D (3:13)

Yeah.

C (3:13)

For the record, you hate Lane Kiffin. And that's okay. I mean, everybody. I understand. Look, this is. This is an easy one for me. When I put on my sports writer hat, it has Hotty Toddy all over it. It's Ole Miss, and I'm not knocking Miami. Miami's a really good team. Miami has shown they deserve to be in this tournament. Right. I understand that people at Notre Dame may want to see their doors blown off, but. But, Mike, in any other year, Miami would be celebrated as the sentimental favorite. They're the last team in. But not this year. And it's because of what you're talking about. It's because of Lane Kiffin. There is a chance. Well, there's not a chance. In fact, if Ole Miss wins this game, they're going to go into the national championship playing for an emergency coach who was not their coach a month and a half ago, and maybe some coordinators who they recognize and maybe not.

B (4:08)

Even know, you know?

C (4:09)

And meanwhile. Right, and meanwhile, Lane Kiffin is going to be sitting in Baton Rouge, and he's going to sit there like old King Cole. I'm going to just take about 10 more seconds here. He's going to watch his old team to see if they can win the national championship. He's going to wonder if they do, does his name go on the trophy? And a little bit of him is going to be upset and afraid that if they do win it, that people at LSU are going to say to each other, why are we paying this guy? Well, what does this guy do necessarily if Golding can win it now? Again, I don't know. Who's going to win? Miami's real good, but don't ever forget this. They lost twice to unranked teams. Ole Miss has one loss at Georgia to a 12 and one team. That was the SEC champion game.

B (4:53)

Yeah.

C (4:54)

Yeah. And then they beat him. They beat him again. So don't think Ole Miss don't belong, because they do.

B (4:59)

They do belong. This game, the game is irresistible. It's two great, great storylines. Let's move to the Dolphins firing of Mike McDaniel. The team dismissed him today after four seasons and a 35, 33 record in his first two seasons. McDaniel made the playoffs, though lost each time in the first round. But over the last two, his offense regressed. The team went 15 19. Tone McDaniel's firing says what to you?

C (5:28)

It says to me that the owner of the Miami Dolphins wants to hire John Harbaugh. And as I said on this show yesterday, everybody knows the owner of the Miami Dolphins really likes Mike McDonald's guy, and that's why he didn't fire him when he fired the GM a few weeks back. But does he like him more than John Harbaugh? I really. I don't think so. Mike McDaniel was sort of on the bubble here. He could have fallen either way. Kevin Stefanski, Raheem Morris, they got the axis. It looked like McDaniel was going to be okay, like the guy at Tampa Bay, like the guy at Cincinnati so far, you know, but. And he finished. Well, I think he finished five and three and had four in a row at one point. But you know what, Mike? The TUA situation is a significant economic problem. Tua didn't want to play for Mike. McDaniel said it'd be better if he went somewhere else. Maybe. The owner of the Dolphins said if I bring a new guy in here and we have a reclamation project of tua, it doesn't cost me all that dead cap money.

B (6:27)

Well, you know, he can't get Jim Harbaugh, the Harbaugh that a Michigan man like Ross wants.

C (6:33)

That's right.

B (6:34)

So you can get his brother as the next best thing and a damn terrific coach. No matter what's happened in the last 48 hours in Baltimore, I'm going to concentrate on McDaniel because McDaniel's got a great offensive mind. That's why he got hired in the first place. And that offensive mind. And this scares me as a person who has a team in the NFC Central in Detroit where you've got a quarterback who may wind up in the hall of fame one day. And you got two great receivers, one the fastest guy in the league. And you got a running back, Sonic and Knuckles, a terrible nickname, but a wonderful tag team. You got everything. And you got a head coach who would give you his blessing, presumably, and let you do your thing. So Mike McDaniel in Detroit scares the hell out of me. And there are other places. There are other places he could go, Tony. And there's suggestion he might want to be a college kid head coach, but a coordinator.

C (7:31)

Let me calm your fears about Detroit, okay? Because he could end up right here in Washington D.C. yes, he could. Because he could work with Dan Quinn because they're long time pals and he can put together an offense. A few years back he put 70 points on Denver. 70 knows what he's doing. Let's move to Trae Young, who indeed was traded and indeed was traded to the Washington Wizards, where it was reported he wanted to go. Inexplicably, in my mind, Atlanta got C.J. mcCollum, a fine veteran guard. Corey Kispert, a fine shooter in return. Wilbon, what does this trade do for each team?

