Lowest-Ranked Team That Can Win CFP | Brendan Sorsby Eligibility Hearing | College Football Mailbag ✉️

Summary

Cover 3 College Football Podcast

Episode: Lowest-Ranked Team That Can Win CFP | Brendan Sorsby Eligibility Hearing | College Football Mailbag

Date: June 1, 2026
Hosts: Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli (with references to Danny Kanell, Bud Elliott)

Episode Overview

This robust episode explores three major themes:

• The eligibility hearing and ongoing saga of Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby and the implications of NCAA sports gambling rules.
• A detailed examination of how low the preseason ranking bar can be for a true College Football Playoff (CFP) contender in the new 12-team era.
• An open mailbag segment with questions about college football families (e.g., the Mendozas vs. Mannings), whether academic schools benefit from playoff expansion, and playful banter on college baseball, rivalries, and bowl game tweaks.

The tone is energetic, a bit irreverent, and highly analytical—full of the usual Cover 3 blend of seriousness and inside-joke banter, but always grounded in sharp college football insight.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

---

1. Brendan Sorsby Hearing: NCAA Sports Gambling Rules

(Begins ~05:55 - 13:00)

• Current Status: The injunction hearing for Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby is live in Lubbock over his eligibility, after the NCAA declared him ineligible for gambling violations (placing over 165 bets).
• Legal Details: Sorsby’s legal team is following the common playbook of challenging NCAA transfer/eligibility rules on constitutional/fairness grounds, which has succeeded in transfer contexts but faces a stiffer uphill in gambling cases.
• Tom Fornelli’s Take: Strongly believes Sorsby’s actions are a clear violation:
  • “I don't know how a judge can look at the rules as they are written, look at what has happened and come to any other logical conclusion other than, yeah, this guy's not eligible. He broke all the rules. They're very clearly written.” (06:46)
  • Argues that gambling rules are foundational, unlike transfer restrictions: “It's been the case in sports for a hundred some odd years... Just because it's legal now in America... doesn’t mean the rules have changed for athletes.” (09:33)
  • “For the integrity of the sport—you cannot have it. Brendan Sorsby is not as important as college football… He can't play college football anymore. Bang. Done. Sorry.” (10:56)
• Chip Patterson’s Context: Points out recent legal successes against NCAA in transfer cases, but contrasts with the clear, unchanging gambling prohibition.
• Mailbag Reaction: Listeners joke about “why have rules at all,” reflecting frustration with endless appeals.

Notable Quote:

“For the integrity of the sport. You cannot have it… His life will go on. He will be able to go to the NFL… but he can't play college football anymore. Bang. Done. Sorry.”
— Tom Fornelli (10:56)

---

2. How Low Can a Preseason Ranking Still Signal a Title Threat?

(Begins ~14:50 - 26:45)

• Prompt: Isaac (YouTube) asks if any team ranked in the preseason Top 20 is a legit national title threat in the 12-team playoff era, given last year's surprises (like Indiana at No. 20).
• Tom’s View:
  • “Not any team, but there will be plenty of teams ranked in that kind of 10 to 20 range that you have to look at." (15:58)
  • Cites SEC/Big Ten depth, transfer portal, and NIL flattening talent across more teams: “With the playoff system now… there's more access… you have to look at teams in that 10–24 range.”
  • “It used to be… nobody outside that top 10 had a realistic shot.” (16:39)
• Chip’s Analysis:
  • “It depends on what conference you’re in.” (17:44)
  • Big Ten/SEC teams ranked No. 15–20 are more likely contenders than, say, BYU or SMU in lower-access leagues.
  • “If you’re a Big Ten or SEC team… as long as you take care of business, you’re probably going to have a chance to be in the mix.” (18:35)
  • The playoff path is dictated not just by ranking, but by league access and conference depth.
• Where to “Draw the Line”:
  • Using current odds (see DraftKings), both hesitate to go as low as 20 for true title threats. Ole Miss at No. 12–15 is around their “soft cutoff.”
  • Value bets: Tom likes Miami (15:1) for upside and a path (“clear path to a buy…” 24:35); Chip likes Penn State at 50:1 for schedule advantage if all clicks.

Notable Quotes:

“Not everybody in the top 20 feels like a national title threat. But… if you’re a Big Ten or an SEC team… yeah, you’re a national title threat.”
— Chip Patterson (18:35)

---

3. College Football Mailbag Quick Hits

(Begins ~26:45 through episode)

a) The Mendoza Family vs. the Mannings—Best CFB Family?

(~26:45 - 32:48)

• Tom: If Alberto Mendoza (Georgia Tech QB) wins a conference title, Mendozas could surpass the Mannings due to trophies (CFP, Heisman).
• Chip: Georgia Tech faces a lot of overhaul (QB/coordinator), so Alberto probably won’t match his brother, but the program is excited about portal adds and “evaluation, not just stars.”
• Both joke about Mendoza brother Fernando’s charisma and business acumen—a “future billionaire.”
• Quote:

  “If Alberto goes to Georgia Tech and wins a conference title, I don't think there's a question which the best family is… Both of them would have conference titles. If he gets them to the playoff… strong case being the more successful family college quarterbacks.”
  — Tom Fornelli (27:31)

b) Will Academic Schools Benefit from Playoff Expansion?

(46:58 – 51:23)

• Listener asks if academic “high-bar” schools (Michigan, ND, Vandy, Stanford, etc.) gain an edge in a wider playoff.
• Chip: Yes—expansion “lowers the bar for access,” so teams previously boxed out for marginal recruiting/roster reasons now have a path if they get hot in a given year.
• Tom: All schools benefit; “it's hard to argue there's any school who wouldn’t benefit from expansion,” even if for some it's just occasional access.
• Good-natured ribbing about whether Penn State belongs on the “academic” list.
• Quotes:

  “If you expand the College Football Playoff, they’re in… So yeah, creating a wider net of teams to be able to pull from… is going to help.”
  — Chip Patterson (48:09)
  “Every single school benefits from expanded playoff… from degree mill to Ivy League, you all benefit from expansion because there's more access.”
  — Tom Fornelli (49:19)

c) College Baseball: Why Doesn’t Tom Like It?

