CFP Quarterfinals Preview: Will Indiana Remind Everyone Who's Number One? Does Texas Tech Have a Chance Against Oregon?

Summary

Ringer Tailgate Podcast: CFP Quarterfinals Preview Episode Date: December 30, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode of Ringer Tailgate, hosted by Van Lathan, Joel Anderson, and Tate Frazier (Joe), dives into the College Football Playoff (CFP) quarterfinals with a signature blend of sharp analysis and playful banter. The crew debates whether Indiana can prove its ranking, breaks down Texas Tech's underdog shot against Oregon, and explores cultural shifts in the sport. They also touch on the pressures around playoff upsets, Michigan’s coaching changes, the end of the USC–Notre Dame rivalry, and some college basketball crossover drama.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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The Drama: College Football On-Field vs Off-Field (03:00–05:00)

• Off-field chaos rivals bowl game excitement: Coaches making headlines (Lane Kiffin’s “leather jacket” look, Lincoln Riley’s hot seat), recruiting sagas, and administrative shakeups create as much intrigue as the games themselves.
• Van Lathan jokes that college football has become the “Real Housewives of Sports,” where “everyone likes the drama more so than the games themselves.”

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One Big Prediction: CFP Quarterfinals (05:00–24:10)

Texas Tech vs Oregon: The Popular Upset Pick

• Van Lathan’s Prediction (05:15): “Texas Tech is going to beat Oregon… I feel like Texas Tech is going to be able to really compete with them physically and maybe impose themselves a little bit more…I think Texas Tech is gonna be there. I think they're gonna win the game.”
• Joel Anderson Expands (06:27–08:54): Points out Oregon’s tendency to struggle against physically elite defenses. Tech’s defensive line could disrupt Oregon’s rhythm, referencing historic Super Bowl analogies (Buccaneers vs Chiefs, Eagles in the Super Bowl).
  • “[A] disruptive defensive line can totally take over a game...that's the kind of defensive line that Texas Tech has” (07:47).
• Assessment: Both agree Oregon is well-coached but unproven against top-tier opponents, especially those that are physical up front.
• Odds perspective: Betting line is close (Oregon favored by 2.5). Joe notes the “soundness” of Texas Tech’s construction.

Indiana vs Alabama: Who’s for Real?

• Joel’s Prediction (11:15): “Indiana is going to remind everybody why they're number one, man...They’ve handled everybody physically, have the Heisman Trophy winner, one of the best defenses in the country…Why would I think Alabama is going to...beat Indiana? …If this was Ole Miss, it wouldn’t even be a question.”

• Van’s Take on Indiana’s sustainability (13:23): “There’s a difference between gifted and good…you’re only as good as how you play...Indiana has been to me, not dominating, but so incredibly consistent in what they do.”

• Joe pushes back (17:18): Notes that Alabama’s offense found new energy in recent games and isn't to be counted out.

• Importance of the Game (18:08–19:46):

  • Van: “If Alabama wins this game, Indiana’s season was a complete failure...Everything is on the line...If they lose to that [current] Bama, Bama reestablishes the college football status quo. Indiana needs to win this game.”
  • Joel: Pushes back, says the playoff can be “overly determinative of a one-game sample,” and Indiana’s season remains remarkable regardless.

Upset Watch

• Joe’s Prediction (23:14): Multiple upsets are “staring me dead in my face”—names Miami over Ohio State, Alabama over Indiana, Ole Miss over Georgia, Texas Tech over Oregon as potential shockers.
• Van’s response: Agrees many games are “close to 50/50,” with most favorites vulnerable.

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Fanbase Meltdown Scenarios (26:12–30:00)

• Which fanbase will have the biggest meltdown after a loss?
  • Joel: Miami fans, especially if they lose in “a particularly funny way,” will be the maddest. “If Mario Cristobal screws up game management, Miami Twitter will explode.”
  • Van: Argues Ohio State fans will also melt down if they flame out right after a national title last year.
  • Quote: “Miami fans have been fighting playoff arguments for eight weeks now… They're borderline insane at this point” (28:31, Joe).

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CFP Selection & SEC Criticism (32:09–41:31)

• Conference Bowl Records Check-in: Big 12 and Big Ten undefeated, ACC and independents struggling, SEC underperforming (2–4).
• Van: Era of SEC dominance “is over… now, [the SEC] is just a conference like any other conference.”
• Joel: Warns that postseason, people recognize SEC’s bowl woes, but once playoff berths are at stake “the perception inflation starts all over.”
• Debate over Playoff Selection: Would Notre Dame, TCU, or BYU have been better picks than SEC runners-up?
  • Joel: “I don’t think Alabama should have been in [the playoff]. I would rather have seen Notre Dame.”
  • TCU’s “golden era” and whether missing the playoff preserved mystique.

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Michigan’s New Coach: Is Kyle Whittingham the Answer? (43:04–54:47)

• Controversial Hire: Utah seemed ready to “move on” from Whittingham for internal candidate Morgan Scally, despite Scally’s admitted use of a racial slur (in-depth chat at 44:05–47:37).
• Joel’s Skepticism: Utah coaches don’t often succeed elsewhere (“Utah guys are kind of Utah guys”), with references to Bronco Mendenhall and Lavell Edwards.
• Van’s Take:
  • “Kyle Whittingham as coach of Michigan is exactly the coach they need to steady the program, set a floor… But is he the guy to beat Ohio State? ...That’s an open question.” (50:13–51:30)
• Consistent Theme: Michigan sought an “adult in the room” post-Harbaugh but may lack the recruiting punch to compete with Ohio State in the long term.
• Five-year contract debate: Seen as necessary for recruiting, but perhaps unusual for a coach nearing retirement.

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USC–Notre Dame Rivalry Ends: Fanbase in Revolt (55:36–61:56)

• Riley Blames Notre Dame (56:31): Lincoln Riley claims “if Notre Dame had lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere…”
• Van: “For some reason, that rivalry… is much more important to the USC fan base than I could have ever imagined…the loss of that game is pissing people the fuck off because they think [Riley] doesn’t get the culture of SC football” (57:27).
• Joel: Points out that, post-Pac-12, these heritage games are even more central to USC’s identity.

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Wild Card: TCU Self-Image & Bowl Game Stakes (63:00–69:46)

• Joel’s Perspective: TCU as the “greatest promotion story in college football history,” but not a blue blood—they straddle underdog and perennial power status (“They're not a blue blood, but they're not ‘directional school’ either”).
• Van calls out Joel: Asks why he minimizes TCU when it suits, then boasts about them other times.
• **Discussion of recruiting limitations, expectations, and whether beating USC actually “means something.”

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CFP Quarterfinals: Favorite Matchups (74:06–77:21)

• Van: “Alabama–Indiana is the most interesting game—old vs new, blue blood vs new blood.”
• Joel: “Oregon–Texas Tech is the most interesting… I don't really have any clue about either team… it will be a discovery.”
• Joe: “I think Georgia's going to beat their [Ole Miss’s] ass”—less intrigue in that matchup.

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Other Bowl Matchups & Quarterback Battles (77:21–80:00)

• Anticipation for Michigan vs Texas (Citrus Bowl)—especially the QB matchup Arch Manning (Texas) vs Bryce Underwood (Michigan), possibly future #1 picks.

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College Basketball Tangent: G-League Returnees & NIL Chaos (80:05–87:46)

• Argument: Should players who’ve played professionally (e.g., in the G League or overseas) be allowed back into NCAA hoops?
• Van: Against it—“[it] is wrong… you’re crowding out 17, 18 year olds who need the development.”
• Joel: For it—“I want to see good basketball players… The market will decide”—and takes a labor-friendly, anti-establishment view.

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Notable Quotes

• Van Lathan (05:15, on Texas Tech-Oregon): “I have a feeling Texas Tech is going to beat Oregon...I don't know why but just Oregon's a good football team. Texas Tech is a really well constituted team. Plays very hard, very sound. I don't think they're gonna make very many mistakes that allow Oregon to run away with the game.”
• Joel Anderson (11:15, on Indiana-Alabama): “Indiana is going to remind everybody why they're number one, man…they have the Heisman trophy winner and he's thrived in really clutch moments this year…defensively, they're one of the best defenses in the country. They don't have any weak spots.”
• Van Lathan (18:08): “If Alabama wins this game, Indiana’s season was a complete failure. Indiana has got to win this football game, guys.”
• Joe (28:31): “Miami fans have been fighting like playoff arguments for about eight weeks now. So, like, they're borderline insane at this point, right?”
• Van Lathan (32:14): “[The SEC]...now just makes [it] a conference like any other conference.”
• Joel Anderson (75:34): “Oregon may not have either, so, like, either. This is perfect for Dan Lanning, and he can whip them into a frenzy. And he's like, see what happens when you go out there and you lit up? You might get your ass embarrassed and he'll have their attention. Or maybe Oregon just isn't as good as we've tended to think all season.”
• Van Lathan (57:27, on USC–Notre Dame): “What they're not willing to do is reset their expectations of the team culturally. They expect to play Notre Dame. And…that rivalry and playing that game is much more important to the USC fan base than I could have ever imagined.”
• Joel Anderson (80:07): “James–college basketball be so much more watchable with good basketball players. I can't wait. I hope they continue to add more good college basketball players to college basketball.”

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Off-field drama vs. bowl action: 03:00–05:00
• CFP Quarterfinals predictions: 05:00–24:10
• Fanbase meltdown debate: 26:12–30:00
• SEC scrutiny and playoff selection debate: 32:09–41:31
• Michigan coaching change, Whittingham discussion: 43:04–54:47
• USC–Notre Dame rivalry fallout: 55:36–61:56
• CFP matchups / favorite games: 74:06–77:21
• Basketball/NIL crossover: 80:05–87:46

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Memorable Moments

• ** Van and Joel’s riff over “Big 12” code-switching** (10:22–10:58) cracks up the group.
• Deep dive on how SEC teams get playoff consideration even as the league falters in bowl season (32:09–41:31).
• USC alumni outrage over losing the Notre Dame rivalry game (57:27–59:51)
• Joel’s TCU self-deprecation/boasting double bind, called out by Van (63:00–66:20).
• Heated, hilarious debate over older pros returning to NCAA basketball (80:05–87:46).

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Summary Takeaways

• The hosts are skeptical about Oregon’s playoff credentials, bullish on Texas Tech’s underdog shot, and believe Indiana can—and must—validate its place at the top against Alabama.
• Upsets are in the air, and the fanbase emotions will be running extremely high, especially in Miami and Columbus.
• The broader landscape is shifting: SEC’s dominance is doubted, bowl games matter less for perception, and college football’s cultural ground is moving underfoot.
• Off the field, coaching drama (especially at Michigan and USC) and institutional change threaten traditions and stability, even as on-field talent depth and parity increases.
• The hosts blend sharp, analytical football insight with wide-ranging, humorous takes—making this a lively, essential episode for anyone following college football’s rapidly evolving landscape.

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Transcript

[Joel Anderson]

This episode is brought to you by State Farm.

[Van Lath]

Listening to this podcast. Smart move. Being financially savvy.

[Joel Anderson]

Smart move.

[Van Lath]

Another smart move. Having State Farm help you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer.

[Joel Anderson]

Availability, amount of discounts, and savings and eligibility vary by state.

[Van Lath]

Foreign.

[Joe]

Welcome back to Ringer Tailgate, the Tuesday edition of the show. We got CFP games on Wednesday and Thursday. Yes. The end of the year is finally here. So first and foremost, let's say what's up to Van Lath and Van. What's going on, man?

[Van Lath]

What up, what up, what up? What up, dog?

[Joe]

I just. I can't. I never know what's going to happen, which is kind of a beautiful thing here on Rico Tailgate. We also must say hello. He was upset last time we talked that I did not give him his formal introduction. We have to say what's up to Joel Anderson. Joel, how's it going, man?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. Yo, what's up, tailgaters? Happy holidays. Happy Kwanzaa. Today's principle is mia, which is about purpose.

[Van Lath]

Is this.

[Joel Anderson]

This is Nia.

[Van Lath]

Nia.

[Joel Anderson]

Perfect.

[Van Lath]

That's. What. Which. Which day is Nia, though? It's like the third day, Fourth day.

[Joel Anderson]

I think it's like the sixth.

[Van Lath]

Sixth day. Sixth day.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Joe]

I will say my mom, first grade teacher, very upset with me that I did not know the seven principles of Kwanzaa. She was like, you learned this in elementary school?

[Joel Anderson]

And y' all learned that in elementary school.

[Joe]

In my elementary school. Shout out to Em Rollins. Yeah, we did celebrated it, and I didn't know the principal, so I got reprimanded. I went upstairs, and my mom's like, I was watching the show. I'm disgusted that you didn't know this. And you probably let Van and Joel down, so just wanted to let you guys know.

[Van Lath]

Yeah, let me down, Trouble.

[Joel Anderson]

You let me down. No, man, I don't give a. You couldn't. Billy coming through with Nia is day five. I'm. I said it was like day six. I didn't say exactly was.

[Van Lath]

You didn't give me. You didn't let me down at all.

[Joe]

All right, good.