B (8:05)

You know, for the Atlanta Hawks, which is most important, it allows them flexibility, economic flexibility to pursue, we are told through reporting. Anthony Davis, if they really want to go that direction. And they put Anthony Davis with, otherwise this young squad, that has some appeal to it. Right. So that's for Atlanta. And if they don't do it immediately, they go into the off season with a lot of cap room and maybe if they don't have a free agent, they can attract, they can, they can work trades, maybe a three way trade to get the people they want for the Wizards. The amount of hysteria being expended over what Trae Young's going to do for the Wizards. You know what Trae Young is going to do for the Wizards. He's going to sit and he may warm up in the pen and that may be an audition. If he plays a few games for somebody that needs what Trae Young can do, which is put the ball in the Basket. He's averaged 25 points a game for his career. He can do that whether it's coming off the bench for a team that's close, not the Wizards. He has no future with the Wizards. It's to set up the next move for Trae Young. That's what it's for for him.

C (9:20)

Yeah, I'm gonna agree with much of what you're saying in terms of Atlanta. I don't know what it does for Atlanta, except it gets Rid of somebody who was very expensive, who did not fit in. CJ McCollum is 34 years old. He's a fine player. He's never a problem. He's averaged 19.6 points his entire career. Corey Kispert shoots 39 from three and.

B (9:41)

Gets his points in a hurry.

C (9:42)

Doesn't have to play. Doesn't have to play a lot of minutes. Yeah, they're not great players, but they may fit in better with Atlanta than Trae Young did with the Wizards. I don't know what the. Are they going to build around Trey Young? I don't know what they're building. No one knows what they're building. There's two things that have to be said here about the Wizards. One, everyone will say that Trae Young doesn't play any defense. Neither do the Wizards. The wizards give up 124 points a game. The second worst. Second worst defense in the whole league. So he's going to fit right in. The second thing is the Wizards have whatever they're building. They have no stars right now. Absolutely no stars. So maybe they have one in Trae Young. Maybe if he plays a little bit, people will come to see him. And that's important because they also have the second lowest attendance in the league.

B (10:30)

Yeah.

C (10:30)

The second worst defense, the second lowest attendance.

B (10:33)

Would you pay to go see Trae Young?

C (10:36)

Trae Young is an exciting player, 25.0. I don't wait to see anybody else there. Yeah, but I would pay to see. I'd pay to see him. But they don't. You know who. I don't know if they're going to play him at all. Let's take a break. Coming up, we will get Booger McFarlane's thoughts on tonight's matchup between Miami and Ole Miss.

B (10:52)

We'll also get his preview of tomorrow's other semi. And between Oregon and Indiana. Yeah, Toad. I don't think he's going to be there long. Other teams could use Trae Young. He's got value.

C (11:06)

Well, I hope they get something, because they are a wasteland right now. They're a wasteland.

B (11:10)

That's true, no doubt.

A (11:12)

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C (12:35)

Let's get back into the College Football Playoff semifinals with our great friend ESPN NFL and college football analyst Booger McFarlane wearing a shirt from Caves Valley.

B (12:45)

We recognize that right outside Baltimore.

C (12:47)

Yeah, that. Mike and I know that course. We know that course. Let's start with this. Miami has a great pass rush. Ole Miss gets the ball out quickly. How would you analyze that aspect of their matchup?

D (13:02)

Well, to me, that's going to be really the key matchup of the game is because Miami is really dominated because of their defensive line led by Ruben Bane Jr. Akeem Mazador. They dominate. And people don't talk about the guys on the inside. Also, it's the entire defensive line that's really good. It's ultimately going to be which side of the ball can dictate tempo. So if, if, if Ole Miss is in third and long and second along, they're going to have to drop back and throw the football, which means they got a pass block and they got to be able to deal with Miami's front four. I think Ole Miss has to get in third in manageable third and five or six or less. That way the quarterback run game can be there with Trinidad Chambers. That way, Miami's defensive line just can't tee off after the quarterback. So how do you do that? It's really simple. Kawan Lacey. Nobody's talking about him. We're all talking about Miami's defensive line. We're all talking about Ole Miss quarterback. Ole Miss has got to run the football. Kawan Lacey is going to be a key to this game if they can run the football and they ain't got to run for 400 yards, but they need to be able to have some semblance of a running game just to create balance. So this defensive line can't tee off. If they can run the ball, they can block the defensive line. If they can't run the football, then they got no shot at blocking that defensive line.

B (14:12)

For Miami Booker to follow up on that. Are Chambliss and Lacey so talented that the two of them could lead an insurrection here? And I want to follow into that with sort of which way you're leaning, but with those two guys as the linchpins for Mississippi, I mean, how good actually do you think they are?