(35:22 – 41:27)

• Tom: “I just don’t think it’s good… gap between best/worst is huge… lots of little league errors… fundamentals aren’t great… Baseball's appeal [for me] is best when it’s precise, not chaotic.”
• Chip: The chaos makes it fun for casual/fan engagement.
• Listeners sound off: passion from college baseball fans, but Tom stands firm, saying college softball is a “superior product.”
• Quote:

  “… for me, baseball is one of those sports where the worse the play is, the less appealing it is. The goofiness pisses me off more than anything… College softball is much better than college baseball.”
  — Tom Fornelli (37:00)

d) Rivalry Nonsense & Bowl Innovations:

• On Texas Tech challenging Texas to play after Sark’s comments:
  • Tom: “I love it…. perfect May content… If you’re the little dog, punch up. Sark was punching down… to me, it says you’re scared.” (43:02)
• On moving bowl games to the start of the season:
  • Both skeptical; Tom prefers bowls in December: “I’m happy with the bowls just where they are.” (46:18)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On NCAA Sports Gambling Rules:

  “For the integrity of the sport… Bang. Done. Sorry.” — Tom Fornelli (10:56)

• On New Playoff Parity:

  “If you’re a Big Ten or SEC team… as long as you take care of business, you’re probably going to have a chance.” — Chip Patterson (18:35)

• Wild Card Value Pick:

  “Give me Penn State. 50:1 is a very large number… If all the transfers do hit?” — Chip Patterson (25:13)

• On College Baseball:

  “… baseball is one of those sports where the worse the play is, the less appealing it is. The goofiness pisses me off more than anything.” — Tom Fornelli (37:00)

• On Conference Vibes and Rivalries:

  “If you’re the little dog, punch up… Sark was punching down… to me, it says you’re scared.” — Tom Fornelli (43:02)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Brendan Sorsby NCAA/Eligibility Discussion: 05:55–13:00
• Drawing the Line on Playoff Contenders (Mailbag, Odds, 12-team Playoff): 14:50–26:45
• CFB Family Legacies (Mendozas vs. Mannings, Georgia Tech preview): 26:45–32:48
• College Baseball Rant: 35:22–41:27
• Texas Tech vs. Texas, Bowl Season Changes: 43:02–46:27
• Academic Schools & Playoff Expansion: 46:58–51:23

---

Summary Table — “Where Do You Draw the Line?”

| Issue/Question | Main Take | Notable Quote/Reasoning | |-----------------------------|---------------|-------------------------------------| | Sorsby Eligibility | Ineligible | “Bang. Done. Sorry.” – TF (10:56) | | Preseason Top 20 Threat | Depends | “Not everyone’s a threat… depends on conference.” – CP (18:35) | | New Playoff Wild Cards | Miami, PSU, OM| Value is in odds & path to playoff | | Mendoza vs. Manning Family | Mendoza rises | “He could be a future billionaire.” – TF (28:27) | | Academic Schools + Expansion| All benefit | “It's hard to argue there's any school who wouldn't benefit…” – TF (49:19) | | College Baseball | Not a fan | “Goofiness pisses me off…” – TF (37:00) |

---

Final Thoughts

This episode showcases the increased parity the CFP expansion brings, the complicated realities of NCAA enforcement (and growing legal pushbacks), and, as always, the Cover 3 team’s ability to transition from serious analysis to laid-back (sometimes savage) humor. The mailbag format allows for quick hits on everything from prospects to traditions, making it an engaging listen—or in this case, read—for any college football fan.

Transcript

[Chip Patterson]

Why have I asked my electrician I found on Angie.com to bury my pet hamster Nibbles in our yard for me? Because I was so moved by how carefully he buried my electrical wires, I knew I could trust him to bury my sweet Nibbles after his untimely end. Huh, Nibbles gone too soon. May he scurry in peace.

[Tom Furnelli]

Hey, sorry about your pet, but I just wire stuff.

[Chip Patterson]

Nibbles would have loved you like a brother.

[Tom Furnelli]

Connecting homeowners with skilled Pros for over 30 years, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail]

[Ad/Promo Voice]

we all belong outside. We're drawn to nature. It calls to us. Whether it's the recorded sounds of the ocean we doze off to or the succulents that adorn our homes. Nature makes all of our lives richer, calmer, and frankly, better. Despite all this, we often go about our busy lives removed from it, but the outdoors is closer than we realize. With Alltrails, you can discover trails nearby or trails worth traveling to and explore confidently with offline maps and on trail navigation. Whether you're looking for a laid back walk with family or something more adventurous to get your heart pumping, Alltrails gives you the tools you need to get out there and find your outside. Download the free app today and and make the most of your summer with Alltrails.

[Tom Furnelli]

Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast with your hosts Chip Patterson, Tom Furnelli, Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college

[Chip Patterson]

football coverage from national signing day to

[Tom Furnelli]

the national championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 Podcast.

[Chip Patterson]

And welcome back to the COVID 3 PodC Podcast here on CBS Sport. That's Tom Fenelli. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you [e-mail] cover3 and everywhere you get your podcast on demand. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that subscribe, smash that like and come and join us in the chat aka the COVID 3 tailgate where Brad and Jason and Stanley and Ryan and so many more. But I'm just going to give a quick shout out to Our Guy, the YouTube username gf1064. First day of summer for the kids camps have yet to start. It's the first day of a new fiscal year at work. Need those T's and peas today fellas. That's a lot.

[Tom Furnelli]

Nobody forced you to have kids. Whoa, whoa, whoa whoa whoa.

[Chip Patterson]

We are trying. We're going to get this started on. We are going to send him into the month of June. Happy June 1st, everybody. Okay. You can't control fiscal year of work. All right. Come on.

[Tom Furnelli]

I'm saying if he would have made, if he didn't have kids, it would just be dealing with the first fiscal day. He'd be more, he'd be better prepared to tackle it. He wouldn't have to deal with the kids in the morning distracting him from his job.

[Chip Patterson]

While we seem very divided, I will let it, let it be said. I am pro children.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah, well, you, you, you would be.

