The Big Beautiful Beaver

Summary

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Everyone Gets a Trophy

Podcast Host: Paul Wadlington
Episode: The Big Beautiful Beaver
Date: May 29, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode is a lively, insightful tour through major stories and debates in college sports, anchored in Texas baseball’s regional success, the broader landscape of NCAA playoffs, and some of the controversies rocking college athletics. Host Paul and guest Randy blend deep baseball analysis with candid, sometimes irreverent, takes on playoff expansion, integrity in sports betting, and the evolving college sports economy. You’ll walk away with a better grasp of Texas baseball’s real chances, why playoff expansion has hidden dangers, and how gambling scandals threaten the soul of the game.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Texas Baseball Regionals – Reactions & Analysis

[00:55–14:00]

• Texas Dominates Holy Cross:
  Texas opened regionals with a 19-1 blowout, highlighted by Anthony Pack’s three homers and a calf cramp that became a lighthearted subplot.

  • “If he wants to go 3 for 3 with three homers in the first four innings of a game, I’m fine with him getting a cramp and sitting out the rest of most.” — Randy [02:57]

• Pitching/Team Management:
  Coach managed the bullpen conservatively—starters kept on a low pitch count, key arms saved for subsequent, tougher matchups.

  • “Mr. Harrison exited with a very manageable pitch count after four innings... firmly in the mix for the rest of the weekend.” — Randy [03:15]

• Scouting Opponents: Tarleton State & UCSB:

  • Tarleton described as offensively oriented, likely to keep “throwing arms” at teams rather than relying on a true ace.
  • UCSB is the archetype of “West Coast baseball,” built on stellar pitching and waiting for mistakes.
  • Star to Watch: UCSB’s Jackson Flora, a dominant pitcher with a 1.1 ERA, 100 MPH heat, and low walk rate.
    • “He also touches 100 and has multiple elite breaking balls. It would be a nice challenge for our offense.” — Randy [05:52]

• Regional Strategy Debate: Play your ace early or save him for later rounds?

  • “I manage to try to win the week, win the regional. If it’s saving your guy, fine. I’m not here just to show up.” — Randy [07:32]

• Broader Baseball Landscape:

  • Regional baseball is unpredictable (“Anything can happen.”).
  • Bracket is wide open—no clear, overwhelming favorite.
  • “You get hot, you get to Omaha. Texas hadn’t played great down the stretch, but you don’t have to squint too hard to see them being successful moving forward.” — Randy [13:18]

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2. Texas Tech Gambling Scandal & Integrity in College Sports

[15:44–19:58]

• Tech & Sorsby Gambling Fallout:
  Discussion on Tech QB Brendan Sorsby caught in a betting scandal—betting, compliance, and the broader question of player integrity.

  • “That is hammered into you from the beginning... you cannot do that.” — Randy [16:46]

• Fan Reactions & Misunderstandings:
  Address the “normie” view that betting on your own team to win isn’t so bad, and why this is fundamentally dangerous for college sports.

  • “Once you get involved in gambling, people involved in gambling tend to run up debts... and are manipulatable.” — Paul [18:04]

• Program Response Critique:
  Shots at Texas Tech for muddy responses and attempts at distraction.

  • “If this wasn’t going to come out, Tech was not going to say a word.” — Randy [18:09]
  • “People... try to throw mud in another direction.” — Paul [18:30]

• Integrity is Everything:
  “If you take away the sense that it’s real or that it’s fixed—the whole thing unravels.” — Paul [19:16]
  “It’s all you have.” — Randy [19:52]

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3. College Football Playoff Expansion — Dangers, Debates & Consequences

[20:37–33:02]

• Expansion Inevitable?
  General mood: grudging acceptance, but nostalgia and caution about possible downsides.

  • “Is there just an inevitability of the 24-team playoff now? ... This is happening, right?” — Paul [20:37]
  • “Unfortunately, I think so.” — Randy [20:49]

• Is Expansion Too Much?
  Both agree they dislike 24-team expansion; 12 is a more rational compromise if automatic qualifiers (AQs) are eliminated.

  • “You can’t tell me going into this, with a straight face, there are 24 teams that can win this.” — Randy [21:12]

• Unintended Consequences:
  More playoff teams cheapen the regular season, especially rivalry games, and lead to NFL/NBA-like playoff resting strategies.

  • “You’re going to have an undefeated team late in the year... and they’re going to say, is it really worth it to play Arch Manning against Texas A&M? No, we’re going to sit our starters.” — Paul [24:07]

• Fan Interest at Stake:
  Expansion risks the intensity and soul of college football, both in the stands and at home.

  • “If that happens... I’ll catch [the game] at 10 o’clock tonight whenever we get back from whatever we’re going to do.” — Randy [25:11]

• Administrative Motivations:
  Real motivation for expansion comes from “middle class” and “lower class” programs wanting playoff access—not top teams.

  • “You want to sell hope to your fan base.” — Paul [30:23]
  • “In week seven, hey, we’re still in this!” — Randy [31:03]

• Nobody Actually “Runs” The Sport:
  There’s no true commissioner or czar—everybody answers to their own stakeholders, so incentives are always split.

  • “Everybody’s got an agenda, man.” — Paul [32:17]
  • “Who does Sankey work for?... On certain topics, he works for certain people.” — Randy [32:43]
  • “Tony Petitti could answer the question: I work for the furtherment of the Big Ten. I understand who actually drives things.” — Paul [33:05]

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4. Listener Questions, Quips & Baseball/Betting Anecdotes

[34:05–43:57]

• Integrity, Gambling, and Dumb Locker Room Fights:

  • Stories from pro, college, and even fantasy leagues where gambling debts or offhand comments led to real altercations.
    • “All sports feuds are either gambling debts or women. Like, that’s every sports feud in locker rooms.” — Paul [36:56]
    • John Wayne draft-dodger story [38:12]; baseball fight anecdotes [37:42]

• Umpiring: The Magic Word:
  The hosts joke about there always being a “magic word” for getting thrown out of games as a player.