[Van Lath]

I don't give a. About that, but let's move.

[Joe]

Kumba. Day six is what? Billy.

[Joel Anderson]

Gil.

[Van Lath]

Hold on, Iris. Respect it. But I'm not about to act like I grew up. You know, my dad wasn't My parents wasn't on that.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I mean, it's nothing that we celebrated in our house, but you know, we acknowledge it.

[Joe]

Imani Day seven.

[Joel Anderson]

Man, I ain't giving us all the information. Hey, before, did y' all have a good holidays? Everybody did. All right.

[Van Lath]

My was whack. But at the same time.

[Joel Anderson]

At the.

[Van Lath]

Same time, I gotta say that college football has been keeping me entertained, not just on the field, but off the field. Have y' all seen there's as much question to y', all, has there been more on the field entertainment from college football during this holiday season or off the field entertainment?

[Joel Anderson]

Ooh, man, I would have to say off the well, no, man. On the field has been great, man. We've actually had some good games this year.

[Van Lath]

You said bowl games, bro.

[Joel Anderson]

People underrated pop stars bowl. Yeah, the byu, Georgia Tech was a good game.

[Van Lath]

Fantastic game. A lot of good games, man. But it seems like Kyle Whittingham hire.

[Joe]

You know, drama happening all Lane Kiffin leather jacket.

[Van Lath]

Lane Kiffin leather jacket came there looking like Cyclops and X Men 1. You got USC, Notre Dame drama, Lincoln Riley on the run from his own fan base, man.

[Joel Anderson]

Why did Jeremiah Smith answer that question?

[Joe]

Why about Miami?

[Van Lath]

Why did he answer the question?

[Joel Anderson]

Why did he answer that question?

[Van Lath]

Like what? What was the point of that? Just all of this stuff, it seems like off the field is beating on the field for college football is what I'm saying.

[Joe]

Ring your tailgate is presented by fanduel. Fanduel's got it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live and your way so you can build the bet that fits your play. Plus, you don't want to miss out on holiday offers and surprises all month long. Download the FanDuel app and head to FanDuel.com tailgate to get started. Must be 21 or older and President select states or 18 and older and President DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com call 1-887-897777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. Yeah, and that's kind of how it works. You know, these days I feel like everybody likes the drama. We're we kind of live in like the real housewives of Sports these days where everyone likes the drama more so than the games themselves. But we like both on this show. We're going to start here. One big prediction, CFP quarterfinal. Teams left. If we remember last year, all the teams with a bylaw. So there is some Fascinating outcomes on the precipice here as we kind of break down what we're going to look forward to. So we usually do one big reaction. We'll do that on Thursday when we go live. But we want to start with one big prediction. I know Joel is still cooking up his prediction in real time right now. That's how much fun he's having trying to. To make up what's to come. But Van, I'll go to you first. One big prediction. CFP quarterfinals edition. What should we expect? What are we going to see?

[Van Lath]

Okay, so I have a feeling Texas Tech is going to beat Oregon.

[Joel Anderson]

Wow.

[Joe]

Okay. I like it.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn. Okay, Big 12.

[Van Lath]

I have a feeling Texas Tech is going to Big 12.

[Joel Anderson]

Big 12. Big 12. Big12. Yeah.

[Van Lath]

I have a feeling Texas Tech is going to beat Oregon.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Van Lath]

Oregon is a good football team. They really are. Oregon is a good football team. I don't know why, but I feel like Texas Tech is going to be able to really compete with them physically and maybe impose themselves a little bit more. Now, this certainly means that Texas Tech will lose the game 37 to 2.

[Joe]

It's a problem with the prediction business.

[Van Lath]

That's a problem with the prediction business. But I don't know why I feel like it, but just Oregon's a good football team. Texas Tech is a really well constituted team. Plays very hard, very sound. I don't think they're gonna make very many mistakes that allow Oregon to run away with the game. And so I think there at the end of the game, Texas Tech is gonna be there. I think they're gonna win the game.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn. I like that. Cause it's funny because I know if.

[Joe]

You look at it, it's a close line. Minus two and a half, by the way.

[Van Lath]

Minus two and a half, Vegas.

[Joel Anderson]

If you look at my bracket, I picked Oregon to get to the national championship game. But then I've had more time to think about it. And I've been listening to all these college podcasts, reading, you know, watching tape, all this stuff, or watching tape, watching the games. And I was like, what do I. Why? I was like, why do I think Oregon is so good? Like, I was like, wait a minute, like, what have they actually done? And like anytime they've actually played a defense that provides a lot of resistance, they struggled. Like Penn State, Iowa, you know, so like Indiana, Indiana, they've not. Like, when they've had to play against teams that are like, you know, as talented or as physically gifted as they are, or in that same realm, they've struggled offensively. And I'm like, well, wait a minute man. Like their receiving core isn't as great. Like, I mean they're. Even if they get back some of the guys that they're missing Decorium Moore, I don't think they're going to get Evan Stewart back, but that, you know, the Corian is a freshman and the other guys have not played a lot. So in the running backs, they're good. But again, I don't know. I was, I've been thinking a lot. I was like, man, I don't know. I don't know why I think Oregon is so good and why I think that they could beat Texas Tech. Because I was like, Texas Tech has been. I mean, the one thing that I know from watching football my entire life is that a disruptive defensive line can totally take over a game. They can totally. They can just smash all of a game plan and everything that you thought was going to happen. So that year that Pat Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs played in the super bowl against the Bucks, against Tom Brady, the Bucks did not win because of Tom Brady. They, they won because the Chiefs could not keep them off Pat Mahomes. Right. And so like I'm like, that's same.

[Joe]

With the Eagles last year.

[Joel Anderson]

Same with the Eagles last year. And I was like, that is the kind of defensive line that Texas Tech has. Like, they have a really good defensive line and it may take them a while to, to get into the game and catch up and be like, okay, like we have not seen this sort of speed of physicality yet this year. But then, you know, get a quarter to settle in and then they're in a game. And so yeah, I would Van said was something that I've been thinking about, but I don't know that I'm willing to go as far as he. He did. And also I can't my. My brackets out there, but I would not be surprised and the line reflects that that Texas Tech has as good a chance to beat Oregon as. I mean, at this point I kind of almost lean Tech.

[Van Lath]

I think we're enamored with Oregon for good reasons because this is a good football team. They're well coached. Dan Lanning, good quarterback. Good quarterback. They have dominating players. Kenya Sadiq De. Corey Moore. Adante Moore, Davidson Davidson. They have great guys and great pieces. They've had a really solid season in a year where a lot of people had questions about them going into the year. I could make an argument that Oregon overperformed this year. Like people had Questions about the receiving corp. People have questions about who was going to step up, new quarterback coming in that hadn't played a ton with them. You know what I mean? Hadn't really played at all with them. Right. So, you know, a lot of people had questions, and Dave, honestly, to me, at least answered all of those questions except one. There's one question Oregon hasn't answered. Are they capable of being a team with a legitimate shot in the national championship? They haven't answered that question because when they've played teams that would have allowed them to have answered that question, they didn't look like a team that was capable of winning everything. Now, they can still prove it in the playoff, and that's a good thing about the playoff, but we'll see how that goes.

[Joe]

Yeah, I think it's a fair point. Also, Texas Tech's linebacker is elite group. So, I mean, that front seven for Texas Tech is definitely going to be fascinating. Okay, Joel, one big prediction. I'm you get your Big 12 has been taken. So what's on the board for you?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, no, well, you know, I think we're going to be reminded.

[Van Lath]

Tate.

[Joe]

What's that?

[Van Lath]

Did you just look at Joel and say, your Big 12 has been taken?

[Joe]

Yeah. Off the board.

[Joel Anderson]

You can't say that, bro.

[Van Lath]

It's Joel, you other. Tate, you can't. What is going on? You can't say that your base is 12.

[Joel Anderson]

It's funny because I had a whole thing I was thinking about today about calling myself the Big Ten, you know, and I was like, man, why haven't somebody done that already? Why is there not. Is there somebody out there that is going to call themselves the Big 12 or the Big 10? Yeah.

[Van Lath]

Dread Lexington, Steele, people like that. Like, it's like, Tate, just be careful, man. Come on, bro.

[Joe]

I appreciate the pause. It was a necessary pause. I was laughing as I said it.

[Van Lath]

Goal.

[Joe]

Back to you. Big prediction.

[Joel Anderson]

Big prediction. Indiana is going to remind everybody why they're number one, man. Yeah, you know, and because I've been kind of flirting with the idea, I was like, man, you know, again, Alabama has all this talent, you know, and I think in the. The composite talent Matrix, score for 24 7. It's like Alabama's number two in Indiana is like number 70 to. It's like that far. So again, that's more about how you come in rather than how you go out. Right. So I really think that Indiana, when I'm looking at them and I'm like, man, you know, they've handled everybody physically, like, what is the question. Here they have the heisman trophy winner and he's thrived in really clutch moments this year. You know, they can run reliably. They've got big receivers that they can get to. Defensively, they're one of the best defenses in the country. They don't have any weak spots. Like, why would I think that Alabama is going to like, what is Alabama shown me in the last month at least that would make me think that they could beat Indiana. And if you made Alabama's helmets Ole Miss, this isn't even a question. But the reason that people and people like myself are like, I don't know, man. It's just kind of weird to think of Indiana beating Alabama is because it's Bama. But if you think of Bama is like, I don't know, Bama light or, you know, you just could somehow. This is the Kaylin deboer Crimson tide, then you might not be as enamored with them because they haven't shown a lot. They can't run the ball. They're a good defense. They're not a great defense. And as Van mentioned last episode, they're receiving core. Like, they've not gotten out of Ron Williams what they thought that they were going to get out of him this year. Like, even though I, you know, I think he's still a good receiver. And I'm sure Van does too and everybody else does, but it's just the numbers have not been there. So I don't know why I got so enamored with Alabama because they managed to hold off Oklahoma. So I think that my thing is, is like Indiana, man, they've been good all year. They've been solid. Every time they've been challenged, they've been in a tight game. They've answered it and been the more physical team. I think that that's what we're going to be reminded of this week and it's going to be shocking to people. They're not going to be like, damn, and they're going to beat the out of Alabama. But, like, I think that's what we're standing up for.

[Van Lath]

You know what's funny? Two things. Number one, there's a difference to me between gifted and good. You're only as good as how you play. Yeah, that's it. You can be gifted, right? You know, Matt Jones, back In the day, AR 4 3, 40 yard dash, had a couple of decent years at receiver. He was a quarterback at Arkansas. Had a couple of decent years at receiver in the pros. I think he had one or two where he produced but he, he's gifted athletically, but you're only as good as how you play. So I think Ryan Williams is gifted, right as far as how good he is, he's as good as what he's been able to do since he's been at Alabama. So he's very gifted. I don't know how good he is. He's good, he's incredibly. He's a gifted athlete. But good comes from you figuring it out and your team figuring it out how to use you and get the most. Now we've seen him be game breaking so you can't say that he whack. We've seen that. Now to Alabama, I'll say this part of it's the logo, that's true. But also part of it is the way we regard the talent. We think about talent as potential and you always wait for potential to pop. But the reality is this, the blue chip ratio is what it is. These teams have played, man, these teams have played. And you're 40 times and your verticals and what you did in high school, none of that matters. When you line up across from somebody and you see what you got on the other side. Now the reason that people are looking at it is they go at some point, all of what Alabama or really any of these other teams, you can go up and down the list. All of what they have is going to gel and come together and you're going to see a football team that can be what we used to know Alabama to be, which is dominating. But if we're being honest, we have not seen that since Kalen DeBoer has been at Alabama and really we didn't see it the last couple of years of Nick Saban. There are very few dominating teams in college football right now and Alabama is certainly not amongst them. Indiana has been to me, not dominating, but so incredibly consistent in what they do. I'm starting to have the feeling that if Indiana can just play Indiana football for the rest of the playoff that they will win the national championship because I'm starting to believe in their football brand. But the thing about them is they have to prove it every single game. They don't have anything to fall back on every single snap. Indiana is proving what their football brand is and to me that's actually propelling them. That's fueling them to be so competitive, so disciplined, so physical and so hungry in these games, in these moments.

[Joel Anderson]

Man, you guys ought to go to that game. Isn't that in la?

[Joe]

It's a Rose Bowl.

[Van Lath]

You want to go out there?

[Joe]

I'm in Seattle. I want to. I wanted to go out there. I let us down.

[Van Lath]

I'm definitely not going.

[Joel Anderson]

They said that it was going to rain this week out there. They said. So there's.

[Joe]

Apparently it's that good or bad. Everyone's saying if it rains, that's good for Indiana. Do you think that's the case?

[Van Lath]

Oh, yeah. Because Alabama doesn't have a running game and they're gonna have to throw the ball a lot more and they'll have to rely on some parts of the game that, you know, haven't always been clicking for them. I guess. I guess Indiana will be different. The more physical team has an advantage in those type of weather conditions. But I guess it would be. I don't know that they'll make that much of a difference, though.

[Joel Anderson]

That's what I was gonna say. I was like, it's still gonna be rain in la, you know, like, what are the chances that it's gonna be like a day?