[Chip Patterson]

This is why we have the enrollment cliff, Tom. Universe cities don't have as many applicants. All right, off to a rocking and rolling start here on a Monday where, as we mentioned last week, because we spent Thursday reacting to those coach rankings, we saved a lot of questions from the big old bag of mail. Very excited for some of those. We're also reaching into YouTube for some of these questions today, including, as you see in the headline, a look at where you draw the line for national championship contenders for the I'll not going to spoil the question because I want to get to it a little bit and let you, whether you're listening at home or watching on YouTube, let your mind start to wander. Indiana last year started at number 20 in the preseason poll. We, of course, have A CBS Sports 138. We have sort of what we expect to be a loose version of what the AP Top 25 will look like in the preseason when it's released in August. So attacking that conversation in a new era, you know, like Miami was a 10 seed. You know, they, they were driving for a chance to win the national championship. So sort of where you would draw the line on a national title threat. We'll get into that here in just a little bit. Let's start with some of the news of the day, which is actually occurring right now because the official injunction hearing for Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, remember, Brendan Sorsby filed an injunction against the NCAA's ruling that he is ineligible for for this upcoming season due to sports gambling. This is going to be held in Lubbock. We remember going through our conversation about the judges, you know, the one who recused, recused himself. Striker gave us the fantastic photo of the judge and, and the, and the mascot, the little double guns up. It is going on right now, Tom, as we speak. But the ncaa, in its official response, laid out on Friday afternoon, they said that this is going to have to be a situation where if an injunction is granted, then the NCAA is going to have to come forward and just rule him ineligible. Which, based on my understanding of it, Tom, means that Texas Tech as a University, Joey McGuire as a head coach, would have to make that fork in the road decision of moving forward, understanding that ineligibility could come after the fact. Now, in the old days of impermissible benefits, I remember loosely discussing just play them. What are they going to do, you know, get you in trouble three years later and take a banner down, whatever. I don't know if I've got the same approach here. Again, this is an ongoing proceedings in the courtrooms down in Lubbock, Texas. What's your, what's your latest thought on sort of where we're headed given the strength that the NCAA is attempting to show? And yet, you know, Brendan Sorsby's legal case as he continues to, to lay it out?

[Tom Furnelli]

I mean, did you see all the additional details that came out over the weekend?

[Chip Patterson]

The like 20 plus about how he

[Tom Furnelli]

was like, sending money, transferring money to having different people do it and sending different accounts so he can cross state lines and do all that kind of stuff. And it was going on while he was at Cincinnati, it was going on while he was at Texas Tech. And they have all the proof of it. Like they have the receipts on them. Literal receipts. Not that, not the Twitter. DK receipts.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, not DK receipts, but actual bet slips.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah. I, I don't know how a judge can look at the rules as they are written, look at what has happened and come to any other logical conclusion other than, yeah, this guy's not eligible. He broke all the rules. They're very clearly written. We've discussed it so many times. It's not, there's not a much gray area here. They're told they can't do it. If you do do it, you're going to be ruled ineligible. We have proof he did it. He's been ruled ineligible. Texas Tech can fight it and hope they get a judge that has absolutely no idea how the law works and then just reverses it. But it's. This is. The fact that it's gotten this far is ridiculous to me. And it's just, yeah, there's. If he gets ruled eligible, I think it could cause very, very, very long term problems for this sport.

[Chip Patterson]

Robbie in the tailgate says, why is this in court?

[Tom Furnelli]

Because people want to fight things now. Because the NCAA really, really sucks in court. So it's just easy to like, well, screw it. Nothing else. The rules for nothing else that mattered. Let's see if we can beat this one too. But this isn't like an eligible. Like this isn't whatever, you know, like that kind of.

[Chip Patterson]

Well, to me, this ties back to the transfer eligibility because in the last three to four years we have seen a rash of transfer eligibility cases where the NCAA says they are ineligible. And then to your point, Robbie, then an attorney files an injunction to say, you can't rule him ineligible because your rules aren't fair. And many, many judges across the United States, some of them very much local judges ruling on local players, have said, you're right, the NCAA's rules are unfair, he should be able to play. But those were transfer rules, which have continued to get murkier and murkier as the transfer portal. And the transfer restrictions have changed rapidly. There has been no rapid changing for the NCAA's rules when it comes to gambling on, on NCAA sanctioned sports. So they're using the playbook for transfer eligibility in a sports gambling case. And I think that's why that this is in court is because of the success of some of those transfer eligibility cases. We're filing an injunction against the ncaa. And again, I hate. I don't have billable hours here to make sure I'm not messing up the legal side of this. But it is saying to the court, the NCAA cannot stop me from playing because they are preventing me from my American right to, to earn money for playing because I have all these talents and I should be able to go and capitalize on it. Does that seem fair? Yeah.

[Tom Furnelli]

But what's unfair about these rules?

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, I.

[Tom Furnelli]

Everybody signed them, everybody knew about them, everybody agreed to play by them.

[Chip Patterson]

Right. But I'm saying the transfer eligibility. I think there's more of a legal argument.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yes.

[Chip Patterson]

Because things are changing so fast.

[Tom Furnelli]

You're limiting a person's ability to move from school to school, which is every something every single other student is able to do in that school. This is a different case. This is if you are playing in sports, you are not allowed to gamble on sports. You're not allowed to gamble on your team, you are not allowed to gamble on your game. Like this has been the case in sports for a hundred some odd years. There's the black sock scandal, there was Pete Rose. There's all this stuff. Just because it's legal now in America, for many of the states, not even nationally, doesn't mean the rules have changed for the athletes participating in it. It's just how it works. It's how it's always worked. It how. It's how it has to work or else you can't trust the damn sport. Because then you. Anytime a quarterback throws an interception, huh, I wonder, like, that was a really bad interception. Is he just that bad or did he bet on himself to throw an interception today? And you can't have that if you want like for this, the sanctity of the sport, for the integrity of the sport. You cannot have it. It's to protect the sport. Brendan Sorsby is not as important as college football. He is not as important as any sport. He's just a participant in it. His life will go on. He will be able to go to the NFL. He will be able to continue making money if he decides and he has the talent and the ability to do so. Nothing is going to keep him from doing that. In fact, the only thing keeping him from playing football and making money right now was the decision he made about betting on sports and betting on teams. And maybe, you know, maybe the addiction thing is real. Maybe he had a problem. A lot of us have problems, man. We deal with them. But we also have to suffer the consequences, though. Like, this is life, man. It's a bad. It's a. It's a good lesson for him. Hopefully he lives a better life because of it. But he can't play college football anymore. Bang. Done. Sorry.

[Chip Patterson]

Well said. He. He will have an opportunity to enter the supplemental draft. If he enter files the paperwork and you can go and get drafted and have an opportunity to make money in the NFL. But you know, when you think about Texas Tech and you are starting to imagine what they are going to look like this fall, I think you were talking about a situation that has not involved Brendan Sorsby. I have. I've become more and more to sort of where you predicted this would be a while ago. You mentioned the details from over the weekends. Court filings show that Sourceby placed at least 165 bets totaling three $38,000 while at Cincinnati and transferred more than $60,000 to a friend to deposit in a short in a sportsbook they shared. Sourcebees attorneys are asking that his case be treated not as a gambling problem, but as a mental health issue. Let's lighten the mood.

[Tom Furnelli]

I do it sad if I can't bet on this game.

[Chip Patterson]

All right, Ryan in the tailgate. Which host is most tired of the daily Sourcebee segment? Yeah, I think Tom's been. I don't think it's Tom. Tom, just you. You just got it dialed in. Jason in the tailgate. If Source be is allowed to play, why would any team accept a suspension for targeting or even a pass? Interference call.