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5. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Quote | Speaker | |-----------|-------|---------| | 02:57 | “If he wants to go 3 for 3 with three homers... I’m fine with him getting a cramp and sitting out the rest.” | Randy | | 05:52 | “He also touches 100 and has multiple elite breaking balls. It would be a nice challenge.” | Randy | | 07:32 | “I manage to try to win the week, win the regional... I’m not here just to show up.” | Randy | | 13:18 | “You get hot, you get to Omaha. Texas hadn’t played great... but you don’t have to squint too hard to see them being successful moving forward.” | Randy | | 16:46 | “That is hammered into you from the beginning... you cannot do that.” (on gambling) | Randy | | 18:04 | “Once you get involved in gambling... and are manipulatable.” | Paul | | 19:16 | “If you take away the sense that it’s real... the whole thing unravels.” | Paul | | 21:12 | “You can’t tell me... there are 24 teams that can win this.” | Randy | | 24:07 | “You’re going to have an undefeated team late... is it really worth it to play Arch Manning against Texas A&M? No...” | Paul | | 32:17 | “Everybody’s got an agenda, man.” | Paul | | 36:56 | “All sports feuds are either gambling debts or women. That’s every sports feud in locker rooms.” | Paul |

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Texas Baseball Regionals Analysis: 00:55–14:00
• Gambling Controversy & Ethics: 15:44–19:58
• College Football Playoff Expansion: 20:37–33:02
• Locker Room/Life Anecdotes & Umpiring: 34:05–43:57

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Tone & Vibe

• Informal, insider, and at times irreverent—Paul and Randy riff like two old friends at a bar, but with expert depth on baseball strategy, college sports politics, and fan psychology.
• The show mixes wry humor (“big beautiful beaver” and Buc-ee’s running jokes), pop culture/life references, and honest concern for the direction college sports is headed.

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Final Note

Bottom line:
Paul and Randy leave listeners with a sense of worry about playoff over-expansion and gambling infiltrating college sports—but also inject hope and excitement for Texas baseball’s postseason. Their advice to fans: keep your head in the game, enjoy the unpredictability, and recognize what makes college sports special before it slips away.

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Transcript

[A]

Hey everybody, it's Paul and I want to talk to you about David McClellan. He's a fiduciary financial advisor and partner with Forum Financial. He works broadly and deeply with his clients as a financial life coach. A former multinational championship swimmer at the University of Texas, he specializes in financial planning. He's contributed numerous articles to places like Kiplinger magazine on the topic of retirement tax bombs. And he is an absolute expert and master within his subject area. Contact David today at 312-933-8823. Schedule a free one hour consult. Assess your financial situation. See if there's an opportunity to move forward. If you are in the process of accumulating wealth or you already have some and you're looking to preserve it and invest it judiciously, David is your man. Give him a call. 312-933-8823. Welcome to the Everyone Gets a Trophy podcast. I'm Paul. The gentleman about to talk is Randy. And it is time when Randy really gets to spread his wings and fly. When I give him permission and I give him full sanction to talk Texas baseball and baseball in general. And I don't mind it at all because it is that time of year and Texas is playing regionals in the dish. And as we were about to record, they just did batting practice on Poor Holy Cross and effigies of the Virgin were seen. There was all sorts of signs, But Texas wins 19 to 1 on the strength of multiple homers, including three from Anthony Pack, and appears to have also gotten a severe calf cramp during the game. So we'll check in and see what's going on with that. What's going on, Randy? What'd you think? Did you watch the game?

[B]

Yeah, I was able to see bits and piece of it. I had it in the, in the background, the office. He, yeah, he's had cramping issues this year already. So I don't know if that's something to like monitor moving forward or maybe he's just one of those people or

[A]

you know how there's some athletes who drink diet Dr. Pepper instead of water. I think he might be that guy.

[B]

Well, the, the crazy thing is, and I was talking about this day at work with another guy that follows baseball closely. Like the amount of like bandwidth that it's going to be hot has gotten going into this year and even like previewing football like it's been hot in Texas since the beginning of time. People, yes, people have went and sat in a football stadium at 2:30 and survived. It's it's possible to do like ever. It's like this big thing. Like we played Holy Cross because, you know, at noon because we didn't want them to, you know, settle into the, you know, the 90 degree weather that it's going to be at 5 when this next game goes off or whatever. But it's just, I get it, but it's, I don't know why this has become such a big talking point, like hydrated, act accordingly. And people have done this for a long time.

[A]

Well, Anthony Pack is from California. It's a more temperate climate.

[B]

This is true. But like I said, he, he's had some issues with it before. So I think it's, at this point, it may be something that he needs to look at doing differently. But I will say this. If he wants to go 3 for 3 with three homers in the first four innings of a game, I'm fine with him getting a cramp and sitting out the rest of most.

[A]

Yeah, we can sit him after four and give other people opportunities. I think we're fair.

[B]

You know, he's, he's a, he's, it's very democratic of him. Let's, let's spread the wealth around.

[A]

All right. Is there anything to be learned from blowing out a, a sub.500 team from a league that I don't even know existed?

[B]

The, the one thing that I would glean from it is that Mr. Harrison exited with a very manageable pitch count after four innings.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

So he is firmly in the mix for the rest of the weekend. And we used pretty much no one of significance after that. So not taking anything away from those guys, but that, that's not our leverage, people that we, we didn't throw anybody out there to get them, you know, experience in the regional. It was managed accordingly based upon the score. So it'll be very interesting to see what happens with the later game tonight because you have a very potent offense, regardless of what people know or think about Tarleton State against a team that is going to try to save their ace for us. So we'll see if that's a good decision or not, but.

[A]

All right. Well, I know there's nothing you're more informed on than UCSB Gaucho and Tarleton State baseball, but locked in. Talk to me about the two teams and what, what, what are they like and what my Texas face depending on who emerges from this afternoon game.