[Joe]

More of a sprinkle. Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

You know, Indiana or something like that. So.

[Van Lath]

Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

Nah, it'll. It'll be. It'll probably be a nice misting and it'll. But. But yeah, I would. If I was out, I. I would kind of want to peep that out. Man, it seems like a fun game to go.

[Joe]

I've been to the Rose Bowl. It's a great game. Fun game to be at. Obviously. The parade is amazing. I do want to push back. One thing on Alabama, just talking about their offense, it did feel like against Oklahoma they found like a new trifecta. Daniel Hill. I thought Daniel Hill looked like a healthy version of himself. Getting downhill a little bit. Brooks and Horton as far as the receivers. So, you know, those two guys had great games. And it felt like the second tier. It kind of was like a flip flop situation where it was like the second tier guys for Bama's offense really took the forefront. And it made me believe even more in the fact that Bama could do some damage. And then defensively, I just think that Indiana's gonna look at like a Lawson or a Jefferson or some of these guys on defense, guys that had 10 tackles, nine tackles against Oklahoma. And I don't know, I just feel like there's. I'm not all the way out on Bama. I'll just say that you think that.

[Van Lath]

There are a lot of people right now that think that Alabama's going to win this football game. And let me tell you something, if Alabama wins this game. Indiana season was a complete failure.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, man. Come on, man.

[Van Lath]

Alabama wins this game. Indiana has got to win this football game, guys. They have to win this football game. Do you know what's on the line right now? Everything is on the line. Everything's on the line in this football game. Think about it. We joke about all of this stuff on the podcast. The perception of the Big ten versus the sec, the old guard of college football versus the new guard of college football. Potentially the way we thought, the way things used to be, the way things are now, at least what we think. Indiana football being taken seriously in the way they want to be taken seriously, gave Signetti this gigantic contract, all of it. If they get to the playoff play, Bama right now, lose to a Bama team that's not nearly as good as Bama. Teams in the past that's faced a lot of adversity this year had to come down, had to come back from 17 against Oklahoma. If they lose to that team, Bama reestablishes the college football status quo. Like Indiana needs to win this game.

[Joel Anderson]

It's just.

[Van Lath]

It's a big fucking game.

[Joel Anderson]

It's so unfair because Indiana has already had the greatest season in program history. Like they won a Heisman, as Billy pointed out. They got a Heisman out of it. They're going to the Rose bowl, which in, you know, a different. A few years ago, a Big Ten team getting a chance to play at the Rose bowl is the undefeated big twin champ is a big deal like that. They beat Ohio State for the Big Ten championship. Right. The defending national champion, number one. And then to say if they happen to lose this random game in neutral site.

[Van Lath]

Not a random game. I mean, off game.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

It's a playoff game against a traditional college football. Every game is random power.

[Joel Anderson]

Every game is random. Anything can happen in anything. Right.

[Joe]

You're right, though, Van. Like if they win this game, then it's like it cements the fact that it's for real, that that's what the concern is. Right, Joel?

[Van Lath]

If they win the game.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, right. I mean, I get. That's what I'm saying. I get. Because I know what Van is saying and I know that that's not going to be an unpopular opinion. Like that is going to be an opinion held by many other people about what Indiana does if they lose. But I just. I just don't think that that's fair, you know?

[Van Lath]

Man, let me tell you something about the Heisman. I love the Heisman. It's a great Award.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

For all the talk about the struggles of LSU in the last five years, and those struggles are weird. Are real. LSU won a Heisman. We got a Heisman Trophy. Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Jayden Daniels, one of the best I've ever seen at all of lsu. The Heisman Trophy is a big deal and it's something that can legitimize a program because if you have a Heisman Trophy winner, that means that you're on the national stage to a degree where you could have a Heisman Trophy winner.

[Joe]

It, I mean, Mark Ingram getting a Heisman for Alabama legitimized the whole operation that individuals could go, you know what I mean? Like, not to say that Alabama wasn't legitimized, but I mean it did help.

[Van Lath]

The thought was that the system there was so solid that you couldn't have an individual performer come out and then win the whole thing. I get all of that stuff. I'm talking about right now. A team that's already proven it against Ohio State. They've already done it against Ohio State. A team that's proven it, they're in the playoff now. The rubber is meeting the road. Everything that we've talked about, the new guard of college football, it's a new day in college football. Everything is equal now, all of it. And programs like Indiana are the proof. If they lose to a two win Alabama team that's coming in and looks crazy beatable, that resets that argument. They need a win. I'm just being like, they, they, they need to put it together and show that what they've put on the field can beat Alabama. When Alabama is at its weakest, the SEC is at its weakest. The entire thing they need to go in the game.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, I hear that and I know that people are going to feel that way, but I just think that's what's always so sad about playoffs because it become, it becomes overly determinative of a one game sample. Right. Which anything can happen. And again, you know, people are not even talking about this because I was saving it for the preview, but we might as well talk about it now. Indiana is going to be missing probably their best pass rusher, Stephen Daley, like he got hurt in the celebration of the Big Ten game. Like, and again, Indiana, with the acknowledgment that they are number one, they don't have that kind of, they don't have years of depth where they can just pluck up another five star and that guy's right in there. So like to lose somebody that important. We don't know how that will impact. Impact the team or what they will have to do. We haven't seen that version of Indiana yet. So there's a lot of things that go into whether or you win a playoff game or not. And I just hope people are more circumspect when the season is over. And they say that was a disappointing finale, but what they accomplished was still incredible.

[Joe]

I want to just throw my big prediction at you guys and get a reaction. I believe the upsets are coming. Now, it doesn't mean that I want the upsets to come, but I do think that's what this weekend feels like to me. And this is based on the spreads, maybe not on your perception, but Miami, to me, is a live dog. I think that they're a team that could really give some issues. I think Alabama is a live dog. I think Alabama can give Indiana some big issues. I think Ole Miss against Georgia could be a live dog. That could give them some issues.

[Van Lath]

That's a nightmare scenario for a Tiger.

[Joe]

Fan, and I'm gonna say it. I think Texas Tech, even though they're the four seed, they're the underdog. I think Texas Tech, as Van mentioned before, is a live dog. So I just say upsets to me, feel like they're staring me dead in my face. And I say this on the prediction so it won't happen to. To save us all. But I am worried about the upsets coming. Van, is that a. Is that a viable belief?

[Van Lath]

I think it is. I think a lot of these games are closer to 50, 50 than we were saying. You know, the Ole Miss game. If Ole Miss goes out and beats Georgia, then the Ole Miss story continues, which is, you know, wait, why would.

[Joel Anderson]

That be bad for lsu?

[Van Lath]

Would you let not be bad for lsu? It's not bad for lsu. The LSU fans, nobody cares. They got Lane Kiffin. Nobody cares. I'm saying for me right now, Ole Miss goes out there. To me, the Lane Kiffin is an asshole. Arrow keeps going up, the better Ole Miss does. So if Ole Miss is standing there holding the national championship trophy at the end of the season with Frank Wilson.

[Joe]

Celebrating an Ole Miss gear.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Van Lath]

You know, it's like, you think about this. You break up with your girl and then she turn around and she wins like Miss America or she goes on to become. I wouldn't give a fuck about Miss America. But, like, you know, she goes on, you start to look, it starts to get a situation. I'm not gonna name the couple, but I Have friends that are in Hollywood. They were married earlier, last decade. They got divorced. I'm like, damn, bruh. Go up to him, damn, I'm sorry things didn't work out. Blah, blah, blah. He goes, yeah, I just gotta get on it now. I was like, what? He was like, I can't let her. I'm like, brother, are you serious? He's like, yeah, man. She's just got that thing, you know, Everybody around there talking about that thing, that thing. She on that thing. I can't let her do that. I gotta do that. I gotta level up. I gotta level up. That's kind of the situation right here. The better they do, the more it makes Lane Kiffin look like an asshole. It's just. That's the deal. So I'm definitely rooting for Georgia to be Ole Miss, for sure.

[Joel Anderson]

Did your homeboy level up?

[Van Lath]

No, she proceeded to. He's doing just fine. He's doing just fine.

[Joe]

Okay. He's on the same level.

[Van Lath]

He has a great. No, he's not. She. She continued to get to it for a long time, so.

[Joel Anderson]

Damn.

[Van Lath]

She's probably a little ahead right now. You the man now.

[Joe]

I mean, somebody wins the breakup. Typically, yeah.

[Van Lath]

You know, eag. But look, to be honest with you, I have a question for y'. All.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

Miami, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas Tech, Alabama, Indiana, Ole Miss, Georgia. So let's take Ole Miss, Georgia and Oregon, Texas Tech out, because nobody's going to give a shit. Like, those could be destabilizing wins. But between Alabama and Indiana and Miami and Ohio State, which fan base is gonna freak out the most over a loss in those four teams?

[Joel Anderson]

Ooh.

[Van Lath]

So you got Miami, Ohio State, Alabama, Indiana. Which fan base is gonna freak out the most over a loss? You have the undefeated Indiana. An undefeated Indiana team. Their fan base believes in it all. You have the Ohio State fan base who literally believes on any given year, they should win. Yeah, Ohio State could beat the fucking 2007 Patriots. Then you have Miami, who has begun to believe.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, see, that's it. See, I was going. Because I'm just thinking about if Miami loses in a particularly funny way, or if, like, they're having offensive problems, and it's like, you know, it's just like, man, there's not a lot of creativity with the offense here. Or there's some sort of time management error. I can imagine.

[Joe]

That's what it is, time management. Like, Cristobal screws up at the end of the game.

[Joel Anderson]

And I'm going to go on Twitter or I'm going to go on whatever. And I'm going to look up the man of your dreams. And I would be listening. He'd be like, I told you. I told you. Mario Cristobal needs to get his ass out of here. Because Miami, they're the 10C. But they don't think, they think they can win a national championship. Like, they're not like. And a lot of people do. I mean, they should. They're a very good team. So I could just imagine if they lose in some sort of ridiculous way, which is really the only way that Miami loses generally, that it'll be funny like. And that their fans are going to be so mad because I think Indiana fans would be sort of grateful. Alabama fans, they know what it is and they prepared to be mad already. So.

[Joe]

Yeah, man, and Ohio State won the championship last year.

[Joel Anderson]

You know, this was, this is a rebuild. This is kind of a rebuilding year for them. It's supposed to be. They're breaking a new quarterback. But yeah, man, Miami fans would be like, get this guy out of here. You know?

[Joe]

And Miami fans have been fighting like playoff arguments for about eight weeks now. So, like, they're borderline insane at this point, right?

[Joel Anderson]

They.

[Joe]

They've. They've done like every single argument imaginable. So like, they, they're, they're insane.

[Joel Anderson]

Like, what you think Mike Irvin going to look like if they lose in a stupid way?

[Van Lath]

You know, we. The last time we got on Mike.

[Joe]

We can't talk about. I love.

[Joel Anderson]

We love. I recommended him to be a coach. I thought he should be a coach.

[Joe]

I thought the belt was incredible.

[Van Lath]

I respect the Ohio State fans, man.

[Joel Anderson]

You do.

[Van Lath]

I think if they end the season in on a two loss losing streak, because this will be a loss in the big. In the Big Ten championship game and then a loss in the first round of the playoffs. After the entire season, basically not being threatened at all with the personnel that they have with saying growing up with Smith, with downs, with all of the guys they got, I think the fan base would freak out a little bit. I think they've begun to believe as well.

[Joe]

Especially when you had Heisman Trophy, Julian saying, right, you had Big Ten championship, they thought was a given. And then they had national championship was like a 50, 50 shot. If they get none of those three, three strikes and you're out. I think you're. That's a good call, man.

[Joel Anderson]

I love Ohio State and actually there's a very good, nice brother and I cannot remember his name. He followed me on Twitter for part of Ohio State And I was like, you know, we just shared niceties with each other. I really like him. Seems like a good brother. And look, I like Ohio State. Eddie George, one of my favorite players. But I'm putting this out here because I like chaos, not because I have anything against Ohio State. Imagine Ryan Day loses and they're like, damn, man, you lost to the 10 seed and you lost your last two games. That was embarrassing. Like, why did you, you know, you let us down. And then an NFL job comes open and he's like, you know what? I won my national championship. These people will never be happy. Why don't I go ahead and take that? And then you got the Ohio State job open in January all of a sudden. Wouldn't that be fun?

[Van Lath]

It would be fun. Can I say something about Ohio State right now, though?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

It don't matter who they go get.

[Joel Anderson]

Are they gonna be good?

[Van Lath]

It don't matter.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

At this point, there is not a better run program in college football. I'm not saying that they the most dominating program. I'm saying all of this inconsistency, this fall off shit, this. We have this. None of that happens in Columbus, man.

[Joel Anderson]

But you know, bro, look, I mean. Cause look, they already lost Brian Hartline.

[Van Lath]

It's true.

[Joel Anderson]

That's the guy that gets the receivers for him, man. That's the thing that has separated Ohio State from everybody else in the country. Like, they always got them guys, right? And then, you know, if Ryan Day were to leave, I mean, I still think the Ohio State probably could hire somebody good in. In Dobby 5.