D (14:36)

I think they're really good, Mike and I would equate it to this. You know, one of our favorite sports, or maybe lack thereof, is hockey. And you know the saying in hockey, a hot goalie can lead a team to a championship. But what about a hot quarterback in football? Trinidad Chambliss is a hot quarterback. Just look at what he did to Georgia. And I think the combination of him and Kawan Lacey, who led the SEC in touchdowns, they're good enough that they can carry a football team to the championship. Hell, they've carried them this far. So how come they can't beat Miami and and then beat the winner of the Indiana Oregon game? They are that good. But specifically when it comes to Chambers, isn't it amazing that here's a guy that was in Division 2 Ferris State, nobody knew about him. And as much stuff as we talk about Twitter and social media, Ole Miss found out about him through Twitter and social media. And now you fast forward and he's on one of the biggest stages of his life. He'll probably play in one of the biggest venues he's ever played in tonight. And he is that good where he can put the team on his back and carry them to a championship. Now he's going to need some help. He's got to get some blocking from the line. And Kawan Lacey's got to run the football just a little bit. But Mike, he's special now. And it's amazing how some kid this special could slip through the cracks and be at Ferris State. But now guess what? He's on the biggest stage and I can't wait to watch him tonight.

B (15:54)

Do you have a favorite booger in this game?

D (15:58)

For me, I would probably lean toward the hot quarterback because I know what it's like when you have a Quarterback that's dealing. I would favor Ole Miss. I think Ole Miss figures out a way. And it almost seems like that the universe is saying, hey, Lane Kiffin, you went to lsu. You chose your path. Now I'm going to bless Ole Miss and take these kids and give them an opportunity to play for a national championship. It almost seems like the universe is setting up for that way. And I'm not going against the universe tomorrow night.

B (16:26)

Oregon, Indiana. The Hoosiers beat the Ducks in mid October. Is anything going to be different this time? And if so, what?

D (16:37)

I think both quarterbacks are going to play well. Dante Moore didn't play well in the first matchup. He threw two interceptions. They couldn't get any explosive plays. Now since then, Dante Moore, the Oregon quarterback, has gotten a lot better. They're running the football, they're controlling the line of scrimmage, and neither team ran the football well. I think both teams are playing at their best. I think this is going to be high level competition. I think if you look at Indiana, Fernando Mendoza is going to play well. Like he's, he's a magician. Now, we're going to talk about him when we get to April and what we're going to say in April. He's a fast processor. He can get the football out of his hands quickly. He's very accurate with the football. So I think we're going to see high level competition between two teams. Both want to run the football, but they both have supremely talented quarterbacks that do it a little bit differently.

C (17:26)

All right, so we'll get you out of here on this. Which way are you leaning in the Indiana Oregon game?

D (17:33)

You know, we've been talking about this guy for the last two or three months. You guys asked me about Curtis Signetti and I said, hey, if you don't know him, just Google him. He is a really good football coach. So to me, this comes down to do you take the team in Indiana that has the really good unit, offense, defense and special teams with the head coach that's the master motivator? Or do you take the star power of Oregon with Dante Moore, who could possibly be the number two pick in the draft? Kenyan Sadiq Decorian Moore, all the five star players. I'm going to go against the explosiveness and the five star. I'm going with the guy who told us from the get go, hey, all I do is win no matter what. Just Google me. I'm going with Kurt Signetti and the Indiana Hoosiers. I think we're going to get Indiana and Ole Miss playing for the championship in Miami. And no one, and I mean no one, had that championship game four months ago, man.

C (18:22)

No.

B (18:22)

Unthinkable, Unthinkable. Booger.

C (18:24)

Not possible. Thank you, Booger.

B (18:26)

As always. Thanks, man.

C (18:27)

Thank you. Thank you.

D (18:29)

Anytime, fellas. Have a good one.

C (18:32)

Let's take one last break, but coming up, a new development in Damond Williams potential transfer from Washington.

B (18:40)

Giannis says he'll never, ever, ever ask for a trade from Milwaukee. What?

C (18:46)

No, no, he won't ask. He'll demand. He'll demand one. Ask those two coaches who've been fired.

B (18:53)

Essentially, that's right, by Giannis. Come on now.

E (18:56)

Rich Eisen here. The tax deadline will be here before you know it and you just want to know your taxes are actually being handled. But the old way, you hand everything off and then silence. Days pass, weeks pass. You start wondering, should I send another follow up email? It feels like you're chasing updates and getting nowhere. But now taxes are different because your taxes are done for you by a TurboTax full service expert. With Intuit TurboTax, you can match with your dedicated tax expert and hand off everything right in the app. And while your expert checks for every deduction, you'll see real time updates on your phone. So you always know exactly where things stand. Suddenly you're not refreshing your inbox. You're going for a run, grabbing a coffee, scrolling anything other than a just checking in message because your TurboTax expert is handling it and keeping you in the loop. So this tax season, get your best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve without the guesswork. Visit TurboTax.com today to learn more. Real time updates only in iOS mobile app only available with TurboTax full service experts.