[B]

So Tarleton's a good team. Like, I know everybody's like, oh, they beat Texas, but it was a Tuesday, blah, blah, blah, like, no, it's, it's a solid club. They are more offensive in nature. I would prefer to see them with Mr. Volantis on the mound and then take our chances with, with what comes out because Santa Barbara is much more pitching oriented, not really much of an offensive club, which, I mean, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say it, Paul. It's baseball. You know, any, anything can happen. Anybody can get hot, but they are, they are not built around the offensive side of the ball. They have multiple starting pitchers that have good numbers. They have pretty solid numbers across the board. And then obviously they have what is probably going to off the board in terms of college arms and Mr. Flora. So if you could maybe avoid seeing him and have Volantis against the bigger offensive threat and then see what happens in the, in the championship round, that would probably be great. But I think you got to feel good with where you're at on the Texas side. You know, you had a, pretty much a, you know, non stressful game. Got everybody out there, got some people out of the game early. Take a, take a seat, scout this one, get a good game plan together and, and turn Valentis loose.

[A]

So Jackson Flora is the guy?

[B]

Yep.

[A]

He's got a. Era about like 1.1 on the season. He's been absolutely dominant. And UCSB plays tents 2 to 1, 3 to 2 baseball and they're good at it and very west coast. Yeah, they just want to dominate you pitching and fielding and then they manufacture runs and wait for you to make mistakes and for the pressure to ramp up. And it's not a bad way to play baseball in the postseason.

[B]

Absolutely not. I think the biggest thing about him, I mean, you know, I mean eras and certain stats can, can fluctuate, especially you know, in a, I'm going to say a smaller sample size with the college game, but his batting average against this year is like a 160, I believe somewhere in there. And he doesn't walk people, so not a whole lot of traffic on the basis when, when he's out there. And by the way, he also touches 100 and has multiple elite breaking balls. So it would be a, it would be a, a nice challenge, I would say, for our offense, but it's not one that we cannot handle because it doesn't matter who's throwing the baseball or whatever, the baseball still dictates the game and how you react to it. So.

[A]

All right, I want to talk to Randy the manager here. Talk to me. Strategically is the idea that, hey, we're not the One seed, we're the two seed. We're traveling. We need to win against an opponent that probably on most days out matches us unless we got our guy on the mound. So the thought is, if we lose day one against Tarleton because we didn't pitch our best, who cares? We weren't going to win it anyway. Definitely preserve the arm. Or do you go more conservative, which is like something Texas would typically do in the past, and like, hey, we're pitching our ace. We're trying to win game one. We'll. We'll fix. You can't get game two until you win game one. So where do you come down sort of philosophically and spiritually on this? Are you a save your best and, and try to win the whole thing, or are you more like, hey, just win the first game and then move to the next?

[B]

I manage to try to win the week, win the regional, what, whatever you determine is your best, best path forward on that. If it's saving your guy, if it's throwing your guy, if you have the depth, whatever it may be. But I'm not here just to show up. If, if I'm them and, and if I'm Texas. Honestly, we kind of got a little bit of a, you know, an easy, easy, er, draw with Holy Cross. I mean, I know they, you know, that the guy they threw today is their ace and threw, I don't know, whatever, 200 pitches over the weekend to solidify that conference tournament win or whatever it was, but I think, I think you had the ability to afford that decision. I would have even been okay with. They went a step below Harrison to start, but we didn't, and that's fine. And they managed to pitch count and got him out early. But if I come into Santa Barbara, I'm trying to win it, and if I determine that my best chance to win it is by holding him for a potential game too, so be it. Also, if you lose, you do still have your best pitcher available in an if necessary elimination game. If I'm the Santa Barbara coach and I watched what happened in the Texas Holy Cross game, I might hold him for game three. I know that's like, sacrilege of, like, hey, you might potentially not use your best guy. But anyway, so I, I'm here to win the regional. If, if I'm them, I'm. I'm not here to throw him in game one, say, oh, hey, we won a game, and whatever, and their number two guy's good, don't get me wrong. I mean, he's got Good numbers as well, and I'm sure they have other capable starters, but I think. I don't think anybody's going to disagree with the fact that he's on a little bit different level than. Than those other guys.

[A]

Yeah, that. Yeah, I. I can't confess that I've scouted the UC Santa Barbara gal.

[B]

Same.

[A]

I've been to their campus. It's pretty nice.

[B]

Gorgeous.

[A]

But apparently they've got some good guys in the bullpen as well. Good two and three starters, so. But, yeah, obviously, floor is the guy.

[B]

Let's go to Texas most of the time. And then when we had the A and M series where we didn't play on Sunday, they took that opportunity to manufacture a reason to put Volantis on Friday because they're like, oh, we didn't want him to sit for 15 days.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

But it was okay. But it was okay for him to sit for 13 and pitch on Friday.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

So. But, yeah, no, you're fine. Harrison has been probably. I mean, his. His two bad outings this year were pretty bad, both on the road, but over the course of his career, I can't remember what the record is or whatever, but in games that he started, he's probably been our most consistent starter over the past however many years. Obviously, Volantis is in that mix, but he's only got a smaller sample size,

[A]

so fair to say we got out of. We got what we wanted out of game one. Correct.

[B]

100. Yeah. The only. The only other thing that could potentially have been better, I guess, is if. If you wouldn't have used any of the arms, Harrison included. But I don't know. I. I don't know that I would have felt great about that because then you open yourself up to what happened to Auburn, which they started their ace, and that didn't go well, but Milwaukee jumped all over them early and they never could recover or. I don't think they recovered the last I saw, so.

[A]

That's wild, man.

[B]

It's regional baseball, man. It's. I. I went through this morning. I went through every bracket, did my little D1 baseball challenge thing and, yeah, it's shot.

[A]

Did you have Auburn in, like, the Final Four or something?

[B]

I. I had him in the World Series, so, I mean. And they still very could get there. It just. Today wasn't. Wasn't a great day for him.

[A]

Harder road. All right, well, cool. Do you know the Tarleton State mascot?

[B]

I don't. Cowboys?

[A]

Texans.

[B]

Texans. Yeah. It's original.

[A]

Yeah. There you go. You know, so apparently they don't have a dominant arm at all.

[B]

No, they pretty much just rake. It's sort of there.

[A]

They just score runs and then I guess in big games they'll pitch like five dudes just to keep giving you different looks. Is that, Is that the plan?

[B]

That's, that, that's kind of what they. The games that I've seen, which basically is limited to when they played us and the tournament games, I think that's their deal is like, hey, we're just going to throw arms at you and just keep rolling the dice and not really get you used to anybody. And we trust our offense to put up numbers. And for, for the most part all year they've put up numbers.