[Van Lath]

Bring back urban Meyer at that point.

[Joel Anderson]

Bring him back our browse, man, he probably ain't even got comfortable. He probably got comfortable in Patales yet, man.

[Joe]

Can I just say this one thing about just the playoffs you're mentioning? I. I kind of hate that we don't get to see the real versions of these teams compete in the playoff. I. I still can't get over that. The fact that, like, Lane Kiffin is not coaching Ole Miss heartlines, not coaching the Ohio State offense.

[Joel Anderson]

Like, Oregon's missing both of its coordinators.

[Joe]

Yeah, Oregon doesn't have any coordinators.

[Joel Anderson]

Oregon, it has its coordinators, but they got two jobs right now.

[Joe]

Yeah, I hate that. I don't know. I mean, obviously we could, you know, talk about that for a long time, but I still think it's.

[Van Lath]

Yeah, it's less than ideal.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

To be playing for the whole fucking thing and not have your team with the coaching staff and the continuity that you need to go out there and give it your best. Yeah, it's not great.

[Joe]

It happened last year in the NCAA tournament. Duke lost Jay Lucas to Miami and it was such a big deal. Everybody got kept talking about it and you know, Batt basketball is a little bit different. They're like, he's the defensive coordinator, all this sort of stuff. But in football it matters so much more when you don't have your guys. So I just, I find that gross. Can I read some conference poll records to you guys? Because it is obviously in a world of conference propaganda. So let's go through them. The big conferences here. ACC 504 and 4 feels right. Big 12, they are 2 and oh, no losses yet for the Big 12.

[Joel Anderson]

Boy, there you go.

[Joe]

Yes, sir. Big 10 also undefeated right now, 5 and 0. So good for them. Shout out to them. Independents are 0 and 1 right now. Tough look for the independents out there. Pack 121 and oh, shout out to the pack 12. Who's the independent?

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, it's Yukon. Yukon is the Yukon.

[Joe]

The Independent. Pack 12 Wazoo won their bowl game, the Idaho ball. So that was fun. Sec 2 and 4 right now are we worried? Is this conference propaganda? This hurts. Van, your thoughts on the SEC bowl record? Can they get it together so.

[Van Lath]

No, they can't. So in the bowls, the matchups always matter, right? And what you like, some of these matchups are teams that were at the top of their conferences against like middling SEC teams. But you know, we've talked a lot about the sec, but I've never not admitted that the era of SEC dominance of college football is over. This is not the first time that the SEC has had a mediocre bowl record. Right. It's happened before. It's happened before. What's happening now though, is the thing that the SEC used to have doesn't exist anymore, which was just python like dominance strangling teams at the top of the conference.

[Joe]

Right?

[Van Lath]

So when you talk about these bowl records that we talking about right now, you know, you're talking about teams like if you talk about the Texas bowl, lsu, if you look at who was playing in the bowl game, that wasn't even LSU's team. Right. However, I mean, however they lost. I have no, like they lost. It's the same. They lost the game. I'm not any way giving excuses, but when you look at the game, you could somehow explain away the bowl records in past years and even now with who actually is playing on the field. Right? You could do that. What the SEC used to have to offset that was Guaranteed victories in what would be the playoff. Right. It was guaranteed that Alabama was going to beat in Indiana. It was guaranteed that these other teams, that's gone. So the dominance of the conference can't be underscored by what's at the top of the conference. And that just makes the SEC right now a conference like any other conference.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, that sounds lovely and I appreciate the contrition. The problem said that, though. No, no, no, no, no. Because what. People will say that now, but then as soon as something is on the line, it'll be Clark Lee. Well, we need. I mean, Greg Sankey. We got to have seven teams in the playoff. Maybe you should be considering that. Clarkley. It is an outrage that 10 and 2 Vanderbilt did not get into the playoffs. Steve Sarkeesian. I mean, we lost three games, but did you see three win Florida this year? Boys, look getting off the bus, you know, so it's like, it's great that people will, like, acknowledge that now, right? And they'll be like, yeah, man. Well, there's a lot of factors that complicate how you look at a bowl record, because a lot of teams that have players that go to the draft, some guys will opt out. There's like, injuries, coaching changes, you understand, and people will understand that. But when it ends, when it comes to late October, in November, then it's like, well, did you see going to Starkville on a no.

[Joe]

Try to play in Lexington on a.

[Joel Anderson]

Friday, you go to Columbia.

[Van Lath]

Neither one of them is. The hilarious thing about this is this is the funniest thing. This is the funniest thing. This is the funniest thing. The teams that Joel is talking about, they didn't make the playoff. So the teams that Joel is talking about, Joel is talking about Vanderbilt and he's talking about Texas.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, but they were watching.

[Van Lath]

He's talking about. He's talking about what coaches do. I remember when Mack Brown went on TV and damn near cried, right? I remember, like, coaches lobbying for their teams. When LSU won a national championship in 2007, Les Miles got on TV and said that LSU, because they had lost two overtime games, he said that LSU was undefeated in regulation.

[Joe]

That's a great line.

[Van Lath]

I was proud of him. Proud of him. So coaches lobbying, they're going to use whatever they can, even if that's the historic perception of their conference. But those two teams didn't make the playoff. They didn't make the playoff at all. So what I'm saying is, if people are going to speak to the strength of the conference, I Have said throughout this entire year that things are different now. But coaches going to use what they can use to make their cases, man.

[Joel Anderson]

Well, I mean, again, I understand that people are operating in self interest, but people have to remind people of the SEC's failures and that sometimes they are just as mortal as all the other programs when they use all these other examples. Like again, how many times did people tell me that beating Mizzou and Tennessee was like a big win for a teenager? Well, you know, they went through. They said that they had to be Oklahoma. They beat Mizzou, Alabama.

[Van Lath]

Alabama.

[Joel Anderson]

That, that stretch that Alabama went on where they beat four ranked team.

[Joe]

Four, four ranked teams, Joe.

[Joel Anderson]

That was what we talked about. Alabama looked like one of the best teams in the country. They beat four ranked teams, man. Mizzou didn't went the whole damn year without beating a team with a winning record. Right. So it's just that SEC inflation, the perception and that is what is the annoying thing because it actually does have.

[Joe]

Real world and lost to Virginia right in the bowl game.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, right. Cause people will be like, oh man. Well, you know, they can't. You can't put tane in there because that's the sec, man.

[Van Lath]

You can't. First of all, you're not consider.

[Joel Anderson]

You can't put by in there.

[Van Lath]

Okay, so let me ask a question. Let me ask you a question. Can I ask you a question though? Can I ask you a question? Who did BYU beat?

[Joel Anderson]

In what?

[Van Lath]

In. In football?

[Joe]

In what?

[Van Lath]

BYU be. No, I'm talking about in the whole regular season. In the regular season. Who BYU be?

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, you want me to go through that schedule?

[Van Lath]

No, I'm asking you. I'm, I'm. I mean.

[Joel Anderson]

Joel.

[Van Lath]

Because, because here's the thing, here's the thing about college football, right? When you talk about ranked teams, ranked teams are somebody else ranking the team. If we look back and this is another thing, I gotta be honest with you guys, another thing that makes the 2019 LSU team special. When you go back and you look at the team and you look at the teams that they beat, when they beat them and how they beat them, you look at teams, a lot of teams that ended up going on to accomplish a lot. The champions of conferences, the champions of this, the champions of that. People might have thought the teams were good in the middle of the season, they ended up not being good. But if you start playing that game that is going to shake out for a whole lot of teams, that's going to shake out for a ton of teams, then I'M going to start asking, who did Notre Dame beat? What's their best victory? And then people are going to say, oh, you can look at the teams and all of that stuff like that. I get it. But, you know, I don't know that anybody this year, whether or not Missouri was overrated or not. And they might have been. They almost certainly were. I don't know if anybody talked about what it meant to go and beat Missouri and how tough it is to beat Missouri. Tennessee legitimately. Legitimately was in games where it looked like they were as good or better than teams that we know are good, like Georgia. Right. So their shit ended up coming off the rails and all of that stuff. But I think some of this stuff is being overstated just a little bit. Just a little bit in terms of the reputation and all of that at the conference. Do you think that there's anybody from the SEC that made the playoff that didn't deserve to be there?

[Joel Anderson]

That made the playoff that didn't deserve to be there?

[Van Lath]

Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

Well, I mean, it's easy in retrospect to say it now. I don't think Alabama should have been in there. Like, I don't. Yeah, I would have. I would have rather seen Notre Dame.

[Joe]

What happens if they win the national championship, though?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I mean that. You know what? Ohio State, again, people get frustrated with me for talking about 2014. Ohio State won the national championship that year behind Zeke Elliott. They were obviously a very good team. I still don't think they should have been in playoffs over TCU that year.

[Joe]

So there's precedent.

[Joel Anderson]

Like. That's right. Like, I mean, I'm just talking about process and how you get to these teams. And I just.

[Van Lath]

Do you think that TCU would have won the national championship had they been in it?

[Joe]

Hell, yes. It was the golden era, don't forget.

[Joel Anderson]

I think that team was the best team in the history of TCU that 2020.

[Van Lath]

That's not what the fuck I asked.

[Joel Anderson]

They would have won a national championship. They would have won a national championship. They were the team most likely and most capable to win a national championship.

[Van Lath]

No, I'm asking you, do you think that if TCU in 2014.

[Joel Anderson]

Let's.

[Van Lath]

If TCU in 2014 would have played in the playoff.

[Joel Anderson]

Yes.

[Van Lath]

Do you think that they would have won the national championship? Absolutely.

[Joel Anderson]

Yes.

[Van Lath]

All right.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

Do me a favor. Look up the teams from the 2014 play, because it was. It was. It was Alabama. It was Bama. Clemson. Bama. Clemson.

[Joe]

Ohio State.

[Van Lath]

Ohio State.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Van Lath]

Cause that was Ohio State. Was that Cardell? That was Cardell Jones.

[Joel Anderson]

That was Cardell Jones.

[Van Lath]

It's Cardell Jones. So it was Ohio State, Oregon. Oregon. Oregon.

[Joel Anderson]

Oregon.

[Van Lath]

Okay.

[Joel Anderson]

They could have beat any of those teams. I really do think that year would have been the year if tc. I wouldn't lie to y'. All. I never lied to people and said the 2022 TCU was good. Like, I just. I knew that they were getting lucky. They were scheming it up. Like, they. They benefited. They had a lot of breaks that year. 2014, that's some good players. Very good. Yeah. Oh, yeah. QJ. All them guys. Yeah. But, yeah, 2014 is legitimately, I think the team, the one team other than 2010 TCU, that I look at and say, if they had had a shot, they might have won a national championship.

[Joe]

And, Joel, you have some writers, by the way, because some guy DM me on Instagram because he was like, why are you laughing so hard at Joel talking about the golden era of TCU football? You celebrate Carolina football like you have nothing to laugh about.

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, that is a very good point. Who is this guy?

[Joe]

I just want to remind this guy that said that. Lawrence Taylor, the man that invented the sack. That's Drake May, the MVP of the NFL. That's us. I can go down the list. You know what I mean? But point remains, Joel, you have people supporting you. Shout out to TCU football.

[Joel Anderson]

I appreciate it.

[Joe]

Yeah, I love it. Can we do one big question, because this is fascinating. We need to talk about Michigan. We obviously reacted to Michigan News. The initial action of Chero Moore. A lot has happened since. We don't have to go through the whole, you know, kind of breakdown of what went on. But one big question. Is Kyle Whittingham what Michigan needs to get back on track? Joel, I'll go to you first here. Is this a good hire for Michigan?

[Joel Anderson]

I mean, I think he's a clear upgrade over Sharon Moore. I would say so, Yeah, I think. But, you know, the weird thing about this, and there's a couple of things about this that are weird to me. Utah kind of seemed ready to move on from him. Right. And my understanding, just from, you know, what I know about the situation and from listening to other people talk about the situation, is that people looked at Kyle Whittingham, 66 years old, before this year. It looked like there was some drop off in the program. And maybe people were looking to say, all right, maybe it's time for you to move on. And we'll bring in Morgan Scally, who's.

[Joe]

The coach in waiting and had been for five years.

[Joel Anderson]

Right. Although. So. So this is the one thing. So you're. You can't wait to get to the Morgan Scally era. That's just weird to me, especially for a guy who was at the center of an allegation that he used a racial slur in a text about recruits years before. Right. Like, I'm just like, that's the guy that you're excited to get started. You want to move on from Kyle Whittingham because you can't wait to move this guy into the top spot. Okay.

[Joe]

Basically forced him out. I mean, based on what Whittingham has said. Right.

[Joel Anderson]

Exactly. Yeah. Basically for say. All right. That's kind of all right. Whatever, man.

[Van Lath]

I don't know.

[Joel Anderson]

But it only probably that matters, though, you know?

[Van Lath]

Yeah. Because there's something. You'll be like, okay, cool. But if there's others. If you said the big one, then you gotta. That. You can't do that.

[Joel Anderson]

Well, it came up during 2020. It came out during 2020.