[Tom Furnelli]

Screw it.

[Chip Patterson]

Why not?

[Tom Furnelli]

Why have rules, period? Let's just do whatever the hell we want all the time.

[Chip Patterson]

Yep.

[Tom Furnelli]

Way too much of that going on in college sports right now.

[Chip Patterson]

So we will see. Yeah. Just because you don't get your way doesn't mean that you can cry about it and then all of a sudden everything's going to get fixed.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

I mean, just listen. Learn from the Montreal Canadiens and take an L. Respectfully, you know. All right, coming up on the other side, your questions, our answers, including, where do you draw the line for national title contenders and more next. Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car. Was she brave? She was tired mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required.

[Chip Patterson]

Did you have to find a dragon? Nope.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Tom Furnelli]

Was it scary?

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Chip Patterson]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Ad/Promo Voice]

It did, actually.

[Chip Patterson]

Okay, good story.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Car buying you'll want to tell stories about. Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply. Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kid's legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids, all eight of them, should something happen to us. Are you my dad now?

[Tom Furnelli]

No, sorry. I do basements. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].

[Ad/Promo Voice]

you know that thing where you get an amazing pair of shoes at a really great price and want to tell everyone about it?

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

So do we. Here at Designer Shoe Warehouse. We'll give you something to brag about, like the latest styles from brands you love or the trends everyone's obsessing over or shoes that make you feel like, well, you. So go ahead, show off a little. Buying shoes that get you and prices that get your budget. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today. DSW.

[Chip Patterson]

Let us surprise you back here on the COVID 3 podcast. Spent a lot of time Thursday diving into our coach rankings at CBS Sports, ranking all the Power 4 coaches. That meant that we did not get to make our regular visit to the mail room. So, striker, let's head on down to the mailroom. All right. Excited? You know, I've told you, whether it's the big old Bag of mail where you can leave us a five star review and in that review put a future mailbag question. Spotify comments. And now we are also opening the door to YouTube as well. This first question comes from Isaac on YouTube. Isaac asks Indiana started last year ranked at number 20. Does that mean going forward any team ranked in the top 20 at the start of the year is a national title threat?

[Tom Furnelli]

Yes. No, it's going to be an annual thing.

[Chip Patterson]

You're going to say. No, wait, hold on, are you saying like number 20?

[Tom Furnelli]

No. I mean the question is going forward, any team ranked in the top 20 at the start of the year be a title threat? Not any team.

[Chip Patterson]

Right.

[Tom Furnelli]

But there will be plenty of teams ranked in that kind of 10 to 20 range that you have to look at. I mean, there might be some teams in that 20 to 24 range who are maybe coming off of a bad season. So they're not being ranked that highly. But you look at the history of their program and you say, you know, like, where's LSU going to begin this year? Probably more closer to the top 10 because of the height, but 12, probably. Yeah. So yeah, I think that is honestly it's, it's the difference with the playoff system now that we've expanded to 12 because there's more access to get in, which means that teams that didn't really think had a chance before have a chance. And then you toss in the fact that with nil in the portal, we're seeing in a flattening of the talent dispersion where it's more spread out. Yeah, I think that, I mean it used to be not that long ago you'd look at the top 10 and you were pretty confident that nobody outside that top 10 had a realistic shot.

[Chip Patterson]

Indiana was at 20, Ole Miss was at 21. They made it obviously all the way to the semifinals. Texas tech was at 23. They were, they were in the quarterfinals as after going to get the buy. Oklahoma was at 18. Texas A&M was at 19. Let's see, Miami was at 10 last year. Alabama was at 8. Oregon was at 7. Georgia was at 5. Ohio State was at 3.

[Tom Furnelli]

I mean most of like, if we look at, I'm looking at, if we look at this preseason top 10, you had a worse chance of winning the national title if you were in the top 10. State, Clemson, LSU, like 30. Texas was number one. 40% of the top 10 had no shot.

[Chip Patterson]

So I think the answer for the, to answer the question specifically for Isaac and I was thinking about this actually in the middle of the night last night. It depends. It depends on what conference you're in because you might be number nine and be less of a national title threat because of the fine margin that you are dealing with based on what your conference's outlook is for the College Football Playoff. You know Indiana is a threat at number 20, Ole Miss is a threat at 21 because they are in the Big 10 and they are in the SEC where in a 12 team format, my expectation is you were getting between three to five bids into the College Football Playoff. Now you're going to have to win key games against other top five, top six, top seven type teams in your conference to finish on top of that pile. But the a team at number 20 named Indiana, a team at number 20 named Ole Miss is very different than a team that is named BYU or Louisville or SMU. So not everybody in the top 20 feels like a national title threat. But I will say that if you're a Big Ten or an SEC team who looks at your conference and says we are a top five team, yeah, you're a national title threat because you're probably going to be. As long as you take care of business, you're probably going to have a chance to be in the mix. And look, I know that Oklahoma and Alabama, Texas A and M, you know, there were some of those teams that we didn't look at as even before the playoffs started, I did not consider them a threat to be able to really string together the 3, 4 wins that they would have needed to win a national championship. But they would. They at least were in thanks to being up in that top three to five of their conference. So if you were a Big Ten in an SEC team and you started the year ranked in the top 20, buddy, just take care of business. You'll float to the top teams above you. If you beat them, you'll just start to move up and then you'll start to take their spots.

[Tom Furnelli]

I forgot Indiana started the season ranked solo. They were ranked by Kansas State, smu, Florida, South Carolina, Arizona.

[Chip Patterson]

I mean, you were right. The top 10 is funny when you look at Texas, Penn State, Clemson up inside the top five.

[Tom Furnelli]

Mm, yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

So what, what, what about when you're looking at this? We don't have the official, we don't have the official AP top 25 right now. We do have. Oh, Striker, thank you very much. We do have the odds. Thank courtesy of DraftKings pulled up on the board right now about how many teams before you start to draw the line.

[Tom Furnelli]

I don't know who's Brendan Sourceby watching right now?

[Chip Patterson]

I don't get. I don't think. I don't get to 20 on that list.

[Tom Furnelli]

I think for me, I probably get to Ole Miss and then say that's the first team I see. But I don't think they're a realistic national title contender.

[Chip Patterson]

But that was Ole Miss. Like, let's spin it out the best possible scenario. Even though they've got all transfer players on defense, and I'm being reckless of that generalization, but they all hit Pete Golding's defensive coach, they all hit Trinidad Chambers, has a great season. They sneak into the playoff and go on in Miami, like, run. Yeah.