[A]

I love any baseball team where the strategy is like just fits on an index card. It's like, what's your plan to win this regional? They're like, we're going to hit a bunch of home runs.

[B]

We're going to score more runs than they do, and we don't care how many it's going to take if it's all right.

[A]

So this is the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object in the afternoon. Fair enough.

[B]

Very much so. I mean, it's two contrasting styles. And I mean, baseball wise, you know what's going to happen. You know, Tarpson to go out there and Johnny Smith or whoever that hadn't thrown very well all year, is going to go like seven shut out.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, pretty much how it goes. All right, well, cool. Anything else you want to add? Are there any teams that you have your particular eye on coming in that you're like, this is pretty much the clear favorite or I like their chances.

[B]

No, I think, I think it's pretty wide open. I mean, UCLA was in a struggle. I didn't see how that game ended. They've been pretty much booking number one all year. Georgia Tech leads the world in offensive numbers. They scored like 25 runs a day or something stupid. I didn't play anybody. But doesn't matter. They. That's their M.O. so I mean, I gotta think you're 1, 2, 3 is in. Gotta be kind of the quote unquote favorites. But I mean, it's not a year to where I see like a clear delineation between the top three and the others. I think pretty much, you know, you get hot, you get to Omaha. I mean, the Texas hadn't played great down the stretch, but it's also a. You don't have to squint too hard to see them Being successful moving forward either.

[A]

Yeah, there's like a weird, I would say almost negative energy around the baseball team at least if you go on inside Texas threads during live.

[B]

Yeah, it's just. It's two years in a row where we've got a couple injuries, banged up or whatever, and it's. And it's kind of slid late now. That being said, when you think of it sliding late, I think Texas won just as many baseball games over the last half of the SEC schedules. Everybody else did. Yeah. So it's one of those things where I think we kind of got to recalibrate. This is not Big 12 baseball anymore. And schedule wise, we kind of got away this year with a. I wouldn't say it was a soft schedule, but ended up being more like a middle of the road deal. But it doesn't really matter. I mean, I know people say it all the time, but SEC baseball is a gauntlet. Like, it's. It's tough, you get hot, you cold, you. You just want to be playing your best baseball right now. And, you know, so far, you know, I know people didn't really enjoy the SEC tournament deal, but nobody will care if it results in a nomad trip, so.

[A]

All right, this may be early and you've had a knack the last few years for predicting the champion. I don't know if you recall this. You've named the champion correctly several times in the last three years. Do you need more time and data points or are you. You comfortable with proclaiming who you think is gonna win the whole thing?

[B]

No, I like Georgia. I think they're. I think they're pretty complete and they've played well throughout the season. So if I had to throw one out there now, I'd. I'd go there.

[A]

I'll take the field.

[B]

Fair enough. Good choice.

[A]

Okay. Me and Brendan Sorsby are very good at gambling.

[B]

One thing that came up that on a lot of the, you know, the baseball podcast lately was like, who's your four seed? Who's the four seed that's going to do it? It's like, I think those days are over, guys. Like, I mean, there's going to be somebody that'll make some noise, I'm sure. But the, The Fresno State, 4 seed, running it and winning the national title, I think, I think the. It's getting to where football, hey, you can't build those programs. You know, you can build them with one or two arms, but hey, guess what? The next year, those one or two arms are, are elsewhere at a, At A level above. So I, you know, not saying they can't win a regional and make some noise, but I don't see you're going to see a four seed make that run anymore. Yeah.

[A]

All right, well, that covers our baseball segment. Are you satisfied, Randy? Have we given it the attention it deserves?

[B]

I mean, probably not, but I, I think that's, that's a sufficient amount of time to spend on it right now.

[A]

All right, I want to talk Brendan Soaresby gambling, Texas Tech. The little back and forth that's going on right now between Stark and Joey McGuire. We got, we got billionaires from Tech offering to pay the buyout on Texas State and Abilene Christian games so we can play in Lubbock or in Dallas, is what Tech is saying.

[B]

I'm so glad you brought that up since nobody's covered this at all.

[A]

I know. It's almost like Tech wants a distraction right now.

[B]

Can't imagine why.

[A]

All right, when you were playing, how much did you and your teammates bet on Texas baseball? How much did you win?

[B]

We had every, I want to say every, if not every, almost every meeting we had that was not like a quote unquote baseball meeting that involved someone with compliance or whatever. I mean, they hammer that home signs in locker rooms every. I mean, I just.

[A]

So you're not allowed to do it is what you're saying?

[B]

I'm saying that you're not allowed to do it. Yes.

[A]

Okay, but you did it. Did you win a lot of money?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

No, we did not. But I just can't. I don't know, like, I guess you can claim ignorance as a young, 15, 16 year old or I guess 18, 17, 18 year old, whatever it is. But I. That is hammered into you from the beginning of time that you cannot do that.

[A]

What about betting on Turkish basketball leagues?

[B]

I think that lends itself to a little bit of the bigger problem. But.

[A]

So not only was he placing, hey,

[B]

you don't know, maybe he's staying up at night watching. Like he's very well informed. It's possible.

[A]

Oh, he might be. He might be reading like little bookie reports from MGM Sports Bet.

[B]

Maybe he has the equivalent of the thinking Texas football prospectus in the Turkish basketball world. And he, that's right, like the Bible, who knows?

[A]

He might have keen insights into all sorts of WNBA games and all sorts of other stuff. Jai. Ally. And all those games, all the sports. The interesting thing is they really tried to set. They tried to sort of initially pitch this. As he was young, he was red shirting you know, he was bored. He bet when he was at Cincinnati. Apparently he was betting up like he has bets apparently wagered from Lubbock.

[B]

So let's also say when you say initially tried to. They initially tried to do this once they figured out that it was going to be common knowledge.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Because if this wasn't going to come out, Tech was not going to say a word.

[A]

Do you think this came out from Cincinnati? You think it was like, yeah, sour grapes?

[B]

Yeah. I think they're trying to recoup whatever amount of money that is tied up in that lawsuit, and that's where it came from.

[A]

They might unintentionally have found find themselves in a little bit of a bind though. Too.