[Van Lath]

Hey, Duke, look up which racial slur he used. And then type it.

[Joe]

Type it in the chat.

[Van Lath]

Type it in the chat. Duke, look up which racial slur he used, because that matters.

[Joel Anderson]

I think I've. You know what? I'm gonna.

[Joe]

I'm gonna abstain from reacting to which one he uses. You.

[Joel Anderson]

You really asked a really good question there, because I just assumed it was one, and I've never. I've never seen.

[Van Lath]

It was the daddy of them all.

[Joel Anderson]

The grandest daddy of them all.

[Joe]

I think Joel's. I think you guys are right.

[Joel Anderson]

He should not be. Yeah.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Joel Anderson]

He should not do a job. Yeah. But I was just like, all right, well, if that's what you want, to move on. But I'm like, why would you be so ready to get rid of Kyle Whittingham? He's one of the best coaches you've ever had. He's probably going to the hall of fame. And then the other thing, and I don't know if people remember this. Remember when Bronco Mendenhall.

[Van Lath]

It's the one you think.

[Joel Anderson]

It's the one you think. Yeah. So, Van.

[Van Lath]

Van.

[Joe]

How many has he said is the next. Next question for you?

[Van Lath]

If you say it to a recruit, then you. Well above 40,000. How could you say that? Hold on for a second. If you say that to a recruit, then you. Well above 40,000. Wait, 90, 100,000. How could you look at that.

[Joe]

That's a lot. That's crazy.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, man. I Was embarrassed. And then the last thing about this is that. Y' all remember Bronco Mendenhall.

[Van Lath]

Yes.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, he was a really good coach at BYU. He had a 3, 311 win seasons and one 10 win season. Won a couple of conference titles. And then he just kind of randomly took the Virginia job. And it was like he did okay, but it's not like he re. Recreated his success there. And the reason I'm bringing this up is because it reminded me when I read about Lavelle Edwards randomly the other day for some reason, after BYU won the 1984 championship, do you know what two jobs he got offered be? Oh, sorry. Well, I thought y' all were going to say what.

[Joe]

No, no, I want you to tell us. Also, Billy's giving us like, deep, deep dive a lot of what Scally admitted.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, yeah.

[Van Lath]

And somebody, by the way, somebody else came back and said, this is not. Hold on for a second. This is not. This is not funny.

[Joel Anderson]

Okay, okay.

[Van Lath]

This is not a funny tweet. Okay? But this guy said, I too, was called a racial slur, parentheses N word by this man in 2008. Confronted him my senior year in 2013. Held onto it five years, got a half ass apology. He got N word. Me too'd.

[Joel Anderson]

I never seen this.

[Joe]

Power crazy.

[Joel Anderson]

I too, I didn't know. Wait, what did you hear about this? Who is this?

[Van Lath]

I'm looking at it right now. Another guy came out and said. He said, but this guy's being so fair. He says he is a great coach but needs to be a better man. Truth hurts. God bless.

[Joel Anderson]

So anyway, if you eliminated racists from the coaching pranks, I mean, we would.

[Van Lath]

I'm not gonna have no more coaches, man.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, man, It'd be tough to find people. But so anyway, man, so run with that University of Utah football program and fans, like, that's the promo we just cut for your new coach. So they want to go for that. That's fine. But the Bronco Mendenhall thing was like. Yeah, like he left in anyway, so. Oh, yeah, let me rewind and get back to Lavelle Edwards of it all, because I never did tell y' all the two jobs that he could have taken. Didn't take in that off season. Detroit Lions, University of Texas. He stayed at byu. Right. And I'm just like, man, Utah guys are kind of Utah guys. And when they have success in Utah, like, they don't really have a lot of success in recreating it anywhere else. And maybe that's just so few examples of this, but I just kind of feel like, not true. I feel. Okay.

[Joe]

Urban Meyer.

[Van Lath]

Urban Meyer.

[Joel Anderson]

But I don't think of. Urban Meyer is a Utah guy.

[Joe]

What are you talking about?

[Van Lath]

Get the fuck out of here.

[Joel Anderson]

He's a Bowling Green guy, too. Okay, noted Bowling Green guy. Urban.

[Van Lath]

Urban Meyer.

[Joel Anderson]

Urban Meyer.

[Van Lath]

I'm like, what are you talking about? No, I mean, I Deck. And then he took it and did it to other places.

[Joel Anderson]

No, I'm just. But what I'm saying is, like, guys who've made their careers in Utah, like.

[Joe]

Who'S like Utah lifers.

[Joel Anderson]

Utah. Yeah, Utah lifers. Utah is a part of the identity and like, they learn the culture, they learn to recruit there, they learn to succeed there. I mean, Utah, like, as a state in football would be a really interesting story because actually they, like, really. They're really good at football, and it's really important part of the culture there, obviously. But those guys, man. Do you remember Gary Anderson, the head coach? He was at Utah State. He took. I think he did really well there. Took a job in Wisconsin, did pretty good at Wisconsin, and then like, left immediately and, like, took another job somewhere else because back in Utah. And I was like, oh, man. Just kind of feel like those Utah guys do really well in Utah. But I'm just. I'll be curious to see if he can rebuild that brand. But they're not going to be asking him to do a lot. Like, I mean, he just needs to hold the program together, right? So that's the important thing.

[Van Lath]

Two things. I understand your point. I would say that they're not very many coaches that are lifers at one place that go on to have a lot of success in another place. It's like that doesn't happen that much. There's some guys out there that. That are able to do it, but they're not very many coaches that you think of being associated with one program, and then they go somewhere else and they have success there, too. It's harder than people think. It's. It is.

[Joel Anderson]

Huh? Bill Belichick. Bill Belichick.

[Van Lath]

Belichick. That's a shot.

[Joe]

Greatest coach ever.

[Van Lath]

Look, Kyle Winningham as the coach of. Of Michigan is exactly the coach they need. And he is a perfect coach to steady the program, set a floor from Michigan that doesn't have to do with off the field embarrassment or scandals inside the football program and all of that stuff. He's perfectly that guy right now. The question is, at this point in his career, him being the guy to steady the ship is one thing, but is he the guy to beat Ohio State, him being the guy to come back in and get things right at Michigan, that's one thing. And you can make a very compelling argument that he is that guy. Consummate professional, gets a lot out of his players. But is he the guy to line it up late in the season, beat Ohio State and deliver on the expectations that the Michigan fan base has, which is to be one of the very best teams in college football year in and year out? Can Kyle Winningham do that in Michigan? And I think that's an open question, don't you think?

[Joel Anderson]

I feel like by getting Kyle Whittingham they wanted to get somebody, quote, the adult in the room. I kept heard people say they wanted an adult in the room. Right. So they get Kyle Whittingham for that. But also, don't you think they.

[Van Lath]

Five years.

[Joe]

I can't believe he got a five year deal.

[Joel Anderson]

That was kind of the thing. But I think you got to do that for recruits, right? Like that's, you know, and get people to convince to commit there. He's at least gonna be here five years. But the important thing with this one is that like why would. Oh man. See, I. Damn. I was making my point and then I got, I got, I got knocked off of it.

[Joe]

What happened?

[Van Lath]

Forget.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, I did.

[Van Lath]

Well, did you just forget what the.

[Joel Anderson]

You need to interjected twice. And just as I was trying you. So it was just like it was getting. It was good. I didn't see that. And then as I was trying to get to the next one and I was like. The first time I avoided the whole, the, the, the, the cone and the second time I. Oh man. Billy, you don't need to be here, man. No, I'm, I'm.

[Joe]

I'm trying to be the beast maker.

[Joel Anderson]

Here and figure out why are you here for this point? This doesn't make any sense.

[Joe]

Cuz I'm just here writing stuff down, taking notes on what's going on. I'm not looking up at the screen exactly, but you were in the middle of a thought and just stopped like no one had said anything. And then you started blaming everyone else.

[Joel Anderson]

Because I was, I was trying to get back to my point. But the, the. You'd only. You only show up when something goes wrong with me. You don't do this.

[Joe]

Let's get this back.

[Joel Anderson]

All right, all right.

[Joe]

Five years.

[Van Lath]

Five years.

[Joe]

Michigan, Michigan.

[Van Lath]

Michigan.

[Joel Anderson]

Right.

[Joe]

Football. Because I know that was a question before. What game will they win?

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, okay, hold on. Okay. But you don't remember the point, right? Before then, because it was about. Yeah. Kyle Whittingham, five years. I'm kind of surprised.

[Joe]

Adult in the room.

[Van Lath]

Adult in the room.

[Joel Anderson]

Adult in the room.

[Van Lath]

Adult in the room. They needed an adult.

[Joel Anderson]

Oh, okay. Right. I think this is it. It's kind of not, but I'm gonna, I'm gonna kind of make it like that. Okay. They want Harbaugh without Harbaugh. People like, they went, they want the Harbaugh.

[Van Lath]

They want the fucking whole.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, sorry. Yeah, well, I was. I would have that line in my head and I couldn't get it out. Anyway, they want the Harbaugh ethos. They want the grit, the power because they know that they can't. Or at least they have not been able to out recruit Ohio State. They just not been able to get Jeremiah Smith to bring in Caleb Downs. That's just not them. So they, they. The Harbaugh is like, I'm going to be, I'm going to fight you. Like, we're going to be tougher than you and we can win that way. And that can sort of negate some of the talent disparity we have.

[Van Lath]

Those teams were talented, Joe.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah, yeah. But they were very talented. But they weren't as talented as like with the NFL guys that. @ the skill.

[Joe]

Position. The skill at the.

[Van Lath]

Skill. Because those teams were built for.

[Joel Anderson]

Tough. Well, it's kind of funny because the one thing that you could say about Sharon Moore is that he had a huge hand in building those offensive lines that carry. He's very, he's very good offensive line.

[Van Lath]

Coach. You know, not a.

[Joel Anderson]

Good. Yeah, whatever what he.

[Joe]

Says. Not a good guy. Maybe he's a good.

[Van Lath]

Coach. He's a good coach when he was coaching those.

[Joel Anderson]

Teams. Yeah, yeah. But yeah. So.

[Joe]

Anyway, There you have it. Yeah, the Michigan job, it's fascinating. Like, I think those are all valid points. I think it is nice to have an adult the room. And I do feel like Michigan has stabilized the situation as best they can. And Kyle Whittingham is one of the best coaches in college football that seemingly has always been under the radar. So for him, kind of the best case scenario, you get ousted at. At Utah, a place where you make your, your kind of like your, your money, your mark, whatever you want to call it, and then you get a blue blood job there with Michigan. So for Kyle Whittingham, it was a win, win scenario. Will be interesting to see what happens there in that rivalry. One of the best rivalries in college football. Speaking of rivalries, let's talk about overreaction of the week. Usc, Notre Dame. If you live in LA and you have USC friends, this has been a talking point for months. I mean, maybe even a.

[Joel Anderson]

Year. So this is a scandal out.

[Joe]

There. Then this is a big deal. This is a. And this is like, we hate Lincoln Riley if he lets this happen type of deal. And now we have a situation where usc, Notre Dame is officially off the books. The rivalry is dead, at least for the time being. Hopefully it will be revisited at some point. We have a clip here. Here's Lincoln Riley talking about why the rivalry is now dead. I know college football has changed a lot, but the fact is very, very clear and this can all be settled very quickly. At Notre Dame lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere. We would be playing in the next two years and looking ahead after that and hopefully continuing the series. They did not follow through on it. Thus we are not playing them the next couple of years. We're hopeful something can be worked out in the future. That'd be fantastic. We at SC would love for the game to continue and we have no problem following through on our promises in the future. All right, so you heard it there. He, you know, if Notre Dame had lived up to their word and played us anytime, anywhere, we'd be playing them for the next two years. This is Lincoln Riley's version as to why the rivalry is over with. Notre Dame had already scheduled another game pretty much immediately after they found out that USC was not going to play them anymore. And now you got like the local LA media going at Lincoln Riley's neck about this whole situation. Crazy, going crazy. Joel, if you're out here, Van, your thoughts on.

[Van Lath]

This. So how can I put this? I've seen a lot of people respond to this in ways that I didn't think they were going to respond. And see what I mean? In the last couple of years, people have been pulling a Joel Anderson in Southern.

[Joel Anderson]

California. Stop using me as an.

[Van Lath]

Example. Tell you what I mean, though. I've seen a lot of people. I've seen a lot of people reset their expectations of USC football. I've seen and seen and heard a lot of people say things like, you know, you have to look at, outside of a couple of different blips, who we've been in the last 20 years and all of that, stuff like that, and talk about that. And they've kind of sought to reorient what they expect of the team on the field. What they're not willing to do is reset their expectations of the team culturally. They Expect to play Notre Dame. And for some reason, that rivalry and playing that game is much more important to the USC fan base than I could have ever imagined. The bad defenses that have been put on the field by Lincoln Riley, the sort of haphazard play, sometimes, the inability to establish, like, elite football pedigree on the field, all of that stuff has been contextualized by a few people. This, though I don't know if it's those things combined or if there's something more to it. This is pissing people the fuck off because they think the guy's coming from Oklahoma and not playing with their toys, right? That he doesn't get the culture of USC football. He doesn't get the history, he doesn't get the importance of it. And people are starting to make the connection that that is why the team does not perform the way it should on the field, because Lincoln Riley doesn't care enough about the culture of SC football. I am blown away by the reaction to this, but they don't like it. I'm talking about alumni that I know. I'm talking about people that, like, a friend of mine has a kid that goes there now. I'm talking about some stuff coming from inside the team. Like, a lot of this stuff, especially some of the California kids, a lot of this stuff, they don't fuck with this decision at all. They are upset. And it really is surprising to.