[Tom Furnelli]

And like, if I'm also, if I'm being like, completely honest, I. I personally don't think Texas Tech can win a national title yet, especially now with the Sourcebee stuff likely coming and just like what they did lose. But I also feel like they've got a very clear path to the playoffs, so I'm not going to consider them. Whereas I think Ole Miss is the first team where I feel like not only do I not believe they can win the national title, I'm not convinced that team is better than 5050 to even get back to the playoff.

[Chip Patterson]

Because they're going to be right on that cut line.

[Tom Furnelli]

Because as you mentioned earlier, it depends what conference you're in. And if you look at it, there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 other SEC teams ahead of them on that list.

[Chip Patterson]

Tennessee down there at 65 to 1 is deep on the list. And I think that could be a little wild card. Ish. 60 is obviously. I mean, Florida at 60 to 1 is obviously a huge wild card. But I would draw the line after Oklahoma. That team was in the College Football Playoff last year. They've got Moneyline Mater back speaking up. I mean, all those Brendan Sourceby scandals really made the John Matier stuff seem pretty innocent, huh?

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah. Here. Can I. Can I submit a question for the mailbag?

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Tom Furnelli]

Hey, Chip. Longtime listener. Love the pod. I listen to it every, every episode that I'm on. If you're a Tennessee fan, based on the way this. Things have gone these last few years, are you. Are you feeling kind of insulted that you have the same odds as Auburn?

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, 100%. I think that if. 10. I also think that if Tennessee had been able to land, like, who are they in on? They were in on Levitt, right? Did they try to get Hoover? No, Hoover was snapped up quick.

[Tom Furnelli]

Hoover went to Indiana pretty quick, if I recall. I think that had been maybe. I don't know.

[Chip Patterson]

If Tennessee had. If Tennessee had Joey Jaguar back or hit on a portal quarterback, I think you would have seen them closer to that. I mean, I think it might be insulting that. That Tennessee's behind Florida and Auburn, not Florida.

[Tom Furnelli]

I get Florida. You know what, going back to our last question, Florida might be a team that starts the season unranked and wins the national title.

[Chip Patterson]

That would be. That would be a big one. So that would see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Then I'll throw in 10, 11, 12. Third, I think that my list might be about 14 teams that I would pick, not in the order as you're looking at it. For those who are listening to the podcast at home and probably frustrated by now, I apologize. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Indiana, Texas, Oregon. That is like a big old jumbled top tier again. Ohio State, Notre Dame, Indiana, Texas and Oregon. So you got the through all three of the Big Ten powers, plus Notre Dame and Texas. That's your top tier right there at 8 to 1 or shorter. You Georgia, I guess you could loop in there at 10 to 1. Then it's a drop after those 6 to Miami at 15 to 1, LSU at 16, Texas A&M at 18, Texas Tech at 20. And then this is where we start to get to the place where we said we would draw the line. Alabama at 25 to 1, Ole Miss at 30 to 1. USC would be asking for a lot of things to happen all at the same season.

[Tom Furnelli]

What's your favorite value of those odds currently on the screen? I'll go with mine. While you think mine's Miami at 15 to 1. Oh, just because they're seventh overall as far as the odds. But they also have the clearest path to a buy compared to the six teams ahead of them who all kind of have to get through each other, except for Notre Dame. But like, Miami will probably win the acc. Miami will probably have a buy. So for them to have 15 to 1 when they've got Darian Mensah, they've got Tony, they've got, you know, their defensive line. They lost their big names, but they're still going to be good. Just, man, just 15 to 1 for Miami right now feels pretty good.

[Chip Patterson]

Give me Penn State.

[Tom Furnelli]

Really?

[Chip Patterson]

50 to 1 is a very large number without any of those three teams at the top on the schedule. If Penn State's able to backdoor its way into the Big Ten title, they're probably. They're probably going to be bound for the College Football playoff And again, if we're just talking value that one, that one might be one that I jump. I mean, I was going through and I was digging into it and I still think the defense is going to be pretty good.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah, just I don't know if they've got the overall talent to get through the entire thing. Like, I was thinking of the Big Ten teams. I was looking at USC at 35 to 1. I'm actually shocked you being our president. Trojan didn't go there.

[Chip Patterson]

It's heel turn season. No, I'll be back. I think I've. I grafted your Jaden Maiva to win the Heisman Trophy for, for a piece. I gave you a shout out. I told you I was going to do it. It's on record. But yeah, the, the quarterback position, I would take Jaden Myeva over Rocco Beck if I need somebody to go and win me multiple playoff games. So I, I get that. But value wise, Penn State at 50 feels pretty deep down the board for a schedule that could be favorable. And it's the again value. What if. What if all the transfers do hit? You know, betting Penn State's a great way to waste $100, says Garrett. I know, I know.

[Tom Furnelli]

Chip ain't betting $100. He's betting 10 grand.

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no. That wasn't. I said dollars, not grand. I said dollars. All right, let's keep it going with the mail bag. This next question comes from Clayton on YouTube. Clayton says guessing Alberto's performance at Georgia Tech. Where will the Mendoza family rank in all times? College football families, Mannings likely being number one. So number one, we're trying to predict Alberto Mendoza at Georgia Tech. Number two. Then assuming whatever success you were willing to predict for the Bees this year, where would that rank the Mendozas among the great families of quarterback?

[Tom Furnelli]

I'll tell you this. The Mendozas already have a national title. The Mannings don't. The Mendozas have a conference again, they have Heisman Trophy. The Mannings don't. They have a conference title. The Mannings do. Peyton won one at Tennessee. So if Alberto goes to Georgia Tech and wins a conference title, I don't think there's a question which the best family is. Both of them would have conference titles if he gets them to the playoff. I think they've got a very strong case of being the more successful family college quarterbacks now, financially, I don't think they're there yet. They could be soon though, who knows? You know Fernando, you look at Fernando and you just. First of all, his business acumen, that. That could be a future billionaire right there. But then just his. His charisma.

[Chip Patterson]

Charisma, yeah. Dynamic.

[Tom Furnelli]

That man could be just, you know, a media magnet by the time his career is over. He could be the next Peyton Manning. He could be on every commercial you see. He could have his own production company. You could just.

[Chip Patterson]

Wow.

[Tom Furnelli]

He might. He might be a Kelsey one day. You don't know.

[Chip Patterson]

Listen, that one of these families. We said you can't spell citrus without ut. Okay. Another one of these families put the team on his back to win a national championship. Yeah, I think it's clear. I think it's clear that the Mendozas are well on their way. Do you have any. Do you have your arms around sort of a general Alberto Mendoza read in terms of what to expect at Georgia Tech?