[B]

Right. Also, hey, that tends to happen a little bit when people try to throw mud in another direction.

[A]

That's a good point. You, you get dirty as well.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah, it's interesting. Look, I don't want to get into all of it. I mean, this has been covered ad infinitum. I just think it's funny, it's interesting. And I am actually a little surprised by the number of like, normies who say, well, what does it matter if he bet on his team to win? And it's like, dude, you, you grew up in a nice sheltered world and I'm glad. But once you get involved in gambling, people involved in gambling tend to run up debts. And people who run up debts are manipulatable. And there's lots of people who will come into your life who will say, hey, I'm not asking you to throw the game. I just want you to shave points.

[B]

Right.

[A]

That's every college basketball betting scandal. Hey, we're not asking you to throw the game. Just shave points. Win by seven instead of 11, you know, and before you know it, once you do it, once those guys own you, and then it's, you're throwing the game and here's how you're going to do it. And I just, I think the, the ultimately integrity of the game is so huge that if you take away the sense that it's real or that it's, you know, that it's fixed, that it's wwe, the whole thing unravels and you destroy basically a multi billion dollar industry in all of college sports.

[B]

So that's all it's, it's all you have. I mean, it, you know, it's said multiple times over the course of, you know, last few years or whatever. But the reason it's so valuable is because of that. Because the unpredictability of it. Yeah. If you, if you start to lose that. I mean, I, I said, I mean, I feel bad for the guy. I mean, he made some mistakes or whatever, but I mean, whatever the appropriate punishment is, then he needs to deal with it and go, is it. I think the, the remarkable thing. Well, probably not remarkable, but to me, the remarkable thing is, is the way Tech has reacted to it with the. I don't know. I don't know what's worse in the last couple days, the Tech president's letter or Hunter year checks. Oh, my gosh. Y' all are going to make us not have three more hours of sleep before we play. Sorry, I didn't mean to change the subject, but.

[A]

Well, speaking of that subject, that's actually a great transition, Randy. Well done. It's. Is there just an inevitability of the 2014 playoff now? We're trying to hold the line, but this is happening, right?

[B]

Unfortunately, I think. I think so. Yeah. Unfortunately, I think so.

[A]

Does it make you sad? Because I'm sad if that happens.

[B]

Yeah, I don't like it at all. I guess depending on the parameters, maybe some are better than others, but I just, I don't know it and just, I mean, you can't tell me that going into this tournament, someone with a straight face can look at you and say, yeah, there are 24 teams that are going to be able to win this.

[A]

Yeah, I don't think there's 16.

[B]

No, I agree with that as well.

[A]

So let me ask you this. What is your number? If you're, you're, I mean, your grand poobah of the sport, what is your number?

[B]

I don't mind 12. If you do away with the AQs and it's, hey, the 12 best teams, that seems reasonable. I think in most years you can make the argument you might have to squint a little bit, but you could probably make the argument that there are around 10ish teams that can compete for it. And I think with the talent dispersity, it's getting closer to that. I mean, there's definitely been years in the past where it's like, now there's three, but if you make them play four straight games and injuries and luck and everything else plays into it, then, yeah, I think you get closer to 10. And then, hey, you got two that, you know, might win a game but probably aren't going to win it. I'm fine with that. Let's take 12. Do away with AQS. But the, the, hey, these people need to be in because they need to be included. Get out of here with that. I don't. It's not what this is about.

[A]

Yeah, I mean ultimately football particularly, but sports in general, it's a meritocracy. And I'm not, you know, inclusiveness is great with, on your kids, second, second grade flag football team. Everyone does need to play, everyone does need to touch the ball. Let's have fun. Let's teach them some skills. Let's let them have a good time as you ramp up and things get serious. This is a meritocracy and it's one of the things, it's one of the last areas where we feel like that that's truly the case. And when you tamper with that, you're kind of messing with something fundamental and sort of soulful about the game and competition.

[B]

No, I would agree.

[A]

So, yeah, I kind of like, I'm like you. I like 12. If you can fix some of the AQ, I would, I would, I would also pair eliminating the conference title games with the 12 or the conference title games need to have real consequences, meaning irrespective of who wins your conference, they get the bid. So last year Duke would have been in the playoff. Right? That would have been absurd, but correct. Yeah, it creates actual gravity to those games.

[B]

If, if you're going to have it, it needs to mean something instead of just being a money grab which.

[A]

Well, here's what's going to happen with the 24 expansion, Randy. And you know, the SEC is holding line for now, but that's also, that's a lot of. That's ESPN wanting to dominate the sport and not share the TV money as you expand it out with the other, other people vying for that. But what is going to happen is, and I'm telling you, people are like, no, that would know if you are, if you truly NFLize or NBA eyes, I should say this model, that'd be the better comparison. Yes, you're going to have an undefeated team late in the year who's already secured their buy or has secured their first two round home games and they're going to say, is it really worth, worth it to play Arch Manning against Texas A and M? No, we're going to sit our starters and you're going to watch Texas A and M blow out or beat Texas and the backups. And we're going to say it doesn't matter, we'll shrug it off the next week. And, and if you don't believe me, like, go watch NFL Week 17, Week 18, go watch the NBA right before the playoffs. Teams, you know, they're big rivals. Their hate. Oh, the Steelers and Ravens. There's no more hate than that late game. You're already. You've already got your playoff situation set up. Steelers will go get beat 35 to 3 by the Ravens and they shrug and they don't care and their fans don't care. If we get to that, dude, we're. I'm not gonna say I'm out, because that's not true, but it's gonna suck.

[B]

My interest level will go down quite a bit.

[A]

My interest level will be. We'll be scheduling podcasts during games.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I will not. I mean, it's already hard enough to schedule life around the games with my current level of interest. Yeah. If that happens, then it's. I'll catch it and I'll watch it at 10 o' clock tonight whenever we get back from whatever we're going to do.