[Joel Anderson]

Me. It's interesting to me because I'm not in la, obviously, so I haven't been privy to this response. But it does sort of make sense in the idea that, man, USC lost the Pac 12. Like, it moved. They're the ones that killed the Pac 12, right?

[Joe]

Ultimately. But with.

[Joel Anderson]

UCLA. Yeah, yeah, with UCLA. But, you know, you don't have Cal, you don't have Stanford, you know, you know, all these allegiances and little rivalries they have, like, all of that is kind of just blown up with the exception of Oregon and Washington and ucla. And you knew you were going to keep the UCLA thing, and those are three important rivalries, but it's still like you're displaced from a lot of other rivalries. And then you lose Notre Dame. And it's like, man, like, how excited am I going to be to see Rutgers and Purdue? Like, the whole payoff of this thing is that we get to see our California rivals and we get to see Notre Dame every other year out here, or we can go see them on tv, whatever. Like that game. Yeah. I've. My whole life, that is a game that I have vivid Memories of that. I've, you know, Keith Jackson calling and, you know, talking about great things going on in that game. So it is kind of weird. It makes me wonder if, like, Lincoln Riley is late, man. Like, maybe he should have got his ass out of town and since he could have found a job and.

[Joe]

That he's the one that planted the seed, too. Like, that's the problem. Like, he said this two years ago, basically. Like, he basically alluded to the fact, like, do we have to play Notre Dame? And everyone's like, yes, we do. And then, you know, they kind of saw the writing on the.

[Joel Anderson]

Wall. I think the thing is, like, he's not been in the playoffs yet. People are expecting that. They should expect it, like, if you're a USC fan. But it's like, he can't reset the clock back now anymore, right? Like, it's like, all right, well, like, I want to try to find all these different things to get me there. You hired Dantalin, the defensive coordinator who's now at Penn State, and he shored up the defense. Now he's gone. And so it's like, man, I got. We were building. We're building. Maybe if we get rid of Notre Dame, that helps me in my. In my quest to get to the playoffs. So I don't know. I don't know how much he himself has to do with it, but the idea that everybody has focused in on him as the blame is really bad for him, and it really puts him under the gun going into next.

[Joe]

Year. You got Keyshawn Johnson going after him, right? I mean, you got.

[Van Lath]

Everybody. Petros, Pedos, Papadakis, Papadekus. I like him.

[Joe]

Yeah. Petros is.

[Van Lath]

Great. So they're playing in what is the Animal.

[Joe]

Bowl? That's.

[Van Lath]

Today. That's today. Later on, they're going to play tcu. What's the spread on the game?

[Joe]

Seriously? Five and a half usc, five and a half.

[Joel Anderson]

Sc. And.

[Joe]

No. No Hoover for tcu, no Lemon for usc, no.

[Van Lath]

Jacoby. Who is the offensive coordinator at.

[Joel Anderson]

Tcu? Well, it was Kendall Browse who just left. Who just left. And so they got a guy in from Yukon, Gordon Samus or something like that, but I don't. I don't know who's calling plays tonight. To be honest, I don't know who. Who would.

[Van Lath]

Be. Who's that defensive.

[Joel Anderson]

Coordinator? Probably Sonny.

[Joe]

Yeah. Yeah, I think Sonny is.

[Van Lath]

Yeah. Who's that? Defensive.

[Joel Anderson]

Coordinator? Andy Avalos, former assistant head.

[Van Lath]

Coach. What do you feel like those guys are going to be able to cook up for SC Is this a game that TCU can win tonight? Because I know that they had lost their oc, that Kendall Browse was gone. It's not a game that they can.

[Joe]

Win. If Hoover was.

[Joel Anderson]

Playing. If Hoover was playing, I would feel a lot better about it. Because then I'd be like, all right, well, that's a way. Again, it's one of those things. TCU getting to play against USC as a chance to. That's a game that is meaningful to our program in a way that it's not for usc. So you could see them getting amped for that, but without Hoover. Wait a.

[Van Lath]

Minute. Why is it meaningful to your program in a way that is not for uc.

[Joel Anderson]

Tcu? Nobody at USC will be excited about being tcu, but at TCU because of the. Because of the prejudices against the programs in the Big 12 and programs like TCU that they don't respect kids.

[Joe]

That go to tcu.

[Joel Anderson]

Too. They do. There was a kid from the.

[Van Lath]

Oc. Real quick, man.

[Joel Anderson]

No. Why you call Billy.

[Van Lath]

Back? I'm just saying because. What's this? See, see, I want.

[Joel Anderson]

To. You said that with dog. Hold.

[Van Lath]

On. Wait. Can I. Can I talk to my. Can I talk to Billy.

[Joel Anderson]

Please? All right, go.

[Van Lath]

Ahead. Can I talk to Billy? Billy, I'm just asking straight up. I don't think he's gonna. He doesn't always side against you. First of all, that's not true. No, he.

[Joe]

Doesn'T. Falsehoods that.

[Van Lath]

He. He doesn't always. Is that. Why does Joel at the same time? Is it just me? He acts like TCU is also. Is one a dominant program or has been. Right. But then at the same time, he says stuff like a victory over SC would mean so much to.

[Joel Anderson]

Tcu. I did not.

[Van Lath]

Ask. And not as much as sc. Is this TCU is some kind of directional school? Am I over? Am I seriously, all jokes aside, am I overreacting? How can Billy understand a double.

[Joel Anderson]

Speak? I don't.

[Joe]

Understand? I mean, Billy's got a Heisman vote he can speak to. We're like a segment removed from you claiming a national championship for a playoff piece you didn't even.

[Joel Anderson]

Make.

[Joe]

See, are you a blue blood or.

[Joel Anderson]

Not? Are you?

[Van Lath]

Yeah. What's the deal? Because.

[Joel Anderson]

You. I never. I would never call us a blue blood. I would say that we are. We are the greatest promotion story in college football. In modern college football history. We're the greatest promotion story. I guess it depends on what you think of Boise State or Utah. Like, because Utah was sort of at our.

[Van Lath]

Level. I'LL tell you what I think about Boise State. I think. I think that Boise State is. You know, actually that's not true. TCU has had higher highs than.

[Joe]

Boise State has Golden.

[Van Lath]

Era. Yeah. TCU has had higher. Played the national championship game. I.

[Joe]

Can'T. I can't even three point set of bowls, but.

[Van Lath]

I. With everything that you say, unc, man, everything that you say, it's just surprising to me when you then come back and say stuff like we playing against USC is a great.

[Joel Anderson]

Opportunity. It is because it's still dog tcu.

[Van Lath]

Still. This USC team is not even good.

[Joel Anderson]

Bro. I know, but it's a swap. People believe in branding. Like I still. I have. It's more of a chance that I had to explain what TCU is and where it is and all that other stuff than you do somebody. Usc, like USC is just a bigger university with a bigger name. And yeah, they might not be better if I. I mean, I guess since the end of the Pete Carroll era, I probably would take TCU's highs over.

[Joe]

USA. Yeah, he played for the national championship for.

[Joel Anderson]

Sure. Yeah.

[Van Lath]

Right. Yeah, I think that's very fair. I just don't. I don't like to hear you. I don't like to.

[Joel Anderson]

Hear. No, you don't care. You don't care. I swear to God, you do not care. I don't like to.

[Van Lath]

Hear. I don't like you. When you said that, that was kind of sad to me. I don't like to hear you talk down on a horn Frogs like that. Horny little motherfuckers. I don't like to hear you talk down on them like.

[Joel Anderson]

That. You don't. You. When we were texting the other about LSU against U of H, you we gonna lose. They gonna lose. You were doing that. You were doing that. They are going to.

[Van Lath]

Lose. Let me tell you why I thought they were gonna lose the game. We didn't have anybody going for the same reason. But you know what? I didn't say? I didn't say. I hope everybody gets to see us. This is a huge opportunity for us, whether or not we were gonna win the game or not. We didn't have anybody playing in the.

[Joe]

Game. I think, I think this is a trick that you're playing, Joel, because like you're setting this up so when TCU fails, you have like that built in excuse of like, look at what a great story. It was. Like we don't even belong in this situation. Like, we shouldn't have even won because we didn't belong. They'd be like, you need to own, like, where you come.

[Joel Anderson]

From. I am going to own that on the bowl. If that happens, I am going to say, yeah, man, look, we didn't have Josh Hoover, and look what we did to usc. I definitely would do that. And if we lose, I'd be like, well, we didn't have Josh Hoover. You're right. I get the win either way. But, I mean. But.

[Joe]

Also. Fair.

[Joel Anderson]

Point. It is logical. It makes sense like, that you.

[Van Lath]

Can'T. No, no, no. It is logical to expect them not to be able to go out and win the game if they're not full strength. That's happened all throughout. But you made it seem as if. It's like, you know, like when two boxers are fighting and he goes, man, champ, you know, I appreciate you giving the opportunity to come here and fight. You change my family's life and all that.

[Joel Anderson]

Stuff. I ain't no talk about USC like.

[Van Lath]

That. I don't think that sc, at this point, I don't think anybody gives a fuck about beating SC right now. I just be honest with you. No one cares. Like, SC is a good, solid football team. They had a great, a decent year this year. Nobody gives a shit about if this is one. Something y' all hang on the rafters. I don't want to hear that TCU no more.

[Joel Anderson]

Bro. No, we don't. I mean, we're not going to be like, oh, yeah, man, we won. Whatever the bowl, the Alamo bowl is. Because we beaten Oregon in the Alamo Bowl. We.

[Joe]

Beaten. You guys, beat Bill Belichick in his first college game. That was the highlight of the.

[Joel Anderson]

Season. Season again. But it's just like, if you're going to be in one of these things and it's. You're going to be 8 and 4, and it's not. You didn't really contend for the conference championship. It's like, all right, that is one high point. But, I mean, I don't want Sonny Dykes to be the head coach anymore. So, I mean, you know, either way, yeah, I feel like he's. I feel like we could be doing better. So this is all part of that belief. I'm like, well, we're not where we need to be, but.

[Joe]

We. You feel like you should be doing better. You don't belong. Like, that's where I think the man is kind of trying to figure out, I.

[Joel Anderson]

Think. So here's the thing. Here's what I think. Think TCU has maybe the best, most fertile recruiting ground in its. In its conference. Like, I Don't think there's a better recruiting ground in that conference than. Than the Dallas Fort Worth area. They should have that on lock, bro. They said we should be top 20 recruiting class all the.

[Van Lath]

Time. Where are you guys at right now? Where'd you guys.

[Joel Anderson]

Recruit? I think, like, 30 something, which is TCU, is typically like a 25 to 35, like, recruiting rankings or.

[Van Lath]

Whatever. So then what makes you think they should lock it down.

[Joel Anderson]

Then? Well, because I think. Because. Because, look, because it's the. It's the best. You know, I would say we're better than sm. You've noticed, and you went to the playoffs last year, but, like, you know, yeah, we have. We. We've. We've been a traditional, you know, regional power. They've got all the money, they've got all the resources. You're right there. It's. It's a fun town to go to school, you know, Like, I mean, you can. You can make it work for you if you want to. You can. Whatever you want to do, you can get down there. Okay, Billy, you. Look at you. You're on chat right now. He says TCU is at 38th recruiting class. That's terrible, man. That's just very low for.

[Van Lath]

Our. It's also, you know, I don't want to spend the whole thing on TCU because we need ratings.

[Joel Anderson]

But it's.

[Joe]

Also. Let's go back to.

[Van Lath]

Usc. So much competition, Joe. Like, you're not just competing with. You're competing smu. You're competing with A and M. With.

[Joe]

Texas. Texas.

[Van Lath]

Even. Even with Oklahoma and other. There's so much competition and then in Texas.

[Joel Anderson]

For. We should be getting more than our fair share is what I'm saying. Like, we should. We should be right there. Nobody in the state of Texas has probably been. Had a more successful football program than TCU over the last decade, and I don't feel like we've gotten the boost from that that I would have expected. I'll stop the Locked on TCU episode because I know that, you know that they're not.

[Van Lath]

Even. I think it's funny. I think. I think I'm not.

[Joe]

Okay. Can I. Can I ask you, like, an actual serious.

[Joel Anderson]

Question? No. You're not gonna answer?

[Joe]

Seriously? No, no, it is. Which do you think was, like, better for TCU? Was it the 2014 season that you think they should have won the national championship or the playing in the national championship, but getting, like, absolutely demolished? Like, which is better for recruiting.