[Tom Furnelli]

No, I mean, I. I had. I wrote over the weekend something like with Georgia Tech or with Brent Key in our coach rankings. Like, it's a. It's an interesting program to watch this year because obviously Haynes King is gone. Aaron Philo left. He was the backup. He was the heir apparent, but he. He followed Buster Faulkner, who is another key departure from that program, down to Florida. So, like Brent, he has done an excellent job at Georgia Tech, but I feel like this is going to be far and away his most difficult season since taking over the program because he's got so much to replace. And it's like, we have seen Alberto Mendoza. He has played plenty because he got put in in the fourth quarters of so many freaking blowouts. But it's. We haven't seen him in the first, second, third quarter when it really kind of matters and everybody's going best on best. So it's an interesting situation. I still think Georgia Tech's going to be pretty good, but I don't think. I mean, I don't think Alberto is going to be his brother.

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, no, I don't think so.

[Tom Furnelli]

It's like. But he doesn't. So it really depends on that Georgia Tech offense because he doesn't have to be like, you could just be a fun college quarterback and be successful with that team. But it's just. I don't know. The Yellow Jackets are going to be. They're one of those teams going into the year where I'm just like, I don't know what to make of them. And they will be one of those teams I'm kind of keeping an eye on early in the season just because I'm feel like I got to get a read on this team at some point,

[Chip Patterson]

19 players in the transfer portal. And the thing that is. And while Alberto Mendoza is obviously going to be a big headline there, don't forget Justice Haynes still in the league. He's going to be playing his senior season, stepping in to try and help. I mean, that's a good. That's a good offensive backfield.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

You know, and you start to compare that against the rest of the conference. It's pretty solid in terms of making sure that Georgia Tech is going to stay right there in the top tier. There are a bunch of players too in this portal class that they're excited about who have multiple years of eligibility. This isn't just like a whole crew of mercenaries. And this is the thing that's always so tricky because Georgia Tech and I'm not trying to send strays, but like Georgia Tech just does not operate definitely out of high school, but also not in the portal. It's not swimming in the same pools as a lot of the other teams in the region. Right. That's in the ACC or the sec. Different kind of player. So this is where I get stuck because I don't know whether to drink the Kool Aid or whether to believe people close to the program that. Tom, listen, our evaluation's top notch. You know, like that's. They say they are really excited about this Portal class and that the way it rates on paper might not match up to how good this team really can be. So if you're willing to trust Brent Key, who clearly has done a good job of having an eye for what he wants, the kind of players that he needs to be able to make sure that Georgia Tech is competing near the top of the acc. To trust Brent Key there is to say, like yeah, I, I think that they're not going to take a big step back. Well, Buddy Haynes, King was a superstar and it is going to be very interesting to see if Alberto is going to be able to keep this thing going. So it's a. I, I'm. If I'm going to drink the Kool Aid. If you hear me going heavy on Georgia Tech is good. It's because close to that program they're saying in the portal class it are quite that are quality players that are going to play a couple of years being key contributors and they like the stability and outlook there.

[Tom Furnelli]

He's got big shoes to fill. Haynes is one of my favorite players. You know how much I love a quarterback who throws himself in front of the bus every single play.

[Chip Patterson]

Anytime you're pissing blood. Tom's Going to sign up for your experience.

[Tom Furnelli]

You make the All Tom team.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, exactly. Att. All right, coming up on the other side, more of your questions and our answers, including with academic schools benefit from college football playoff expansion. All that and more.

[Tom Furnelli]

Next.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Why have I asked my h vac guy I found on angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? Because I was so amazed by how quickly he replaced our air ducts, I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube while I was on vacation.

[Tom Furnelli]

Make it quick, young man.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Aw.

[Chip Patterson]

See?

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Pop Pop trusts you.

[Chip Patterson]

Uh, I think we should call a doctor.

[Tom Furnelli]

Connecting homeowners with skilled Pros for over 30 years, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail]

[Ad/Promo Voice]

at DSW, we ask the important questions, like, what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season, or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an rsvp. So own the moment. You've got big plans, and we've got just the shoes at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with designer shoe warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you back

[Chip Patterson]

here on the COVID 3 podcast where I'm getting. Getting message from. From the. The. The management division that they're not. They don't want us back on Penn State. We all we did was hype Penn State up and love on James Franklin and Drew Aller and Nick do.

[Tom Furnelli]

I mean, dude, what I wasn't hyping up True Aller.

[Chip Patterson]

I would say. I would say that like I'm imagining coming out of Vegas after we talked to. We talked to a. That was the highest collection of head coach, player, player. Like, we talked to almost the entire crew of representatives that Penn State had and naturally came back like great boys. What fine young men. But yeah, again, Nick Dawkins. No one's putting more pressure on himself than Drew. I can see that now. I'm not talking trash. That was on the record. Okay? That was on the COVID 3 podcast. Penn State offensive Dawkins. Like, we were at giving him the, like, hype your quarterback up and he's like, listen, we know there's pressure on Drew and no one's putting more pressure on himself than Drew. And you know what? Maybe that was the problem right there. So we will go light on the Penn State hype.

[Tom Furnelli]

You asked me to save the Steelers. Don't worry.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, I'm Sure. This one. Let's go to the tailgate. Dirty dog says. Need to hear why Tom hates college baseball. Give it a chance, Tom.

[Tom Furnelli]

First of all, I have given it a chance. I've given it multiple chances.

[Chip Patterson]

You tried again this weekend. I know for a fact.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah, I just. And I got so many people mad at me, so I'm kind of afraid to answer this question on air. I just don't think it's good. Is really all it can come down to. Like, I. I think there are good players that will be MLB draft picks, but I think that when you look at any individual roster, like, the gap between the best player on the team and the worst player on the team is enormous. And I just don't think. I think it's slow. I think there's. There aren't enough good pitchers, which. And there's far too many. Like, there's tons of great hitters. Like, you go through the line if everybody's batting like 350, until you get, like, the bottom four guys in the lineup. I don't think the defense is very good. I. I don't think the fundamentals are very good. I see a lot of, like, common mistakes that I. I feel like I'm watching my own little league team still. And you would think at this point, like, once you've gotten to college, you would think they would at least start to iron out some of those mistakes, but they don'. And it's just. It is a tough watch for me. And it's like, you know, I love college football, clearly, I love college basketball. And part of the appeal of those sports is the fact that they aren't as efficient and as perfect and as clean as you see at the pro level. But I think for me, baseball is one of those sports where the worse the play is, the less appealing it is. Like, the goofiness of it does not seem fun to me. It just. It pisses me off more than anything. So, yeah, that's really it. And I. I also watched college softball this weekend. To me, superior product. The pace, the action, it's just happening constantly. And you're not sitting around. Not everybody's getting a hit every single time. So it's just. Yeah, I. I think college softball is much better than college baseball. And again, if. If you enjoy it, fine. I'm not judging you. Hey, people judge the crap out of me for not enjoying it.