[A]

Well, here's the other consequence. If you know that that's going to denude or discredit the power of November rivalries.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, this, this sort of key time in college football when it all comes to a head. Auburn, Alabama, Texas, Texas A and M, Michigan, Ohio State, Army, Navy, even. What you're going to have is teams move their rivalry games and all their conference games to September and October. I mean, that's. It's different. And I wouldn't reject it out of hand. I mean, it is a better solution than seeing Michigan hold out their starters against Ohio State potentially. Or here's a more realistic scenario, Texas goes undefeated, or we have one loss, we make the SEC title game.

[B]

Who cares?

[A]

We're not gonna. We're not gonna improve our situation. We're the two seat, we're the one seed, whatever. Why would you play your starters? You, as a head coach, and I'm telling you, the fans would go nuts initially, but as a head coach, I would hold out my starters. How bad does that suck?

[B]

That's terrible.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. So.

[B]

But it's probably the correct. It's the correct move in that situation, though.

[A]

Yeah. All right. We're old men yelling at clouds and change. But I think. I think there's a series of unintended count consequences. There's a Pandora's box to expanding past 16 that will be unleashed on the sport that will actually be detrimental to the sport itself and may actually work against their goal, which is more money. I think they may actually destroy interest to the degree they actually kill the golden pig.

[B]

Well, I think the fact That I don't think 24 equals more money. I mean, maybe initially, but I don't think there's enough interest. I think you're going to try and chase money on those 24. And to your point, you degrade interest across the entire sport because of it. And you're forgetting about the fact that it's not TV dollars that ultimately run this sport. It's the average people that send a hundred dollar check to Texas because they want to feel like they're part of something and, and they want to go sit in the stands or have a barbecue out in the backyard if they can't make it to the game. Those are the people that keep college football alive. It's not, you know, you know, it's. I don't know, I don't want to get too macro on it, but I just think they're, they're completely losing sight of why it's been successful.

[A]

I think there's a lot of pseudo elites who think they're playing intergalactic chess right now.

[B]

No way.

[A]

The game is, the game is checkers. And the fan interest attached to it is there's a very straightforward psychological attachment. So it's kind of what I always warned the players about. That, hey, I'm glad you're getting paid. Cool. Don't push it too far because once it becomes fully, wholly mercenary and we get a sense you don't care about the game. The school wearing the Longhorn on your helmet, dude, you're going to be playing semi pro football games on Thursday nights in front of 600 people. Is take the Longhorn logo off your helmet. No one gives a damn about you.

[B]

The people that are funding all those nil checks will start giving their money back to the school to put their names on buildings and things of that nature. If they don't have an actual tie to what they're spending money on.

[A]

Yeah, well, you know what? They'll go buy a Premier League team in England.

[B]

Right? Or yeah. Or just completely pivot all the way around.

[A]

Yeah, that seems to be like the thing now that's fashionable.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Let's, let's go buy a Premier League team. Know, let's go buy a Bundesliga team in Germany. But yeah, I, I think it's interesting. I do hope, I do think that there is a chance that we can hold the line because it does require the SEC's consent to, you know, to, to move forward. The problem is the Big Ten has been a little bit ahead of us conceptually and strategically for the last two years.

[B]

So well, you've, you've outlined that pretty well as to why, so.

[A]

Yeah, Yeah. I mean, Greg Sankey's background is basically like HR administrator.

[B]

Well, he, he's always been reactionary because he. Yeah, he's always been reactionary because he could be. Because it didn't matter because the SEC just sort of ran things and it was only the southeastern part. But then you start a different world now. And I mean, not to be elitist, but if you both, if you have Texas and Texas A and M in your conference, you need to be at the forefront because State of Texas tends to move the needle a lot more than a bunch of regional schools like Mississippi and Alabama.

[A]

100%. Yeah. And that ties in with what came out of the SEC meetings recently with the ads. They pulled the ads and unfortunately, the majority of SEC ads would like to expand to 16 or more. Most of them chose 20 or 24. Whoever chose 20, like, cool. I get. Okay, 24 too much. Randy, 20 is just right.

[B]

What's your opinion on why that is? Why do you think that they all did that?

[A]

It's. It's the middle class and lower class.

[B]

100. Absolutely.

[A]

And you want to, you want to sell hope to your fan base. Because here's the thing that's funny. This is the weird fan psychology of it. If you have a four team playoff and you're, you're Mississippi State and you don't make the playoff, you're like, well, yeah, I mean, it's impossible to make the playoff. There's only four teams.

[B]

It's never gonna happen.

[A]

Right. You go to eight, it's like very unlikely. If you go to 12 and 16, you start to feed hope a little bit. Like, why can't we be Indiana? Right. Once you go to 20, 24, it's fully on. Like, we expect to go to the playoff.

[B]

Well, even you just introduced the fact that in week seven, hey, we're still in this.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And you know, it's, it's, you know, you. The hope continues longer even if it's, you know, the number just creeps a little bit. But I mean, I hate to give Elko too much credit, but I think he might have said the, the smartest thing that I've heard come out of there. And granted, I haven't listened to every press conference in. Seen all the quotes, but when, when he said, no, I want there to be 40 teams. So I make the playoff every year and I'll never get fired because we're all self serving. I'm self serving the media Self serving. The ads are self like, everybody's in self preservation mode at all times. And I don't think there's anyone looking out for the greater good of the sport in general or the damn. Sure not for the athletes in general.

[A]

But yeah, we always have. And people are like, we need a czar of the sport. We need a commissioner. I mean, cool, but they have their own motivations and agendas.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, they're going to answer to

[A]

the people under the impression Roger Goodell works for the good of the NFL sport. He works for the owners.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

I mean, that's his job. Like, people like, oh, we need a disinterested elite commissioner who will descend from his cloud above and make pronouncements that are good for the game. It's like everybody's got an agenda, man.

[B]

So I think that's me and Randy

[A]

who are just shoot it straight, man. We're just real straight shooters.

[B]

Right? Yeah, I just, Just a guy trying to hang out. Right. I think that's part of the problem with Sanki though is because who does Sanki work for? Does he work for the presidents of the universities? Does he work for the ads of the universities? Does he work for the football coaches? Does he work for all the coaches? I don't know. I don't know the answer.

[A]

I, I'm not sure he could answer.

[B]

I, I don't. I was about to say I don't know that there is an answer because I think on certain topics he works for certain people because you're going to give the perception that X matters. But if we go to a different. It's a very political thing. So it's just like, I, I don't know how to answer that question. And if you don't know how to answer that question, then how do you perform the job?