A (20:04)

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C (21:27)

Happy time people. Happy 25th birthday. Zach Charbonnet Charbonnet is one of the one two punch at running back for the Seattle Seahawks, the number one seed in the NFC playoffs. Charbonnet teams with Kenneth Walker III in their last three games together all wins over playoff teams the rams, Panthers and 49ers. The two rushed for 171 yards against the Rams, 163 at Carolina and 180 at San Francisco. They totaled five rushing touchdowns in those games. Charbonnet had 12 touchdowns this season. Charbonnet was a second round pick in 2023 out of UCLA. You remember maybe a few weeks ago against the Rams when Charbonnet picked up the ball in the end zone, got credit for a two point conversion that everyone thought was a dead ball, including Charbonnet.

B (22:13)

I know we're just going into the playoffs, but will you allow yourself to think that Seattle may be a great team? They they the elements seem to be there for the Seahawks to be great.

C (22:25)

Sure. Yeah, their defense is great. It appears to be great right now. Happy anniversary San Francisco 49ers on this day 37 years ago, after hearing about having to play in Bears weather all week, the Niners went out in minus 26 windchill conditions and shut down the host your Chicago Bears 28. Three on their way to a Super bowl win over Cincinnati. Montana and Rice were superb in this game, as they always seemed to be in playoff games. One quick story. Montana, Steve Wallace and Jesse Scipolo took a cab to Soldier Field for the game. The cab driver made a few critical comments about the 49ers on the way, then dropped the trio off at the opposite end of the stadium from the 49ers locker room, forcing him to walk nearly a half mile in frigid conditions. Quote the guy did it deliberately, recall Sapolo Quote he knew who we were. What about a cab, Not a bus?

B (23:16)

Okay, it's not that far. I've walked that. It's, you know, a few blocks. And by the way, the Bears had won a Regular season Game 10 to 9 against the Niners in that season. And that game, I believe, was McMahon. Jim McMahon's last game for the Bears.

C (23:36)

A melancholy trails Glenn Hall. The hall of Fame goalie passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Hall pioneered the butterfly style of goaltending and owns the unreachable record of 502 straight games in net552 if you count the playoffs. Hall won the Calder Trophy with Detroit as the league's best rookie in 1956, a Stanley cup with Chicago in 1961 and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP with St. Louis in 1968, despite losing in the final. He also won three Vesna Trophies over an 18 year career. Mr. Goalie, as he was known, vomited before nearly every game to calm his nerves and played all but the end of his career without a mask. He reportedly received more than 250 stitches to his face.

B (24:21)

He played on that Chicago team with a guy named Hull Bobby and a guy named Makeda. Stan was pretty great and I guess they couldn't protect him in the expansion draft later, which is why he somehow wound up in St. Louis. I'm presuming that was the case, but what a career. What an incredible career.

C (24:40)

It's a great career. Let's go to the big finish.

B (24:43)

Let's do it.

C (24:43)

The Bucs fired offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard. Does that make sense?

B (24:47)

Well, you know, we couldn't sort of replace Liam Cohen.

C (24:51)

Exactly.

B (24:52)

So maybe it does make sense. The agent for UW quarterback Damond Williams says he'll no longer represent the kid. Is that significant?

C (25:01)

Well, as of two days ago, he represented the kid and the coach. Now he's only representing the coach. Which makes you think the kid is gone.

B (25:08)

Yeah.

C (25:08)

The Thunder needed an SGA buzzer beater to push the Jazz to overtime where they won. Your thoughts?

B (25:13)

This is gonna be a slog this season for anybody, including okc. And we're in the dog days of the season. Let's check back after the super bowl, see where people are. Then Giannis tells the Athletic that he will never ask for a trade. You buying that?

C (25:28)

Yeah. He'll just have to demand it. Says I'm out of here. You don't have to ask for a specific trade. Last one. The Jokic Less Nuggets beat the Tatum Celtics last night. Is that significant?

B (25:37)

The Celtics look really good with Jaylen Brown leading the way, but Denver's got to win some games. The west is tough. Can't wait for Joker to get back. Got to stay in it.

C (25:48)

We are out of time. We will try to do better the next time. I'm Tony Kornheiser.

B (25:51)

I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow, knucklehead.

A (25:55)

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