the Indiana game in the Peach bowl and then again this spring. He, he's like, they, they targeted me, they got, they went after me and I got to get better. But again it was two games out of 15 that he really struggled. It wasn't a consistent up and down they went and got Koi Parritch from Minnesota. They're really hoping that he can kind of fill in the void that Dylan Thieman created when he went pro early a year early, which was kind of expected when he signed with Oregon anyways. But they're thinking Koi Parrish is going to be another similar kind of safety. A guy that can do a lot of stuff on the back end and can kind of come up and be aggressive at the line of scrimmage. And you're right like the talent, I mean jet Washington five star Naheem offered a sophomore as a five star recruitment Trey McNutt who was maybe gonna be a starter as a true freshman this past season but broke his leg like a week before the regular season started. He's healthy and back, he's pushing Aaron Flowers. So yeah, this unit has a ton of talent and again it's a broken record. But Lanning and his, his staff have recruited the best class year over year in program history and we're starting to get to the C where this is as loaded of a group on paper and they're not going to have a lack of talent excuse for really any position on this team. It's going to be they just weren't ready or they didn't execute.
- [30:30]
Bud Elliott
Get to the schedule here. So you know, when you have this much returning experience and talent, I kind of like having some of these name brand games early because like there's a chance those teams won't have, you know, as much, you know, kind of coalescing and returning talent. They go, they go. Boise at home to open which you know, I assume you should get that one but like Boise will be good again. So like that's a, if you're resume building come playoff time, you know, you
- [30:55]
Matt Duck
think about that it's a potential 10 win.
- [30:59]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, right, exactly. Like if that's your like third best win on the season potentially like that. That's a decent thing like, like to tick on the resume there in the eyes of the committee at Oklahoma State which should be much improved but also it's early in the year. I think I'd rather get them early than late. You know, Portland State, which is a nice breather before you take the trip to usc. Then you get the bi week little reset. You get nice back to back home games. UCLA and Nebraska, you know, you should handle them like at Illinois can be tricky obviously. Like they're, they're usually pretty feisty in champagne. Then you get Northwestern at home which is kind of nice to prep for the trip at Ohio State. And then you come back and you immediately play Michigan in Austin. Then you go to Michigan State which I guess should be improved to be hard not to. But again I don't think like they crushed it in the portal to where that's like a, it's not a game you should be losing if the season's going the way you want it to. And then obviously the, you know the game at the end of the year against Washington, I mean like there's a reason why they are so, you know, so like odds on to make the playoff and I think like it's with the depth of the name brands on the schedule. Matt, like if they go 10 and 2, they're in honestly.
- [32:05]
Matt Duck
Yeah, right. Like yeah, they're, they're loaded and if, if the schedule that they play should they. They've got a buffer, they've got some breather room and they're going to be good enough where as long as you don't have to play the first, the, the top seed maybe in the second round you probably feel like we can probably contend with anybody and even in that situation you feel like got the talent where doesn't really matter who we match up with. We're gonna have to play them at any point in the playoffs anyways if we're gonna win. We being Oregon, that's that you're okay, you're okay with that. I, I think the back end of the schedule is going to be, is going to be brutal because you mentioned it, you go to Ohio State and that in of itself is going to be a really big game. But you aspect, you add in the travel aspect of it and then getting back and having to play Michigan after flying across the country twice. They're going to make the same trip. I realize that. But it's, it's the grind of playing Ohio State the week before the travel that goes with it and then playing another really premier program that's going to have talent. I know they're probably, they might be down a little bit, but they're still going to have good dudes and they'll probably still be really well coached knowing winning ham. They're tough as nails. They'll be, there'll be dudes on that doing way better.
- [33:23]
Bud Elliott
Yeah.
- [33:24]
Matt Duck
And then you got to go again across the country and I know Michigan State's down and I know that they didn't hit. Hit the portal very well, but that, that travel, three trips are, you know, back and forth across the country and then you go back and you play your rival to end the year. If you can go through that stretch three and one, you're, you are absolutely fired up about that. That's going to be a very hard run to go through. And there's no buys playing in Columbus in November, playing in East Lansing in late November. And then who knows what the weather could be like when Oregon plays Washington and it could be 50 degrees and sunny and perfect and it could be 41 degrees and freezing rain and be horrific.
- [34:04]
Bud Elliott
Yeah, completely. I've been going through these. I'm like, okay, like what's their like safe number? Like if they get to this given the schedule, they're, they're like I think 10 and 2, they're very safe. I, I think 9 and 3, they're like fringe case but out, you know, whereas like we just did Indiana, like not if Indiana went 9 and 3 for some reason. No chance. Just given the non conference and who they draw in the Big Ten, I think that like Indiana 10 and 2 is probably like 80 in, you know, like it's not a million percent lock but defending national champions going 10 2, you know, like obviously the size of the wins and losses and who that, that 10 and 2 or 111111 they're in obviously. But like that, you know, the, who makes up the 10 and 2 and the outcomes of those two probably matter some. But I mean. Yeah, like Matt, you mentioned like having to play the number one see that it might be the number one seed.
- [34:49]
Matt Duck
Yeah, I mean it's very, it's very real that a couple years ago I was on here and I said that there's a real chance that they go 120 in the reg. I don't this team is going to be better on paper than that one, I think. Yeah, I don't, I, I don't feel though as confident with the way the schedule is set up to, to go that far and say they're gonna go 12, 0. It's. But it's a very real possibility. I just worry about, like I always said that, that back and forth they're gonna drop one of those games and you know, it wouldn't shock me if it's, if it's a, a tightly contested game or it wouldn't shock me if it's one in which, like a Michigan or you know, one which they should win and maybe just things just don't go their way and they come out of there with a three point loss and it's a little bit of a shock. But I, you know, I, I think they're going to drop probably one of those games and to your point, about 9 and 3 and where they're at, the only way that if they lose three games, the only way they can still get in is they have to hope like hell. Boise State's a playoff team like they were a couple years ago and they have to hope that Oklahoma State's like an eight win team and you have that win over, over them. You, you get that and then you add like a, you maybe you lose to usc, you lose at Ohio State and you lose at Michigan State, but you beat a Michigan team, you beat a Washington team and an Illinois team. That's all going to be 8 and 5, 9 and you know, 9 and 4 type, type programs. You might sneak in as that, as that 12 seed. But yeah, you, you go 10 and two. I, I have zero concern of your chances of get, of not getting in.
- [36:22]
Bud Elliott
Absolutely, man. Matt, this has been so much fun. I will see you at Big Ten media day and we need to tee it up sometime soon, dude.
- [36:28]
Matt Duck
Absolutely, absolutely. We'll maybe make it work in the summertime. We'll see.
- [36:31]
Bud Elliott
Absolutely, man. All right, be well.
- [36:34]
Matt Duck
Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money. Whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion dollar swings, there's a money
- [36:42]
Bud Elliott
side to every story.
- [36:44]
Matt Duck
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