[Joel Anderson]

And pro theoretical or reality 2014? I. I said at the time when they lost in the national championship game. That. That's all. It's almost better to have never made it because. Yeah, because to get humiliated, like, it really outlined the distinctions that people make between a program like Georgia and a program like tcu. Like, to lose like that in the way that they did, to not even put up a fight. That was embarrassing. So, yeah, no, I think that was much worse than 2014. Maybe playing a slightly less than inspired Ole Miss team and beating, they assume, like, that was. Yeah, it. That was the height of TCU football to.

[Van Lath]

Me. It leaves some of the mystery there. You can walk away asking what could have.

[Joel Anderson]

Been.

[Van Lath]

Yeah. But the game and all jokes aside, it is meaningful that they were able to beat Michigan and one of the great upsets in College Football Playoff history, that does matter. But like, 65. Seven, that's like. That fucking.

[Joel Anderson]

Sucks. That's the funny thing. Cause it's like that Michigan game should really be the way that I think of the season. But when I think of that season, I think of how it ended it. And like Georgia players getting chicken on the sidelines during the.

[Joe]

Game. You know, it's kind of the same thing for that Notre Dame team, 2012, or whatever it was with, man, you know, it's like everybody remembers Alabama just beating their ass as opposed to, like, what a great season they had. Yeah, stuff. It's how it works. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to do our favorite CFP matchups. A little big van on campus and some quick hitters at the end. We'll be right back after the break. Ringer Tailgate is brought to you by FanDuel. Round one is in the books, and now the winners take their shot at the top seeds. And FanDuel is giving you something extra to celebrate. That's right. All customers get a profit boost every college playoff game day. That means more chances to level up your picks and turn big moments into even bigger wins this, you know, weekend. I like the Rose Bowl. I like the matchup. I'm going to take Alabama Moneyline. You can get a lot of value there. So what are you waiting for? Here's my 32nd story with Guinness. As soon as my sister and I get home for the holidays, we don't even.

[Joel Anderson]

Unpack. We head straight to our.

[Joe]

Pub. The bartender already knows our Guinness and.

[Joel Anderson]

Fries. We laugh all night, catch up.

[Joe]

With old friends, and walk home with faces sore from smiling. It's one of my favorite nights of the.

[Joel Anderson]

Year. That was my 32nd story with Guinness Guinness Drafts Stout. Please enjoy responsibly Imported by Diageo.

[Joe]

Beer Co. USA New York, NY. Visit FanDuel.com Tailgate to get your college playoff profit boost today. Must be 21 or older in President select states or 18 and older and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook fanduel.com gambling problem call 1-800-gambler or visit rg-help.com call 1-887-89-7777 or visit ccpg.org Chatincenectic welcome back to Ring or Tailgate. We got favorite CFP matchups on the board. We've talked through, you know, a good amount of these games for the most part, but I want to get your actual take on your favorite matchup this week in the quarterfinals. Van I'll start with you. Favorite CFP matchup on the.

[Van Lath]

Board. The by far the most interesting game is Alabama. Indiana. This. Like, this is the game. This is old versus new. Indiana's been off for a little while. Alabama's coming off of a high for coming back from the Oklahoma game. You know, there's so many questions about Alabama and most of those questions are on the field. There's so many questions about Indiana and most of those questions are cultural. This is the heavyweight matchup right now to me, of blue blood versus New blood, and we got to see what's going to happen in the game. I can't wait for.

[Joe]

It. I'm with you. That's my favorite too. Joel, do you agree or is there another game on the board for.

[Joel Anderson]

You? I mean, I, he made a compelling case for it, but I think the most interesting game for me is going to be Oregon versus Texas Tech because I really, I don't really have any clue about either one of these teams. Right. Like Texas Tech has not really been challenged that much this year. I think they won every, every all of their victories about more than 20 or more points this year. Right. And so they strangled the life out of everybody on their schedule. But admittedly they've never seen anything like Oregon. But also I've looked at Oregon and we talked about it a little more at the top of the show. They've struggled in spots, Right. And again, I've been sort of reassessing, like, why do I think Oregon is so good? Like, why did I pick them to go to the national championship game? Like when I really sat down and Thought about it, and I was like, they didn't look overwhelming against Penn State or Indiana or Wisconsin or even Iowa. Right. And they didn't look as sharp against James Madison as we might have.

[Van Lath]

Expected. It's a fun game. More fun than people. It was a fun game. That James Madison. This is a more fun game than people thought it was going to be. It's a fun.

[Joel Anderson]

Game. Absolutely. Yeah, man. We talked through that game, and when I finally got a chance to live, I was like, it wasn't actually that.

[Joe]

Bad. We had JMU fans mad at us, but we made our. Yeah, we made our.

[Joel Anderson]

Amends. We didn't do. We didn't. We didn't show them enough respect, but that's fine. But Oregon may not have either, so, like, either. This is perfect for Dan Lanning, and he can whip them into a frenzy. And he's like, see what happens when you go out there and you lit up? You might get your ass embarrassed and he'll have their attention. Or maybe Oregon just isn't as good as we've tended to think all season. So I. I feel like this game is going to be, like, a discovery, like, for everybody. Like, we're going to really get to see what both of these teams are made of when they're on the field together. That's what I'm really excited about. And just randomly, they're playing in Miami, you know, I.

[Van Lath]

Mean, a close second is Miami and Ohio.

[Joel Anderson]

State.

[Joe]

Yeah. 2002.

[Van Lath]

Rematch. 2002 rematch.

[Joe]

Man. Double OT Jim Trestle. What a moment.

[Joel Anderson]

Man. The Willis McGahey injury, man. Oh, my.

[Van Lath]

God. Oh, I love how nobody gives a shit about Ole Miss.

[Joe]

Georgia. I give a shit. I think it's.

[Joel Anderson]

Good. We kind of know what it's going to be, right? Like, don't y' all think, like, that Georgia's going to beat their.

[Van Lath]

Ass? I don't know. I don't think so. I think that Georgia is the better football team, but I think that Ole Miss is playing for a lot. They're playing inspired. I think the game will be a little closer than people think that it is. That it will.

[Joe]

Be. I think I'm with you, Joe. I think Georgia's going to beat their.

[Van Lath]

Ass.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. I mean, I'm just kind of like, they.

[Joe]

Had. I hope it's what Van.

[Joel Anderson]

Said. Yeah. They had that moment in Oxford. Like, that was a big catharsis. Like, yeah, You, Lane? Yeah, man. We're still good. Yeah. And then it's like, okay, now you gotta suit up and play Georgia this.

[Joe]

Week.

[Joel Anderson]

And That'll seem like a lot of fun.

[Joe]

Man. Yeah, it's honestly all great matchups. I'm really excited to watch all these games. And, you know, we're gonna be live on Thursday reacting to all four of the games that happen, which will be good. Favorite other bowl matchup that's out there. We got some good, good, you know, Music City bowl coming up tonight. We mentioned the Alamo Bowl. Is there another favorite, other bowl matchup coming up this week, Joel, that you're.

[Joel Anderson]

Into? I mean, isn't Texas, Michigan, Texas, Michigan just going to be kind of weird, you know, like, I just. The Michigan. So, like, you know, I mean, Biff Posey is not going to be the. I mean, he's going to be. He's been working as an interim coach there and he's going to be coaching them and it'll just be interesting to see, you know, we have Bryce Underwood. How's Michigan come out of this. These. This past month? Like, they've been in turmoil. Right. And they just now finally got a new coach. And so I'll be interested to see how that program has been running because either either everybody on that staff has been freshening up their resumes, like trying to get the hell out of there, or they're like, well, I guess we're just going to figure out maybe the next guy will keep us or whatever. So that I can only imagine that program has been in turmoil. Yeah, I just kind of want to see, you know, Arch, man and man, like, what's it, you know, like we.

[Joe]

Get. I think Underwood versus Arch is actually a great. I think it is, too.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. Yeah, man. Yeah. I just want to see those guys. Yeah. I mean, this could be the, the number one quarterbacks in the next two. 2. The drafts of 27 and.

[Joe]

28. So kind of a low stakes game for them, too. So they can, like, let it fly a little bit, you know, like, let's have some fun. Let's. Let's sling it around a little bit. Let's see what you got. So I think that's a good.

[Joel Anderson]

Match. Swing it around. See what you got in Orlando.

[Joe]

Man. Yeah, why.

[Joel Anderson]

Not? That's.

[Joe]

Right. Paul's van. Favorite other bowl matchup, it's the Citrus.

[Van Lath]

Okay. Stitches got the most storylines. Stitches got the quarterback play, got the most juice. We got the most juice. You know, you're looking right now to see what the future of Bryce Underwood is going to be. There are some fans in Ann Arbor and that are in the Michigan world that feel like he's been less than committal on whether or not he will be back at Michigan. Joel, of course likes this dynamic in college.

[Joel Anderson]

Football. A lot of Go, go Bryce. Run the money up. Run the money.

[Van Lath]

Up. Get the money up. Get the money up. A lot of people, a lot of people are wondering whether or not I think that he's going to be back. I think he's going to be back. I think he's going to be in Michigan next year. But you know, we want to see how he plays, see how everybody plays. See like what these things look like, whether or not they're still playing for anything in the bowl game. That is my answer. Joe, just before we get off that though. Yeah, just Joe, you know, I'm sending you articles. 26 year old guys played a couple years overseas. They got, got a couple of checks. They're playing in the G League. They're coming back to play college basketball. You don't care about it at all. You like.

[Joel Anderson]

It? Yeah, I love it. It's.

[Joe]

Great.

[Joel Anderson]

James. College basketball be so much more watchable with good basketball players. I can't wait. I hope they continue to add more good college basketball players to college basketball. So you can look like.

[Joe]

It. You're perfect for the.

[Van Lath]

Ringer. That's a real face. I hope y' all watching on YouTube. Tate doesn't appreciate that dumbass look like. Look at.

[Joel Anderson]

Tate's. Look at taste. I can't. Yeah, man, I really, I hit taking his sore spot, man. But no, bro, I mean, what the fuck? I mean I just don't, I don't have a problem. I don't have a problem with a handful of guys because the shit has been going on for years. They've been taking pros from Europe and letting them play over here in the.

[Joe]

Ncaa. They finally just were like, hey, why don't we just use this loophole. But for a G league, guys, you know, I mean it's been, I've been saying it for years. It's going to be the aba, the Amateur Basketball association going up against the NBA. And guess what? People have way more pride for their colleges than they do about the damn Charlotte Hornets. So you, you should. If you wanted Duke versus the Charlotte Hornets. As far as interest you want, I promise you Duke will win. Carolina will win. About the Charlotte Hornets. Good luck, Adam.

[Joel Anderson]

Silver. A decade ago, A decade ago, you're broke. Good basketball players did not want to play in college basketball. They came up with all this other so that they didn't have to go to play.

[Joe]

College. Coming back to Duke in three years they.

[Joel Anderson]

Did. I mean, they had.

[Van Lath]

To. What was.

[Joe]

It? Bring it.

[Joel Anderson]

Back? What was it? Overtime league. They, the G League, all this other. There was so many.

[Joe]

Way. Because they have no brand loyalty, college basketball. They got brand loyalty to Texas. Joel, guess what? Texas has.

[Joel Anderson]

NBA. If Luca, if they get one of those guys, they're going to be so excited. They're going to be like, yes, we have a good basketball player. I don't care where he came from. He could have came from Eswatini, he could have came from.

[Joe]

British. We're getting that private equity money and we're paying everybody and we're taking them from the NBA. That's the next step. College basketball.

[Joel Anderson]

Takeover. I think the guy, again, the guy, the guy that Tate is upset about has not played a moment of professional, professional.

[Van Lath]

Basketball. He's not.

[Joel Anderson]

Playing. He got.

[Van Lath]

Drafted. So this, this is what I'm saying. I'm like, so this is interesting because I would love to do this, to do a. I think, Joel, just to be real, I'm gonna be concise because I know we gotta go. I think that you think in your worldview that you're looking out for the little guy, you're looking out for labor, you're looking out for the young players and stuff like.

[Joel Anderson]

That.

[Van Lath]

Yeah. I do think though that there is a sliding scale as far as that's concerned. And I'll say it again, I do think that there's a possibility that the little guy is also a 17 or 18 year old recruit that needs development, that has to come in and play against some guys who 26, 27 years old and should not have to play against him. These are the guys that didn't, that aren't one and dones, that don't, that are not going to be able to play against professional players that have come back and had their chance at college.

[Joe]

Basketball. And I think LeBron's got five years particularly. We're ready to.

[Van Lath]

Roll. We're calling everybody, particularly in college, where it's so much about the development of these people and all. I think that that's wrong. I don't like.

[Joel Anderson]

It. I thought in college basketball, y' all wanted to see good basketball players play basketball and get the opportunity. And you're talking to me about a 17 year old who, who doesn't sound like he's good enough to play college.

[Van Lath]

Basketball. Are you talking.

[Joel Anderson]

About. And so like everybody else, he can go pro and something else. He could go play at a junior college. He could go play at a junior college. He could go Play. There's Division 2 basketball. There's Division 3.

