Pardon My Take: Booger McFarland Talking NFL and CFB, JMU Got Screwed In The Latest Rankings, Hot Seat/Cool Throne + Guys On Chicks

Date: November 19, 2025
Hosts: Big Cat & PFT Commenter (Barstool Sports)
Special Guest: Booger McFarland

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the controversial College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings—highlighting James Madison University's snub—breaks down the state of NFL and college football teams, and brings on ESPN’s Booger McFarland for insight, banter, and some classic donut-eating. The podcast also features their signature segments: Hot Seat/Cool Throne and "Guys on Chicks," delivering sports takes with humor, skepticism, and the personalities only PMT can provide.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. James Madison (JMU) and the College Football Playoff "Screw Job"

Start: 02:24

• JMU’s Case:

  • PFT Commenter rails against the committee’s exclusion of undefeated JMU.

    “It's a travesty. It's a sham mockery. It's a Travis shamockery. It's disgusting, it's not right. It's an infringement upon our constitution, which James Madison wrote, by the way.” (PFT Commenter, 02:49)

  • The main committee critique: "no high quality wins," but PFT picks apart transitive scores and strength of schedule logic, highlighting JMU’s real improvement after early setbacks and a now-healthy QB (“We're kicking the shit out of people.” 04:58).
  • Suggests committee bias in favor of the American Conference winner regardless of circumstances.
  • Hints at possible CFP committee conflicts of interest:

    “His son is the tight ends coach for App State. App State, who we just emasculated on Saturday... That's gonna be an awkward Thanksgiving.” (PFT Commenter, 05:53–06:24)

• "The Owl Gauntlet" & Rooting Interests:

  • JMU backers are now huge Temple fans, hoping for Temple to upset Tulane and disrupt the committee’s narrative.
  • Some playful paranoia about the committee giving the “group of five” slot to whichever American team is up next in line.

2. Reviewing the College Football Playoff Rankings

Start: 08:24

• Selection Logic:

  • Big Cat critiques the committee for erratic rankings, especially around Miami’s steady climb despite mediocre wins:

    “I actually think it's like a group of people who don't really watch college football and they're kind of dumb...” (Big Cat, 08:24)

  • Wild playoff bracket scenarios discussed, with Big Cat excited to see the new expanded playoff format pan out.

• Winners & Chaos Scenarios:

  • Georgia and Texas Tech are “big winners” of the current bracket projection (10:31).
  • Doomsday scenarios exist, like a six-way tie in the ACC—which both hosts would love to see (“That would be awesome,” PFT Commenter, 15:46).
  • Miami, Duke, other ACC schools all part of complicated bowl calculus and potential tiebreakers.

3. Monday Night Football Recap: Raiders Are a "Tough Watch"

Start: 23:59

• Pete Carroll & the Raiders:
  • PFT Commenter jokes Pete Carroll is chewing more gum because of how little fun he’s having coaching this season.
  • A lament for Max Crosby ("so good," but wasted on a bad team).
  • Discussion of Cowboys resting their top receivers to start the game, treating the Raiders “like Bethune Cookman”—an ultimate sign of disrespect.
  • “Blacklist” segment: which NFL teams deserve to be banned from primetime (“should be against the law to put the Raiders on primetime television.” PFT Commenter, 29:50)

4. NFL and Team Futures: Tanking Solutions and Hot Takes

Start: 35:22

• Tanking Rule Proposal:

  • Nick Tarani’s idea: Teams must win at least 4 games to qualify for the #1 draft pick—intended to end late-season tanking with actual stakes for bad teams.
  • Audience reaction mixed; more practical for the NBA than the NFL given league dynamics.

• Mock Draft Misery:

  • PFT on being a “mock draft guy:”

    “Being a mock draft guy is a tough existence. It really is. It's like a whole new world that you have to step into.” (38:00)

5. Podcast Banter: Cleaning for Thanksgiving & Life Talk

Start: 31:01

• Hilarious, relatable detour into prepping for family visits and the stress of “deep cleaning” apartments for Thanksgiving.

Booger McFarland Interview

Start: 69:37

1. NFL Contenders and Trust Issues

• Who Does Booger Trust?

  "I don't know if I really trust anybody... If you force me, I'd probably say the Rams. Matthew Stafford is playing at an MVP level. On the AFC side, I love Daniel Jones in resurrection, but do we really trust him in a big game?" (Booger, 71:54)

• Chiefs dynasty is on the ropes:

  “If the Chiefs lose to the Colts this Sunday, they're missing the playoffs.” (Booger, 81:02)

2. Eagles’ Diva Wide Receiver Dynamics

• A.J. Brown’s “diva” behavior discussed. Booger compares it to keeping a significant other happy:

  "It's very similar to how we keep our significant others happy. You make them feel good... Because to your point, AJ Brown is getting the ball just as much as he did last year. However, he seems to be unhappy." (Booger, 74:05)

• Suggests a growing NFL issue: when the quarterback is paid the most but isn’t the team’s best player, it can destabilize locker rooms.

3. The Rookie QB Roundtable

• Cam Ward, Jackson Dart, and more:

  "Cam Ward has zero weapons and he's not a runner, so he hasn't been able to make some of the plays that Jackson Dart has with his legs... Jackson Dart has to realize, man, like, how many running quarterbacks live to be like 10 year running quarterbacks? Like, when you are running quarterback, the shelf life doesn't last long." (Booger, 84:35)

4. Coaching Carousel & College Hires

• James Franklin to Virginia Tech:

  "I love it. James has coached in that area... That area of the country. He understands very well." (Booger, 86:29)

• Penn State’s next coach? Booger strongly backs Pat Fitzgerald:

  “Pat Fitzgerald. Period, point blank... I listened to him talk for 30 minutes on a podcast, and I was ready to suit up.” (Booger, 89:30)

• LSU’s next hire: “The next coach at LSU has to embrace the culture. Saying y'all and family can't be something that has to be taught to you on the way to the press conference.”