[Chip Patterson]

It was. It was an opening round weekend. The people.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah, but you know what, Chip? Like, there's, like, there are sports where there's a Lot of like please like my sport. I think college baseball has ratcheted up to the top number one spot. As far as the police like my sport fans like you don't think it's

[Chip Patterson]

because of the time like the time in the calendar.

[Tom Furnelli]

If I say something about not enjoying the NBA as much anymore and think about how toxic NBA Twitter is, I don't get nearly as much like angry responses from NBA fans because they don't care. They're. They're comfortable in their own league. And it's just I feel like, because I think for a please like my sport it has to be more of a niche sport. And I think college baseball hits that where it's popular enough among a certain group of people, but it is not the most popular sport. Like honestly, if I were to text 15 of my friends right now and ask me if they watched college baseball this weekend, I bet you I would get 15 nos.

[Chip Patterson]

The goofiness I think helps non baseball fans become big college baseball fans of their favorite college football team because it's not sharp or consistent enough to even have to learn the intricacies of what's happening. Because it is like oh, all we need is them to overthrow third and we're great. You know, like the, the bunts, like the advance, all the different sort of gaming of it. I think the chaos of it is part of the sell

[Tom Furnelli]

to address one of the comments in the chat here, I'll put it on from college football tradition. It's easier to hate it when your team is also bad. Illinois. Fun fact. The first time I watched college baseball was when I was running the Champagne Room and Illinois reached the regionals. They were in the Vanderbilt regional in Nashville and I had to watch it and cover it for the website and I hated it. Then I thought it sucked. I was like, God, this is terrible. And Vanderbilt at the time was like an absolute powerhouse. I mean I think there were like three major league pitchers on their staff at the time. And I was watching it and I'm just like God, this sucks.

[Chip Patterson]

Sorry, I. I've crossed. So when I was at, when I was in school, North Carolina made it to the final two twice. They ended up finishing runner up to Oregon State twice. I remember those runs I made smarter baseball fan now than I was then. But I didn't care then because I had cold beer in the belief that any eight run deficit could still be overcome. You know, you're never out of it. All we need is for that backup pitcher to come in and he ain't got anything Like, I. That's what I'm talking about. I think the chaos is the selling point. I think the. And not again. I'm not saying that I threw up all of the. All of the games on a lot of screens. My as. As, you know, my attention was very much wrapped up elsewhere, you know, all through the Friday and then on into Saturday. But I. I think that that is something that allows fans to hang into it because you are never out of it. Huge deficits and huge swings can be overcome. So I think that's part of the. The charm, I guess, of the chaos of the College World Series.

[Tom Furnelli]

There is a run rule, though, right?

[Chip Patterson]

Like, how many?

[Tom Furnelli]

Like, 10 after a certain amount of innings.

[Chip Patterson]

Now, once they get to regionals, they get it. Softball keeps their run rule, but baseball gets rid of it for regionals. Baseball only has it for the men's. Baseball only has it for the regular season.

[Tom Furnelli]

Protect, like, the arms and all that kind of stuff. Okay. Maybe they should keep it for the regionals, too.

[Chip Patterson]

When you get, like, the noodle arm out. When you get our right fielder out there just throwing, because the length of the game is 100. When you have a million pitch changes and it goes on forever time of year, you're gonna get some weather delays.

[Tom Furnelli]

Yeah, yeah. Like that. I was watching the Tennessee ECU game that went to, like, 15 innings, ECU 1. And I was just like, God, somebody can win this game, please.

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, it was electric. I loved that game.

[Tom Furnelli]

Weren't you at it?

[Chip Patterson]

No, I wasn't at it.

[Tom Furnelli]

You stopped watching it when it was. Yeah, okay.

[Chip Patterson]

I know.

[Tom Furnelli]

I told you it was the chap. The Chapel Hill Regional, right?

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. I didn't. When I said I had to leave, I just had to go. Leave, pick up the boys. Like, I was watching, because it started at 12, and it was still going on at 4:15, so I had to go to school. Pickup. And it was still happening. But I. My thought on that one was ECU is going to be able to make that a little bit of a mini home game. And so they brought the vibes, but I believe the Tar Heels. Tar Heels advanced out of the regional. All right, let's keep it going with the tailgate. I mean, if. If you guys really want to go it. We can unpack the whole. Where's your closest baseball team? Is it a pro team or a minor league team? It's another part of the college football fandom. You know, like, it's. It's kind of what you had. But I don't want to. Yuck. Anyone's yum. Lots of college World Series still to come in the coming weeks. This one is Texas Tech related, but not. Not Brendan Sorsby. 8:40am Eastern Time. Stanley jumped into the tailgate and said, what's your thoughts on Texas Tech offering to play Texas? Also, what's your thoughts on having bowl games at the beginning of the season? Heard them talking about it on Pat Show. Might have been past show, 89 days to go. Yes, Stanley, we are excited about that as well. What are your thoughts on the. On Joey Maguire and Texas Tech throwing down the gauntlet for the Longhorns?

[Tom Furnelli]

I love it. It's so dumb. It is perfect. May content. Just Sark saying something ridiculous and stupid and then being called out for it and Texas Tech saying, all right, let's play that. I mean, show you can. You can win our league with your twos and threes. Play us. Also knowing that there's no way it'll happen because Texas has an Ohio State game in Austin in Week one, so there's. There's no way they would do it. But you're still. You're still scoring points when you're going out there and doing it publicly. It's great. I love it. It's sparking the rivalry. Texas Tech, like, when you are, you know. And again, don't. They might. When you're the little dog, punch up like Sark was punching down. That was the one thing where I was just like, you're Texas, man.

[Chip Patterson]

What.

[Tom Furnelli]

What are you like? It's. To me, it says you're kind of scared. Texas Tech, a little bit. They're getting a little too, too good. Sealing some of the prospects that you tend to want because they're able to pay for them now and you didn't really have to worry about competing with them before. So to me, it looks worse on Texas. It looks better on Texas Tech. I love it. I hope more stuff like this happens because again, it's May. We don't have much else to talk about. It's silly and there's nobody really getting hurt. It's just fun. And as far as bowl games at the beginning of the season, I'm assuming he meant Pat McAfee show, not pass show, because I think Cody Campbell was on McAfee last week. If you're gonna play him in the beginning of the season, just don't play him at all.