[Joe]

Basketball. No, Joel, you're right. Open the.

[Joel Anderson]

Door. Everybody's coming. You know, this one guy who's again, we've been taking guys from Europe forever or from wherever else around the country. And this one dude who shows up, it ends up at Baylor and now college basketball. I can't stand it. And I'm like, did you all watch when Virginia won the national championship? Man, that didn't went cool. That wasn't fly basketball. I want to see guys that have fly basketball. Yeah, I want to see fly Jerome. Do y' all remember Fox, Lamajama? Are y' all old enough for.

[Van Lath]

That? I do remember.

[Joel Anderson]

Jama. That was my first favorite bet. That's my first favorite.

[Van Lath]

Team.

[Joel Anderson]

Yeah. My first favorite team. Okay, so that's how you seem.

[Van Lath]

Like Clyde Drexler was 34 years old. Those were college.

[Joel Anderson]

Kids. I want the basketball players. This is one guy you guys are talking about. One.

[Joe]

Guy. But they're bad basketball players, which is why they're not playing.

[Van Lath]

Professionally.

[Joel Anderson]

Exactly. The 17 year old who grew up playing basketball in a one school, in a one school town in Indiana, he's hoping for his shot. And this one guy, this, this, this, this big. This big that came from anywhere across from overseas to play from the G League, who's not played a minute professional basketball. He's holding that kid.

[Van Lath]

Back. No, he did play professional.

[Joel Anderson]

Basketball. My answer to that kid.

[Van Lath]

Basketball. Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe. He did play professional basketball. He played in the G.

[Joel Anderson]

League. He played in the G League. Yeah. He just get.

[Joe]

Signed. He Got drafted, number.

[Joel Anderson]

30.

[Joe]

Drafted. He got drafted number 30 in the NBA draft and has played three years professional and now is going back to college because Baylor's like, we don't have a big.

[Van Lath]

Man. Right.

[Joel Anderson]

But. Right, but again, that's. But that's not that we. No, wait. They're not playing in the traditional past of the NBA. And again, there have been other guys that have played professionally, overseas, in leagues around this country, that. Around the.

[Joe]

World. It's a.

[Joel Anderson]

Problem. Yeah.

[Joe]

Yeah. But I'm just saying, now that you've opened up the gate, don't be surprised when guys that played two years in college are like, you know what? Like, I suck it in pro ball. I'm gonna go back to College. Kenny Lawson Jr. Said he's gonna go back to.

[Joel Anderson]

College. You know what if Cassius Stanley said that for real? Yeah. Who said this? But that was a joke, man. He's just getting. He's getting y' all riled up. All that People like, that wasn't.

[Joe]

Real. Door is open.

[Joel Anderson]

Joel. Those guys want to make. Those guys want to make that. Those guys want to make money and play against good basketball.

[Joe]

Players.

[Joel Anderson]

Right? You know, so they're probably. They're probably not going to be big. Monday, Creighton versus in Nebraska at Omaha. I don't think that those guys are all going back just for that, but guess.

[Joe]

What? That game has more viewers than Toronto versus the Knicks on a random Tuesday night. So, like, the. The market will decide. You know what I mean? Maybe you want to come back and play for the better.

[Joel Anderson]

League. The market will decide. I. Again, I think college basketball should be happy about this also. Again, people are talking about college basketball in a way that they've not been talking about. I think this is great for the sport. And if Tom Izzo wants to be mad about it and he can hire. He can hire all the Adrian Paynes he want. Bro, do whatever you want. Tom is, you know, absolution to you. But look, you're not going to be here. You're not going to be here in 10 years, bro. Like, that's the game. We probably not going to be coaching in Michigan State. I'm just saying. So, anyway, this is about creating a deeper talent pool for the league, for the sport, making it better, and people. Things will settle, like, and eventually they are going to come up with a sustainable and a better workable set of labor regulations. But I think for right now, because they fought and guys like Tom Izzo and everybody else fought against the rights of these players to do the shit that they did or did not, at the very least, did not advocate for them, now you're reaping the. You're reaping the consequences of your fight all over those years. Deal with it. Grow. I.

[Joe]

Think. I think the A is tanking. I think they're tanking the whole system. They're just like, let's make this as crazy as possible so that Congress has to do something. And Congress is like, we don't care. You know, they're like, blow it up. We'll see what.

[Joel Anderson]

Happens. Yeah. I mean, everybody's getting.

[Joe]

Paid. It's all.

[Joel Anderson]

Good. A lot of going on. I'm just saying. I mean, man, what's. Is it? Because UNC is not. What's their record right.

[Joe]

Now? Maybe this North Carolina, the 12 one. North Carolina Tar Heels, number 12 in the country and have a top five. We're not worried about.

[Joel Anderson]

It. Yeah. I'm saying y' all can go get y' all one of them boys yeah, we're about.

[Joe]

To. We're about to go get everybody. Get one of us on.

[Joel Anderson]

Everybody. I mean, yeah, man. Because obviously Michael Lombardi using y' all money.

[Van Lath]

James. James.

[Joe]

Harden. I want Kawhi.

[Joel Anderson]

Leonard. He looked good the other night. I like good basketball, man. I don't know which I long. I like good.

[Joe]

Basketball. Me, too. Van. Big van on campus. That was it. That was a big van on.

[Van Lath]

Campus. That was. Big fan on campus. I just wanted to know what Joel thought. This kid from Bay is not even that old. He's only 21. But I just want to know what Joel thought about these guys coming.

[Joe]

Back and get drafted when he was.

[Joel Anderson]

18. That wasn't big van on campus, was it?

[Van Lath]

Really? That was. Yeah, actually, I'm big van on campus. What I was going to do was the Saints thing, but.

[Joe]

Whatever. No, that was fun, Joel. You got me. You got me fired up, which I.

[Joel Anderson]

Appreciate. I'm sorry, man. I was thinking that I was going to suggest. I was like, man, in a. In a. In a world where we all had more time and were unencumbered, they have the Citrus bowl in Orlando, and then they've got another good game. Diego Pavia and I were getting it in at Tampa, which is just, you know, an hour west of Orlando. That would be a fun road trip.

[Joe]

Man. Stowers not playing, right?

[Joel Anderson]

Titans. Star wars isn't.

[Joe]

Playing. Yeah, that's the problem. I mean, I'm. I just. I want to see the actual teams play. I mean, I know. Yeah, we'll.

[Van Lath]

See. Nine.

[Joe]

Picks. Any parting shots, Van, on the way out of.

[Van Lath]

Here? No, man. We. By the time we come back and get our thing going, we gonna be. We got. We gonna have answers for you guys. Answers for you guys. After this weekend, some of the frauds will be exposed. This.

[Joe]

Weekend. Yeah. No more questions, just answers. Joe, any parting.

[Joel Anderson]

Shots? Well, okay. Yeah. So the first of all, I was listening to the Joel Klatt show, bro. They are giving away four tickets to the Rose bowl, along with parking passes and a tailgate invite. What are we doing? Come here, Duke. Do we have any plans to. You see what other college football podcasts out here doing? We can't even get into the.

[Joe]

Road. That's not the podcast. That's.

[Van Lath]

Fox. That's corporate Fox.

[Joel Anderson]

Sports. Well, he said it like it was coming from the podcast. And Billy won't even come when I call. Now, see, that's. Okay. All.

[Joe]

Right. I really wasn't gonna.

[Joel Anderson]

Go. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I was. I was like, man, Lordy.

[Joe]

Lord. I mean, Joel, you're rich, right? Why don't you buy something, give it away? Joe, you have an.

[Van Lath]

Assistant. Joe, why you always. Joe, why do you always put the onus on somebody else to do something? Like, why you always do that? And by the way, I don't always do.

[Joel Anderson]

That. What are you talking.

[Van Lath]

About? Joe, this is the second time you've called upon, particularly the white guys on this podcast to come and say, you said, call.

[Joel Anderson]

Tay. Dad, stop.

[Van Lath]

It. Nah, the audio has been.

[Joel Anderson]

Released. I didn't call him Dad. I said he was like our dad. In this specific instance.

[Van Lath]

Metaphorical. Wow. Gotcha. And now you need. So you.

[Joel Anderson]

Want. It's like, I didn't call Lane a.

[Van Lath]

Ho. You want your dad to take you to the Rose bowl, being the.

[Joel Anderson]

Duke. Stop.

[Van Lath]

No.

[Joel Anderson]

Stop.

[Joe]

No. Joel.

[Van Lath]

Clatt. Joel Clatt. Joel.

[Joel Anderson]

Claddy.

[Van Lath]

Joe. No, I.

[Joel Anderson]

Don'T. Look, I mean, without talking about uncomfortable. I mean, I could get into the Rose bowl if I wanted to go.

[Van Lath]

Yeah. Hey, do you realize that if I wanted to, I could make a call right.

[Joel Anderson]

Now? All.

[Van Lath]

Right. Yeah. If I.

[Joel Anderson]

Want. If I wanted to do that.

[Van Lath]

I could make a call right now. I could go to the Rose Bowls, no.

[Joel Anderson]

Problem. Do that for the national championship game so we can all be down there.

[Van Lath]

Then. I could go to the game. I could get somebody. If I wanted to, I could get somebody to get us into the game. But as a. As press, I'm not gonna lie, I can't do that. But if I would. If I would, there are people I could call right now to get us in the national championship.

[Joe]

Game. If we got into that game, Joel, you'd spend no time with us if we had the same credential. Like, you would not want to be seen with us. We'd be embarrassing you, man. Yeah, I.

[Joel Anderson]

Bet. I've got.

[Joe]

Friends. Joel will be like, here's my top 50 books of the year. Talking to other.

[Joel Anderson]

Journalists. Yeah, listen. No, look, what would.

[Joe]

Happen? Here's my State of the Media.

[Van Lath]

Podcast. What would.

[Joel Anderson]

Happen? I've got friends who were saying they would come to Miami just to hang out with y'. All. They were like, are y' all gonna come down to Miami? I was like, I don't know, bro. They're like, oh, man, I want to meet Tate. I want to meet Van. Nobody said they went to me, Philly. But whatever, you know, maybe they already knew him. You know what I'm saying? So.

[Joe]

Yeah. So, yeah, a perfect parting shot from.

[Joel Anderson]

Joel. I got people. Yeah. Anyway, I'll talk about. I had another one, but I'LL we can end on that note. That's.

[Joe]

Fine. What, why, what's the last one? You had another parting.

[Joel Anderson]

Shot. But you know what? My, my parents just got here, dog. I'm going to go see.

[Van Lath]

Him. Okay, cool. We'll do it next. We'll do the party shot next time. Hold on to.

[Joe]

It. Yeah, keep that. Maybe we give Joel six parting shots every.

[Joel Anderson]

Time. You know what I mean? Yeah, I had a lot to say, man. I had a lot do to, to.

[Joe]

Say. Did, did Van ever get your dad that barbecue that he said he was going to get? Oh, that's.

[Van Lath]

Right. I'm a, I'm send something, man. Cuz your dad is, your dad is in Houston.

[Joel Anderson]

Right? Man, he lives, he live in Houston. He lives in.

[Van Lath]

Houston. So I'mma send him some foot.

[Joel Anderson]

Relief. Well, he's here now. He, he, I mean he's probably, he probably just came in this, this.

[Van Lath]

Is his first time seeing my house when he in Houston. I'm going send him some, a foot massage from.

[Joel Anderson]

Somebody.

[Joe]

Stop. I'm glad he's there, though. That's.

[Joel Anderson]

Sweet. Yeah, man. We gonna get to watch ball games together. We, that's our thing. We do. So. He's never seen my house out here.

[Joe]

So. Yeah, he's gonna be like, is this the house that you promised to wrestle Lane Kiffin in? It's like.

[Joel Anderson]

Yes. I was like, nah. But downtown, Silver.

[Joe]

Spring. Oh, that's right. Downtown. Yeah, that's right. With a room 227 shirt on. He's ready to.

[Van Lath]

Rock. No shirt.

[Joel Anderson]

On. On. No, I'll keep a shirt on.

[Van Lath]

Now. I don't know about that, dog. See what's.

[Joe]

Happening. Oh, love it. All right, this has been ringer Tailgate. Appreciate everybody tuning in. We'll be back live Thursday night, 6 o' clock Pacific Time, 9 o' clock Eastern. Reacting to all the games. We hope everybody enjoys bull season, enjoys the, you know, the quarterfinals of the cfp. And we will talk to you all on Thursday. Must be 21 or older in President select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and older in President D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rghelp.com call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 27 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-88-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York get smarter about women's sports with She's Not Next, She's Now a new podcast series. From the Gist of It She's Not.

[Van Lath]

Next. She's now dives into the women's.

[Joe]

Sports and league, shaping the future. Right now, enjoy real conversations with players, executives and fans across the fastest growing women's sports. Each episode breaks down how these leagues started, where they stand today, and what comes next. Next, it's clear, thoughtful coverage that.

[Van Lath]

Goes deeper than headlines without the.

[Joe]

Noise. Listen to She's Not Next, She's now from the Gist of It, Wherever you get your podcast, that's She's Not Next she's now on the Gist of It.