[A]

And here's the thing. I think Tony Petiti could answer the question.

[B]

I agree he's.

[A]

I think he'd say I work for the good and furtherment of the Big Ten. And within that I understand the structures of power within the Big Ten. So when Purdue and Michigan State start bitching about something, I remind them that because of historical affiliation they lucked into getting $80 million TV payouts. But they're not the ones driving it. And while we appreciate their perspective and insight, they should also shut up.

[B]

100% agree with that. And I don't think that exists in the sec.

[A]

No, I. But I think it might have existed under slive under the prior admin. I'm not sure though.

[B]

I Didn't follow it close enough at that point.

[A]

Neither did I. I was not involved in all the politics.

[B]

But there's a couple people that I know that went to some. Went to some SEC schools back in the day, and they said that there was a noticeable difference between him and. And Sanki. Not. And I'm not saying Sanki's terrible by any means. Like, he's much, much better than the clown that runs the conference we used to be in.

[A]

So if you ask Brett, your mark, who he works for, he'd be like, me.

[B]

Pat McMahon, private equity. No, Vince McMahon, whatever his name is. Yeah, whatever.

[A]

Gives me the largest payout before the Big 12 explodes when the next TD contract comes out.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Depends on the week for the Saudi oil reserve fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. Yeah, that's. That's funny. It always. Always interesting to think about when you. When you look at these stuff, these things, like, you take a step back and you go, who does this person work for? Like, ultimately. So if you see an ESPN talking head suddenly giving, like, kind of an odd opinion that they're going back on things they've said before about playoff and who should be in and who's not, you're like, I don't know if this guy got the call from a network, but he also knows ultimately who he works for, and he knows to fall in line. Right. Like, there is such a thing as organic organization, because people always be like, well, who told him? Oh, where's the smoking gun? It's like, if you and I are playing pickup basketball and you steal the ball, I run to the other basket and try to get you to throw the ball up the court to me. We don't have to communicate what our plan is. We know the rules of the game, and that's kind of like what it is in these environments. Everyone knows ultimately who they work for. They know the rules of the game. And so you have that. People envision the dramatic midnight call from ESPN or ABC saying, you need to say this. That doesn't happen. What happens is Randy and Paul go, who writes my checks? Ultimately, that's going to shade my opinion. I mean, obviously, again, me and Randy are pillars of integrity, and we should be in charge of the sport.

[B]

But also, I don't get checks, so that helps.

[A]

But not like when you were betting on baseball.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. Would you do the balls and strikes thing? Come on. That's hard.

[B]

Oh, boy. I tell you what, you want to talk about just complete flip of the coin, like, and then the guy just

[A]

Throw a ball on the first pitch, Just throw.

[B]

Two or three guys get caught up in that thing. It's like nobody will ever know the effect. Yeah, nobody will ever know that you looked completely different and you yanked a slider halfway across the field on the first pitch because you wanted to make sure that your buddy's bet landed.

[A]

Those guys looked more like a throw to first base to check a runner.

[B]

I just, I don't know. I mean, it's easy for me to sit here and say that that's stupid because I'm not making however much money those guys are making. But that's stupid also.

[A]

If you're making.

[B]

Why would you jeopardize that?

[A]

Yeah. If you're making major league baseball money, why are you trying to get 75 grand in your pocket? Like, that's small stakes.

[B]

And it probably wasn't even that. It was probably like 50 bucks. Like, I feel like every, like all the bets that like unravel everything is like something stupid. Like, hey, I bet you 20 I can do this.

[A]

Well, all, all sports feuds are gambling women, like, gambling debts or women. Like, that's every sports feud in locker

[B]

rooms, pretty much, yeah.

[A]

You took someone's girl or you owe someone money on sports bets and you won't pay them.

[B]

I would argue that.

[A]

Remember Geno Smith got his jaw broken, do you remember that? Like eight years ago. So the deal was they were gambling he owed like some, you know, third string linebacker on the team money. And he's like, I'm not paying you. You know, you're a bum, blah, blah, blah. The guy's like, hey, dude, like, we're now, we're now out of football. Like we're teammates. We're now more in like hood relationship. And you're telling me to my face you're not going to pay me? And he's like, yeah, that's what I'm telling you. He's like, okay, he broke his jaw.

[B]

So what was the guy's name? Think of the name. I want to say they're with the Giants and there was like a fantasy football deal where the dude was like gaming the waiver wire. Jock Peterson and somebody else. I can't think of the other guy. But anyway. And they literally, he like walked out on the field and like, I think they used to play together and maybe they were no longer on the same team or I don't anyway. But yeah, that's what it is. He was gaming the waiver wire in their fantasy football league and the dude like got in a fight. With him because of it.

[A]

I had two good friends get into a violent physical altercation because one of them said John Wayne was a draft dodger man. So. Yeah, yeah, it's. It happens.

[B]

Hey, it happens.

[A]

You got to have lines in this world, Brandy.

[B]

Hey, that's right.

[A]

You say John Wayne's a draft dodger, action's got to be taken. All right? This isn't just a friendly debate anymore.

[B]

Yeah, it's like the magic word for umpires.

[A]

What is the magic word?

[B]

You can yell at me all you want to, but don't say that.

[A]

What is the magic word, Randy?

[B]

Well, use your imagination.

[A]

What does it rhyme with?

[B]

I'm not gonna say that.

[A]

All right, all right, all right. Fine, fine. Don't deliver for the listener.

[B]

Those. Those out there that know well, you can spread the word.

[A]

Oh, you're so Randy's only talking to the secret cabal of ball knowers now? He's not a podcast for the people anymore. All right. You know someone who does deliver every time?

[B]

Gabe Winslow.