[Chip Patterson]

Oh, what do you mean?

[Tom Furnelli]

Why do we need an exhibition game to start the year? I would count it. So it counts in your record. Yeah,

[Chip Patterson]

it's like a New way to. It's a new way to fill out a non conference schedule.

[Tom Furnelli]

So it's just a non conference game, but we're playing at a neutral site. Don't we already do that?

[Chip Patterson]

I'm imagining like soccer vibes where you've qualified to go play game based on last season's results.

[Tom Furnelli]

But it's a different team.

[Chip Patterson]

True, same in soccer.

[Tom Furnelli]

I don't like it. I just. I'd rather just not have bowls if that's the case. Just go to the playoff, go to 24, get rid of bowls and play non conference games in the beginning of the season on campus or at a neutral site. I prefer on campus. Always.

[Chip Patterson]

Obviously that would always be. That would always be the preferable here. Yeah. When I made a comment last week about bowl games being snuck into the season, I did not mean it literally. I was just speaking to the idea that the sports consortiums and that the actual organizing groups who put together these bowl games are the exact same groups in many cases who put together all these kickoff games. And as the bowl season has all of a sudden been put in the crosshairs and people are wondering what the future of it is, the business side of the bowl game has created all of these kickoff games to be able to keep its own operations go, which in some cases is like great charity work and a lot of good local community flavor. But my comment was just that the business of the bowl season is being preserved, even if it feels like the games are being killed off.

[Tom Furnelli]

So I don't know, maybe I said this the wrong way based on some of the responses. I don't want to get rid of bowls. I'm saying I would rather not have bulls than have them at the beginning of the season. I'm happy with the bowls just where they are.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah. You like bowl games?

[Tom Furnelli]

I love bowl games. They're perfect for December. They're not perfect for August.

[Chip Patterson]

All right, let's go one more question. This one also. This one will on YouTube will says, do you think academic schools will benefit from playoff expansion? Michigan, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Northwestern, uva, unc, Penn State, UCLA have alumni with money. But they're also school where players will stay perhaps at a discount to earn a degree, whereas they might not if it's a non academic school.

[Tom Furnelli]

Did he throw Penn State in that list?

[Chip Patterson]

He did. I mean Michigan has a national championship. It's not like they, I mean Notre Dame played for the national championship last year. I mean we can, we can nitpick the question or we could, you know, hit the Idea.

[Tom Furnelli]

No offense to possibly anybody listening right now in the, in, in the control room or just anywhere. But when I think of academic schools, I'm just. Penn State's not one of the first schools to come to mind. I'm sorry. Not saying it's. Not saying it's a dumb school. Not saying all Big ten schools are academic schools. So I' it's like I could. I'd probably get through like 20 different schools before I came to Penn State.

[Chip Patterson]

I. There we go.

[Tom Furnelli]

Maybe I know too many Penn State grads to assume that they have good academic prowess there. I feel like. Feel like a lot of people get let in. I don't know, Tom.

[Chip Patterson]

They went to other industries. They have leaders of industries. I, I say yes because if you were opening the net, you are lowering the bar. And if there was something that was preventing a school that leans heavier on academics to being able to get in the playoff, whatever that was at the margins for talent acquisition, if you lower the bar, if you expand the net, yes. Playoff expansion will benefit some academic schools and it would benefit the ones it would benefit. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt was right on the outside of the College Football Playoff last year. You expand the College Football Playoff they're in because we've seen some of the schools that were mentioned. Obviously I'm throwing out Michigan and Notre Dame since they've won and played for a national championship. But Virginia was a top 25 team last season. Vanderbilt top 25 team last season. Those are opportunities where they didn't get into the College Football Playoff, but they would have an expanded playoff. So yeah, I mean, I'm going to say creating a wider net of teams to be able to pull from that is going to help. Some of these teams where it seems like they are hitting a ceiling because of their academic restrictions.

[Tom Furnelli]

I have made the mental health decision of being a playoff neutral. I am Switzerland when it comes to playoff expansion or not from this point on. But I would say that it's hard to argue that there's any school who wouldn't benefit from playoff expansion.

[Chip Patterson]

Right?

[Tom Furnelli]

Think academic stupid. Whatever school you want to be like degree mill Ivy League school, you all benefit from expansion because there's more access. And if you're awake Forest, you're probably never going to be in a position to where you're going to be a playoff team competing every single year. But when you have that season once in a while where you get it cycle up to nine, 10 wins, you get to be in the playoff, that's a benefit for you. It, it's A rewarding. It's for the school, for the fans, it adds a little bit of excitement. So yeah, every single school benefits from expanded playoff.

[Chip Patterson]

I like playoff. Switzerland. Well, I went off on CBS Sports HQ I think maybe a week or so ago and I said, you've got till the rest of May to get this playoff talk out. Then June 1st, moving ahead. I've been saying that I'm taking the players standpoint, which is tell me what time the games are and who we're playing. I love college football games. I love college football games. And I am not going to be co opted emotionally for something that's just going to be negotiated and decided by conference commissioners, you know, over who knows what.

[Tom Furnelli]

I've just reached the position. I've said it before. It's obviously I was anti expansion for a very long time and then it happened and now, I mean it's happened already. Now we're arguing just every single argument that we're making for 24 is the same one that existed for 12. But now for some reason, like fans have drawn an imaginary line because going from 4 to 12 was fine. So tripling the size, that was fine. Doubling it. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Red line, red line. Can't do that. So, yeah, I think there are benefits to it. I think there are negatives to it. I don't think either choice will destroy the sport.

[Chip Patterson]

The teams that are not going to benefit from expansion are Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, you know, all the teams that can win a national title because they would like it as small as possible. Less games.

[Tom Furnelli]

There are other. Yeah, there's. Yeah.

[Chip Patterson]

Yep. All right. Summer school. Rocking and rolling. As you have been able to tell Tom, be driving the ship on Wednesday for another big old bag of mail reacting to all of the news of the day. And you can follow him on Twitter Tom Fradelli. You can follow me at chippattersen. Tom, thank you very much.

[Tom Furnelli]

Thank you.

[Ad/Promo Voice]

Are you really buying a car online on Autotrader right now? Really? I can get super specific with dealer listings and see cars based on my budget. You can really have it delivered or pick it up. Mommy's, I think kid is walking up the slide. Really.

[Chip Patterson]

Auto trader, buy your car online.