5. Booger’s College Football Playoff Outlook

• Georgia is “back”:

  "Kirby Smart's the best coach in America. He gets it... At some point, Georgia's going to line up and they're going to beat the hell out of you." (Booger, 93:52)

• On Oklahoma:

  "They can't run the football... When you go against the best teams, your flaws show." (Booger, 95:16)

• College Football Playoff contenders (his short list):

  “Ohio State, Georgia, Indiana, Notre Dame, Alabama.” (Booger, 97:55)

• JMU as group-of-five rep:

  “JMU is the best team. I thought it was going to be South Florida, but they couldn't stop Navy... What you may wind up having is James Madison at Georgia.” (Booger, 105:30)

6. Life as a Football Player in November

• On player health late in the season:

  “So quarterbacks are probably about 85, 90%, most of them, because they rarely ever get hit. Offensive and defensive linemen are probably 75%... But there's a rule of thumb, all right? If you step on the field, there's no excuses. You got to show up and be ready to play.” (Booger, 108:15)

7. Chicago Bears Check-In

• Are the Bears good?

  “They are well coached... They're a good team. I put them in tier 2 right now.” (Booger, 110:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the JMU snub:

  "It's a travesty. It's a sham mockery. It's a Travis shamockery. It's disgusting, it's not right." (PFT, 02:49)

• On prepping Thanksgiving home:

  "You got to have a room that has a little bit of space for the piles to just go into temporarily." (PFT, 32:55)

• On NFL tanking solutions:

  “Teams should have to win four games to get the first pick... At the end of the season, you have a Raiders Monday Night Football game that has actual consequences.” (Big Cat, 35:39)

• On the NFL’s "Blacklist":

  "There should be a blacklist of teams that at this point... should no longer be considered for primetime." (PFT, 29:36)

• Booger’s donut banter:

  "Based on a picture I saw this weekend where you had your shirt off illegal... You have no reason to call anybody fat." (Booger, 70:27)

• On being a great football coach:

  “If your coach is playing more than 20 rounds a year, then you got the wrong coach.” (Booger, 92:41)

Segment Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |------|---------| | 02:24 | JMU/CFP “screw job” rant & playoff rankings | | 13:46 | “Chaos scenarios” and playoff bracketology | | 23:59 | Monday Night Football recap (Raiders, Cowboys, etc.) | | 35:22 | NFL tanking discussion and fan proposals | | 31:01 | Thanksgiving cleaning & relationship life talk | | 69:37 | Booger McFarland Interview starts | | 71:54 | NFL contenders/dynasties | | 74:05 | Diva WRs & Eagles dynamic | | 84:35 | Rookie QBs (Ward, Dart) | | 86:29 | Franklin to Virginia Tech, coaching carousel | | 93:52 | CFP, Georgia, Oklahoma, playoff contenders | | 102:28 | Texas in/out, scheduling philosophy | | 105:04 | Group-of-five playoff slot logic | | 108:15 | Football player health in November | | 110:00 | Are the Bears good? | | 113:46 | Guys on Chicks segment | | 122:57 | Lottery Balls Game |

Hot Seat/Cool Throne Highlights

Start: 45:59

• Memorable Hot Seat:

  • Max, for Italian pasta tariffs threatening his favorite foods.
  • Draymond Green (for fan interaction).
  • Lawrence Taylor (for being wise not to give his number).

• Notable Cool Thrones:

  • Jake Paul, for taking a dangerous fight against Anthony Joshua.
  • Cam “Scatterboo”—for being too active on the sideline while injured.

"Guys on Chicks" Segment (Listener Q&A)

Start: 113:46

• Categories Covered:
  • Hotel bathroom snobbery on road trips.
  • Boyfriends buying too many guitars and gambling instead of saving for an apartment.
  • Proposal expectations and Jumbotron etiquette.
  • Microwaving food: is using your nose to gauge temperature a superpower or red flag?
  • Hosts offer practical and hilarious advice, keeping the segment on-brand with self-deprecating adulting commentary.

Episode Tone & Style

The energy is high, sarcasm is frequent, and tangents abound. The hosts riff on sports, life, relationships, and pop culture in their signature style—equal parts knowledgeable, irreverent, and relatable. When Booger joins, the banter is playful, chalked with friendly insults and locker-room honesty.

Standout Tone Example:

“Whatever happened to staring at a girl across the bar, locking eyes with her once, never talking to her and then going home, being like, yeah, I could have her.” (Big Cat, 61:03)

In Summary

• JMU’s playoff snub takes center stage, with the hosts dissecting the committee’s logic and venting fan frustration.
• College Football Playoff scenarios: chaos looms in multiple conferences, expanded playoff brings new intrigue.
• NFL talk: disrespect for prime-time slotting of bad teams, Chiefs dynasty teetering, and the agony/ecstasy of team futures in November.
• Booger McFarland delivers detailed CFB and NFL analysis, with candid takes on everything from coaching hires to player health.
• Classic PMT segments: life advice, relationship banter, and unpredictable humor keep the episode fun and engaging for diehard fans and casual listeners alike.

PMT’s verdict:
If you like sports takes that combine passion, skepticism, and humor, this episode brings it—especially if you care about wild college football playoff debates, NFL chaos, or just a good donut joke.