[A]

Gabe Winslow. God. I queued you up, and you nailed it. Unbelievable. It's Gabe Winslow. You can reach him at 832-557-1095. Why Gabe? Because it's summer, and you need to buy a freaking house. Or you need to refi your existing house and free up a little cash so Junior can go to college. In any event, Gabe is the man. This is the most important financial transaction of your life. Get the best team on your side. Get a great realtor. Get a great mortgage guy. And Gabe is that guy. Not only is Gabe got 20 years in the industry, and he's phenomenal at what he does. Go read his Google reviews and the raving paragraph after paragraph about the service he delivered. But also, guy's really sharp. Former national merit scholar. He's got a law degree from a very good law school. This guy is absolutely dominating what he does and nailing it. And this is the guy you want in your corner. And. And here's the cool thing. Because of his diverse and sort of interesting background, he does a lot more than your mortgage, potentially. Gabe has swooped in and saved a lot of closings that got kind of hairy at the last second just because he has so much knowledge, dexterity, and fluidity in this industry. So he is the guy that can fix it. He is the guy that will get you the best possible deal. This is the guy you got to call. Randy and I stand behind him wholeheartedly because we don't want to stand in front of him. You can reach them at 832-557-1095.

[B]

Well said.

[A]

Thanks, man. I appreciate that. See, now you know who writes our checks. Now you know who Randy and I are beholden to.

[B]

The checks that Paul is referring to must be getting lost in the mail. Much like. Hey, but Gabe sent. Gabe sent me a. A checkup letter to the wrong address not too long ago, so maybe that's what's wrong.

[A]

I sent you a Buc ee's gift card.

[B]

This is true. Very much appreciated.

[A]

To me, a hundred dollar Bucky's gift card is more valuable than a hundred dollars because you get to go to Bucky's and everybody loves Bucky's. Is Bucky's the best thing an Aggie has ever done? You're married to an actor. The answer is supposed to be, aggie provided me with beautiful children and a wonderful life.

[B]

Oh, I thought you were talking about the business world then. Yeah. No, if you're gonna take and take into consideration that her putting up with me is the best thing that Aggie's

[A]

ever done, okay, but the second best thing is Bucky's. Do you agree if you're gonna put

[B]

me on the spot? I mean, I. I like.

[A]

Are you so anti Aggie that you're reluctant to acknowledge the greatness?

[B]

No, I'm just trying to think of something else. And I. I love Buc EE's, so I. I can't. As much as I drive up and down the road, if. If you see one of those big beautiful beavers, You're welcome.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

We're going off the rails.

[A]

All right.

[B]

You're welcome, Gabe.

[A]

Randy, at this point, I think we need to get you off the air before you say something regrettable, man. You're in the construction industry and ultimately you could say anything and nothing would happen to you. Remember when you tried to predict that you predicted correctly. The Alabama game fans were like, trying to get Randy fired and they're like,

[B]

dude, good luck, man.

[A]

Our whole industry is scandal. Randy's a boy scout.

[B]

Yeah, first. Yeah, my boss. My boss is one of the bigger Longhorn fans in the world that I know. And he also graduated from A and M, so, yeah, make that make sense. So, yeah, come get me.

[A]

That's very odd.

[B]

Very odd. But, yeah, no, I do remember that. That was funny.

[A]

You and I, through some circumstance and through some legitimate excuses and also just sloth, we have been not keeping up with these pods. So let's commit that we'll try to do a little better. And I apologize if I'VE not done my part.

[B]

So, no, I think most of it's on me. But I think your one excuse was that you were sick, which.

[A]

Randy. Randy said that with real contempt. Like how dare you not perform your duties.

[B]

But no, yeah, we need to, we have, we have some important events in the near future and somewhat distant future. So we need to get back on here.

[A]

Also, you are my funnel of info for college World Series in Texas baseball and that is forefront. Now, I try to deny its power all year, but I give in to its power in late May and June because I know that is the time when you should be focused and pulling for the Longhorns in Omaha.

[B]

In all seriousness, I do think this is a wide open bracket. I mean, I know we people, like I said, kind of. I agree with your, your opinion. That seems like it. Especially in the inside Texas world. The. I don't know, the vibes weren't so high. This team is still a really good baseball team. I know they have their warts. I watch other teams across the nation, most other teams across the nation do as well. It's talented team. They have the ability to make some noise. So stay, stay with them. We'll see what happens. But I said we have the arms as long as people perform to their ability to truly make some noise in this thing and give it a run. So.

[A]

And if Anthony Pack recovers, we'll have the cabs.

[B]

Absolutely. Somebody get him a Gatorade nil deal or something.

[A]

Come on, Anthony, drink water. It's good for you. All right, guys want to thank you for listening. Please support our sponsors. Randy, thanks so much, buddy. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and insight. And for Paul and Randy, I'm saying hook them. Go Longhorns.

[B]

Hook them.

[A]

Hey y'. All, if you are buying or selling a house in the greater Centex area, there's only one person you need to talk to. That person is Laura Baker, real estate agent extraordinaire. You can reach her at 512-784-0505. Here's the hard truth about real estate. There's a whole lot of real estate agents and then there's a small number of real estate agents who do all the transactions, all the work and have all the expertise. Everyone else is frankly a hobbyist. That's why you want to go with an award winning member of the Andy Allen team in Austin, Texas and Keller Williams. That's Laura Baker. She is absolutely extraordinary at what she does. My friend and colleague Ian Boyd used her to move to Austin from Michigan and raved about the level of detail, service and attention that he received. I have gotten nothing but amazing feedback from folks who have used Laura. Make sure you dial those digits and get the best possible real estate agent in your corner. One, two. Let me ask you something. Do you live in a house or are you looking to buy a house? Well, if you live in a house, you probably have a mortgage. You probably, if you bought that house recently, you got a mortgage that's a little too high. Or if you need to restructure some things financially, you want to refi, this is a great time to do it. Interest rates are down and I've got the mortgage guy for you. His name is Gabe Winslow. You can reach him at 832-557-1095. If your mortgage number's got a 6 or 7 in front of your interest rate, give Gabe a call. Very high probability, he can refi you for free. And if not, he can still put together a pretty awesome deal. More importantly, if you're looking to buy a house and it's that time, late April, we're starting to look, we're starting to get ready. We're going to go buy some houses in the spring and the summer, early fall, Gabe is the guy you got to line up as your mortgage guy right now. 832-55-7109. He's incredibly sharp. He's a loyal longhorn and he's freaking awesome at what he does. Give him a call. If he's not your first call, he better be your last call.